looked back. No. They had definitely gone. He lowered the binos and looked back at Johnny and Luke. ‘What the hell did they just do?’
‘Ask the girls yourself,’ said Luke. ‘Here they come now.’
Kat appeared at Ethan’s side. ‘Right,’ she said. ‘What’s next?’
Ethan looked at her and Natalya. Neither of them were out of breath. ‘What did you do – with the guards? Where are they?’
Natalya looked at him, cocked her head to one side. ‘They are asleep, Ethan,’ she said. ‘Like big babies. And how the fat one snores!’
Kat laughed, and Johnny and Luke joined in.
‘But they were armed,’ said Ethan. ‘You could’ve been shot.’
‘And I could’ve died if you hadn’t jumped out of the plane after me at FreeFall,’ said Kat. ‘Life’s just full of surprises, isn’t it?’
‘I guess so.’
‘The tent’s pretty full,’ Kat went on. ‘Lots of chatter, the chinking of glasses. They’re definitely not expecting visitors. The two guards were the only ones about outside. Everyone else is in the tent.’
‘Right,’ said Luke. ‘Watches. We meet at the beach in exactly thirty minutes – on my mark.’ He paused, then, ‘Three, two, one . . . mark.’
Everyone clicked their watches.
Johnny turned to Natalya. ‘Claymores,’ he said.
Ethan watched as she crouched down to allow Johnny access to the bergen on her back. He could see how it saved time doing it this way, and meant she was able to react swiftly if something happened, without having to pull the bergen back on if they had to bolt.
Johnny took what he needed and turned to Ethan. ‘Ready to go play?’
Together they ran quickly through the thick woodland, making for the path to the beach.
Ethan noticed that Johnny was weaving across the ground, dodging bushes, being careful to make no sound. Ethan did his best to step where Johnny stepped; he didn’t want to make mistakes, not now. Jumping from a plane was one thing; getting shot at was another matter entirely.
Odd shadows loomed ahead and Johnny slowed. Ethan peered through the trees and saw the helicopters.
‘Other than skydiving, a helicopter is the only way to fly,’ Johnny muttered, then set off again, weaving left and right.
The woodland eventually thinned, and Ethan could just make out the sound of the sea in the distance.
Johnny had stopped. ‘We’re here. There’s the path.’
Ethan looked and saw it stretching ahead – carved out of the cliff itself, at times dipping in under an overhang. It certainly wasn’t for the faint-hearted. He could hear waves slipping over pebbles somewhere far below.
Johnny led the way along the path, but stopped again a few minutes later.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Ethan. ‘Did you hear something?’
‘No,’ said Johnny. ‘Just wait here, OK?’ And without another word, he disappeared, heading back in the direction of the helicopters.
Finding himself alone, Ethan quickly checked the landscape. The path didn’t exactly lend itself to playing hide-and-seek, but just a few metres on he spotted what looked like a landslide partly covering the track. He decided he’d be better off hiding in the shadows than standing out on a narrow cliff path, so he jogged on down to the landslide and made himself as invisible as possible.
For the first few minutes he focused on what he and Johnny had to do when they got to the beach. He was looking forward to seeing what the canoes were like and how a mine was laid – though he hoped he wouldn’t get to see one in action. But then, as the minutes ticked by, Ethan started to wonder what Johnny was up to – going off on his own had never been a part of the plan. What was he supposed to do if something went wrong and Johnny didn’t come back?
But just then he heard something further up the track. Ethan peered out from his hiding place, fully expecting to see Johnny heading his way. But it wasn’t Johnny: two men suddenly emerged from the shadows above him – and he had nowhere to go, nowhere at all.
29
They came slowly down the path. Ethan pressed himself into the cliff face, stretched out his arms, tried to become a part of the rock. Even so, he knew the landslide wouldn’t hide him if the guys came much closer.
And if Johnny came back, he’d walk right into them, and then they’d really be in the shit.
Ethan could hear his heart racing. It felt like it was trying to smack its way out of his chest. The blood was drumming in his ears – he was