be damned if he could tell whether either of them believed their boss.
John swore under his breath. “I can see that nothing I say is going to sway you one way or the other. What’s important right now is getting Declan and Kendra out of that jungle in one piece. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” Landon said.
“Then let’s table the discussion of whether you trust me or not for another time, and get down to business. What do you need from me to get a search-and-rescue mission going?”
“Weapons and equipment for an eight-person team, not counting Tate, Gavin, and Brent, as well as immediate transport and entry into Costa Rica,” Landon said without hesitation. “According to Tate, politics down there are dicey, so I’m going to need you to make sure no one tries to stop us.”
John’s gaze went from Landon to Clayne to Angelo, then back again. “Eight?”
Landon didn’t flinch. “If you expect us to trust you, you need to trust us.”
John regarded Landon in silence for a long time before the corner of his mouth edged up. “I knew bringing you into the DCO was going to change everything.”
Angelo’s mouth twitched. He and Landon had a lot of conversations over the years while sitting out in the middle of nowhere wondering if they were going to die. But one topic that kept coming up over and over was Landon’s self-doubt about whether the men he led would follow him into danger. Landon might be like a brother to him, but sometimes he was freaking stupid. Men would follow him anywhere, anytime, into any kind of danger. Because he was a leader, born and bred.
“Be at Bolling in two hours,” John said. “I’ll get you, your team, and your gear down there. It will be up to you to get everyone back out.”
Landon nodded. “I’ll get them out.”
“And, Landon,” John said as they headed for the door. “When you get back, we need to talk.”
Landon just nodded.
“Eight of us?” Clayne asked when they got to the lobby.
Angelo was wondering the same thing. It couldn’t be any of the guys from the A-Team because they were all out in Monterey brushing up on their Tajik before the deployment.
“Eight,” Landon confirmed as he led the way to the parking garage.
Clayne grunted. “Whoever these other guys are, they’d better be damn good because we’re already going to be seriously outgunned.”
“Don’t worry,” Landon said. “They’re good.”
Now Angelo was even more curious.
Chapter 4
“Don’t move,” Declan whispered softly in Kendra’s ear.
She nodded, but otherwise remained motionless—as much as she could, considering she was probably freezing to death. Being submerged to your neck in cold water and even colder mud could do that. It didn’t help that the temperature had dropped ten degrees after the sun had gone down. But while the mud was uncomfortable as hell, it was the only thing keeping them alive right now.
The hybrids had chased them nonstop since he and Kendra had crawled out of the helicopter wreckage. It had taken every skill he’d ever learned as a forest ranger just to stay ahead of the bastards. If he hadn’t stumbled across a patch of tulip orchids and recognized them for what they were, he and Kendra would have been dead hours ago. Luckily, the hybrids’ sense of smell wasn’t much better than Declan’s, so rubbing the pungent cinnamon-scented flowers all over their skin and clothes had masked their scent.
Unfortunately, it didn’t trick the creatures entirely. Since the hybrids couldn’t seem to track them by scent, they formed a noose around the area and slowly tightened it until he and Kendra had nowhere left to run but into the stream. Instead of a shallow crossing, they found themselves hip deep in thick mud.
As the hybrids converged on their location, Declan did the only thing he could think of—he pulled Kendra against him and sank down into the slime that lined the edge of the water until only their heads were above it. Thankfully, there were enough ferns growing near the bank to hide them.
He hoped the hybrids would sniff around awhile, then leave, but almost half an hour later, there were still nearly a dozen hybrids prowling around, snarling at each other about who’d let the quarry slip through the trap.
Kendra shivered as two of the beasts moved nearer, their eyes glowing scarlet in the darkness. Declan pulled her closer underneath the water. He didn’t blame her for being terrified. Not even hanging around Tanner had prepared him for just how rabid these things could