Under the Wire (35 page)

He'd counted on miracles more than once. Prayed he hadn't used up his quota, because one way or another they had to get Adam and the Muhandiramalas out of this mess.

Failing wasn't an option.

"Tell me more about the cave," Manny prompted Kavith, who lay on his belly beside him, thoroughly enjoying playing soldier, even though Manny had strongly suggested he take Rajah and head for the hills.

The elephant was happily grazing in a field of grass behind them. About the fifth time Manny had caught Tito trying to filch the phone again, he'd threatened to cut his tail off. Tito had screeched and scooted off into the trees.

"The cave of Rakwana," Kavith said quietly, "is cut into a rock wall that runs one hundred yards high and fifty wide. See how it rises? Like a giant out of the jungle floor, yes?"

Yeah. That pretty much summed it up.

"You've been inside?"

"Oh yes. As a boy. I explored here often."

"How many caves are there?"

"Only one—but many fingers spread out from the hand."

Manny exhaled a heavy breath. Adam could be held in any one of those fingers.

"'Now remember, when things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. 'Cause if you lose your head and you give up, then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is.' "

"What the hell is he talking about?" Lily asked, her tension level about maxed out.

Manny slanted Kavith a look. "Eastwood?"

In the dark, the mahout's teeth gleamed white.
"Outlaw Josey Wales."

Manny grunted, knowing he needed to somehow get rid of Kavith and keep him out of the line of fire, yet oddly glad to have this strange little person around to ease the tension while they waited. He lifted the NVGs again. "I take it you like Eastwood."

"And Bruce Willis," Kavith said, his enthusiasm hitching up a notch. " 'Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!'"

Jesus.

"Die Hard,"
Kavith added proudly.

"About the cave ..."

In his sometimes convoluted English, Kavith gave Manny a picture of what they were up against. The rest Manny could see for himself. A natural footpath cut into the cliff face and led in a series of switchbacks to the mouth of the cave. The path was narrow and steep, only a foot or so wide, and elevated at a twenty-degree incline to about forty feet off the floor. Fuck—it
had
to be high, didn't it? Best guess, it was about fifty yards long— which placed whoever scaled the cliff face firmly in the sitting-duck category if they were made by the bad guys.

Inside the cave it got even trickier.

"Many caverns," Kavith said. "Many rivers and holes to fall into. Many, many bats," he added on a shiver.

Speaking of bats, when the unmistakable sound of a Cobra spooked Rajah, Kavith took off like a bat out of hell to catch and calm him. It was too late. The elephant ran hell-bent for election toward the cover of the jungle, Kavith hot on his heels.

"Come on," Manny said, figuring that was the last they'd see of the mahout. "Let's give Ethan a target to shoot for."

Manny pulled Lily to her feet and they ran down the bluff away from the cave. He dragged out his flashlight and shot a beam of light skyward. A short, answering flash of light—no longer than an instant—told him that Ethan had made his signal. Counting on the wind to carry away the sound of the chopper, he watched the bird set down on a grassy plateau.

"Where the hell did you get the snake?" Manny shouted as the rotor wash wound down and Ethan and Dallas jumped out of the bird.

Dallas grinned. "Little gift from Ramanathan. I must be growing on him. Either that or he's getting mellow in his old age. He didn't even shoot at me when I lifted his chopper. Of course the stack of bills I tossed his way earlier today might have made a difference.

"For you, Rambo," Dallas added, reaching back into the Cobra, then tossing Manny a rifle. "Merry Christmas."

Shit.
Manny lifted the Russian Dragonov SVD sniper rifle to his shoulder. Sighted down the night-vision scope, then sliced a glance at Dallas.

"And Happy New Year to me," Manny said with a tight grin.

The Dragonov wasn't anywhere near the quality or as state-of-the-art as the Barrett that Dallas had "acquired" for him on the Jolo op, but it would do. It would do a helluva lot better than the Kalashnikov that had been dragged through enough mud and muck during the course of the day.

"So what's the story?" Manny asked Ethan. "Who are we facing up there?"

"Long or short version?"

"Make it short and sweet."

"Once upon a time," Ethan began in deference to the request for sweet, "Sri Lanka was under the governance of India. According to the Web site Darcy found, there are those who feel it should be again.

"SASL," Ethan continued, "Society for the Annexation of Sri Lanka."

"Let me guess," Manny interrupted. "They're an extremist militant organization. Militant enough to infiltrate Sri Lanka, pose as Tamil fighters, and steal Ramanathan's howitzer."

"Why would they pretend to be Tamil fighters?" Lily asked, shocked, yet seeing the logic.

"If I were a small but zealous group and had lofty hopes of carrying out a takeover," Manny said, thinking aloud, "and knew I didn't have a prayer of building enough firepower or popular support to overthrow a nation, how would I go about it?"

"By misdirection," Lily concluded with a nod as understanding dawned.

"You both get an A plus," Ethan said. "They stage something so violent and repugnant and have the Tamil rebels take the blame; the Sinhalese have no choice but to retaliate."

"So," Manny said, seeing it all now, "the plan was to let the two military forces in Sri Lanka duke it out until they either obliterated each other or diminished their military arsenal and personnel to the point where they were no longer effective."

"And open the door for India to step in, restore law and order, and establish a temporary government under their control," Dallas added. "Most likely with the sanction of the international community."

Manny applied face paint, then handed it to Ethan. "A temporary government which would eventually become permanently controlled by India."

"And Amithnal Muhandiramala," Ethan added, building on the theory, "was the key Sinhalese government official whose execution couldn't be ignored. They'd have to retaliate—especially if the SASL turned the howitzer loose on a city in the Central Province."

"Which we figure is exactly what they planned to do," Dallas added. "Then, as added incentive to incite, they'd produce Muhandiramala's body—along with the rest of the family and Adam, who were all incidental to their plan—to ensure the Sinhalese military would launch attacks on Tamil territories for committing the atrocity."

"The incidental hostage." Lily looked sick. "People as pawns."

"It's a war game as old as time," Dallas said grimly.

"And yet it's still hard to believe anyone would be capable of bartering with human life."

"Or human death," Ethan added darkly, "which in this case, suits their cause much better."

"Okay. Let's move." Manny turned to tell Lily to stay back. She was busy shoving rounds into an extra magazine. His heart dropped to his balls when he realized she intended to go with them.

"Someone has to wait with the chopper," he said, making it clear he wanted that someone to be her.

"The chopper isn't going anywhere." She met his gaze in the dark. Dared him to deny her the right to help find her son.

Manny's gut told him to haul her over his shoulder and lock her in the bird. But his heart told him she was entitled. After all she'd been through, all she'd endured, she was entitled.

He glanced at Ethan as if seeking guidance.

"Don't look at me. I've already pissed off one woman tonight. This is your call."

Dallas tapped his watch. "Ten minutes before they launch the assault at Wahala-purha."

Manny glared at Lily. Bit the bullet. And he'd never forgive himself if something happened to her. "You do exactly what I say, exactly when I say it. Got it?"

She gave him a clipped nod.

"So help me God, if something happens to you—"

"Let's just do this," Lily interrupted, and, chin high, pistol on full cock, marched toward the ridge and the waiting cave like an avenging angel.

"Are you ready?" Adam whispered. He couldn't see their faces in the dark, but he could hear Minrada and her parents' hushed, "Ready."

They were all as scared as Adam was.

Push through the fear.
He knew that's what he had to do. He'd read about guys who faced danger every day. They all said they pushed through the fear. That to not feel fear was stupid. And the best way to get killed.

He was going to die anyway if he didn't do something. So he'd made a plan. With Minrada standing guard, he'd spent the day exploring the cave, mapping out a route to a hiding place, and planning.

It was time to implement it.

"Now," he said, and hunkered back in an elbow of the cave entrance, a softball-sized rock gripped between his bound hands.

"Hurry! Please hurry!" Sathi cried.

It took a few minutes for the guard to respond—more out of annoyance than concern.

He held his rifle in one hand, a torch made out of coconut husk in the other. The fire bathed his features in an orange-yellow glow as he stepped inside the cave and barked orders for Sathi to be quiet.

As planned, Sathi, Amithnal, and Minrada had wedged themselves as far back in the cave as possible, out of sight.

The guard stepped farther into the cave when he couldn't see them—that's when Adam moved. He brought the rock down hard on the back of the guard's neck.

It made a sickening sound—like bones breaking— and the guard dropped like a bag of cement.

Making himself look past the fact that he might have just killed someone, Adam stepped over the downed soldier.

"Hurry," Adam whispered as the other three scuttled forward, grabbed the guard by his feet, and dragged him back into the dark. "Minrada, get his knife."

Adam snagged the rifle from the floor, then stomped out the flame from the torch, sending them back into total darkness. He'd never shot a rifle. But he'd seen pictures on the Web, read articles. He'd been curious about his father, about the Contra movement, and about the weapons they'd used.

Minrada came to Adam, cut the rope binding his wrists.

Fire ripped through his broken skin when the rope that had embedded itself into his flesh peeled away. He bit back a cry. Breathed through the nausea.

"Let's go." He tucked the rifle against his side and the four of them followed the wall deeper into the bowels of the cave. "There'll be another guard coming soon to check on this one."

This time, Adam was armed with more than a rock. He'd kill if he had to. To save Minrada. To save her parents. To save himself.

In the meantime, if their captors wanted to kill them, they had to find them first.