WAR: Intrusion (40 page)

A howl of protest rose out of Lachlan’s belly, clawing its way through his body until he shook with the urge to loose it to the world. But he knew that he’d terrify this man if he let the sound free, so with such great effort that sweat broke out on his body, he swallowed it down.

Still, Tom must have seen something of Lachlan’s fury on his face, because he stepped back. “I don’t think she is dead. He released her as soon as she went limp. Then he ordered the two rebels to put her in his car and walked away.”

Lachlan clung fiercely to that slight possibility that Helen was alive. “I want you to look at this,” he said, pulling a copy of the sketch of Natchaba out of his pocket. “Is this the man who took Dr. Kirk?”

Tom’s eyes darted to the image. He flinched and immediately looked away. “Yes.”

A fragile calm settled over Lachlan. As long as he knew who the enemy was, he could find her. “Thank you, Tom. You have been a tremendous help. The message you sent to Dr. LaSalle about your predicament is what allowed us to reach the convoy in time to rescue you and your colleagues.”

Tom gave him a faint smile. “You’ll find Dr. Kirk and bring her back alive?”

“Aye, doctor. That I will.”

“Good.”

Lachlan escorted Tom back to the others, then motioned to Dev. “Find the leader of the rebels and bring him into the jungle without the government forces seeing you.”

Dev’s eyes lit with understanding. He nodded and signaled for Levine to pair up with him.

Needing to vent some of his rage, Lachlan walked into the jungle. When he was out of earshot, he turned, kicked out, and slammed his boot into a tree. Then he spun and kicked out with his other foot. He continued attacking the tree until Dev and Levine appeared, dragging a stocky rebel between them. Lachlan motioned them forward to the small clearing he spotted up ahead.

“Are you the one in charge?” Lachlan demanded when the man stood in front of him.

The man spat at Lachlan’s feet.

Reining in his need to do violence, Lachlan leaned close enough that he could smell the fear the man was hiding underneath his bravado. “I am going to give you just one chance to answer me of your own free will. Where did Morenga’s son take Dr. Kirk?”

The rebel’s eyes widened.

“Aye, we know who he is. Now answer the question.”

“I do not know.” The rebel glared at Lachlan. “Even if I did, I would not tell you, white man.”

“You will tell me,” Lachlan promised. “And if you feed me false information, when we locate Natchaba, we will tell him that his arrest is thanks to your help.”

The rebel wet his lips and his eyes darted around the clearing.

“Well? Do you wish to say something?” Lachlan prompted.

Gunfire sounded back on the road. It gave the rebel courage. He shook his head.

Lachlan nodded at Dev and Levine to release the man’s arms. “You’re so brave and tough when the victims are helpless to fight back. Let’s see how you do against a trained opponent.”

The man looked at Lachlan in puzzlement. So Lachlan slammed his fist into the man’s chin. Dev stepped out of the way as the rebel fell to the jungle floor.

“Not so tough now, are you, rebel scum?” Lachlan taunted. “You’re nothing but a bully.”

With a roar, the rebel surged to his feet. He lowered his head and charged Lachlan.

Lachlan rolled his eyes and moved to the side. The rebel stumbled past him and tumbled into a bush. “Come on, rebel boy. Surely you can do better than that? After all, you were so bloody vicious when you attacked your fellow Africans. They weren’t even your true enemy.” Lachlan held his hands out to the side as the rebel regained his feet. “Here I am, lad. A symbol of everything you say you hate. Let me have it.”

Tired of playing with the man and reminding himself that Helen’s life depended on getting answers, Lachlan let the rebel make contact with him. But the man had no idea how to fight. He knew even less of how to avoid Lachlan’s blows. Releasing the control over his temper Lachlan, abandoned himself to the fight. Each punch and kick that he landed were retribution for the pain and suffering of Helen and the others who’d fallen victim to the rebels. He enjoyed the man’s cries and his futile attempts to evade.

“Commander!”

“Lachlan, stop, mate. You’re going to kill him.”

Hands grabbed his arms and pulled back. Lachlan fought against the strong hold. He had to punish the man. Had to make him suffer as those people had suffered. As Helen might be suffering.

A forearm pressed against his windpipe, reducing the flow of air until the red haze of fury gave way to silver dots floating on black. “Enough,” Lachlan gasped.

The arm dropped away from his throat but the hands didn’t release him.

Lachlan sucked in a huge breath. As his vision cleared, he discovered that he held his combat knife in his hand. The rebel lay on the jungle floor. His face was covered with blood, his nose appeared broken, and his intestines peeked out through a horizontal gash in his belly. “Where is she?” Lachlan gasped. “Where did Morenga’s son take Dr. Kirk? And remember, if you lie, I will give Natchaba your name. But if you tell the truth, he will not learn from me that you helped.”

“South…” the rebel choked out. “Some cave…to the south…I…do not…know…more…I swear.”

Lachlan shook off the grips of his men and turned away from the rebel. Only to discover that his entire team had formed a circle around them. Bloody fantastic. Not only had he once again lost control, but this time the entire team had borne witness.

“Get him out of here,” he muttered, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to regulate his breathing.

“Come,” Obi said to the rebel, moving past Lachlan. He spoke a few harsh words in one of the local languages. A few minutes later, Lachlan heard the rebel being carried away.

“Here, Commander,” Lance said. “Let me treat those wounds.”

“I’m fine,” Lachlan growled, twitching his hands away when Lance reached for them. How could his men act as if nothing was wrong? Hadn’t he just proven that he was exactly like his father? Addicted to the thrill of hurting others?

“No, you’re not fine,” Lance insisted. He grabbed one of Lachlan’s hands and held it up so that the torn, bloody knuckles faced Lachlan. “You need to be at peak health to rescue Dr. Kirk, so just stop being a wimp and let me fucking doctor your hands, all right?”

Lance so rarely swore that Lachlan sighed and surrendered.

The silence that fell over the group while Lance tended his wounds weighed heavily on Lachlan. “That was—”

“Something any one of us would have done if it were our lady’s life on the line,” Dev said.

“We didn’t expect you to offer him tea and crumpets when we brought him to you, Commander,” Levine added. Yet he didn’t meet Lachlan’s eyes.

“Although you did go a bit more berserker on us than we’d expected,” Hoss said, with none of his accustomed humor.

Lance tied off the last bandage on Lachlan’s hand and sat back. “All done.”

Lachlan glanced around at his men and shook his head. “You’re all mental, you know that, right?”

“No. We’re a team,” Dev said seriously. “We’ve got your back, no matter what.”

Lachlan glanced around the group and saw that despite varying degrees of wariness on their faces, they also agreed with Dev. Lachlan might have stepped over a line and lost a bit of their respect, but they wouldn’t turn on him.

Lachlan nodded in thanks, then cleared his throat. “Right. Show me the map of this region.”

Lars pulled up the map on his laptop, while Levine and Hoss spread out the paper map.

“Where’s the most likely location for this southern cave hideout of Natchaba’s?” Lachlan asked, leaning over Lars’s shoulder.

“There’s a ridge along here,” Levine pointed to a river that snaked down the eastern side of Volta, several kilometers from the border with Dahomey. “The tip of it is perhaps three, four hours from here by road, but the entire length is several hundred kilometers. If Natchaba does have his base in caves inside the ridge, it’ll be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

“Aye, but it’s a strong possibility.”

“Assuming the rebel wasn’t lying,” Levine said.

“If my guts were hanging outside my belly, I’d for certain tell the truth,” JC muttered.

Lachlan held back his wince. “Right. We’ll assume the man’s information is accurate. Thoughts on if the ridge is our most likely target?”

“I like it,” Hoss said. “The southern end isn’t that far from the village of Natchaba’s mother.”

“Yeah, the proximity makes it my first choice,” JC agreed.

“Hold on.” Lars glanced down at his phone, then switched screens on the laptop. “Commander, we have a secure communication coming through.” He put on the headphones and spoke quietly to whoever had called in. “I’ll ask,” he said. Sliding the headphones away from his ears, he turned to face Lachlan.

“It’s Rene. He’s called in on the secure line because he just received an odd message and wants to speak with you.” Lars handed the headphones to Lachlan.

“Bonjour, Rene. What’s happened?”

“A man just called my emergency number,” Rene said without his usual pleasantries. Lachlan tensed. The matter must really be urgent.

Rene continued, “The caller said ‘Tell the Scotsman that I know where the lady doctor is. Watch the attached video as proof. If he wishes to speak to me, call this number within half an hour.’ He recited his phone number then he hung up.”

Anticipation surged through Lachlan. “Send Lars the video and give me the phone number.”

Rene did. “You are of course aware that this could be a hoax? Or a trap? News of the carnage at the hospital has already spread throughout the region.”

“Aye. But if there’s a chance he truly has information, I need to follow-up.”

“Then may God be with you, my friend,” Rene said before signing off.

“Commander, I’ve scanned the file for viruses or other malicious software, but I have a bad feeling that this video is not something you want to see.”

Lachlan had the same thought. The only proof that would legitimize Rene’s mysterious caller would be images from the attack itself. But Helen had endured witnessing the violence first hand. In order to save her, he could do nothing less. His team had all gathered around the laptop. “No.” He reached for the computer. “Lars, give me the laptop. I’m going to watch the video alone.”

Lars snatched up the laptop and passed it to Dev so Lachlan couldn’t grab it. “Like hell you are.”

“That’s—”

“Commander, don’t give an order you know in advance we’re going to ignore,” Dev warned.

“We’re a team,” Levine said. “Don’t try to shield us.”

“Yeah, Kris already has the mother hen position wrapped up. Don’t try to baby us,” JC added.

“Besides, Dr. Kirk is one of our own,” Obi said. “It is our duty to watch this video with you so that we may all search for clues to help rescue her.”

“God dammit, lads.” Lachlan knew he’d been beaten. “Right, then. Dev, give Lars back the laptop. Let’s see what we’ve got.”

Lars pressed a button. The screen went dark as a soul-shattering riot of screams poured out of the speakers. The sounds raised every hackle on Lachlan’s body and he almost told Lars to shut the audio off. Then the screen came alive.

The video was taken by one of the rebels. It panned back and forth between the rebels in the center of the operating theater who were slaughtering one of the male doctors while he was still alive, and Helen and her fellow staff members who were on their knees, their hands tied at their backs. Rebels standing behind them held the heads of the staff members so they were forced to watch the butchery. As their colleague was killed, Helen and the others screamed and begged for mercy. Even offered themselves instead of the man being carved up. But the rebels only laughed.

Underneath the soundtrack of the screams was the excited panting of the man taking the video.

“Enough,” Lachlan ordered. “Turn it off. That’s enough proof for me.”

Lars killed the video and a heavy silence filled the clearing.

Lachlan swallowed and turned away, fighting back nausea. He took a few steps toward the jungle, barely paying attention to his surroundings. His body flushed hot and then cold as he remembered being that helpless. Knowing that crying and begging his father to stop would only cause the crazy light in his eyes to grow brighter and the blows to fall harder. He’d learned by age eight not to ask for mercy, because his father had none.

And now what had he become? A man who’d just used violence to get information from a man, even knowing he was putting the man in the same position Lachlan had been in as a child. Just as Helen had pointed out.

Was Lachlan any better than his father? Than the rebels? Because even having just witnessed the video of a horrific act of violence, part of him still thirsted to hurt the rebels. To make them scream for mercy.

He dropped to his knees and vomited into the bushes. When his throat was raw and his belly empty, he stayed on his knees, head bowed.

Maybe he really was genetically predisposed to commit, and enjoy, violence. Helen had been right to be repelled by that side of him. He would give his life for her. But he loved her, so he’d have to let her go. She deserved someone who fought for life and peace, like herself, rather than a man who brought only death and pain. Because in order to save her, he would commit worse acts of violence. Acts that would cause Helen to turn away from him.

He’d accused her of being too cowardly to fight for this fragile relationship, but now he understood. She didn’t love him. Couldn’t love the darkness inside him.

Yet her life was worth more to him than her respect. And if he couldn’t earn her respect, he’d never earn her love.

That knowledge turned his heart into a cold, leaden thing. Shutting that pain away, he rinsed out his mouth, rose to his feet, and returned to his men. A few looked similarly washed out, as if they’d also had trouble stomaching the video. Dev met Lachlan’s gaze with an unspoken question. Lachlan just nodded. He wasn’t okay, but he was functional.

“I do not care if the government has already arrested this man who shot the video,” Obi said in the cold voice he used for discussing his sniper targets. “He has compounded his guilt by allowing the public to witness the private pain of the hospital staff. I look forward to the day I put a bullet through his head.”