"Conner!" Isabeau shouted a warning.
He ducked back into cover and looked up just as a bullet kicked up dirt inches from his foot. Imelda held a squirming Mateo in front of her, his feet right on the edge. "Get back, all of you, or I'll drop this little bastard."
"Isabeau, I'm going to shoot toward the tower and drive her back. Take the children and run as fast as you can for the rain forest. Get them over the fence. I've called up the others to help me here. Leonardo will guide you, Marcos and the children."
Before she could reply, Conner was firing, the bullets carving chunks of wood from the tower around Imelda. She screamed, swearing, and stumbled backward, dragging the boy with her. Isabeau took off running and this time Artureo brought up the rear. She didn't look back--or up--she just ran for the fence.
The high fence loomed in front of her far more quickly than she'd bargained for and at the last second she gathered herself and leapt for the top. Her body shrieked a protest, every muscle cramping. She might have missed on her own, but Marcos caught her outstretched arm and dragged her onto the thin plank that was the top. She forced herself to keep going, landing on the rain forest side, trying not to feel the terrible burning in her body. Leonardo jumped off and began tossing children to Marcos. The man caught each one with amazing dexterity, handing them down to Isabeau.
Conner didn't dare risk a glance to see if Isabeau had made it to the fence safely. He kept up the volley of shots and then sprinted to the bottom of the water tower out of Imelda's sight. Rio took up where Conner had left off, spitting bullets around Imelda to keep her away from the edge of the tower with the boy.
Once under the water tower and hidden from sight, Conner removed his shoes and stuffed them into the pack he always carried along with his weapons. He tied the pack securely around his neck and began to climb fast, staying inside the wooden structure for most of the way up. He used his enormous strength to take his body up quickly in an effort to get to the boy before she threw him over--because he knew Imelda was going to fling him off just because she could.
He heard the boy hissing like a small leopard cub and wondered if the cat would emerge to help the child. Imelda slapped at the struggling boy. She screamed suddenly and the slaps grew louder and more frantic. The boy must have hurt her. He heard a thud as she dropped him on the platform and began kicking him.
The sounds and smells triggered the leopard's survival instincts. He felt his muscles begin to contort and he allowed it to happen, welcoming the shift, tearing his clothes off in strips even as he tried to keep moving upward. Just as he had almost completed the change, he heard Rio shout a warning and he looked up.
Mateo came hurtling over the edge, the boy's face a mask of terror--that same look he'd seen on Isabeau's face the night before. Conner leapt into empty space, completing the shift, his hands forming outstretched claws. The boy hit hard and cried out as the leopard's mouth came around his body. Conner twisted in midair, righting his body, knowing they were high enough up that even his cat could be injured. He did his best to protect the boy as they landed. The shock went up his legs, but he kept his mouth soft and the boy high enough to prevent him from striking the ground. The moment he could move, he opened his mouth and Mateo dropped.
He turned back to the tower.
20
UNDER Rio's covering fire, Elijah raced across the open yard to the water tower. Flames began to lick along the bottom of one of the legs of the wooden structure. Elijah scooped up Mateo.
"We're rescuing you," he said as the boy began to fight, hissing and spitting and digging sharp nails into Elijah's arm. "That's your brother, Conner, Mateo. He's come for you. Your mother must have told you about Conner."
The boy went quiet in his arms and peeked over his shoulder to see the leopard moving fast up the framework toward the top where Imelda crouched, shouting orders to her men in the hopes of taking command. It was impossible to make out her exact words over the roar of the flames, but her shrill voice was punctuated by the firing of a gun.
Mateo began to wiggle again. "I go help him," he stated.
Elijah laughed. "You would. But not this time. He wants you in the forest taking care of his wife, Isabeau. He said to tell you to look out for her until he can get there. She's got an enemy--a leopard. Only another leopard can protect her."
The boy pushed out his small chest. "I can do it."
"Let's go then." Elijah anxiously assessed the fire. In a few more minutes it was going to cut off their escape route. They had to go. He signaled to Rio that he was moving with the boy. He shifted Mateo to his back. "Hold on. We're on the move," he barked into his radio, not wanting his own men to accidentally shoot them.
The fire was becoming a larger threat than the erratic gunfire. Rio signaled to his men to follow Elijah and get out. They couldn't wait any longer. He tried to warn Conner that the base of the tower was on fire, but the leopard had already made it to the top and was just beneath the platform. He didn't want to give Imelda any warning of the cat's presence, not when she seemed to have a small arsenal at her fingertips.
The smoke rolled into the air, turning everything grayish black, dropping visibility. It was helpful to Elijah as he took the boy out of the compound into the safety of the rain forest, but the smoke was nearly choking Rio. He covered his mouth with a handkerchief as he strained to see what was happening above him on the tower. He no longer could see Imelda, but she had to be aware of the crackling flames greedily rushing up the supporting legs of the tower.
THE smell of the fire was overpowering to the large leopard. Every survival instinct he possessed urged him to run for his life. The leopard snarled as the smoke stung his eyes, but he kept climbing, determined to put a stop to the gunfire as Imelda continued to fire into the hazy yard below her. Conner's leopard dragged himself onto the platform in absolute silence.
Through the swirling clouds of billowing smoke, he could see the woman, lying on top of the tower, weapons strewn around her, an automatic gun sweeping the yard below with no regard for who she might hit. Below, the men broke under the assault, abandoning their tries to put out the fire, running instead to get out. The ground below was in chaos.
Imelda screamed at them, swearing and hurling curses, most directed at Elijah and Marcos. She must have believed that they had deceived her in order to take over her drug routes. It obviously didn't occur to her that they had come to rescue the children. She swore vengeance and death to their families as she continued to shoot at anything that moved below her.
The leopard fixed his stare on her, focusing completely on his prey. He began the slow, freeze-frame stalk that took him step by slow step across more than half of the tower platform. He went to his belly and moved even slower, not making a sound as he neared her.
Imelda suddenly stiffened. She turned slowly, her eyes widening in terror. "Ottila. I would never tell anyone." She lifted her hand, palm out, as if that would stop a charging leopard. "I'll double your pay." Even as she said it, she whipped up the gun, finger already on the trigger, spraying bullets across the platform as she tried to bring the weapon up into position against the leopard's charge.
Conner felt the stings just before he hit her, one near his hip and one just grazing his shoulder, and then he was using his powerful legs for the spring, hitting her with the force of a freight train. Filled with loathing, he drove them both over the edge--the same one she'd thrown Mateo over. He heard the air rush from her lungs, felt everything break apart inside of her. Her mouth stretched wide in a scream, but the sound was torn from her, disappearing into the smoke.
It was much more difficult righting his body, somersaulting in midair. His back legs crumbled when he hit the ground. She landed hard, the sound like a pumpkin smashing and spilling contents across the ground. He crawled to her, using the cover of the smoke. She was still alive, her eyes wide, her body unmoving. She gasped. Wheezed. Fought for air.
The leopard put his giant paw on her belly. She tried to move, but
with a broken back it was impossible. The leopard's hot breath fanned her face. She stared at death, the long canines, the fierce eyes lost in a sea of spots.
"Conner!" Rio's voice called out of the smoke. "Move!"
Shots could be heard in the distance, coming from the direction Isabeau had taken the children. He saw sudden recognition in Imelda's eyes. Not Ottila. Fury burned. Hatred. Then, as his head moved closer and he drew back his lips in a snarl, fear. He delivered the killing bite, severing her spine, not out of mercy--he felt none--but with the knowledge that evil often found a way to survive and he wouldn't permit it, not this time.
The leopard took several experimental steps. His back leg dragged a bit, but he could walk. Pain crashed through him after the first few feet, the numbness wearing off.
"You need help?" Rio came up on his left side, his gun ready as they hurried through the swirling smoke toward the fence. His face was grim, eyes bloodshot, always moving, searching through the smoke for an enemy, but his hands were rock steady.
Conner shook his head, grateful he had a friend who watched his back. Blood coated his hindquarters and the pain in his back hip and leg was becoming unbearable.
Around them, it looked as if the world was on fire. Flames rolled and spun, reaching high, greedy for something to consume and finding it in the buildings and plants throughout the compound. Already, the tall fence surrounding the estate was on fire in several places. The smoke choked lungs, burned eyes and throats. The loud roar pounded through their ears, driving out nearly every other sound. The conflagration created its own wind, a fierce, hot breath that scorched anyone it touched.
Conner kept going, forcing the pain to the back of his mind, afraid for the children and Isabeau. He kept telling himself Elijah and the Santos brothers were with them. The fence loomed up in front of them, a fiery wall that seemed to surround the entire complex now. Bullets spit into the dirt near him and someone shouted hoarsely. Rio dropped to one knee and began firing.
Conner gathered himself and forced his cat to leap through the flames. Heat seared him, singeing whiskers and fur. For a moment the heat was so intense, he thought he was on fire. He landed on the other side and crouched, panting, his sides heaving as his leg gave way and he staggered and fell. Rio landed beside him, already reloading.
"You need medical attention. Get to the trees and let me take care of that," Rio said. When the leopard shook its head, Rio's mouth tightened. "That wasn't a request."
Conner snarled, showing teeth, but reluctantly followed his team leader's order. Rio rarely put things as a command, but he ran the team when Drake wasn't around--and Drake hadn't been around in a long while.
They hurried away from the heat and roar of the fire. There were a few men running away from the flames, so they avoided them. The ones hunting the children and Isabeau were a different matter. The leopard sank down into the thick vegetation, while Rio withdrew his medical kit and found what he needed.
"I think the bullet's still in there, Conner. I'm going to have to take it out."
He injected the cat with painkiller to numb the area before feeling around to see where the bullet was lodged. Leopards could be unpredictable in the best of times, and digging around for a bullet was not something most would allow. Rio wouldn't have tried it with just anyone. Conner was strong and held his cat in check through most difficult situations. And they had little time.
Rio could feel the leopard tremble as he probed the wound. Once he nearly had the slippery bit of metal with the tweezers, but the cat flinched. "Damn it. Hold still. The light's no good here and I'm working blind." Mostly the cat's teeth were too close, making him nervous.
It took a few more minutes of digging before he managed to grasp the bullet enough to pull it out. The cat shuddered and hissed out a long protest, but resolutely kept its head turned away from him. Hastily, Rio cleaned up the wound site and injected him with antibiotics. "Don't do anything crazy and that should hold until you can shift again. Let's go."
Conner tested the leg. With the painkiller, he could put more weight on it, but he was weak and a little disoriented. The two set out at a run. Rio slung his gun over his shoulder and tried to keep up with the wounded leopard. The men had set a fast pace with the children. Elijah was obviously carrying Mateo, his footprints were deeper than the others. They came across two bodies, both guards from Imelda's compound, shot.
There were smears of blood after that, indicating someone had been injured. Deep inside the leopard, Conner's heart pounded in fear for Isabeau.
"Not her," Rio said. "Felipe or Leonardo I think." He pointed to a broken stride. "Right here."
Both inhaled deeply. "Definitely Felipe," Rio said.
They took off running again. The sound of a gunshot reverberated through the forest. Beside the leopard, Rio suddenly jerked and went down on one knee. Blood splattered across the rotting vegetation as Rio fell facedown, sprawling out limply.
Conner used his powerful claws to grip a leg and pull the body into the deeper cover of the trees, sinking down beside his friend to gently roll him over. He was losing too much blood. Conner shifted, uncaring of the vicious pain slamming through his leg and hip as he crouched beside Rio, working fast to stop the blood.
There was both an entry and exit wound. The bullet had passed through Rio's body, close to the heart, but it hadn't hit it. He had no idea of what damage it had done, but Rio was breathing shallowly. Conner had no doubt who had targeted them. Just as they had stashed supplies and weapons in the forest, so had Ottila.
He worked on Rio for twenty minutes before he was satisfied he'd done all he could. Rio stirred, lashes fluttering several times. Conner leaned close to his ear. "Lie still. He's out there hunting us. I'm putting the gun in your hand. It's fully loaded. There's water next to your other hand. I'm going to kill him, but it may take some time. I don't want you getting all impatient on me and trying to move. You understand, Rio. Don't move around."
Rio's nod was barely perceptible. Conner put his hand on his friend's shoulder and bowed his head, looking for a little help. He didn't want to come back to a dead body.
Shifting, he slunk low to the ground and bellied his way through the thick brush. He crept slowly. Patience on the hunt was essential. He couldn't think about Rio or Isabeau. He had to turn his instincts completely over to his leopard.
He circled the area around Rio, stealthy and silent on his cushioned paws. The man would have to be protected. Ottila would certainly try to kill him, to make certain there would be no interference during his challenge for Isabeau. Conner had to be able to see Rio at all times, and to be able to get to him quickly.
His cat found a tree with a multitude of sweeping branches and went up. He was up against an enemy who was cunning and quick, one determined and very familiar with the territory. He was hunting in Ottila's backyard. But, Conner decided, Ottila had no idea Conner had been born and raised in the Panama rain forest and he also was familiar with it. Granted, he'd been away five years, but he wasn't one to forget.
He curled up on a branch and went still, relying on his heavy coat to camouflage him, fade him into the background. Now it was a waiting game. Ottila would feel the pressure more than Conner. He would think that Elijah and the others might backtrack and come looking for them if they took too long to catch up. Ottila had no idea orders were to see to the safety of the children before anything else. No, the leopard would come with his evil intentions and he would be forced to make the first offensive move. A game of chess then. The stakes were life for Rio and Conner and Isabeau, or death for them all. Ottila had a battle on his hands.
Conner had spent hundreds of hours as a sniper, locked into a position simply waiting for that perfect target. He felt the familiar calm that always seeped into his veins. Ice water, Rio called it, but it flowed through him bringing peace. He became aware of every nuance of the rain forest. The birds, the constant calls back and forth, the monkeys, all frightened and fleeing the heat and flames of the fire
. The wind was carrying the fire toward the east, away from them now, but the smoke had settled in the trees like a gray, choking blanket.
There was no sound, nor did Conner think Ottila would make such a mistake. He watched the brush around Rio until he saw what he was looking for. A low branch on a bush shifted slightly when there was no breeze. That was all the warning he got--all he needed. His gaze locked on to the ground and brush. His tail twitched and he stilled it. Waiting.
The snarling face of a male leopard in his prime pushed through the foliage and froze. Conner could see the fur was darker than his own golden pelt--more of a tan or tawny base, with a sea of black rosettes covering his body. Ottila looked a strong brute, large with roped muscles and cunning intelligence burning in his yellow-green gaze. His ears lay flat on his head as he crept forward, never taking his eyes from the motionless boot sticking out of the bushes just yards from him.
The path chosen by the stalking leopard would take him close to the tree where Conner lay in wait. Conner gathered himself, every muscle coiling tight in preparation. Inch by inch, Ottila crept forward. The foot never moved. The body never shifted. Conner was afraid Rio had passed out again and wouldn't be able to defend himself if he missed the initial attack.
He kept his gaze focused on the leopard, watching each freeze-frame step that took him closer to his prey. He waited until he could see the bunching of the muscles beneath the thick fur, the gathering as Ottila prepared to charge. With the darker leopard so focused on his prey, Conner launched his own attack, striking with the blurring speed of the leopard. At the last moment, Ottila must have sensed his presence, breaking off his focused stare to look up.
Conner hit him hard, knocking him off his feet. They rolled, a tangle of teeth and claws, raking at one another. Tails lashed as both rose up on their hind feet, digging deep into the ground for leverage as both tried for a suffocating hold on the throat. Ottila hissed and snarled his hatred of his rival, the roars reverberating through the forest, so that the birds rose screaming from the trees. Howler monkeys threw twigs and sticks down on the two leopards.