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It was Polk Only his head was visible over the pal Three men were spread out beside hi the clearing and struck a flare as well They were rove on fire

Eddie and Linc opened fire to stop them, but it was too late Polk and the other man threw their flares They arced up in different directions and ca

The petrol fu went up in fla so le Smoke billowed into the sky

“Good thing it’s the wet season,” Linc said The surrounding lush jungle was in no danger of catching fire

Eddie could barelyfla his handiwork Then he waved for his le

Cutting across the burning clearing was io around to chase them down

“Chairled to get through the dense foliage “We were too late The Enervum cure is up in smoke”

—

Polk was pleased with his iunfire, but he supposed he shouldn’t have been These people had been thorns in his and his wife’s side for days, and for once he had gotten the better of them

Still, as he and his men followed the trail back to their vehicles, he couldn’t help wishing he’d been able to take one of them captive The operation wasn’t complete yet, and he didn’t have any idea what else they knew They could still pose a threat

He had left a e Rovers where they’d parked Since he hadn’t heard gunshots from that direction, Polk had to assume the SUVs were safe

“Be alert,” he said to his men as they made their way down the path quickly but cautiously “There may be more of them”

FIFTY-THREE

The dense black s the jungle She and MacD had come to another fork in the trail and were headed north when they’d heard the gunshots behind them

Not wanting to blindly rush toward the flames and shots, she and MacD stopped for a sitrep They crouched down on either side of the path and listened in as Eddie described to the Chairman what had happened