Chapter 23

"You boys may not mind parading around in the rain in the altogether, but I"m ready to clear out of here." Despite his claim to being a patient man, our captor was growing visibly antsy. "You going to help me haul this cargo, or nah?"

He shook his tranquilizer gun. As if we needed a reminder of what would happen if the answer was, nah.

Noah and I had to talk to each other with our eyes. It was hard to look at him and hard to look away. He was beautiful, but I wasn"t so comfortable with Noah being beautiful in a forest where we were under some hired honcho"s gun.

What I really wanted to do was tackle said honcho, take away the gun, and pistol-whip some better manners into him.

I"m fast enough. I"m hard enough.

But was I fast enough to outrun the dart aimed at Noah? Even if I knocked the rifle wild, there was always a non-zero risk of hitting Noah.

He didn"t need to lose any more memories.

Also, even if they were the bad guys, we couldn"t exactly leave them knocked out and helpless in the middle of a tropical island forest. So I gave Noah a look that said, go along to get along until I"ve got a better idea, and he gave me a little chin nod to say he understood.

"We"ll have to make up a sling from one of the sheets." I pointed to the nearest one hanging damp and limp from its branch. "I"m going to go over there and untie it from the tree. That OK with you, pal?"

"That was my plan all along." When he turned, the rifle turned for a minute to point at me instead of Noah. Could I use that somehow? Or was I just looking to get us both killed faster?

"What"s the deal with the fucking sheets anyway?" the goon asked.

I laughed. "Made you look, didn"t I?"

"Made me look up the word, asshole, in the dictionary. I saw exactly the picture I expected to see."

"They reflect light." Noah was playing it soft—a lot softer than he really was. He"s looking to be underestimated. Was there a way to use that? "Not all of us came out here outfitted for war games. It was all we had to help us see what you were up to."

"Smart guys always have a smart answer." The goon snorted as he spun the weapon back to Noah. "How"s that working out for you, smart guy?"

Noah looked down at his bare feet. His shoulder slumped visibly. Too visibly.

He"s acting.

Overacting? Could the goon tell? But Noah had to be ready as soon as we thought of something, anything, we could do to escape.

Like what, genius?

I was supposed to be so smart. Supposed to know all about strategy. The game is supposed to prepare you for life.

How did anyone prepare for something like this?

The man with the head injury was dead weight, but he appeared to be down so deep because of the trank, not because of concussion. Or so I hoped. I"m a player, not the sports doc. But I knew enough to make a quick, careful check to verify he wasn"t at any risk of a spine or neck injury.

From the look of things, he hadn"t twisted or bruised himself again when he fell. Judging from the abrasions on his palms, he"d caught himself with both hands, averting any serious injury.

He would have never passed out at all, if not for his treacherous partner"s trank.

Huh. What was that really about? Two men gunning for one promotion?

I let none of these thoughts show on my face. But I made a mental note for my files. We were up against one tricky piece of work.

"He"s fine to travel," I said. "One, two, three, lift from the knee. On my count."

Noah nodded. A minute later, we had him on our impromptu gurney and were carrying him down to the beach. Me leading. Noah at the feet. The goon with the rifle at the rear. Since he was the guy wearing the headlamp, I got a bouncy, shadow-filled light that forced me to step with care.

Nobody spoke.

The helicopter was mostly a large dark shape. There was no sky but the rain had let up. When the goon looked in the direction of the rolling surf, the light showed that the tide had gone out as far as we could see. That wasn"t terribly far thanks to the weather, but far enough.

"He"ll be all right on the beach for a minute," I said. "Let"s get the other guy before we load the helicopter."

Noah looked at the guy with the gun. Our captor grunted. We took that for a yes.