Her body ached. Even though she’d come by force, she still planned to check in to the most luxurious hotel Katangela offered and take an hour-long bubble bath. After a long soak, she’d order a rare steak and decadent dessert and maybe take another bath after dinner.

Even though she looked forward to those tiny luxuries, she still had no desire to go back to the DC area. Too much had changed inside of her. Maybe if she couldn’t come back here, she could continue medical missionary work somewhere else. People needed good obstetricians all over the world. Just because she’d claimed this little corner of Africa as her own didn’t mean she couldn’t work elsewhere outside of the US.

That might work. Change her name, travel under an assumed identity, and continue to serve communities that needed her skills.

She observed the team of men that accompanied her. She couldn’t help but notice that none of them relaxed as they stayed close to the bank and slowly and quietly moved with the current. They all looked around continuously, finding the source for every noise, searching the trees for every shadow of movement. Their weapons stayed at the ready. She imagined the hypersensitivity to sound and environment they experienced right now. That would exhaust her after a short time.

They came to a bend in the river. Swanson reached up and gripped a thick overhanging branch to anchor them. The branch moved only slightly. Captain Norton caught her eye and silently placed his index finger over his lips. Cynthia felt a surge of adrenaline. What was happening?

Knowing how much she would hate an observer asking questions during a complicated labor and delivery, she stayed quiet and tried to make herself as small and out of the way as she could in the thirteen-foot space.

Swanson opened the map. “The road we were on intersects here,” he whispered to Captain Norton, running his finger across the river on the map. “There’s a bridge up ahead.”

What Swanson left unsaid spoke much louder than his words. If the enemy thought their group might have some means of navigating the river, they may have set a trap on the bridge. They could be lying in wait for them.

Captain Norton nodded. “McBride. Swanson. Use B-7s and swim around the bend and grab some recon. Try not to get spotted.” He looked behind him. “Could they be coming up in a boat?”

Peña shrugged. “If they had one ready to go. We moved fast. We didn’t have to find a boat. They would also be coming against the current, so we’d certainly hear them approach.”

“Check.”