Rick pulled some money out of one of the many pockets on his uniform. “Can’t guarantee I’ll get it back to you,” he said in French. He smiled and gestured at Tadeas. “Plus I still owe this one a truck.” He handed Ayo some money and then opened the door.

Cynthia paused in the doorway and said to Ayo, “I feel like we keep saying goodbye.”

Ayo grinned and hugged her again. “I look forward to saying hello next.”

“Likewise. Au revoir, then.”

“Oui. Au revoir.”

Rick opened the door and let Cynthia precede him outside, scanning the streets and buildings, looking for threats both seen and unseen. He breathed more easily when the leaves closed in around them and hid them from view.

“Thank you for letting me come treat Tadeas,” she said, ducking under a branch.

He held a large leaf to the side until she passed it. “You care about them.”

“Very much. We’ve worked closely for several months. They’re a great team.”

“Do they work for the same ministry as you?”

“Yeah. Ayo is a different category. Tadeas and I are funded through our churches and larger religious organizations. Ayo is paid as an employee through the mission versus as a funded missionary.”

“Can’t imagine the courage it took to come out here alone and unarmed.” He glanced her way. “I admire that.”

She stopped walking, and he took one more step before turning to face her. “Really? You admire me? I thought you rather disliked me.”

She looked up at him with big blue eyes that put the African sky to shame. “Why, Doctor Myers, what ever gave you that idea?”

She chuckled and shook her head, then kept walking.

Swanson came out from behind a tree, making Cynthia gasp and step backward.

Rick stopped. “Monitor the perimeter. I’ll send Peña when I get back to the camp. Go retrieve the raft that’s leaning against the medicine woman’s hut.”

“Yes, sir.”

At camp, he instructed Peña to catch up with Swanson. As he laid out his poncho next to his rucksack, he watched Cynthia check on her patients. Dislike her? Nothing could be further from the truth.

Needing to think about anything else right now, he stretched out atop his poncho and used his rucksack as a pillow. His weapon lay close to his hand. He pulled his hat down over his eyes and stilled, commanding his brain to turn off so he could get at least twenty minutes of sleep.

Chapter
Ten

The whispered conversation between Rick, Sanders, and Peña roused Cynthia. They had a map spread open and discussed the details of how they planned to cross the manned bridge. She sat up and scrubbed at her face with her hands, then looked at her watch. She’d slept about forty minutes.