With an uneasy feeling, Pitt stepped through the mess and the living quarters. Both were empty. Turning back toward the gate, he noticed a hammock strung between two grills in the open kitchen. The still figure of Giordino lay on it. Pitt moved closer, staring at his friend with apprehension. Then a familiar snore gurgled from Giordino’s throat.

Pitt grinned from ear to ear. “Rise and shine, big boy.”

Giordino cocked open a sleepy eye. “You got back pretty quick.”

“I knew you’d miss me.”

Giordino yawned and sat up. “Quite the fireworks show. Did you get Bolcke?”

“No, he slipped out when the fun started.” He handed Giordino a nearby crutch that had been crudely carved from a stick of zebrawood. “How are you feeling?”

“Like a contender for the national hopscotch championships.” Giordino hopped up on one foot and planted the crutch under his arm. His wounded leg was bandaged so thickly, it resembled a tree stump. Pitt helped him hobble to the gate, where the other captives were milling about, afraid to leave.

A commando came running past the smoldering millhouse and approached Pitt. “Alvarez sent me. Are these all the captives?”

“Yes, every man is accounted for.”

“Where did those explosions come from?”

“Planted here ahead of time. They really saved our bacon.”

“They sure did,” the man said. “Alvarez says to get everyone to the dock.” He turned and started jogging back the way he came. “We’ve got a lot of wounded to attend to.”

Pitt began herding the captives out of the compound when Giordino grabbed his arm and pointed to the sky.

“Someone leaving without us?”

Pitt looked up to see a wisp of black smoke rising from the dock area—the sooty exhaust from a large diesel engine.

“It’s the Adelaide,” Pitt said with resolve. Their fight wasn’t over yet.

Chapter 70

70

AL, KEEP THE MEN MOVING,” PITT SHOUTED, already on the run. “Dirk, come with me.”

In the rush to free the captives, Alvarez had failed to send anyone aboard to secure the Adelaide. Hiding on the bridge, Gomez had fired up the ship’s engines at the beginning of the assault. After seeing Bolcke escape and the subsequent explosions in the jungle, he had no reason to linger.

Pitt and Dirk emerged from the jungle to find the Adelaide still at the dock. The stern mooring line had been released, and Pitt glimpsed Gomez yank the line onto the deck, then disappear into the ship’s superstructure. Ahead of the ship, a crewman on the dock moved to release the bowline.