Beyond Redemption Read Online Free PDF Page B

trying to locate her for nearly six months. So far, no luck.” They all climbed into the Rover and buckled up. “All the women are going to have to watch their asses here along the border. Kidnapping, robbery, sexual assaults, they’re all becoming way too common.”
    “Shit, man, story of my life.” Angelique sighed. “Out of the frying pan and into the fire.”
    “Yeah, about that,” Shepherd said. “You and I need to have a private powwow once you’re settled in.”
    Angelique raised an eyebrow. “About?”
    Shepherd shook his head. “That’s why it’s called private, Angelique.”
    * * * *
    Stunned. That was the only word for it. Acosta and Boudreaux, here, and in league with leftist FARC guerrillas? How was such a thing even possible? They were career army, at least that had always been Angelique’s impression. Both men had been in the military since their early twenties. That they were special ops was a given, since they’d been inserted into Darfur to pull stranded NGO workers out before the Sudanese Army imprisoned or executed them. Their unit had saved dozens of lives that she personally knew of. A lot more than that over the years, she was sure. How did one go from noble warrior to thug for sale? But Shepherd said he’d seen them for himself, and she had no reason to doubt him. Shep was a narcissistic asshole at times, but he wasn’t a liar.
    “I need a fucking drink,” Angelique declared. “Shit, more than that. I need a bottle. What the hell, Shep?”
    Shepherd shrugged. “What can I say, babe? It is what it is. I just wanted to give you a heads-up because you’ll probably run into one or both at some point. I think it was a mistake to let any of our female volunteers come here. There’s a lot of really nasty shit going down. This whole area is a corridor for drugs, weapons, and human trafficking. I don’t know what your pals are into, but it seems as if they have their fingers in every illegal pie coming across the border, and I’ve seen them with FARC, ELN, and several competing paramilitaries.
    “These guys—and there are hundreds of them here—they work for the highest bidder. You’re my second in command here, so you have to make sure the women you supervise understand how very careful they need to be.” He got up, went to the bar and came back with a bottle of her favorite vodka. “It’s chilled.” They each drank a shot, and the DJ cued up ZZ Top’s “Rough Boy.” He jerked his head toward the dance floor and pulled her into a very dirty dance. “Stay with me tonight.”
    She might have considered it if he hadn’t twirled her and she saw Carla paused in the doorway. “No can do, babe.” She cut a glance in her friend’s direction. “Best friend rule number one—thou shalt not boink your best friend’s crush.”
    Shepherd’s jaw dropped. “No shit?”
    “I’d never shit you, Shep.” She slipped from his arms, snagged the bottle from table, and blew them both a kiss. “I need some alone time. You kids have fun.”
    * * * *
    “Goddamn it, what the fuck is Shepherd thinking bringing them here?” Mitch said softly through clenched teeth. “He’s gonna get her raped and killed, or worse.”
    The impromptu village was five kilometers, just a hair over three miles, outside Nueva Loja, but it might as well be the dark side of the moon for all the safety it offered the Helping Hands aid workers. And Angelique was right in the middle of the chaos. The woman was insane, and Garret Shepherd ought to have his ass kicked for bringing her or any female staff here.
    Acosta and Boudreau were standing on the hillside above a refugee camp that had been hacked out of the Amazon rainforest, watching as Angelique and a few others stepped outside a military-style hospital Helping Hands had assembled when they’d first arrived in Ecuador. He studied her through high-powered binoculars. She looked tired, and she’d only been here a few days. The diminutive nurse stood beside