Midnight Rainbow Read Online Free PDF Page A

there was something
in that laconic drawl that made her obey instantly.
                  Slowly things began to shift into a
recognizable pattern, and her senses righted themselves. She was being carried
over a man's shoulder through the jungle. Her wrists had been taped behind her,
and her ankles were also secured. Another wide band of tape covered her mouth,
preventing her from doing anything more than grunting or humming. She didn't
feel like humming, so she used her limited voice to grunt out exactly what she
thought of him, in language that would have left her elegant mother white with
shock. A hard hand again made contact with the seat of her pants. "Would
you shut the hell up?" he growled. "You sound like a pig grunting at
the trough."
                  American! she thought, stunned. He was an American! He'd come to rescue her, even though he
was being unnecessarily rough about it… or was he a rescuer? Chilled, she
thought of all the different factions who would like to get their hands on her.
Some of those factions were fully capable of hiring an American mercenary to
get her, or of training one of their own to imitate an American accent and win
her trust. She didn't dare trust anyone, she realized. Not anyone. She was
alone in this. The man stopped and lifted her from his shoulder, standing her
on her feet. Jane blinked her eyes, then widened them
in an effort to see, but the darkness under the thick canopy was total, she
couldn't see anything. The night pressed in on her, suffocating her with its
thick darkness. Where was he? Had he simply dropped her here in the jungle and
left her to be breakfast for a jaguar? She could sense movement around her, but
no sounds that she could identify as him; the howls and chittering and squawks and rustles of the jungle filled her ears. A whimper rose in her
throat, and she tried to move, to seek a tree or something to protect her back,
but she'd forgotten her bound feet and she stumbled to the ground, scratching
her face on a bush.
                  A low obscenity came to her ears, then she was roughly grasped and hauled to her feet.
"Damn it, stay put!"
                  So he was still there. How could he see? What
was he doing? No matter who he was or what he was doing,
at that moment Jane was grateful for his presence. She could not conquer her
fear of darkness but the fact that she wasn't alone held the terror at bay. She
gasped as he abruptly lifted her and tossed her over his shoulder again, as
effortlessly as if she were a rag doll. She felt the bulk of a backpack, which
hadn't been there before, but he showed no sign of strain. He moved through the
stygian darkness with a peculiar sure-footedness, a lithe, powerful grace that
never faltered. Her own pack of pilfered supplies was still slung around her
shoulders, the straps holding it even though it had slid down and was bumping
against the back of her head. A can of something was banging against her skull;
she'd probably have concussion if this macho fool didn't ease up. What did he
think this was, some sort of jungle marathon? Her ribs were being bruised
against his hard shoulder, and she felt various aches all over her body,
probably as a result of his roughness in throwing her to the floor. Her arm
ached to the bone from his blow. Even if this was a real rescue, she thought,
she'd be lucky if she lived through it.
                  She bounced on his shoulder for what seemed
like days, the pain in her cramped limbs increasing with every step he took.
Nausea began to rise in her, and she took deep breaths in an effort to stave
off throwing up. If she began to vomit, with her mouth taped the way it was,
she could suffocate. Desperately she began to struggle, knowing only that she
needed to get into an upright position.
                  "Easy there, Pris ."
Somehow he seemed to know how she was feeling. He stopped and lifted her off
his shoulder, easing her onto