"It seems I'm not the only one who isn't feeling polite." Tanek rose to his feet. "You are?"

"Sergeant George Wilkins."

"Nicholas Tanek." He nodded at Nell. "I've come to get the lady."

Wilkins frowned. "Randall sent you?"

"He told me where you were."

"She's under my command. She can't go anywhere," Wilkins said, to Nell's surprise. "I've no written orders to release her to you."

"Christ."

"I'm not going with you," Nell said.

Tanek drew a long breath, and she could almost see him counting. He turned and moved away from the column. "I need to talk to you."

"She doesn't have time for talk." Wilkins's jaw set belligerently. "She has to do her part to set up camp."

Tanek shot him a look. He said softly, "I'm talking to her. Don't push it."

Wilkins hesitated and then shrugged. "Talk all you like, but she's not leaving." He turned away and barked, "Scott. Come with me."

"Is everything all right?" Peter frowned uneasily.

"Fine," Nell said over her shoulder as she followed Tanek. "I'll be right back."

Tanek whirled on her as soon as they were out of earshot. "This is crazy. What the hell are you doing here?"

"It's necessary."

"It's dangerous."

"You said that I was no match for Maritz and Gardeaux."

"I know what I said. And wading around in a swamp is going to make you more of a match for them?"

"Maybe it will help. I'm learning other things. I'd never touched a gun before yesterday."

He stared at her in frustration. "Look at you." He rubbed his hand on her cheek and wiped away a muddy smudge. "You're sopping wet and muddy and you're going to keel over any minute from exhaustion."

"No, I won't."

His lips tightened. "No, you won't. You'll just keep on going until there's nothing left of you."

"That's right." She stared into his eyes. "You won't help me get Gardeaux and Maritz. I have to do it myself. That's why I'm here."

He didn't speak for a moment and she could feel his anger and exasperation vibrating between them like a living entity. "Damn you," he said softly. He turned away. "Get rid of that rifle and your backpack. You won't need them anymore. You're coming with me."

"I told you that I'm staying here."

"I'll help you get them," he said harshly. "That's what you want, isn't it?"

A leap of excitement tore through her. "Yes, that's what I want. You'll give me your promise?"

"Oh, yes, even to the point of staking you out for Gardeaux. That should make you happy."

"It does." She slipped the rifle from her shoulder, tossed it on the ground, then removed the backpack. "Whatever it takes." She drew a deep breath and shrugged to ease her shoulders. She felt as if a burden had been lifted in more ways than one. "Let's go."

"What are you doing?" Wilkins was beside them. "That's no way to treat a weapon, Billings."

"I'm leaving."

"The hell you are."

"Why do you care? You didn't want me along anyway."

"It's a bad example for the other men. You've not been formally released by the colonel."

What a mental case. "I'm going." She started to turn away.

He grasped her arm. "Just like a woman. Things get bad and they take off like a-"

"Let her go," Tanek said quietly.

Wilkins glared at him, his hand tightening on her arm. "Screw you."

Tanek smiled. "Oh, I can't tell you how happy I am that you said that." He stepped forward and the edge of his hand chopped down on Wilkins's short neck. "Or how much I enjoyed doing that."

Wilkins's eyes glazed over and he slumped to the ground.

Nell's gaze was fastened on Tanek's face. "You did enjoy it."

"You bet I did." He smiled tigerishly. "The only thing I would have enjoyed more was if it had been your neck." He turned away and jumped off the bank into the water. "Come on, it will take a couple hours to get back to the car through this mess, and it will be dark soon."

"I'm coming." She started forward, then stopped. She glanced over her shoulder. Peter was staring at her in helpless bewilderment.

She had no place for him in her life. He would only get in the way. Tanek had promised her what she wanted, and she needed no impediments now.

"Where are you going?" Peter asked.

He looked poignantly alone.

And in the group of men behind him were Scott and those other bastards.

"Wait," she told Tanek as she strode over to Peter. "Come with me."

He looked at her uncertainly.

She took his hand. "It will be all right. You need to come with me, Peter."

"My daddy won't like it, will he?"

"Don't worry about him. We'll fix it. You don't want to stay, do you?"

He immediately shook his head. "It's a bad place. I don't want to be here if you're going away."

"Then take off your backpack and gun and come with me."

"The sergeant said we should never be without our rifle."

"Nell," Tanek called.

She tugged at Peter's hand. "We have to go now."

He was still staring at her with trepidation. "Why does he call you Nell? Your name is Eve."

"A lot of people have more than one name." She smothered her impatience and said quietly, "We're friends, Peter. You have to trust your friends. It would be a good thing to go with me."

A smile lit his face with sweetness. "Friends. That's right, I forgot." He laid his rifle on the ground and discarded his backpack. "Friends should be together."

She breathed a sigh of relief and moved toward Tanek. "He's going with us."

"So I gathered. Anyone else?"

She ignored his sarcasm and jumped into the water. "Come on, Peter."

He was frowning at Tanek, who was striding ahead of them through the water. "Is he mad at me?"

"No, it's just his way."

They moved swiftly for the first hour and a half, but after darkness fell, their pace slowed.

The swamp was even more eerie and frightening in the darkness. Every splash was an unknown threat, every swoop of wings startling. Nell kept her gaze fastened on the glimmer of Tanek's white shirt ahead of her and away from the moss-draped trees.

"The road's just ahead," Tanek said over his shoulder as he moved quickly out of the trees and up the bank. "The car's parked only a few yards from here."

She drew a sigh of relief. They were almost done with this ordeal.

Not quite.

Tanek was standing in the middle of the road, cursing, when she and Peter struggled out of the water and trudged toward him.

"What's wrong?"

"The car's not here."

"Someone stole it?"

He was looking around him. "No, that rain tree doesn't look familiar. I must have angled wrong." He frowned. "The damned car must be somewhere along here."

She stared at him in astonishment. "You lost the car?"

He glared at her. "I didn't lose it. You try to strike a straight line in that swamp in the dark."

She started to laugh.

"What the hell is so funny?"

She wasn't sure. She must be giddy with exhaustion, and his indignation and outrage seemed hilarious. "You made a mistake. Maybe you're not Arnold Schwarzenegger. He wouldn't have gotten lost in a swamp."

"Schwarzenegger?" He scowled. "What the hell are you talking about?" He didn't wait for an answer. "And I didn't get lost. I angled wrong." He stalked down the road.

"He's mad at you too," Peter said. "Maybe we'd better try to help him find the car."

"Maybe we'd better."

Any hint of amusement faded as she started after Tanek. Her boots squished water with every step and her clothes clung heavily to her body. The prospect of an extended walk on this deserted road was not appealing.

They found the car over a mile north of where they had exited the swamp.

"Not a word," Tanek snapped as he opened the passenger doors and got behind the wheel. "I'm wet and I'm tired and mad as hell."

Peter crawled into the backseat. "I told you he was mad."

She got in the passenger seat. She couldn't resist a final jab. "Do you have the keys?"

He stiffened. "Do you think I'd be careless enough to misplace them?"

"Well, you misplaced the-" She broke off as she met his gaze. "No, I guess not."

He started the car.

"Where are we going?"

"Panama City and a motel that'll take three people who look and smell like they were dumped in a sewage tank."

Peter laughed.

"Who is he?" Tanek asked.

"I'm Peter Drake."

"This is Nicholas Tanek, Peter." Nell huddled down in the seat and stretched her legs out before her. "Why don't you try to take a nap?"

"I'm hungry."

"We'll have something to eat when we get to the city."