Echoes at Dawn (KGI #5)(60)

Oh God. What had she done?

He picked his head up as the door opened and he locked on to the guilt in Browning’s eyes. Terrence stood behind Browning, his face a mask of rage.

Terrence shoved Browning through the opening. “Tell him what you did.”

The woman scrambled up and ran toward Browning. She threw herself between him and Rio and clung tenaciously as if trying to protect him.

Gently, Browning disentangled the woman and pushed her away. “No, Sumathi. You knew this would happen. A trade. My life for my daughter’s. You knew he would kill me for this betrayal.” He cast a look filled with regret and sorrow toward where Grace lay. “I didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Rio rose, his hands trembling. “You did this to her? After seeing what it did, you made her do this?”

Sumathi thrust her chin up. “No! He didn’t make her. It was her choice. He brought her here, but it was her choice!”

“Sumathi, be quiet,”quio! Browning said in a low, firm voice. “Take our daughter and leave. Go to your parents’ hut and stay there until this is over.”

She started to protest, but Browning quieted her with a look and an upheld hand.

Sumathi flew toward where the baby lay, gathered the sleeping infant in her arms, and with a last sorrowful look in Browning’s direction, left the hut.

Rio couldn’t wrap his head around any of it. There was a lot he didn’t know but all he could think of was the fact that Grace lay a few feet away and she was in a bad, bad way. And his teammate was at the heart of it all.

“You have thirty seconds to explain yourself,” Rio gritted out.

Browning gestured in the direction Sumathi had fled. “She’s my woman and she had my child. Ana. But she’s been sick since birth. She’s never gained weight. She grows weaker by the day. The doctors say it’s failure to thrive and that we should do this and that but nothing has worked and she was dying.”

The frustration in Browning’s voice mounted and echoed through the small room.

“When we pulled the mission to retrieve Grace, it gave me hope. After hearing of what she could do, I thought, my God, she’s a miracle. She could save my daughter. And I knew then, that I’d do anything at all, even betray you, to save her.”

A sick knot formed in Rio’s stomach. “Did you force her to do this? What did you threaten her with?”

Browning’s head snapped up and his eyes blazed. “I didn’t threaten her. I gave you false information so I could set it up to get her out of the compound without raising suspicion. I brought her here and then explained why. She was frightened and confused at first. Then she seemed resigned. Once she saw Ana, she couldn’t refuse. I knew she shouldn’t have done it. God, I knew it, but I didn’t care because I also knew she was my daughter’s only chance.”

There was a mixture of emotions on the rest of Rio’s men’s faces. Anger. Betrayal. But also understanding. And indecision. As if they couldn’t make up their mind to be judge and jury over a man desperate to save his daughter.

But Rio couldn’t give him a pass. Not when it meant Grace could die. May even be dying now. Browning had broken the trust of the team. He’d betrayed them all. How could they ever trust him again? How could he possibly trust Grace to Browning’s protection now that he’d shown he would sacrifice her to achieve his ends?

Rio wanted to rage at him. Wanted to kill him. But he couldn’t bring himself to give in to the urge when there was so much resignation in Browning’s eyes. A man would do a lot to protect what belonged to him. Rio didn’t fault the intent, but he sure as hell took issue with the method.

Knowing he had to see to Grace, he turned away from Browning, his action significant in that he no longer looked at or acknowledged his former teammate. His heart was heavy as he bent and gently picked up Grace’s limp body from the mat.

As he walked toward the door of the hut, Diego, Alton, Decker and Terrence all stood to the side to let him pass. Browning stood, unmoving, and Rio walked by him without a word or a glance.

Browning had made his choice. It was a choice that he was right to make, but Rio couldn’t forgive it all the same. Not when what he loved had been sacrificed for what Browning loved and valued.

Now Browning would live with the consequences. As would Rio.

Silently, Terrence, Decker, Diego and Alton followed Rio from the hut, leaving Browning inside. Riong ith stepped into the sunlight and then waited for Terrence to catch up.

“See if there is a boat that will take us back. I want the journey to be as smooth as possible for Grace instead of us making a rough trek through the jungle the way we came.”

An older man, his skin worn and leathery from a lifetime in the sun, stepped forward. He wore baggy, torn pants and a dirty T-shirt. He was missing at least two of his front teeth but he regarded Rio somberly.

“I have a boat.”

“My woman has great need,” Rio said in a quiet voice. “I’ll pay you well for the use of your boat.”

The old man shook his head and then stepped forward. He placed his palm down over Grace’s forehead and murmured a quiet incantation. Then he stepped away and motioned for Rio to follow.

“T, you’re with me,” Rio said. To the others he said, “Meet us back at the house. I want the perimeter secure.”