Project Rescue - A Shifter Novel (NaNoWriMo19)
Chapter 44 - Something Evil

We moved to cover in the highest part of the trees, looking around to see if we missed someone. We didn’t see anyone or smell anyone. It was as if they were a ghost.

I moved my head as a large paw went to take a swipe at me. I jumped up into a higher limb and hung upside down and swiped at his head, causing him to move quickly. I stared at the man and nodded.

Antonio and I jumped down to the limb Matheus was on, startling him a little.

“I take it you got my dead drop?” Antonio asked us, looking between the two of us.

We both nodded as Matheus answered, “Yes. We decided we would go hunting, taking down as many men as we could. We are saving the best for last, well, not that he’s the best but you know what I mean.”

“Good. I’m ready to be done with this fucker. I’ve almost killed him myself on several occasions. But, there are too many of them in need of killing. He’s going to have a lot more men here in two days. Make sure you take him before then. I have another cartel on speed dial so they can take over. I don’t want any of Barbosa’s men from California here.” Antonio turned his head towards me. “Go to the far tunnel. You know which one, Selina." He paused. "I’m not sure you should go through any of the tunnels. He will have men waiting in the tunnel. I’ll leave the gate open by the prison.”

I nodded at him and gave him a smile. This was the man who saved my life on many occasions. I didn’t know it at the time but I owe him a debt I could never repay. He gave me a short nod, fading into the trees as if he was never there.

“Didn’t expect him to be away from Barbosa. We need to sit quietly and wait. He will probably go past us soon,” Matheus explained quietly.

We moved higher in the trees, covering ourselves with leaves. If you were to look straight at us you would never know we were here. We sat quietly, listening to the other teams banter. We couldn’t believe the guys were having a contest. They were calling out their kills, joking about it and egging on the other teams - all but our team. We were quiet. We hadn’t said a word to any of the teams. It was fun listening to the guys. It was as if the killings had its own play by play calls.

I looked around. I felt, well, evil. I didn’t know how to explain it other than evil. I knew exactly who it would be before he made it to us. I tapped Matheus and mouthed ‘Barbosa’. He made sure we were covered up good, not moving a muscle afterwards. We could have taken out Barbosa right here and now, but we needed him to hemorrhage men and be scared of us.

Barbosa stopped at a tree and leaned on it. I watched as he rubbed his chest. I saw as Barbosa grabbed his radio. “Rodrigo, Thiago, Alberte, come in.” He shook the radio and tried again. “Rodrigo, Thiago, Alberte, come in.”

We watched as Antonio grabbed his radio off his belt and handed it over to Barbosa. I knew Antonio had found the men Barbosa was calling for. He knew the men were dead. I was sure he knew I had fun with the second in command. We listened as Barbosa kept calling the dead men.

“I guess they are out of radio range,” Barbosa noted. “’I’ll check on them after we get back to the compound.”

Not unless they take calls in hell.

Barbosa started walking to his compound. I wanted so badly to throw my blade into the back of his head, but Antonio shaking his head no is what made me stop. He would know the schedules of the men looking for us. I sat in the tree completely still and silent. Matheus was doing the same. I had promised he could take the next guy to come through.

We waited for ten minutes before the next two drug runners showed up. We looked around us to make sure no more were meeting up with these two. When it was completely clear, Matheus shimmed down the tree, landing quietly behind the two. He whistled, catching both of their attention. As the men went to turn around towards him, Matheus slit the one on his rights throat and stabbed the guy on his left in the heart.

Matheus was getting ready to grab their legs when I whistled. He ducked as I threw my blade, hitting the third man in the heart. Matheus grabbed the man before he could fall and dragged him off.

I jumped out of the tree grabbing one of the men’s legs and dragging him over to where Matheus had put the other one, making sure to cover the drag marks. “We have three more getting close. Maybe we should be in two trees across from each other and use hand signals.”

Matheus nodded as I doused the men’s bodies with the old scent masking spray. As soon as we were done covering them with leaves and dead plants we took to the trees across from each other. It was a good plan. A good advantage point being across from each other too.

We waited for awhile. We kept slowly scanning the ground and trees, looking for anything out of the ordinary. We didn’t move from our positions. We never made quick movements that would catch the attention of the enemy.

As we were scanning, for what seemed like the millionth time, I smelled cigarette smoke. The idiots didn’t realize the smell was a dead give away. Notice I mentioned dead, which is what these morons would be.

I watched until three men came into view. They were noisy and they smelled worse than the cigarettes they smoked. I kept scanning around them. Before them and after them. I checked out the area behind me as Matheus was doing the same. It felt off for some reason, and I didn’t like it.

Matheus signaled to me that he was going, I shook my head no. He stopped and looked at me as I told him in sign language that I felt a trap. He shook his head and stayed where he was, making my heart stop beating as hard. I took a deep breath and stayed hidden. I watched and listened. The men were startled when a howler monkey started throwing things at them from the tree diagonal to Matheus’s perch. The men looked up as three other men ran out of the cover of the forest to help them look. We sat perfectly still, blending into our surroundings, watching the idiots give themselves away. At least we now knew how they were hunting.