whoever had performed the massacre had been gone at least twelve hours. rio could detect no movement, no sign of life from the silent village. but he wouldn't take any chances with his men until they knew for certain the area was clear.

patiently he waited and watched. even the carrion hadn't found the fresh bodies yet, and in the jungle, scavenging was sometimes the difference between life and death.

he carefully moved from his cover and let out a low call to his men to converge on the camp. they came in a tight circumference, their rifles up, their gazes cautiously skirting left and right for the slightest warning they weren't alone.

dead men didn't make any sounds, and all that was left here was the dead.

rio stepped over two bodies on the edge of the clearing where the huts began and the jungle gave way to the encampment. rachel kelly had been held for a year in just such a place as this. anger blazed through his veins. it was no place for a woman. there was no telling what the animals had done to her.

he noted with grim satisfaction that the assholes had been spared no quarter. poor bastards probably never knew what hit them. whoever had performed the hit had come in with fire-power to rival an army.

terrence stepped into the center of the village and looked toward rio. then he signaled the all clear. one by one, his men pushed out of the jungle, their expressions hard as they studied the carnage.

"somebody did our work for us, i see," terrence said as rio approached him.

"dead men don't talk, though," rio said in disgust.

terrence nodded. "could be why they were killed."

"it's highly coincidental that within days of our guys here setting up a new camp after the old one was destroyed in rachel's rescue, someone comes through here and takes out the entire village, and i don't believe in coincidence."

"yep, too convenient if you ask me," terrence agreed. "whoever did this didn't want any loose ends, that's for damn sure."

rio scowled. sam wasn't going to be happy. hell, he wasn't happy. he'd been looking forward to kicking some cartel ass. using women in war was for pantywaists. it would have been fun to see if the assholes would feel so tough when they weren't up against a defenseless woman.

he glanced around as his men carefully picked their way through the field of bodies. what the hell was being covered up here? rachel's "death" had been carefully orchestrated. she'd been cut off from her family and held in a godforsaken shithole just like this one. why? none of it made sense, and now someone had gone to a hell of a lot of trouble to make sure no questions were answered.

"so what now?" terrence asked as he looked around at the bodies strewn left and right.

"i sure as hell ain't burying them," rio muttered. "and i sure ain't saying any hail marys. let them burn in hell."

he broke off when a low sound carried on the wind from just a few feet away. rio and terrence hauled their rifles up and pointed in the direction of one of the "dead" men. only he wasn't dead.

"he's still breathing," terrence muttered.

rio rushed over, and after making sure he wasn't walking into a suicide trap, he lowered to one knee beside the grievously injured man.

"habla espa