CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

Once they were airborne Urs asked Neto what they could do while putting in time on the trip.

Neto smiled at this young man who was so willing to be their leader but also realized that he was untrained and willing to ask for advice. His admiration for Urs took another giant step forward.

“I think Elena should try to familiarize us with the village and coast as much as she can remember. And we need to see what treasures Armando has equipped us with. Then perhaps we should sleep a while. I fear there will be little time for it once we reach Panama.”

Urs nodded and Elena groped in her large shoulder bag for a pad and pencil, went to the little dining area and tuned everyone out while she sketched what she could remember of the village and coast.

She had several pages done and littering the table when Urs came back to her, lifted her left arm and slipped a shoulder holster over it, did the same to the right and placed a Sig Sauer P226 and several clips on the table.

Elena glanced up at him, did up the front clasp of the holster, placed the extra clips in her pocket, checked the action on the gun, loaded it and put the safety on.

“How’s it going, Liebe?”

“Pretty good. The village is small so it’s no problem and Abuela Teresa’s Casa is outside of town to the north so it should be easy to get there. I never did know where exactly Emilio’s place is but she will know. It wasn’t quite dark when I left and I had to hug the coast so I remember some of what it was like.”

She reached her arm up to encircle his neck and pulled his face down to hers to kiss him and stroke her hand over his cheek.

“Thank you for this, Urs. I have never asked anyone blindly for help before…favors in return for favors given, yes, that’s how I thought the world worked…. But you…you owe me nothing yet all I could think of when I got the news was to go to you, to ask you for help.”

He crouched down beside her and took her face in his hands as she turned slightly to look at him.

“There is no question of owing or favors between us, my beautiful wife. You are mine as I am yours…what hurts you, hurts me and I will do whatever is in my power to do for you. You have made me very proud by trusting me.”

She rested her forehead against his, then laughed when he stood and growled at her.

“Now get back to work, Woman. We need a place to hide the boat.”

He smiled and went back to where Neto was showing each of the Divos individually how to operate the small arms they had been issued. He picked up two of the ankle sheaths for knives and tried the weight of a couple of the razor sharp tools, selected one for himself and another for Elena then sat listening to the conversation.

“Use the two handed grip on your pistolas to control the kickback or you will find yourself putting holes in the moon. Do not forget to take the safety off before you go into action. Armando has provided us with night vision goggles, which is good. The eyes are your most valuable tool. You must only remember to close them against any explosions or you will be blinded for a few seconds.”

“Do we have to use knives too? I see Urs has one and you have one in your boot,” Carlos asked.

Neto sighed. “Knife work can be…intimidating, to one not trained in it. I think it might be best if you do not have one.”

Carlos glanced at Urs and he smiled at his competitive Spanish brother. “I was trained to use knives in my compulsory service… and Elena and I did a few drills in the gym so I feel good about it.”

Elena called out to them from the table and they all crowded around her to look at the sketches she had made.

She had done very well, especially in such a short time. With only a few strokes she had sketched in the main street of the village, the few stores and cantinas, the communal well and old men sitting lazily dozing in the hot sun, a couple of scrawny dogs scrounging for scraps. There was an indication of elevated land behind the main area and outlines of roofs of Casas peering out from under scrubby trees. Another was of the beach and dock area with a few boats pulled up on the sand and the cove curling around to the south west with boulders and waves breaking over them at the point. Another was of the churchyard and a few houses, then Abuela Teresa’s Casa and yet another showing the coast line past the point with one Casa set back in a hundred yards, very abandoned looking but Elena thought perhaps this was where Emilio and the boy lived. There was a fishing boat pulled up on the sand and a rack for drying nets but it was empty.

The last drawing was of the coast a bit further on, another cove that dipped in behind rocks and was sheltered from the land side by dense growth of shrubs and tall palms. If the boat was anchored here they would have to traverse nearly 2 miles of beach, climb some rather formidable rocks {according to her memory} in order to reach it with the children.

“If I remember correctly it’s very deep along here, before you get to the rocks. There should be enough draft for the boat to come in quite close and we could swim out with the children….. that spot is only about half a mile along the beach but is well hidden from the village…. We can’t take a Zodiac since there is no place to hide it….. we may get lucky and find a small boat but it’s doubtful, most of the village boats are fishing vessels, awkward to move until well out to sea. And we do have radios so we could ask whoever is on board to bring the boat to us.”

Urs smiled at her suggestion. “Now that makes me happier. Climbing those rocks with little ones would be too dangerous and time consuming, I think…and we don’t know how old they are …we may have to carry them.”

“We would need some way for the boat to find that spot without giving our presence away to the yacht,” David said with a frown.

“How about something simple, like…. Like a tall branch with a white rag on the top? It would show up to someone with night goggles but not look out of place to anyone else. Could appear to have been left by some kids playing.” Everyone nodded at Urs suggestion and Elena smiled at him.

“Good idea, Urs. From a beach football game maybe.”

Everyone laughed when David murmured, ‘Soccer’ and Urs scowled at him.

There was little else they could do now so everyone settled in the comfortable seats, belted in against possible turbulence and tried to empty their minds enough to sleep.

Urs and Elena picked the largest chair with another opposite for their feet and cuddled together with Elena stretched out on top of his long body, her head on his shoulder. They had placed their weapons on the floor beside the chair just before Neto dimmed the lights in the cabin and now could get as close as possible …in public. Urs let his hands caress her gently, along her back and his fingers curling around to just barely touch the swell of her breast. She gasped and heard him moan softly, felt his arousal against her and wiggled, making it worse and giggling very quietly. He leaned over and whispered in her ear.

“There’s always the bathroom you know, so behave or you’ll get dragged in there.”

He felt her laughter though she managed to hold it in.

“Promises, nothing but promises.”

She lifted her face to smile at him and he captured her mouth with his in a kiss that left her breathless.

“Later, Little Woman, but remember…I am keeping score. Now go to sleep.”

She rested her face against his neck and smiled. He was very good at diverting her from worrying, she thought, and so adorable when he tried to be bossy. She closed her eyes and relaxed in his arms.

**