Fifty yards down the river a small ravine ran perpendicular to the river course. With Anita standing guard, Jack turned up the ravine and stopped the party. No one said anything. With Anita covering Angela with even more intensity, she watched Jack, Kathy and Angela drag the three men deep into the ravine and cover them with stones from the river bank.

Back at the tents Kathy and Anita searched the tents and the camp site. Kathy smashed the radio. They selected two of the best blankets, about five pounds of rice, a few small tattered paper bags of spices, one tin plate and cup, a plastic water bottle and a pair of tennis shoes Angela could use on the trail. Thirty minutes later, Jack doused the tents with some kerosene and set the camp on fire. Two of the AKs and one of the shotguns were put in the fire. Jack now carried the remaining AK and a hundred rounds of ammunition instead of the 12-gauge shotgun from Bahadur’s stock.

“Okay, let’s move out.” Jack had fashioned a sort of back pack for Angela to carry her belongings and some food. Angela walked in front of Anita. Anita told her, “One suspicious move, and I’ll kill you. I’ll also kill you if you slow us down in any way.”

They had lost two hours dealing with the tent incident.

Jack moved up on the trail to talk to Kathy. He asked her how she was doing.

Kathy said, “I’m doing okay. Just keep me busy. I don’t want to think about the killing back there. I’ll have to come to grips with my feelings. I know we had no choice. Sure, I’ve been places where people were killed and have been part of operations resulting in people dying, but this was different.”

“Kathy, this was up close and personal. You killed someone who in another few seconds would have killed us. Anita’s shot probably saved both of us. You have to put the shooting in context. Those were not executions.”

“Thanks, Jack. I want you to love me tonight. We can move our sleeping bag a bit away from the others. Now, let me concentrate on the trail.”
Buy “Justice Beyond Law” on Amazon, as well as the rest of the Jack Brandon series and other books by Barry Kelly, a former CIA agent and adviser to President Reagan.