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say it was alcohol or stress or anything else,” Hayden replied tersely. “Just because Walters’ transferred to another team, doesn’t mean Seiboweitz isn’t still fucking dangerous.”
    “No, but it would be a trip and a half if the man turned out to be gay too.”
    Hayden bit his lip to keep from laughing. As homophobic as the man was, he doubted Seiboweitz was gay. Although, he was certainly insecure about something. Hayden shook his head. It wasn’t his problem. He had other things to be concerned about. The first was being out to his teammates and the second was how he felt and where he stood with Christian. A weekend of sex and Hayden already knew there was something different, something special about Christian, he just hoped the man wouldn’t freeze him out when they returned home.
    Letting out a deep breath, he turned his attention back to the jungle. They would need to move out soon. They were still too close to the compound to be safe. Men started moving as word was passed that they were hiking to the secondary extraction point. Lieutenant Ellison issued orders and Hayden joined Brian toward the back of the group, his gaze returning to Christian at semi-regular intervals.
    Dusk turned into full night, the heat and humidity still at nearly unbearable levels, the pitch-blackness making the travel slow, even with their night vision goggles. The crews moved throughout the night taking turns carrying the litter, stopping twice. Once to readjust the ties holding the solar blanket over the wounded and nearly naked hostage and once for the young man to relieve himself. Tall trees and thick foliage hid the natural rise and fall of the landscape as well as any streams. The teams avoided the well-used footpaths, not wanting to encounter the natives, non-natives or assorted animals that use them.
    “What the hell was that?” the man in front of him asked as a screamed pierced the night.
    “A very large and probably hungry cat,” Brian whispered from behind him.
    “Yeah, a big ol’ fucking kitty cat.”
    Hayden shook his head and scanned his surroundings. The group fell silent, only the occasional whisper alerting to a particularly treacherous spot.
    Rolling his shoulders, to brush away the fatigue setting in, he was surprised to see the daylight pushing through the canopy. Carefully, he removed the night vision goggles and let his eyes get used to the increasing light. Another hour or so passed before they were given the order to halt. A large and unexpected clearing several hundred feet wide stretched out in front of them. There was enough scrub brush and tall grass to afford them cover to cross there. The tree line was several miles away to the right and left. Going around was the smartest, but getting through the jungle was taking extra time they didn’t have. Time the young man didn’t have.
    “Shit!” Christian whispered harshly next to him.
    Hayden scanned the horizon looking for anything out of the ordinary in the places that would hide more than one or two men, anything that would suggest a hidden ambush party. “I don’t see anything,” he said shaking his head.
    “Me either.”
    Scouts had returned; there were cliffs to the left. They would have to cross here. Sporadically, small groups of two and four left the cover of the jungle and began to make their way across the expanse of land. The sun had cleared the top of the canopy by the time the first group had made it three quarters of the way across the field. They moved as fast as they could, keeping the litter bearing the injured man in the middle.
    Hayden cursed as a bullet winged past him. Seconds later the distinctive, staccato tapping of an AK-47 hit the air. Bringing his weapon up, Hayden peered through the sight across searching for anything that would give away the shooter’s position. He spotted the slight movement of a branch and took aim. From behind them, someone shot into the brush where they were aiming. Hayden swore again. Gunfire