CHAPTER 1: THE BACK-UP PLAN
With a flick of a finger, the mercenary's gun barrel emerged from his tan sleeve and aligned with his index finger. He pointed it at a woman tied and gagged in the corner. She shifted on the dirt ground, trying to get comfortable. Beneath her blindfold she couldn't see the gun. "Nao quero esperar mais," the mercenary said.

The hostage froze.

A short man with a fat stomach and a patchy beard stood up and waved his hands to stop the gunman.

Abby triggered her translator. It was hard to spy when you couldn't understand what the people were saying. She had been ready to intervene if the bearded man hadn't stopped the gunman, but as long as they stayed calm, she wanted to see if she could get any valuable information. Her translator recognized the Portuguese and narrated in English in the small speaker in her ear.

"Put that away," the man with the patchy beard commanded.

"I'm tired of waiting," the gunman in the tan shirt replied and sent his barrel back into his sleeve. He opened the door to the small cinderblock house and light flooded in. Abby had to blink several times to get used to it. The man peered out at a dirt trail. It didn't look like anyone else lived within miles. "Shouldn't Muns have told us whether to kill her or let her go by now?"