Unfortunately, the blast had panicked the baboons below her, their sudden flight jostling her branch. She’d lost her balance…and the shrieker. As she’d regained her balance, she’d heard two gunshots.
Hope died inside her.
Below, one of the baboons, the dominant male of the pack, had recovered her sonic device and discovered the siren button. The blast momentarily scattered the pack. But only momentarily. The deterrent was becoming progressively less effective—only making them angrier.
Shay hugged the tree trunk.
She checked her watch, then closed her eyes.
She pictured the children’s faces…her partner’s…
A noise drew her attention upward. The double whump of a passing helicopter. The leaves whipped around her. She lifted an arm—then lowered it.
Too late.
The chopper lifted away. The Brazilian assault would commence in a matter of seconds. Shay let her club, her only remaining weapon, drop from her fingers. What was the use? It tumbled below, doing nothing but drawing the attention of the baboons. The pack renewed its assault, climbing the lowest branches.
She could only watch.
Then a familiar voice intruded.
“Die, you dirty, rabid, motherfucking apes!”
A large figure appeared below, blazing out with a VK rifle.
Baboons screamed. Fur flew. Blood splattered.
Kowalski strode into the fray, back to nothing but his boxers.
And his weapon.
He strafed and fired, spinning, turning, twisting, dropping.
Baboons fled now.
Except for their leader. The male rose up and howled as loudly as Kowalski, baring long fangs. Kowalski matched his expression, showing as many teeth.
“Shut the hell up!”
Kowalski punctuated his declaration with a continuous burst of firepower, turning monkey into mulch. Once finished, he shouldered his rifle and strode forward. Leaning on the trunk, he stared up.
“Ready to come down, Doctor?”
Relieved, Shay half fell out of the tree. Kowalski caught her.
“The antidote…?” she asked.
“In safe hands,” he assured her. “On its way to the coast with Commander Crowe. He wanted me to come along, but well…I…I guess I owed you.”
He supported her under one shoulder. They hobbled quickly out of the jungle to the open beach.
“How are we going to get off—?”
“I’ve got that covered. Seems a nice lady left us a going-away present.” He pointed down the strand to a beached Jet Ski. “Lucky for us, Gabriella Salazar loved her husband enough to come out here.”
As they hurried to the watercraft’s side, he gently helped her on board, then climbed in front.
She circled her arms around his waist. She noted his bloody ear and weeping lacerations across his back. More scars to add to his collection. She closed her eyes and leaned her cheek against his bare back. Grateful and exhausted.
“And speaking of the love of one’s life,” he said, igniting the watercraft’s engine and throttling it up. He glanced back. “I may be falling in love, too…”
She lifted her head, startled, then leaned back down.
Relieved.
Kowalski was just staring at his shouldered rifle.
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “This baby’s a real keeper.”
* * * * *
Author Biography
James Rollins is a New York Times bestselling author of numerous thrillers, including Map of Bones. You’ll often find him underground or underwater as an amateur caver and scuba diver. From these hobbies sprang his earlier thrillers Subterranean, Amazonia and Ice Hunt, and Sandstorm, the first book in his Sigma Force series that is now fifteen strong. Find more at jamesrollins.com.
Be prepared to be thrilled as you’ve never been before…
Discover more thriller stories that will tantalize and terrify. Offering up heart-pumping tales of suspense in all its guises are thirty-two of the most critically acclaimed and award-winning names in the business.
James Penney’s New Identity by Lee Child
Operation Northwoods by James Grippando
Epitaph by J. A. Konrath
The Face in the Window by Heather Graham
Kowalski’s in Love by James Rollins
The Hunt for Dmitri by Gayle Lynds
Disfigured by Michael Palmer and Daniel Palmer
The Abelard Sanction by David Morrell
Falling by Chris Mooney
Success of a Mission by Dennis Lynds
The Portal by John Lescroart and M. J. Rose
The Double Dealer by David Liss
Dirty Weather by Gregg Hurwitz
Spirit Walker by David Dun
At the Drop of a Hat by Denise Hamilton
The Other Side of the Mirror by Eric Van Lustbader
Man Catch by Christopher Rice
Goodnight, Sweet Mother by Alex Kava
Sacrificial Lion by Grant Blackwood
Interlude at Duane’s by F. Paul Wilson
The Powder Monkey by Ted Bell
Surviving Toronto by M. Diane Vogt
Assassins by Christopher Reich
The Athens Solution by Brad Thor
Diplomatic Constraints by Raelynn Hillhouse
Kill Zone by Robert Liparulo
The Devils’ Due by Steve Berry
The Tuesday Club by Katherine Neville
Gone Fishing by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Lock the doors, draw the shades, pull up the covers and be prepared for these stories to keep you up all night.
* * *
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ISBN-13: 9781488094422
Kowalski’s in Love
Copyright © 2006 By James Rollins
First published as part of an anthology of works entitled Thriller in 2006.
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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James Rollins, Kowalski's in Love
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