Agamemnon’s trackers had moved a hundred yards farther down the trail when they waved their tired leader over to them again. Agamemnon was now thoroughly exhausted and only just able to keep his face from showing the strain of traipsing through the jungle undergrowth all day long.

“What is it now?” he asked.

The first tracker pointed at the depressions in the ground. “This is where two people lay.”

“Two people?”

“A man and a woman. They are the people, I think, you are looking for?”

Agamemnon looked around. He could clearly make out where the tall grass had been crumpled under the weight of two distinct bodies. But he saw little else.

“Is there any sign there was a battle here?”

“There’s no blood, if that’s what you’re asking,” the second tracker said. “We don’t think whoever was here was killed.”

“Or even wounded,” the other said. “But there are signs they were somehow incapacitated. See over there? It would appear they were dragged away.”

“Like the others,” Agamemnon said.

“Yes.”

“And how much farther along is it before they vanish like the others?”

The first tracker frowned. “Twenty yards.”

Agamemnon shook his head and then checked his watch. If things were going as they should have been, Miki would be well on his way to getting the device on its journey to Manila. He estimated it would take him the better part of two days to reach the city and get the device secreted away.

In the meantime, Agamemnon needed to know if anyone else knew of his plans. He needed to get his hands on the sniper.

He looked back at the trackers. “There has to be a clue. Somewhere. You need to find it. I don’t care if we search all night.”

The first tracker gestured overhead. “We’re running out of light.”

Agamemnon shook his head. “I don’t care. Keep looking.”

The second tracker frowned. “As the sun goes down, we’ll be greatly limited in what we can see. It’s dark enough during the day under the canopy. But doing this at night could mean we make mistakes.”

Agamemnon rubbed the top of his rifle. “I suggest you don’t make any mistakes. That wouldn’t bode well for your future.”

The trackers nodded and turned away from Agamemnon. He cursed. He didn’t care if they liked him or not. All they had to do was follow his orders. They had to find the clue that would point them in the right direction to finding the sniper, the woman and possibly Eduardo.

Agamemnon returned to the rest of his men. They were completely worn-out. Agamemnon knew he was on dangerous ground here. He knew that if he pushed them too far, they would stumble and be completely ineffective in the event of a firefight.

But a little fear might help nudge them along.

He waved them over. “Men, we’re going to keep following this trail a little while longer. I know we’re all tired. But I think you’ll agree we should keep going.”

“Why so, sir?” one of his men asked.

Agamemnon looked at the exhausted face of the young recruit. “Because something else out here is hunting us.”

The men murmured among themselves. Agamemnon nodded. “It’s true. The trackers have found evidence that we are not alone. And they’ve discovered that the search team from the other camp was quite possibly ambushed.”

“Were they all killed, sir?”

“It looks like four of them were, yes. But there were survivors.”

“Where are they, sir?”

Agamemnon shook his head. “I don’t know. Their trail seems to vanish after they were dragged for several yards. That’s what the trackers are looking for right now. We need to find out where they went.”

“What about the American woman?”

Agamemnon nodded. “It appears that she is still alive. Although she and the sniper that we’re also searching for appear to have been taken by force, as well.”

Another recruit spoke up. “What do you think we’re dealing with here, sir?”

“I don’t know. The trackers tell me there are legends about this jungle. Rumors mostly, but supposedly the spirits of an old tribe still inhabit this land.”

“Do you believe them, sir?”

Agamemnon didn’t believe in spirits, but he knew many of his men did. And perhaps a little hint of the supernatural would help propel them further. “Well, I don’t really know. My own experience with the spirit world has been limited. But the men tracking for us are convinced the spirits are active. And they are not happy that we’ve come into their territory. Our best bet now is to make our way through as quickly as possible and get out of here. Once we find the woman and the sniper, we will return to our camp and await the news of our plan in Manila.”

“Will they succeed, sir?”

Agamemnon nodded. “I believe they will, yes. And once our gift to the aristocrats is received, we will be able to bring the rest of the country to their knees. In time, we will assume control of the government.”

The men nodded. Agamemnon could see the looks on their faces turning from exhaustion to determination. He stood. “A few more hours and we should be able to get out of here. We’ll have what we came for.”

The men stood, as well. Some of them seemed to have new energy. Others struggled but made the effort.

Agamemnon helped some of them up. “We can do this, men. I know we can. Each of you was chosen by me because I believe in you all. We can and will do this!”

As he walked among them, they smiled and drank from their canteens.

Agamemnon nodded. “Fill up on the water. Cut the tube vines if you need more. The trackers tell me we must keep moving, so we won’t be stopping at any rivers unless we absolutely have to.”

Agamemnon turned and headed back down the trail. In the bush ahead, he could see the trackers working together. They seemed to be moving slowly.

Damn them, he thought. I need them moving faster than that.

But even he had to admit that the fading sunlight was making it difficult to see even a few feet in front of him. The sun was dipping toward the horizon. Ordinarily, it would have been prudent to simply set up camp.

But prudence wasn’t what Agamemnon wanted now.

He pushed through a stand of tall grass. Around him, his men chopped at the jungle with their machetes, their clanking swishes biting through the dense undergrowth. The mosquitoes, already a nuisance during the day, began stirring in the evening air. The air buzzed with their drones. Agamemnon swatted one that landed on his face and his hand came away bloody, the scent of copper staining the air.

More bugs swarmed. He could hear his men complaining about them. A nice fire would keep them at bay, but they had to keep moving.

A few minutes farther down the trail, one of the trackers retreated. Agamemnon could see the pain in his face.

“What?” he asked.

“We need to stop, sir.”

“Why?”

The second tracker gestured overhead. “It’s simply too dark. We can’t keep on stalking them under these conditions. Feel tracking, which is what we’d have to do when it gets dark, is a tough skill to perfect over good ground. Doing it in the jungle at night is impossible. I beg you to consider stopping.”

“We have an agenda to keep to. Stopping isn’t part of the equation.”

The tracker shook his head. “We won’t be able to continue. In the darkness, your men could easily wander away from the trail and get lost. Your manpower would suffer in the event that we come under attack.”

“And if we set up a camp, aren’t we just inviting whatever is out here to come and get us?”

“We could post sentries, sir.”

“My men are worried. They are scared. And tired. Stopping now will allow the uncertainties that exist out here to fester in their minds. They will become even more frightened. And then they will be completely useless to me.”

“And if we keep going, some of them may die.”

Agamemnon took a breath. “Your partner, does he agree?”

The second tracker nodded. “He does. The only reason he has not come back to protest is because he needs to mark the trail so we can find it again in the morning.”

Agamemnon looked overhead. In the short time they’d been talking, daylight had shrunk even further. The night was coming down fast. Shadows grew longer off the trail.

A fire would be a welcome thing. So would a decent meal.

Part of him wanted to go on, to push his men past their breaking point in order to show them what they were truly capable of. But a bigger part of him knew the trackers were correct. They had to stop.

“Very well,” he said.

The second tracker looked at him. “You’re sure, sir?”

“You just said we needed to stop. That it’s too dangerous to continue. I value the lives of my men. I’m not a fool, after all.”

The second tracker nodded. “It’s the right decision, sir. Tomorrow, we will find them. I swear it.”

Agamemnon raised his hand and turned to address his men. “We’ll stop here for the night.”

“Sir?”

Agamemnon nodded. “You heard me. It’s too dark to go on. Set up the shelters and get some fires going. I want sentries posted first. Rotate the men so everyone gets a good rest. We’ll get some food and water and rest here. At first light, we will continue.”

As tired as his men were, some of them had been so roused by Agamemnon’s speech that they didn’t want to stop. He had to place his hands on them and urge them to sit down.

“It’s okay, men. We’ve worked hard today.”

“What about the spirits, sir?”

Agamemnon shook his head. “I doubt very much they’ll trouble us tonight. Spirits need to rest, too.”

They all laughed. Agamemnon allowed himself to lean against the trunk of a spindly tree, and then slid all the way to the ground. Even the dive-bombing mosquitoes did little to annoy him as fatigue washed over his entire body.

I could sleep here, he thought with a small grin.

“Sir?”

He glanced up. The second tracker stood in front of him. “Good God, man, we’ve stopped already. What more could you possibly want now?”

The tracker grinned. He held out a canteen. “Fresh water from the tube vines nearby, sir. You look as though you could do with a drink.”

Agamemnon nodded and accepted the canteen. “Thank you.”

The tracker squatted next to him. “We’ll get them first thing in the morning, sir.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“It’s a feeling.”

“You’ve hunted men before?”

“Yes, many times. We were hired to do this over in Laos a few times.”

Agamemnon nodded. “I was impressed with your experience when I called for you to join us.”

“My brother and I—”

“The other tracker is your brother?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Incredible.”

“We were trained by the very best. When we were much younger we used to live out in the jungle for weeks at a time.”

Agamemnon nodded. “Well, go and get your brother. Tonight, we rest and maybe you can entertain us with some stories of your more memorable trackings, huh?”

“Very well, sir. I’ll go get him.”

Agamemnon sipped the water, feeling the tepid liquid slide down his throat. It tasted only vaguely of dirt and he was grateful for the chance to rest.

But his reprieve was short-lived. Moments after he left, the second tracker was back.

When Agamemnon saw the look on his face, all peace fled his body. “What’s the matter?”

The second tracker shook his head. “My brother…he’s vanished.”