Author's Note: Thanks, again, to snooper, my editor. Those of you that have read African Adventure will notice a significant passage of time between that story and this one. There is another story that comes between these two and deals in detail with events that are alluded to or briefly referenced in this story. I have elected not to publish that particular story on Literotica because it's mostly adventure. Frankly, there's far too little sex to interest most Literotica readers. The story was largely character development for Sara, growing her into the very strong and capable woman hinted at in the closing pages of African Adventure, and I still like it, but I'm not willing to throw in gratuitous sex in an effort to make it more palatable to readers. It's a nice story, but not a necessary read.
*
The van was stifling hot under the afternoon sun, even beneath the netting that attempted to hide the van from aerial view. Sonia had felt the effort to be a waste, given their intentions, but Sara had insisted in a tone of voice that Sonia had come to recognize as being the final word. With sweat trickling down her forehead she tried to strike up another conversation. Sara had spent the past hour telling her about Africa, details about how she had met Robert that even the wildest gossip had failed to suggest. But when she opened her mouth, Sara held a finger in front of her lips and pointed to her ear with the other hand.
After a minute Sonia recognized the sound, the soft whisper of a helicopter. The sound grew louder as the helicopter approached and Sonia licked her lips nervously. Sara reached out to pat her encouragingly on the shoulder as Sonia pulled back the slide on the silenced pistol sitting in her lap. It slid forward with a loud metallic click and seated a round in the chamber. Just as Sara had taught her, she took the pistol in a two-handed grip and lifted the weapon in front of her, carefully keeping the muzzle pointed skyward.
Sara threw open the side door and looked out at the sky. A helicopter descended rapidly towards the spot they had marked for it and flared steeply at the last moment, settling roughly onto the ground.
"Safety off," Sara shouted to be heard above the noise.
"Safety off," Sonia confirmed.
Sara smiled thinly and jumped out of the van to walk through the billowing clouds of dust towards the helicopter. The side doors in the helicopter opened and six men jumped out. Four of them carried weapons and wore black suits that covered their faces. The other two wore bright orange jumpsuits. One of the men in black tapped an orange jumpsuit wearer on the shoulder and pointed at Sara. Together, the two of them jogged over to her. The man in the jumpsuit regarded her affectionately.
"Who's been a very good girl?" he asked.
"I have, sinjoro," Sara replied as she threw herself into his arms. She kissed him hard and then held him tightly, close enough that she could whisper in his ear, "Just like the diamond ambush."
"Where's the rest of the money?" the man in black demanded.
"In the van," Sara replied, "My partner has it ready for you. Your van is under the netting over there."
The man motioned and the other three men in black and the other jumpsuited man, headed towards the second van. He hefted the sub-machine gun he was holding and headed towards the first van. Sara and Robert followed behind him. They were still several yards from the van when there was a series of soft coughing sounds and the man in black fell to the ground. Sara and Robert ran for the van, diving headfirst into it even as a set of explosions made the world around them erupt in flames, noise, and dust.
A moment later they were out of the van again. Robert reached for the sub-machine gun on the corpse next to the van but Sara stopped him.
"Ne, sinjoro! Here," she tossed a pistol at him.
Working carefully, with pistols at the ready, they checked the flaming wreckage of the van and then the helicopter. There was a single shot from Sara's gun when she thought she saw one of the corpses move. When they were finished, they dashed back to the van. Sonia had it rolling before they had finished closing the door.
"Airfield?" Robert asked.
"Airfield," Sara confirmed, "But it's a red-herring. We've got a boat offshore."
"From now on," Robert said, "I'm making you plan the escapes. You're a hell of lot better at it than I am."
Sara smiled through her tears.
Six hours later Sonia held the wheel of the ship as it knifed through the surf like a white dolphin. The wind was blowing strong enough to raise whitecaps and it drove the boat at a fast pace, leaning it over at a fifteen degree angle. Normally she would have been laughing in delight. Sailing was one of her passions and she rarely got to indulge it, and certainly not in a 40 foot luxury sailboat. Right now though, she felt numb.
She had been in on the rescue plan right from the start; had actively assisted Sara every step of the way. She had known early on that she would have to shoot one of the white-supremacists they worked with to do the actual prison escape. But she was discovering that the reality of her actions was... not what she had expected.
Robert emerged from the cabin wearing boat shoes, swim trunks, and a T-shirt. He flopped down on one of the bench seats forward of the wheel and basked in the sun for several minutes.
"Thank you, Sonia," he said, "I didn't like prison at all."
She shook her head and managed a response.
"No thanks are necessary. You killed to protect me and my family. You avenged my brother. I was in your debt."
"Then your debt has been paid in full. And perhaps then some. I repeat, thank you."
He fixed her with a gaze that penetrated the haze in her mind and she nodded.
Sonia, still wearing blue jeans and shirt came back from the bow.
"Everything is secure and all the evidence is over the side. I don't think they'll find the box even if they know where to look."
She looked at Robert.
"A concrete colander, sinjoro. Holds everything in and lets the sea water corrode everything. I soaked all the clothing in bleach just for extra insurance. Nothing is perfect so if they look hard enough..." she shrugged, "I'm going to go change now."
She ducked down through the doorway into the cabin space.
Robert nodded his head in approval and then appraised Sonia. She felt him looking at her and jerked her eyes from the compass and horizon to give him a half smile.
"It hurts," he said.
"What?" she responded in a puzzled tone.
"The killing. Shooting that man, the explosives. You feel like you're in pain. I've seen that look before, sometimes in the mirror. Don't hold back the emotions. It just makes things worse, believe me. Let it go."
"I... I can't," she whispered.
