The Guardian by Joshua Hood

Author:Joshua Hood [Hood, Joshua]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Published: 2023-06-26T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 26

REBEL CAMP

Ubili, DRC

Twenty miles northwest of the mine, the convoy of six Ural-4320s trundled through the jungle, their springs creaking under the full loads of ore. Near the back of the line, Gavin Roos studied the fragmentation grenades bobbing on the length of paracord stretched across the cab of the truck.

Mineral smuggling in the DRC was a dangerous game, and even with the network of government agents, crooked cops, and trigger-happy rebels Sterling paid off each month to let Roos and his men through, he could never be sure if his allies were going to wave him along the way or put a bullet in his head. Roos did what he could to minimize the risks, but no matter how many times he changed the routes or how well armed they traveled, there were only so many ways through the jungle.

So he kept his head on a swivel and double-checked the Vektor R4 assault rifle slung across his chest. Then, needing a nicotine hit, Roos lit a cigarette, his eyes drifting over the landscape scrolling past the window.

Hostile or not, it was still beautiful country, and despite the constant threat of death, many called it home. Roos envied them for that. He liked to imagine that at one time there might have been a place for him among the thatched huts and ferrous red dirt, but just as quickly as the thought had occurred, reality came rushing back.

The truth was, Roos had been living on borrowed time ever since he’d killed Angelo, and if Pieter and the men he’d sent to find Sawyer came back empty handed, he knew that the next time he saw Botha, the other man would have orders to put a bullet in Roos’s head.

Which was why he and Pieter had come up with an escape plan.

Stealing from a man like Alexander Sterling was a death warrant—a surefire way to earn a bullet and a shallow grave in the middle of the bush. But since that was where Roos and his men were already headed, they might as well enjoy the ride.

Siphoning from the loads had been as easy as recalibrating the scales so no one would notice, but unlike Sterling, who had the processing facilities and connections to sell his ore directly to his customers, Roos had to sell his stolen shares at the comptoirs—the markets where the black-market mineral merchants would buy the illegal ore for pennies on the dollar.

He had sold a few smaller shipments that way but been quick to realize that the paltry sums he and Pieter were making were not worth the risk. No, to make the kind of cash necessary to retire, Roos needed a single client with deep pockets. He’d found exactly what he was looking for in the Chinese.

The only problem was he’d been forced to cut Major Rambo—one of the local rebel leaders—in on the score, pay him to keep the roads clear and the rebels off his ass. It wasn’t the optimal relationship, but so far the man had kept up his end of the bargain by providing safe passage for the first two loads.

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