Foster father

16

When Carter Vaughn returned to the temporary camp, the sky had already brightened.

The night watchmen saw the blood on his clothes and became very nervous. Carter Vaughn waved his hand, "I’ll talk to Elle when he wakes up."

He went back to his tent, where the child was still sound asleep. Carter Vaughn sat on the edge of the bed, watching the small, curled-up body, and felt a sense of confusion in his heart.

Who exactly is this child, the offspring of some big shot, that Vietnamese special forces would cross the border and track him to the southernmost tip of Myanmar? What started as a whim to pick up a little toy might now bring them big trouble, something Carter Vaughn never anticipated. But now, no matter the threat, he had no way out. He lived with his head on the chopping block, never afraid of death, and certainly not afraid of any person or power. Even the provocation from the military only excited and thrilled him.

What truly baffled him about the whole situation was how those people managed to track them down. Normally, when someone hears about a plane crash, especially in a forest dense with life-threatening hazards, how could anyone possibly think a five-year-old child could still be alive?

Assuming they found the wreckage and didn’t find the child's body, they would have to search a radius of several miles—maybe even tens of miles—based on the child's maximum walking distance. How many resources would such a rescue mission consume? Not to mention the risk of illegal border crossing leading to international disputes. How did those people eventually find their employer, and for what reason did they lock onto them? This relentless pursuit was unbelievable to Carter Vaughn, who couldn’t fathom how much they must have invested in resources.

Unless those people were convinced from the start that the child couldn’t possibly be dead, their tireless search made sense. Otherwise, it seemed like a needle in a haystack trying to find a little kid in such a vast forest. Who would dare to bet that a five-year-old child could survive in those conditions?

The whole thing was simply unbelievable. From the moment the child appeared until now, barely over three months had passed, and so many things had happened to Carter Vaughn that he couldn’t explain.

The weather was hot, and the child was wearing only a small vest, with bare legs. Carter Vaughn poked at the child’s soft belly button, and the child murmured in his sleep, rolling over. His chubby little arms and legs hugged the blanket as he slept soundly.

Carter Vaughn’s mind was filled with resentment as he looked at the child. I’ve been risking my life, and you’re here sleeping so comfortably. He pulled a marker from his bag and drew a squiggly-legged animal on the child’s belly, then colored the child’s little "bird" entirely black.

As he was coloring, the child woke up, rubbing his eyes and sitting up sleepily. "Daddy, what are you doing?" The child looked down and saw that his "private parts" were completely black. He screamed in fright, rolling and crawling back into the bed, trembling as he asked, "What are you doing?"

Carter Vaughn was having fun. The child’s thing was only about the thickness of his finger, soft and drooping—an amusing sight. When he saw the child's distressed reaction, he burst out laughing.

The child rubbed his belly, trying to wipe off the ugly design, but his skin turned red without success. The little "bird" was now blackened, and it was impossible to tell what it had originally looked like. The child’s eyes reddened with anger, but he dared not speak out, just staring at Carter Vaughn.

Carter Vaughn took off his bloody jacket and tossed it on the ground. "Go wash my clothes, then bring me breakfast."

The child pouted, holding back his tears. He got up, put on his clothes, angrily stomped on Carter Vaughn’s jacket a couple of times, then picked it up and walked away.

Not long after, Elle came over to wake him up and asked what had happened.

Carter Vaughn lit a cigarette and, looking at the one person he trusted, told him about Oliver.

After listening, Elle remained silent for a long time before slowly raising his head. His deep, mesmerizing eyes sparkled with a frightening gleam. "So, he must be worth a lot."

Carter Vaughn froze for a moment, barely suppressing the urge to strangle him.

At that moment, the child entered, holding Carter Vaughn’s breakfast. Elle, who never bothered to look at him, suddenly stared at him with wide eyes, making the child extremely nervous.

The child tiptoed to the table, placing the breakfast there. He spread a thick layer of butter on the bread and mixed the salad, then handed it to Carter Vaughn.

Elle raised an eyebrow. "He’s already this accustomed to serving you."

Carter Vaughn ate while speaking. "No work, no food. The place we're staying isn’t hard to find. Once those people find us, we’ll be on the defensive. We should leave as soon as it gets dark."

"Leaving sooner is good, but right now, getting out to sea is very difficult. Did you make any progress last night?"

Carter Vaughn was displeased. "The port is full of cargo ships—no speed there. I picked three ships with deeper drafts, and when we get to the place, we’ll choose the most suitable one. Based on their tonnage and fuel, it should be fine to reach Indonesia. We’ll unload as we go. I’m hoping there will be enough laborers on board."

"I just spoke with Tiger Shark. He found a smuggling port in the southwest. He advises that we avoid provoking the local smuggling group. However, if we can’t get out from here, we’ll have to force our way out from there. They definitely have fast, powerful smuggling boats, and the coast guard won’t be able to catch up."

Carter Vaughn nodded. "For now, that’s all we can do. You map out the route to the southwest port. If we can’t make it there, we’ll head straight for the smuggling port. As long as we have hostages and can get out to sea, we’ll be safe."

Elle said, "I’ll tell the others to get ready. Let’s ditch half the cars. Anyway, we can’t take them all when we fly to Indonesia. Adding the boat would just increase the weight."

"Okay, I’ll tell them to distribute the stuff from the cars."

Carter Vaughn arranged for the contents of four vehicles to be redistributed to the remaining four. The people in those vehicles would only carry personal weapons, and they were to drive to the port, abandon the cars, and board the ship.

As everyone was packing up, they saw thick smoke rising from the nearby woods. The wind wasn’t strong, but it stubbornly blew toward their direction, and the air carried an unusual smell.

Elle squinted and looked for a while, then shouted, "Forget the tents! Everyone, get in the cars!"

In the dry heat of the season, fires spread quickly. If the fire department gathered, their position would be discovered sooner or later. Eight military vehicles parked in one place with all foreigners was too suspicious, not to mention all the illegal goods they were carrying.

Carter Vaughn knew that this was probably some trick by the special forces to force them to reveal their position.

One by one, the eight vehicles drove out. With such a big target, driving to a legitimate port in broad daylight was pure nonsense. Elle turned on the GPS, deciding to head straight for the smuggling port.