Last Day in Limbo

From this printing: Tia Benita was crazy and her nephew, Paxero, knew better than to cross her. So, when the old lady tells him she wants Modesty Blaise as a slave on her plantation, there are no arguments. Instead, a very extensive kidnapping operation is put into effect.

She had seen her first shot with the BAR go a few inches wide of its target, hitting the butt of the rifle the man carried. Her next shot, adjusted for inaccurate sights, had found its mark. Valdez hit a man in the shoulder with his second shot. Some of the Specials threw themselves flat, others darted for cover.
A burst of wild firing raked the trees behind her. She signalled Valdez to hold his fire. They had only one magazine each. A Land Rover crept out from behind the house, and three men darted to gather behind it. The driver was crouched low, out of sight.
She realised bleakly that the battle, barely begun, might soon be lost. Marker and Stavros should have been here by now, each with a carbine and revolver to give added firepower. Bissau, watching her, saw her eyes burn suddenly. She said, "Give me the Colt, and take the rifle, I´m going to move a little way right. Wait till that truck´s really close, then engage them. I´ll come in fast and gun them down with the Colt, then we´ll have some more BARs to play with—"
She broke off, head cocked at the sound of a steady yap, yap, yap, a weapon firing single-shot, but from a distance. From the east. From somewhere on the high slope across the river.
The Land Rover swerved drunkenly and stalled. The three men, exposed, turned and ran. Yap. Yap. One went down hard. The other two vanished behind the western corner of the big house. The rest of the Specials had already pulled back inside.
She rested her head on the butt for a moment, and let a surge of relief and exhilaration wash through her. The incomparable Willie Garvin was here, two days ahead of her best expectations.
Bissau said shakily,"Who...?"
She lifted her head, smiling."An old friend, from Outside."

Peter O`Donnell, Last Day in Limbo, 1976