buddypress: how do I make the group description excerpt shorter?

How is this excerpt from my novel (severely edited)?

• This is the opening section to my novel. I say this is severely edited because the whole scene has changed. I'm still editing the content, though, to make the sentence structure more varied, improve the description, etc., but what do you think? ~~~ Their whispers tore through the silence of the night, as if asking for a death sentence. “Take the package and keep it safe,” the woman whispered, holding out a box with various holes in it. “All the information you need is in the box.” “But-,” the man began to object. “Please, no time for objections, this is my only wish for you,” the woman said, eyes welling with tears. “Now hurry along, get far away from here, this package cannot fall into the wrong hands.” The man nodded and reluctantly began to walk away. Behind him, there was the faint sound of voices. “Hide, quickly!” the woman hissed. The man heard the urgency in the woman’s voice and dashed ahead, searching for a place to hide. In a few moments he had scrambled up a nearby tree and high into its branches. Now, the voices were much clearer, and were getting clearer by the second. “Over here!” a masculine voice shouted. The man heard leaves crunch and twigs snap as the other group approached. Only a few feet from his tree were the men. They all wore black cloaks and had enormous figures. “Search the area!” one of the voices yelled. The figures began to scour the area. And then, the man heard a familiar voice scream. It was the woman. He could barely see in the darkness, but he could make of one of the cloaked figures yanking the woman out of a bush. The woman struggled, but the man’s grip was firm. He moved his grip to her throat, and then the woman stopped struggling. With that, the cloaked man slung the woman over his shoulder, and with the rest of his cronies, ran off. The man sat in the tree with the package in his lap. He was frozen with the shock of what just happened. Once he had collected himself, he peeked into the box the woman gave him. Then, he closed the lid. He knew what he must do, no matter the cost.

• Answer:

  It's a hooking beginning and I can tell you worked hard on this scene alone. Just something that bothers me though: how would the man hear a familiar scream? Female screams sound pretty much the same to me, anyway, and how would he know it was her scream unless he hears her scream often?