Cassidy’s eyes widened then narrowed to slits, her displeasure with his curt tone evident. Her lips thinned and she planted her hands on her hips. Gabe caught up with her, and Cassidy kept her glare at full power. He knew he should apologize, but frankly he just didn’t feel like it. Besides, when they argued, he didn’t think about his nightmares.
“How much farther do you think it is?” Her words came out stiff, as though she begrudged having to ask the question.
“We can probably be there in a couple of hours.”
“That soon?” Surprise chased away her anger.
“Yeah, the camp where you were held wasn’t that far. By jeep, only a couple of hours or so. Seeing how we have to keep off the beaten path, it may take a lot longer.”
“Okay, once we get there, how long do you think it would take us to get to La Joya?”
Gabe shrugged. “If we could borrow a jeep, and don’t get lost or killed, probably not that long.”
“And if we don’t have a jeep?”
“A lot longer. Today’s the twentieth. The plane will be there tonight for its weekly supply drop. If we miss it, it’ll be another week before it comes back.”
A raindrop chose that moment to roll down one of the large canopy leaves through the drip tip and splatter on Gabe’s nose. He groaned. “We’d better get moving so we can find a dry place to hole up for a while.”
“Where do you find shelter from the rain in a rain forest?” she asked.
Gabe felt a few more drops and said, “I have no idea. Let’s see if we can find something before we get saturated.”
The sky opened up. Gabe groaned again. Barely able to see in front of him, he pulled the machete from the sling across his back and swung with a vengeance, not caring about the trail he was leaving. If they were getting wet and looking desperately to get out of the downpour, chances were so were the guys behind them.
After an hour of backbreaking work, struggling to walk and see through the pouring rain, Gabe was so tired he was ready to drop. Cassidy wasn’t faring much better. She lagged, and he pulled. However, she never voiced a complaint.
Gabe shook his head and brought his arm up one more time to swing, refusing to give in to the exhaustion plaguing him. His SEAL training had been a long time ago, but right now, it was like it was yesterday. When the machete cut through the vine in front of him, then came to a bone-rattling halt, Gabe’s shoulder felt as if it was going to bounce out of its socket.
His abrupt halt brought Cassidy slamming into him. He grabbed her to steady her and her soggy ponytail slapped the side of his face.
Gabe parted the vines and leaves and realized that his hand rested on knotted wood. They’d found a cabin. He wiped the rain from his eyes to no avail. It still came down in sheets, blinding him. Cassidy forged on ahead.
He followed in Cassidy’s rapidly disappearing footsteps and found them standing on a small porch, finally out of the never-ending rain. Cassidy curled her fingers around the knob.
“Wait!” he hissed in her ear.
She jerked back and stared at him.
“I need to check it out. Stand here and be quiet, okay?”
He scrubbed the water from his eyes and moved to the edge of the door. He pulled the gun from his waistband and motioned for Cassidy to get behind him. Using the butt of the gun, he gave the door a hard rap.
No response. Gabe repeated the procedure and still, there was nothing to indicate that anyone was inside.
Holding the gun steady with his right hand, he twisted the knob with his left. It turned smoothly and Gabe pushed the door open. When the object hurled itself from inside, screeching at the top of its lungs, Cassidy’s scream echoed in its wake as Gabe tackled her to the floor of the porch.
FIVE
Heart thudding, adrenaline pumping, Cassidy watched the colorful macaw land on the railing then jump to the wooden floor of the porch.
“It’s only a bird.” Cassidy shook with relief.
“He almost scared me to death,” Gabe grunted in disgust, got up and brushed himself off. He hauled Cassidy up next to him.
“But at least we now know no one’s home.” She eyed the entrance. “Nothing human anyway.”
Gabe stepped into the cabin and Cassidy followed, stopping just inside the door to stand beside him. The place stunk. Cassidy wrinkled her nose and pulled the neckline of her soggy shirt up over it. Water pooled around their feet.
Cassidy saw that the cabin consisted of one large room with a kitchen off to the side. The large room boasted a sofa that mold, mildew and animals had attacked with a vengeance, and two chairs that matched the ones in the kitchen. The kitchen held a rickety wooden table and two chairs that sat rotting in one corner.
Obviously no one had been there in a long time. The broken window in the kitchen revealed how the birds entered and left. Cassidy didn’t bother to close the door as she made her way farther inside.
Gabe said, “I’ll check that back room.”
Cassidy nodded and moved to stand in front of the fireplace. Leftover wood lay on an iron grate, like someone had readied the kindling for burning later, but then never returned. She wondered if she could light a fire without a match.
Gabe came out of the back room and said, “It’s a bedroom. Nothing there. I doubt the guys on our tail can follow a trail through this mess, but we’ll still have to be careful. If they know about this place, they may head straight here. As soon as it quits raining, we need to be out of here.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “But first things first.” She walked back onto the porch, “I’m starving and since I’m already soaking wet, I’ll see if I can gather some fruit from these trees.”
Gabe agreed and joined her, squinting through the downpour to keep an eye out for their pursuers while Cassidy picked the fruit. His hand never moved very far from the gun at his waist. She appreciated his vigilance.
Working quickly, she gathered their next meal then reentered the cabin. Gabe brought up the rear. She walked into the kitchen, set the fruit on the dusty counter and asked, “You think you can get a fire going?” She tossed him a papaya.
He caught it easily, took a bite and said, “Better not risk it.”
Cassidy nodded, seeing the wisdom in his caution. She wrung the water out of her hair and picked up a piece of the fruit she’d gathered. Stepping next to the dark fireplace, she sat down near it, imagining she was back at home, safely ensconced in her home. It didn’t work.
“What happened to those quick little showers that quit after five minutes?” she grumbled under her breath and took a bite. Sweet juice slathered her tongue then coated her throat. Wonderful. She asked, “Are we going to end up spending the night here?”
“I hope not. If the rain keeps up, I guess
