pissed her off.
The rains had held off for a while, but now they fell in a steady pattern. The water was unexpectedly cold, making her shiver with each drop that hit her skin. When she felt a chill moving up her spine she knew she needed to put on something else. She’d packed a vinyl rain jacket for just this kind of situation. She stopped. Aldo continued moving and Saturnino and Daniel jogged past her as did Mac. But Reynaldo stopped.
“What’s wrong?”
“I need my jacket.”
He nodded. Jane pulled out the vinyl shell and pulled it on over her clothing.
“How much farther to your village?” she asked.
“Not long now. You and your companion should consider staying the night with us.”
Nothing sounded better to Jane. Especially when they arrived at the village fifteen minutes later. The cluster of huts was nestled in a small clearing, surrounded by tall trees. A well stood in the center, along with a fire where women were cooking. The dry huts were tempting. But her mission was urgent, and they had no time for rest.
Mac disappeared as soon as they got into the village. Jane was shown to a dry, clean hut. She didn’t bother changing her clothing because she knew being wet was part of being in the Amazon.
She got out her Blackberry and called the airport. They hadn’t heard from Bob.
She used her Blackberry to check her e-mail and was stunned to read a message from Meredith to the staff saying that she, Jane, was on a sabbatical and that her current projects were being reassigned. So she was really on her own.
Meredith hadn’t mentioned moving Jane’s workload around. Jane started to respond to the e-mail but decided it wasn’t worth the effort.
She did send an e-mail to Tom and Angie, telling them that things weren’t going too smoothly and that they’d been forced to jump early. She gave them her coordinates and asked Angie to check to see if Bob had survived the crash.
She found a table in the corner and removed everything from her bag. She found her grandfather’s knife and attached the holster to her ankle. She also took out her insect repellent and doused herself and her bag with it. Then she repacked everything and knew it was time to get on the road.
She searched out Reynaldo and found him speaking to some men. He looked up at her, his gaze concerned.
“Would you send some men to the crash site?” she asked.
He paused before he answered. Her heart sank.
“These men have checked it out.”
“Did they find the pilot?”
He shook his head. “There were no survivors.”
Jane swallowed hard and wrapped her arms around her stomach, struggling not to cry. She closed her eyes, remembering how Bob had always seemed so wild and funny to her. He’d amazed her with his wild tales.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and spun around. Mac.
Reynaldo and his men drifted away, probably to give them privacy.
“Where have you been?” she asked.
“Getting some information from the villagers about who’s warring with who. We don’t want to get caught in the cross fire of a tribal war.”
“That was a good idea.”
“I heard Bob didn’t make it. You okay?”
“Yes,” she said. But she wasn’t. She wished she was still safe in her lab, where she was in control. She turned away from him.
His voice made her pause and collect herself. “Do you know where the Yura are? Reynaldo thinks we’ve got a good day’s hike or more in front of us.”
“I know. I programmed the coordinates into my GPS before we left Lima,” she said. Focusing on business helped her shock at Bob’s death. In his note, her father had left some coordinates for the tribe.
She thought about her dad and how much had changed since he’d left civilization. Not just in the way of available products, such as satellite phones in the private sector, but also in her. She was older now. More experienced with the CDC.
She wondered what had gone so wrong with her father.
Mac put his hand on her shoulder. She glanced back at him. “My watch has a GPS. I’ll program the coordinates in there so we have a backup.”
Jane gave him the coordinates. His watch looked as though it had been invented for NASA. He programmed it and then glanced up.
“I have some light sticks we can use once darkness falls. But I’m planning to keep moving if we can,” she blurted out.
“That makes sense,” Mac said.
“I’ve been thinking about hiring Aldo to come with us,” she said.
“I’ve got enough jungle experience to get us to the Yura.”
That was all well and good, but there was something about Mac that made her uneasy. He was hiding something and she didn’t really want to find out on her own in the jungle that her faith in him was misplaced. “I’m going to check in with Reynaldo, but I want to leave in five minutes.”
“Sure thing, boss lady.”
Jane walked away, ignoring his smart comment. He liked to needle her, and she didn’t know why. She spotted Reynaldo and he waved her over to him.
“Do you need anything for your journey?” he asked.
“We do need food. And some information.”
“I gave food to your man. What do you want to know?”
“Could you tell me more about the trouble with the Yura?”
Reynaldo glanced across the clearing at Mac and then drew her farther away from him. “Six months ago something weird started happening with them.”
“Weird how?”
“They stopped trading with us and refused anyone who journeyed to their village.”
“What do you mean by refused?”
“They wouldn’t allow anyone to come into the village. No food stores could be replenished. A white man…gave them orders.”
“Did you see him?” Jane asked. Was it her father? Or someone else? Maybe Mac?
“No. But Aldo did.”
“Was the man Mac?” she asked.
He shook his head. Jane started to ask another question but saw that Mac was moving toward them. “Thank you. Would Aldo be available to act as a guide?”
Reynaldo shook his head. “No. We are getting ready to start the Spring
