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Isabella didn’t understand her fear of bats, but she couldn’t move her petrified feet. Her ears heard only the flapping of wings. Something tugged on her hand. She jerked her hand free.
Muffled words mixed with the buzzing in her head.
Shaking—something shook her body. A light flashed in her eyes and Tino’s face came into view.
“Ezzabella, pichón, we have to keep going. Your vest does not hold enough to keep us alive in here forever.”
Tino’s cajoling voice drew her gaze to his concerned face. She knew logically they must continue but making her body move seemed impossible.
“These are fruit bats. They do not harm people. They are coming in to roost for the day, which means there is an outside entrance to this tunnel.” He tugged on her hand. “Come, we will soon have you back to the compound.”
She wanted to follow, get out of this tunnel, and eat one of Pedro’s wonderful breakfasts. Her body, however, wouldn’t move. The flap of wings grew in volume. Isabella covered her ears and shut her eyes.
“I will be right beside you the whole way.” Tino wrapped an arm around her shoulders and, again, urged her forward.
“I can’t. The wings...I can’t move.” She hated her fear.
Something touched her hair. She batted at it with her hands and screeched.
“Querida.” Tino caught her hands, holding them in front of her. “It is only my shirt. I am putting it over your head so you do not have to fear a bat touching you. I will lead you through their lair.” He kissed her cheek and his shirt settled around her head and shoulders.
His comforting, spicy scent filled her senses. An arm wrapped around her shoulders and they slowly moved forward. She put one foot in front of the other, her confidence building with each stride.
She sensed the motion of the bats, her heart stilled, and her breathing stopped. Tino’s pace accelerated, then his arm left her shoulders.
“Tino?” She froze.
“¡Vamos!” His voice came from the direction of scuffling and flapping wings.
“Tino!”
“¡Vamos! Run to the light!” His shout scared her.
Isabella pulled the shirt from her head and in the faint light from the entrance of the cave she watched in horror as Tino flailed his arms to thwart the bats swooping at him. It took a split second for her mind to register the large ears, long snout, and sharp teeth of the vampire bat.
“Shamutz!” She yelled and smacked the bats with Tino’s shirt. His tank t-shirt left too much of his skin exposed.
Her fear for Tino vanquished her own terror.
She had one goal; save Tino. Swinging his shirt, Isabella herded Tino toward the light. She kicked a bat running in a swaggering gait along the ground toward them.
She shoved Tino out of the cave, running behind him into the growing light of dawn. The bats didn’t follow.
“I’ve never—” Isabella grasped Tino and hugged him tight. Her body shook, keeping time to her racing heart. He kissed her head and clung to her.
“We are so far from livestock I honestly thought those would be fruit bats.”
“Why did they attack you?” A violent convulsion shook her body.
“They probably smelled the blood from my wound.” He held her tight a moment more then drew back. “We have to get you back to the compound.”
Isabella shook her head. “First we have to clean up those scratches.” She pulled out her first aid kit and cleaned the gash on his head and the abrasions on his arms from warding off the bats. “Do you think they had rabies?” What would she do if Tino caught the disease clear out here in the middle of nowhere?
“Usually the bats that are near civilization are the ones that contract the disease. And they did not bite me. The scratches are from their claws. I should be fine.” Tino pulled his shirt on and studied his watch.
“But what if you aren’t? We have to be out of here in ten days. I read where that’s the length of time it takes for your body to start showing signs.” Isabella grabbed a fistful of his shirt. “You can’t shrug this off. I will not let you die.”
He cupped her face in one hand. “Mi pichón, you worry too much. I will be fine.” Tino kissed her cheek and started walking.
She caught up to him. “I mean it. You could be infected and how could you carry out your mission?”
“These are only scrapes. How do you know I did not get them crawling through the hole or when the narcos discovered me?” He continued through the forest, maneuvering around large ferns and downed trees.
“Those are fresh cuts. And they are small enough that your shirt would have prevented them.” Guilt seeped into her thoughts. “If you hadn’t given me your shirt, the bats wouldn’t have left marks.” She stopped. “Shamutz. My fear could kill you!” This whole fiasco was her fault. He wouldn’t be caught up in the compound and all its problems if she hadn’t come to Guatemala.
She heard Tino moving steadily forward. He couldn’t be left alone. She had to keep an eye on him, help him finish his mission, and get to civilization in ten days. Rushing forward, shoving the vegetation out of her way, she slammed into Tino’s back.
He wrapped his arms around her. His hot breath tickled her ear. “There is a patrol ahead of us. The way they are poking at everything, they are looking for me.”
Isabella turned her head, meeting his lips with hers. If he had rabies she shouldn’t kiss him. His saliva mixed with hers could infect her. He hasn’t been bitten. She’d take the chance. Her lips parted and she kissed him briefly, soaking in his strength and calm. “What do we do?” she whispered against his mouth.
“Take the long route. Unfortunately, that means you will not get back to the compound without their missing you.” He peered into her eyes.
“If they’re all out here looking for you, we can go back through the tunnels.” She shook at the thought of going back through the bats.
“I am sure they are watching the tunnels.” He released her and grasped her hand. “Come on. We will have to make a wide circle around them. I hope they do not find my radio gear the way they are searching.”
Isabella followed Tino. He moved with stealth and stopped often, listening. Her stomach rumbled. “When will we get to the dig?” She wiped at the perspiration gathering on her forehead. The jungle canopy spared her from direct sunlight, but the heat and humidity zapped her energy.
“Tomorrow morning, if we do not encounter any more obstacles.” Tino picked up the pace an hour after they’d found the men looking for him. He stopped, wiping a sleeve across his forehead.
Isabella swatted at the mosquitoes buzzing her face. As much as she hated the nasty smelling DEET, she would love to bathe in some right now. “Tomorrow? This must be some circle we’re making.”
“It’s not that big a circle. We cannot make good time dodging the forest and the narcos.” He checked his watch. “All I have to go by are the coordinates on my GPS. If I had a map, I could see the lay of the land and determine a better course.”
Spider monkeys chortled in the tops of the trees.
“Why not climb up a tree and check out the terrain?” She peered up the tree she leaned against. The bark wasn’t so smooth that it would be impossible to climb.
“The branches are high in the air.” Tino tipped his head back gazing up the tree.
“Haven’t you ever seen an electrical lineman climb a power pole?” Isabella scanned the area around them. Thick vines hanging from a nearby tree looked promising. She walked over, jumped up, and clung to the vine, dangling in air to see if it held her weight. The vine held and she didn’t land on her butt. A good sign.
She dropped to the ground, pulled out her tin, and extracted the wire saw.
“You do have everything.” Tino took the wire from her and sawed through the vine at the spots she indicated.
“We can’t tie this together, so you’ll have to hold the two ends tight.” Isabella wrapped the vine around her back and the tree, showing Tino how to lean into the vine and walk up the trunk.
Her racing heart stalled when he had some problems the first ten feet, but once he synchronized his feet and the movement of the vine, he climbed steadily.
“Over that way is a bare ridge. We can make better time going along it.” He worked his way back down and stopped in front of her. His skin glistened with perspiration.
“Here.” She handed him the flask.
He took a sip and handed it back.
“Drink more. You expended a lot of energy and sweat climbing that tree.” She pushed the flask back toward him.
“You need to drink too.”
“I will. But you first. With the rain this afternoon we can refill the flask and my bag.” One thing you could count on during the rainy season. Water.
He nodded, took two long gulps, and handed the flask back. Isabella sipped and capped the bottle. “Let’s go.”
Tino grinned and started out in the direction of the ridge. He’d marked the location on his watch. They should be there in an hour. He would keep the fact that he saw the compound to himself. The movement of more bodies than the usual crew reflected either they realized Isabella was missing or the narcos had taken over the compound. The best course of action he could take would be to get to his radio and tell Hector to move in and capture the tunnel and the narcos scouring the jungle looking for him. The problem—the narcos looking for him were between him and the radio.
“Will this ridge get us back to the compound today?” Isabella’s voice reminded him he wasn’t alone and had to think of her safety first.
“If we can keep a steady pace, we should arrive at the compound after dark, which will be best for sneaking you back in.” He didn’t want to leave her at the mercy of all the questions that would be put to her, but she was safer among the dig workers than with him dodging narcos.
“You haven’t told me what you overheard last night and how they caught you.”
Her comment landed as deadly as a spear in his chest. To tell her what he had overheard would put her in more danger. He’d learned enough about Isabella to know she would be more determined to decipher the carvings in the altar chamber and stop Virgil.
“I followed don Miguel and Raul into the tunnel. They had set a sentry twenty feet up the tunnel from the chamber where you found me. The two walked past and the sentry did not move or say a word. I did not know he was there until he thumped me on the head.” Resentment at being jumped gurgled in his gut. “When I came around, two of the narcos tried persuading me to tell them who I was and why I followed them. When I did not cooperate, they punched my head with the stock of a gun.”
Tino faced Isabella. “Then a guardian angel came along and lifted me from their hands.”
“They would have killed you if I hadn’t worried about you.” She placed a hand on his arm. “You have to be more careful. I couldn’t bear...” Tears glistened in her eyes.
He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to his heart. “Mi pichón, I have the lives of a cat and the promise I made to you. Nothing will keep me from fulfilling that promise.” Tino kissed the top of Isabella’s head and breathed in her scent. “Come, we must keep moving.” He grudgingly moved away from her, striding toward the ridge he’d seen. His fears for her would keep them safe. This latest encounter made him more vigilant.
The major problem was figuring out who was her friend and who was her enemy at the dig. After overhearing the discussion between Martin and Miguel, he feared the doctor couldn’t be trusted. Nor could Walsh because of his dealings with the narcos. The only person he trusted at the dig was the cook, Pedro. He would slip into the cook tent after he deposited Isabella in her tent and ask the man to keep an eye on her. He had to get back to the radio and tell Hector to move on the cave.
They walked out onto the ridge. The hot tropical sun baked his bare head.
“We will keep to the edge of the trees for shade.” He grasped Isabella’s hand. Here in the open they could walk side-by-side.
“A good plan.”
Tino noticed Isabella’s lagging steps. “Would you like to rest and eat? I see a papaya tree.”
“Yes. I’m afraid no sleep and little food is catching up to me.” Isabella sank to the ground at the base of a tree.
“I will be right back.” Tino walked to the tree. Orange and yellow oval-shaped fruit hung in a cluster from the bottom of the fronds to within his reach. Thankful it was a wild papaya tree which was smaller and yielded smaller fruit, he plucked half a dozen papayas. The first two, he wedged into the breast pockets of his shirt. He tucked his T-shirt into his pants and dropped the fruit down inside his shirt to keep his hands free to pluck a few more.
He returned to Isabella and found her curled up asleep. She had to be exhausted. Unable to bring himself to wake her, he watched her sleep and ate a papaya. She did everything with her whole heart. He should have mentioned the conversation between the two men in the altar chamber. But she’d seek answers and that would bring her in closer contact with the two men. He couldn’t chance her meeting don Miguel. He would rather she kept her passion focused on the tablet and on him. The heat of the afternoon tugged his eyelids closed and he fell asleep dreaming of Isabella’s soft lips.
~*~
Isabella woke and sniffed. What was that offensive smell? And sound? Grunting and a squeal shot her to a sitting position. The noise intensified as a group of pecarí shot into the trees behind her.
“¡Carajo!” Tino sat up. A papaya with a bite out of it sat on the ground beside him.
Isabella giggled. The pecarí had sneaked up to eat the fruit beside Tino. He was so exhausted he hadn’t even noticed.
“The little thieves.” Tino tossed the fruit with the missing bite into the bushes.
“Is that all you had? I’m hungry.” She could’ve cut off the nibbled side.
Tino unbuttoned his shirt and pulled his T-shirt out of his waistband. Fruit tumbled into his lap.
“You’re lucky they didn’t go for the hidden fruit.” She crawled up beside him and kissed his cheek. “My provider.” She plucked a papaya from his lap, opened her Army knife, and sliced the fruit in half.
“You can pluck my fruit any time.” He joked but his eyes blazed.
“I just did.” She teased and licked the juice running down her chin.
Tino growled, grabbed her behind the neck, and pulled her to him. “Two can tease, querida.” His tongue skimmed lightly across her lips.
She parted her lips and he continued to trace the outside edges with the tip of his tongue. The light touch ignited a need for more. She tried to press her lips to his, but he avoided her, teasing with his tongue.
Frustrated she tried to pull away. His hold tightened only enough to keep her from getting away.
“Ah, ah, ah. I see you are one to tease but not enjoy being teased.” He skimmed his lips across hers and pulled back when she tried to deepen the kiss.
“You’re not teasing. You’re torturing.” Isabella thrust out her bottom lip in a pout and was rewarded when Tino drew it between his lips and rubbed his tongue across the sensitive inside.
The sensations tingled to her toes, but she remained still, knowing if she tried to take it farther, he would pull back. Her patience was rewarded. Tino deepened the kiss and his hand slid from her neck down her back, drawing her body closer to him.
Still worried he would pull away, she kept her hands lax.
“You may touch me now,” he said against her lips.
She smiled. “I’m not ready.”
“You are a plaga, querida.” Tino leaned back, and she fell forward, nearly in his lap, before catching herself.
“¿Plaga?” It sounded like plague, but she didn’t think that was what he meant.
“You are mischievous, no?” He picked up a fruit that had rolled from his lap and used her knife to cut it open.
“It takes one to know one.” Isabella raised an eyebrow and took another bite from her fruit.
“True.” He grinned. Juice dribbled from the corners of his mouth. “That is why we get along so well.”
Isabella leaned in and licked the juice off his skin. “That’s one of the reasons.” She stared into his eyes.
He broke contact. “Eat. We need to keep moving.”
She sat back and ate three papayas and sipped water. The flask was nearly empty. The clouds didn’t appear any closer to dropping rain than earlier in the day.
A thumping sound she’d not heard in the jungle before was muffled then grew in volume. “What’s that?”
“A helicopter. Slip farther into the trees.” Tino grabbed her arm and they scrambled to their feet and deeper into the forest.
“Shouldn’t we see who it is? It might be the park officials.”
Tino shook his head and pointed through a break in the trees. The vehicle hovered over the clearing, turning this way and that. The emblem on the side looked like agricultural products.
“Don Miguel,” Tino said, his face darkening and his mouth turning grim.
“You’ve mentioned him before. Who is he?” She didn’t think she was going to like what he said.
“He is the man funding the dig. I followed him into the tunnel.”
“Virgil is funding his dig with drug money?” Isabella couldn’t believe the man she knew would stoop that low. “He hates drugs. He helped an assistant go through rehab.” Did her father know? Was that why he had stopped funding Virgil? Stopped inviting him to family gatherings?
Tino shook his head. “I do not know if it is drug money or Miguel’s money. From what I have heard Miguel is friends with the man I am trying to bring down. But I cannot say it is drug money he is using to fund the dig.”
The helicopter rose and skimmed across the tops of the trees.
“They are looking for me.” He peered into her eyes. “The quicker we get you away from me the better. I do not know what you will tell them at the dig about being gone, but you cannot let anyone know you were with me or helped me.” Tino grabbed her upper arms. “Promise me you will not let anyone know you were with me. It could be your death if they think you know anything.”
Isabella gulped, shoving the lump of fear back into her bubbling stomach. If she hadn’t been through so much lately, she’d think she had an ulcer the way the acid seemed to burn in the lining.
“Promise.”
She nodded. “But what do I say?”
“We must continue. We will think of something as we walk.” Tino wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her to the edge of the forest. “We need to stay inside the cover of the trees. That helicopter could come buzzing back by here at any time.”
She nodded and snuggled deeper into the security of his arm. What could she tell Virgil and the others when she reappeared at the dig? That she’d disappeared during the time Tino was caught and freed would be looked at with high suspicion. Her fib had to be fool proof.