10

Luca

The good news was pretty obvious as soon as they stepped into the light of the open desert. Dry heat hit Luca in the face. It was at least ten degrees hotter than the jungle, but without the humidity, it was bearable.

Everyone in the group gathered in a circle, talking over each other in loud, excited voices.

“They’re here!” June sprinted through the sand. Her feet slipped and she almost nose-dived, but she righted herself and made it to the group. Pushing herself through, she threw herself at Gabby in a hug.

The girls laughed.

Luca smiled. “Can’t believe we did all that and they made it back on their own.”

Avery turned to look at him but winced. “I’m really sorry about your head.”

The lump on his forehead felt bigger than it had before. He shrugged. “It’s really no big deal.”

“At least you have a great story to tell. You were attacked by a jungle monkey.”

He laughed but it faded fast. “I think we all have a great story to tell. We’ve been stranded in the desert for days.”

Her smile fell away, too, and worry lines replaced it. She wrapped her arms around her waist. “Can you believe this? Why hasn’t anyone come looking for us?”

He fought the urge to hug her. To comfort her.

A rumbling in the distance caught his attention and he let a slow grin spread across his face. “Do you hear that? It sounds like they got our van running.”

Her head snapped up, and she gazed across the sand toward the van. The guys gathered around it, laughing and high-fiving.

This was good. Better than good! They’d found the lost girls and fixed their van, and now they could get out of here for good. Just in time, too, because Benny wasn’t the only one who was tired of fruit.

Luca could go for a double bacon cheeseburger and super fries right about now. He nudged Avery. “Come on. Let’s check it out.”

They walked side by side toward the missing girls.

“Do you want to say something to them?”

She shook her head and kept her gaze on the van. Seemed strange, but he didn’t question her. Instead, he led her to the van.

“You did it.” Luca shook hands with Bradley and Sam. “Do we have a plan to get out of here?”

“The tires are buried deeply in the sand,” Sam said, “but we are working on a plan.”

“Excellent.”

Bradley wiped his hands on his shirt and stepped toward them. “Dude, did you hear those girls’ story yet?” He cocked an eyebrow when Luca shook his head. “It’s pretty crazy. You might want to go have a listen.”

Luca turned to the girls who were still surrounded by the rest of the group. That didn’t really sound like good news. He turned back to Bradley. “Thanks. And good work on the van.”

An uneasy feeling settled in Luca’s gut as he and Avery stepped closer to the group gathered around Gabby and Katelyn. He moved close to them and waited for a break in the conversation. “So,” he finally said. “Where have you been?”

Avery cleared her throat and stepped around him. “How are you? Were you hurt? We heard Katelyn has asthma.”

Luca cringed. He should have started with that.

“I’m fine,” Katelyn said. “We found water and fruit, and we got back as soon as we could find our way.”

They did look OK—no cuts or bruises.

“How did you sleep in there?” Avery asked. She shuddered.

Gabby stepped forward. “We didn’t sleep at all. We were only gone a couple of hours.”

Luca’s nerves went on high alert. “What do you mean?” He glanced at Avery and she frowned, her head cocked to the side.

“We only went in to use the bathroom. We didn’t go more than a few steps in, but when we turned around, we realized we were lost. After about an hour of walking we found a creek, and later some fruit, then we found our way out.”

So his original water path had definitely crossed with the girls’ path, but their timeline was way off. “You guys have been gone since yesterday morning,” he finally said.

Had they gone crazy?

Avery’s face looked troubled, and she wrapped her arms more tightly around her waist. It was something she didn’t do in the past. Must have become some kind of nervous habit.

Katelyn shook her head, bringing him out of his thoughts. “Everyone keeps saying that, but we weren’t there all night. It never even got dark.”

Their story made no sense. The alcove had been beaten down by someone’s body, and the pathway leading away from it came straight to the desert.

“So how did you find your way out?” Avery asked.

“We had a feeling,” Katelyn said. “It happened to be right.”

Gabby chuckled, and her tight black curls bounced around her face. “Yeah, that and your vision. Tell them about him.”

“Vision?” Luca asked.

Bradley was right. This was getting weirder by the minute.

“She saw some guy dressed in white,” Gabby said. “She said he pointed to the way we should go.”

A cold, uneasy feeling crept up Luca’s spine. He pushed out thoughts of the white flash he saw, and forced himself to be logical. “I don’t understand.”

Katelyn frowned and elbowed Gabby. “You promised you wouldn’t tell.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Gabby said. “We were hot and hungry. People see things. You just happened to see something that got us out of there.”

Avery choked and coughed. She pulled away from the group, covering her mouth.

Luca turned back to the girls. “So a guy in white told you how to get back.”

“I guess so,” Gabby said.

“Where did you see him?” Avery had stepped back to the group.

Luca kept cool about it, but her shaking was obvious.

Gabby and Katelyn glanced at each other, almost as if they were trying to remember.

“It was after we saw the fruit tree,” Katelyn said. “Do you remember that?”

Gabby frowned but nodded. “I think so, but I didn’t see him.”

Katelyn blushed and shrugged. “I wish I didn’t see him, either. I thought I was going crazy! But at least we made it back.”

A guy dressed in white.

Luca swallowed hard. If Katelyn was hallucinating, it wasn’t because she was hot and hungry, and she wasn’t the only one.