Ellie stared out across the open space to where their captors stood. “I’m free, but Pedro’s watching, and we still need some kind of distraction.”
“And we need it to be darker.”
For the moment, Yuri still seemed focused on the man who’d been shot. And while she felt sorry for what had happened, she knew there was nothing more they could do to help. Taking him down the river to the clinic seemed like the best response, in her opinion. Emergency care wasn’t easy to find in a place where the lack of medical resources meant people died from things that might have been treated with simple antibiotics. And her best guess was that Dr. Reynolds’s clinic was well over an hour away.
Before long, darkness was going to settle across the surrounding jungle, which would help hide them if they escaped. But they’d tried to escape once before and that hadn’t ended well. What was going to make this attempt any better?
The other issue was that these men knew this area, and she and Ryan didn’t. Which put them at a serious disadvantage. They had no idea what they’d encounter or where they needed to go.
She kept her hands together behind her back in case they came back, not wanting them to notice she was free. They needed to make a decision. Their backpacks sat against a tree, six feet or so from them. They were another dozen feet from the edge of the jungle. They could grab their bags and run, but she still wasn’t convinced they’d make it. How far could they get in the dark with no idea where they were going?
“What about your cords?” she asked.
“I’m getting there.”
Ellie let out a huff of air. They’d notice if she tried to help him. Running through the jungle—traversing the uneven ground—was going to be difficult. He was going to need to have his hands free.
We need options, God.
She could smell fish frying at a fire near where Yuri and Pedro were drinking, which would slow down their reaction time. Her stomach grumbled. The last time she’d eaten had been hours ago. Yuri had warned them of the risks of running and probably assumed they weren’t going to even try to escape.
“If we head north,” Ryan said, nodding behind them, “we should hit the river. Yuri and his men have to have a boat to get in and out of here. We just have to find it, or a ride.”
“How far do you think?”
“It’s just a guess, but I’d say in calculating how long it took us to get here, three...maybe four miles.”
“And you think we can do this in the dark?”
“We wouldn’t be able to use it for a while, but you’ve got a flashlight in there, right?”
She nodded, grateful Yuri and his men hadn’t taken it. But heading into the jungle scared her almost as much as having to swim in the open water. The jungle at night was going to bring its own set of issues. And the truth was, her fears held validity.
Mind still running, she shifted her gaze to the table. The ants.
“What about the ants as a distraction?”
If their kidnappers caught them running into the jungle—which she was certain they would—they’d come after them. But if they had something to slow them down, or even stop them, it could buy them the time they needed.
“That might work,” Ryan said. “A hundred or so loose ants crawling on them...”
She shuddered at the thought, but it might just work. She glanced back at the men. They both had their backs to them for the moment.
She stood up. “I’m going to grab them now—”
“Ellie, wait...”
“They’re not paying attention to us at the moment,” she said, ignoring his warning. This could be their one chance.
She bridged the gap between her chair and the table, her heart pounding as she grabbed the jar, then headed back toward the chair. Seconds later she was back in the chair, grasping the jar of squirming ants behind her.
“I’ve just gotten loose,” Ryan said.
“Then take the jar. You take care of the ants, and I’ll grab the bags when we run.”
And pray until then that their plan worked.
Their chance came sooner than she thought. A minute later, Pedro sauntered over to them with a bottle of liquor, stopping their conversation. “Not thinkin’ of running, are you?”
He laughed, like the idea was ludicrous.
Ellie clasped her hands together behind her, praying he didn’t decide to check and make sure she couldn’t get loose. But thankfully, the thought didn’t seem to have crossed his mind.
“I guess we’ve already learned that doesn’t exactly seem like a good idea,” Ryan said.
“Had a group of tourists a few months ago that decided to spend the day hiking without a guide. They had a map and their compass and a couple bottles of water.”
Ellie looked away, not interested in playing the man’s games.
“Authorities found them a week later. According to the news, one died of snakebite, and another from dehydration. Just remember that.” He kneeled down in front of her and tilted up her chin with his thumb. “And by the way, we’re making dinner later, if you’re free.”
He laughed again.
The smell of liquor permeated his breath. She pulled back from his touch, fear seeping through her. Her gaze shifted to Ryan. There were no other options. They needed to leave no matter what the risks.
The muscles in Ryan’s jaw flinched. “Yuri told you to leave us alone.”
“Yuri isn’t in charge of me.”
The man had been drinking too much, but she couldn’t count on Yuri to defend her again. Ryan lunged toward him, taking Pedro by surprise. Pedro knocked Ryan onto the ground with the heel of his boot.
“Do you seriously think you can challenge me in your position?” Pedro asked.
Yuri ran across the yard at the commotion. Ryan grabbed the jar of ants, opened the lid, then flung the insects on the men.
“Ellie—run.”
Adrenaline pumping through her, she felt her body switch to flight mode as she obeyed Ryan’s order. She grabbed both packs and ran for the edge of the wooded jungle. She glanced back. Both men were already on the ground groaning.
Fear pushed her forward. In the lingering daylight, they needed to hurry. Once inside the forest, the heavy canopy filtered out most of the light. In another thirty minutes, heavy darkness would surround them. She needed the flashlight, but using it too soon meant a risk that the men would see them.
Ryan ran a couple of steps behind her. There was still no sign of the men, but she knew that eventually they’d start searching for them. A monkey howled in the distance, sending a chill down her spine with its haunting cry. She’d read about howler monkeys and their deafening calls that could be heard for miles. Maybe all of the animal noises would mask the sound of them crashing through the jungle.
She tried to erase the sense of déjà vu and instead focused on moving forward as fast as she could, not on the fact that the men would come after them.
“You okay?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah.”
She glanced behind her, still unsure they were even going in the right direction. But Ryan had been right. If they made it to the river, they could find Yuri’s boat and go downstream to the next town to get help. She slowed down to step over a rotten log. There was no true trail. Just the seemingly endless rain forest surrounding them.
She tried to swallow the waves of fear. Her lungs burned from the excursion. The humidity of the jungle pressed in around her. Mosquitoes buzzed everywhere. Forget about the dangers of this place—the only thing she cared about was leaving Yuri and his men as far behind as possible.
Fifteen minutes later the last of the light had almost faded, making it almost impossible to traverse the uneven jungle floor.
Ryan pressed his hand against her forearm. “We’re going to need that flashlight now.”
She paused. “Yes, but do you think it’s safe to use it?”
“I don’t think we have a choice. They might see us, but we’ll never make it through this forest without some light.”
Ellie dug around in one of the side pockets and pulled it out. She saw the insect repellent next to it and pulled it out as well.
“You’re getting eaten alive.”
“Better these annoying mosquitoes than one of those bullet ants.”
She shivered despite the heavy heat as she sprayed him with the repellent. She was tired of running. Tired of looking over her shoulder everywhere she went. The nightmares of her father’s death had slowly started to fade over the past few weeks, but not the constant fear of being caught.
“You’re sure we’re going the right way?” She flashed her light into the darkness. All she could see were trees and more trees.
“No, but I think so.”
Neither of them could be certain. They started again at a slow jog, careful to avoid a fallen, rotting log. Shadows from the flashlight pooled around them, seeming to chase them through the darkness. The beam caught two eyes glaring in the underbrush. Ellie picked up her pace, ignoring the urge to panic.
Minutes passed between them in silence. She tried not to imagine what was out there beyond the light of her flashlight, and Ryan, she was certain, was working on a plan to get them out of this. At least there hadn’t been any sign of their captors. But this was far from over. They were still miles from an airport, and there was no one at this point who could snatch them out of the jungle to safety.
Something caught her attention about fifty yards ahead of them.
“Ryan...” She stopped short, then shifted the angle of her flashlight. It caught the reflection of the water.
“Their boat has to be near here,” he said as they made their way to the shoreline. Her feet were covered in mud and her stomach wouldn’t stop grumbling, but she didn’t care. They’d just found a way out.
Five minutes later, they found a long wooden boat with a motor moored along the shore.
“You okay with going out on the water?” he asked.
“Let’s just say I’ve had to do a lot of things over these past few months that I’m not okay with. But when your life depends on it, there aren’t any other options than to press through, the impossible suddenly becomes possible.”
* * *
Ryan helped Ellie climb into the boat and handed her both backpacks, then stepped into the back of the boat to check out the motor. Someone wasn’t going to be happy when they discovered their transportation was missing come morning, but with no other options, all he could do was hope it found its way back to them. Unless it actually did belong to Yuri.
“I’m assuming you know how to start this thing,” she said, shining the flashlight so he could see the motor.
He chuckled at her question. “Remember I make my living on the water. My grandfather and I used to go fishing in a boat pretty similar to this one, actually. Let’s just hope it starts.”
The original starter cord had been replaced with a shoestring. Talk about makeshift mechanics. He grabbed the end and pulled on the cord.
Nothing.
He gave it a second, then tried again.
Ellie glanced toward the shoreline. “Do you think it will run?”
“I don’t know. Can you shine your flashlight over here?” She complied and he opened the fuel tank and checked the level. There was enough to get them to the next town at a minimum, plus a jerrican of fuel.
He tried pulling on the starter cord again. This time the motor caught.
“Looks like we’re in business,” he said, easing them away from the shore.
He studied the current. If they went downstream, it should feed into the main river. The boat slid through the black water lit only by the half-moon that hung to the east, giving him a sense of direction.
In the darkness, he couldn’t read her expression, but he was pretty sure what she was thinking by the inflection of her voice. As much as he knew she wouldn’t like it, his job right now was simply to get her out of here and to safety. She might not want to go back into hiding, but it was better than being dead. And if Yuri and his men found them, that was exactly what was going to happen. Which meant he was going to have to convince her to forget about the doctor and who had murdered her father for now and get her out of the Amazon.
Alive.
He followed the streaks of moonlight reflecting in the water. The shoreline was filled with gnarled trees and vines that spread into the water.
“I think I hear something.”
Ryan let the motor idle at her statement. Noise of another motor rumbled behind them.
“Looks like another boat.”
“If we could get their attention—”
“Ellie, wait.”
He caught her frown. “What’s wrong?”
“It sounds like a speedboat, but we don’t know who’s in it. Tourists are usually on riverboats, not speedboats. There are pirates out here on these waters.”
“Pirates? You’ve got to be kidding me. As if I didn’t have enough to worry about, you’re telling me it could be a pirate?”
“I just want to make sure we don’t find help in the wrong place.”
The second boat hummed in the distance as it got closer.
“I thought pirates were off the coast of East Africa and Somalia.”
“I read a lot when I’m not working. One of the articles I read was about the growing issue of piracy along the Amazon. They strike riverboats and tourists, but they also go after locals who use boats and are just as vulnerable.”
“What exactly are they after?”
“Fuel is one of their main targets, but from what I read, they’ll take anything. Electronics, food, cash, watches, drug stashes—whatever they can get their hands on.”
“And I just thought I had to worry about piranhas and electric eels. And the authorities? What are they doing?”
“Sounds like it’s more of a losing battle. We’re talking about a place almost the size of the US, and these pirates know the terrain, more than likely better than those trying to track them down.”
Ryan cut the motor and let the boat float toward the shore into the shadows, away from the moonlight, using the oars to guide them. A bright beam of light swept past them in the water, as if they were looking for something. For them? Ryan shoved away the thought. It wasn’t possible. Or was it?
“Get down,” he ordered.
He laid down next to her on the bottom of the boat as it bobbed in the water next to the shoreline. If they stayed still, hopefully they would look like nothing more than an empty boat, waiting for its owner to return in the morning. White light swept across the trees behind them. Water lapped against their boat. His arms wrapped around her shoulders. Voices from the other boat carried across the water.
If they’d found them...
The bright light swept the water just beyond them, then cut away as they passed them and headed slowly downstream. Ryan let out a whoosh of air and realized he’d been holding his breath.
He took a chance and looked out over the edge of the boat. The other vessel was only a shadow and disappeared into the darkness downstream.
“I think we’ve lost them, but we need to keep going.”
“Do you think they were looking for us?”
“I don’t know. It could be Yuri...could be pirates...could be anyone.”
If they encountered them again, there was no way they could outrun a speedboat. Heading back into the jungle seemed just as futile. Which left them—once again—out of any viable options.
Ryan hesitated. The sound of the motor began to grow louder as the boat turned around and headed back toward them. They’d seen something. A light flashed, reflecting off the boat.
“Ellie, stay down.”
Seconds later, a shot fired, hitting the water a few feet from their boat.
Whoever was out there had just found them.