Chapter 25 #2
‘It’s like those stick men are talking to me,’ adds Giovanni, his eyes like saucers. ‘Can you hear them?’
We listen to the breeze whispering to us. The images seem to be moving as the torchlight dances around.
I feel light-headed. I sniff the coffee. ‘What’s in this?’ I ask the instructor.
He shrugs.
‘Whatever it is, it’s got me as high as zee Eiffel Tower,’ says Henri, laughing, holding his cup out for a top-up.
Oh, my God. No wonder we’ve all calmed down.
‘I need a wee,’ Mimi says, sagging against Carlton. ‘I feel faint. I’m seeing things. I’m seeing ghosts all over the place. And those eggs are repeating on me. Where’s the nearest toilet?’ Her high-pitched squeak ricochets off every surface.
A voice comes from the darkness. ‘If you need the toilet, you’ll have to go back to the surface.’
My nerves are on edge because I could have sworn that was Cam’s voice.
This drink is more potent than I thought.
I nearly spit it out as he comes into view.
He steps out from behind one of the camera crew who I’d totally forgotten were following stealthily behind us, in silence.
My jaw is on the floor as they all start begging to go back to the surface with Mimi.
Suddenly, all of the Islanders need the toilet.
Cam barks orders to the crew like a drill sergeant, instructing the guide to take us all back to the surface by the quickest route possible. There’s a huge cheer, which causes some rubble to fall around us.
‘Yes,’ says the guide, lowering his voice. ‘We go now. Before the ghosts return.’
* * *
As we make our way back along the pitch-black tunnels, I fall behind so that I can walk with Cam. He has instructed the crew to switch off the cameras, pack them into the bags and buddy up with the Islanders to make sure we get to the surface before the shaft falls down around our ears.
‘I can’t believe it’s you,’ I whisper, turning off my microphone. ‘I just can’t believe it.’ I’m so overwhelmed to see him, or possibly a bit high as only lame repetitions are forthcoming. ‘I just can’t believe it. I. Just. Can’t. Believe. IT.’
He looks sideways at me and, in the dim light, I see his eyes crinkle.
‘How are you?’ he whispers back. ‘As soon as I saw you hadn’t left the villa, I suspected Porscha had done something. She’s refusing to speak to me. I came to find out if you’re okay. And you’re not… not in some sort of hostage situation.’
I nod quickly. ‘You’ve come to rescue me?’
Cam puts a finger to his lips. One of the crew has turned round. ‘Okay back there, boss?’
‘Sure thing, buddy. We should be at the shaft entrance any minute now,’ Cam says in response. This has the bonus of causing much relief and excitement.
He leans over to whisper in my ear. ‘Do you still want to leave the villa?’
‘Yes. Definitely.’
‘When we get to the top, pretend you feel sick.’
‘Okay. Why?’
‘Trust me. I have a plan.’
I let out a huge sigh of relief. ‘You do? I can’t believe you’d come all this way down here for me.’
‘I’d do anything for you,’ he says quietly as we reach the entrance to the shaft. His eyes are twinkling in the torchlight.
My heart soars. That’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me. ‘I can’t let you risk your job for me. What if you get caught?’ I whisper back.
‘You’re worth the risk.’
He is looking so intensely at me it’s all I can do not to tell him that I love him.
That I’ve fallen head-over-heels madly in love with him.
He’s so kind. So thoughtful. So funny. So heroic.
So great to be with. I can’t imagine being with anyone as perfect for me as he is.
He gently strokes my cheek, and he looks about to say something when, suddenly, a gust of stale air whistles through the tunnel, causing an ethereal shrieking sound.
‘Ghosts! I can see the ghosts!’ Mimi screams.
She’s right. I can make out figures swirling around us. Huge twirls of something catching the light and disappearing.
‘Oh my God!’ Carlton is yelling. ‘Ghosts!’
I almost leap into Cam’s arms. He clutches me to him as I hide my head in his solid chest.
‘C’est de la poussière. Du calme! Du calme!’ Henri is yelling.
‘It’s dust!’ translates Cam, much to everyone’s relief. ‘It’s just dust.’
Dust clouds swish around us, forming shapes in the darkness.
It is very, very scary. When we all take a moment to process, I lift my head from Cam’s chest. I am still enclosed in his tight grip and my heart is thumping wildly.
I inhale his scent. The lemon and woody aroma is a welcome distraction as I rest my face against him.
I close my eyes to hear the beat of his heart. I feel the heat of his body.
‘Two questions,’ I whisper. ‘One. Are you wearing body armour? And two. How many languages can you speak?’
His cleverness and unexpected talents are an enormous aphrodisiac, and I am inappropriately aroused, considering our unique and terrifying circumstances thirty feet below the Mexican jungle in an abandoned mineshaft.
Cam tries not to giggle and tells me with his eyes that we are still trying to maintain a professional distance for the sake of the rescue mission.
‘Put these on,’ instructs the guide once we are safely at the base of the shaft. ‘We will lift you up one by one. Check each other like at the beginning.’
‘But I can barely see,’ moans Mimi. ‘What am I supposed to be checking?’
The instructor rolls his eyes and points to his metal carabiner loops and yanks on one of them. ‘You no check properly, you die. Very simple.’
‘I’ll buddy On-ree,’ says Carlton quickly. ‘Mimi, might be best if the instructor checks your harness.’
While everyone gets busy pulling at flaps and checking buckles are tight and secure, Cam turns to me. ‘Let’s get you checked over.’
In the darkness, my senses are awfully heightened because Cam is very much like a heroic action figure.
His eyes meet mine and in slow motion he reaches for me, gently pulling each fastening.
With each tug I find myself inching closer to him until we are only a few inches apart.
The last buckle is by my pelvis. He gives it a strong tug.
I feel that sexual chemistry swirling up from inside me.
It’s all I can do to keep a straight face.
It is essential we do not draw any unwanted attention.
‘It’s not as fun as zip-lining into the cenote,’ he murmurs. It causes me to think back to the image of Cam getting out of the water like a Greek god, water dripping over his every muscle. I wonder if he is picturing me in my tiny two-shoelaces bikini.
When it’s my turn, I linger on Cam’s shoulders as I reach up to check the buckles.
He reaches out to steady me, placing his hands gently on my waist. It causes electric sparks to shoot through me.
Without taking my eyes from his, I slide my fingers lightly down his arms to check his body harness and clips.
I hear him take a sharp intake of breath as I deliberately run my fingers slowly over his stomach and round to his lower back.
I want him. I want him real bad. My breathing is all over the place. It doesn’t help that the air is so thin down here and making me feel woozy and light-headed.
‘Are you okay?’ he asks. ‘The air is so thin down here.’
The moment we lock eyes I realise it isn’t the air. It’s him. It’s all him. He has such a dizzying effect on me.
Giovanni flicks me a quick confused look. I am instantly reminded that discretion is key. I step quickly back from Cam. ‘So, erm, right. That’s you checked and ready to go.’
* * *
When we eventually get to the surface, the team are in various states of well-being, gasping for fresh air, running into the jungle for the toilet – a designated clearing of mud – and piling into any truck they can, keen to get the hell out of here.
Amid the chaos, Cam instructs the crew to stick with the Islanders and travel back together.
‘Tell Amber that you are feeling sick and are going to the toilet,’ he whispers to me.
I do as he says and run over to Amber as she’s getting in the truck with Giovanni. ‘Listen,’ I say. ‘I’m not feeling great. You go ahead and I’ll hitch a lift back with one of the instructors. I think I’m going to be sick.’
Giovanni gives me a sceptical look.
‘It’ll be the eggs,’ Amber said. ‘And the ghosts. I’ve thrown up twice already.’
I pretend to retch, and Giovanni quickly slams the door shut. ‘Okay. See ya!’
The truck roars to life and sets off. This causes a chain reaction with people bellowing names out and instructions to ‘Get a move on!’ Kitbags are flung haphazardly into the back of trucks and engines are violently revved as though we are fleeing a terrible earthquake.
When the convoy has left in a cloud of dust, I look at Cam, confused. Where is our transport? Why are we not fleeing with the others?
‘It seems as though we are stranded in the middle of the jungle. Are we stranded in the middle of the jungle? What sort of rescue plan do you call this?’ I squeak.
I don’t care how good-looking he is, this is not a good plan.
I look around at the dense jungle, the trees looming above us.
The entrance to the mineshaft is making serious whooing noises and I can hear myself getting hysterical.
‘What were you thinking? Are they coming back for us? How will we get out of here?’
Cam stands looking at me in amusement. It causes me to stop jabbering. His eyes move from mine to peer over my shoulder. He has a massive grin on his face.
‘Oh man. I don’t think I will ever get used to this.’
‘To what?’ I say, twisting round to see what he is looking at.
My eyes nearly pop out of my head as I see a ghostly figure walking towards me.
It has my face, my hair, my body. I steady myself on Cam and he is quick to throw his arm around me.
I feel so light-headed and, for a second, think I am imagining it.
‘Hi, sis. Fancy meeting you here,’ says Lois.