Chapter 6
Forrest watched Jordana dial and then she turned up the volume and held out the phone so he could hear it ringing. “We should discuss this together. All of us.”
“Jordana?” her father asked immediately upon answering the call.
“I’m here with Forrest,” she said in English.
“Did she reach the beach?” She heard Uncle Beni ask in the background.
“We did, but men were here waiting for us.”
“Kane’s men moved fast,” her father said with relief.
“Hello, Mr. Alves. This is Forrest Townsend. I’m sorry to say they weren’t Kane’s men. They said they’d been sent by you.”
The line went quiet and Jordana almost thought he’d hung up. That was until she heard the sound of a door closing.
“What happened?” her father asked, dropping his voice.
Jordana’s eyes turned to the dead man. Luckily, Forrest gave her father the summary of what happened because she wasn’t sure she could. “I’m afraid you have a leak, Mr. Alves. Who knew the plan?”
“Only my assistant. He’s been with me for three years. I thought he was trustworthy, but he’d heard my call with your brother. I had it on speaker as I was looking at the maps. I won’t make that mistake again. I’ve just dismissed him. Jordana, my sweet girl, I’m so sorry.”
“Are you hurt, my dear?” Uncle Beni asked, his voice full of worry.
“I’m okay. My feet are a mess, but Forrest is helping me through it. What do we do now?” Jordana asked her father even though she was looking to Forrest for the answer.
“We navigate our way to Manaus and find a new meet-up location,” Forrest answered.
“I agree, with Forrest.” Her father sighed and she could imagine him running his hand over his face with frustration. “Work it out with Kane. Don’t tell me. Just call me when you’re safe. I don’t know who I can trust or if my phones are tapped.”
Forrest nodded in silent agreement. “I’ll take care of her, sir,” Forrest told her father.
“Thank you. She’s my greatest treasure. I love you, Jordana.”
“Love you too, Dad.”
“Be safe,” Uncle Beni told her. “May your mother watch over you.”
Jordana hung up and handed the phone over to Forrest. Forrest dialed Kane’s number. He answered on the first ring. “Kane, you’re on with Jordana and me,” Forrest told his brother. “And there’s been a development.”
“Developments are rarely good.”
“We arrived at the beach and three men were waiting for us. They said Jordana’s dad sent them.”
“I’m assuming you took care of it since you’re calling me.” Kane’s voice was tight with emotion he was keeping in check.
“We did.” Forrest didn’t need to spell it out. Kane could fill in the blanks. “We talked to Mr. Alves. He thinks it could have been leaked by his assistant. He wants you to run the rescue and to call him when we’re safe.”
“Jordana, I’m Kane Townsend. I’m sorry you’re stuck in the jungle with my brother. He’s probably boring you to death with science stuff or survival tricks. But, I promise, since I’m the better brother, I’ll get you two out safely.”
Forrest rolled his eyes as Jordana laughed.
“It’s nice to meet you, Kane.”
“You wouldn’t happen to be single, would you?”
“Kane!” Forrest snapped.
“I am,” Jordana answered, smiling at Forrest.
Kane chuckled. “Damon will be thrilled. In the meantime, let’s get you out of harm’s way. My men are two days out, but I don’t want you to stay at the beach. Not after this.”
“We can walk in the direction of your men and meet them halfway,” Forrest suggested.
“That’s exactly what I want you to do,” Kane confirmed. “My men told me there’s a path you can follow.” Kane gave them directions as they both listened.
“Are we sure we can trust your men?” Jordana asked.
“Yes,” Kane replied instantly. “They’re members of a tribe that lives near Manaus.
While they have opened up to tourists, they’re still a tribe and still believe very strongly about protecting the and their culture.
They respect your father and the job he’s doing.
Part of the reason they’ve had to open to tourists, on top of educating them on indigenous culture, is because their lands had been taken by deforestation. So, yes, you can trust them.”
“Thank you, Kane. We’ll look to meet up with them at this time tomorrow. Let everyone know we’re okay.”
“Reverend Winston is leading a prayer chain. Both Earl Taylor and Darius Foster are offering you free barbecue once you get home. And Gator wants to know if you’ve seen any caimans,” Kane told them.
“Yes, and tell him I killed an anaconda and we fed it to the caimans.” Forrest was suddenly homesick for Shadows Landing.
He hadn’t lived there that long, but it was more of a home than New York.
He’d left their hometown when he went to college and never moved back.
Not only was most of his family in Shadows Landing now, but the townspeople had become family too.
“Turtle will love that too. I’ll tell them. Now, get home safe. Call me when you’ve met up with my guys.”
Forrest hung up and took a deep breath. They had a plan and now he needed to execute it. “Let me move the men closer to the water. Hopefully the caimans will take care of them before their deaths are noticed.”
“I can help,” Jordana offered, but Forrest shook his head.
“I got it. Make sure we got everything from the canoe and look around to see if there’s any food we should take with us.”
Ten minutes later, Forrest was using the machete on some vines and bark. “What are you doing? Don’t we need to leave?” Jordana asked.
“This won’t take me long. I need to make you some shoes.” Forrest braided the thin strands of vines he’d sliced with his knife. It took about twenty minutes but then he handed a pair of homemade shoes to Jordana. “Give me your foot and I can tie these on.
Jordana lifted her foot and Forrest grimaced.
She must be in horrible pain, but she’d never complained.
“You wouldn’t let me patch you up before, but you will now.
Hold on.” Forrest grabbed the medical kit.
He cleaned her feet, causing her to hiss in pain, and then smeared on antibiotic ointment and wrapped gauze around her feet before tying on the homemade shoes.
Jordana sighed. “This feels so much better. Thank you, Forrest.” She leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips.
He wanted more, so much more, but the situation was messed up.
Did she like him because of who he was or because he was helping her and she was basically stuck with him?
How would it be once they were safe? Would he ever see her again?
The path they were walking down was faint but identifiable.
They were quiet for several minutes, but then they talked as if they hadn’t just killed several men.
He had to explain that Gator was a man who helped remove alligators from town.
He told her about Skeeter, the Shadows Landing history buff who could talk to the pirate ghosts, and about Turtle, who helped with the alligators and liked to rescue turtles.
Then he listened to Jordana talking about some of the scientists she’d traveled with who were just as quirky as Gator, Skeeter, and Turtle. Especially the ones who studied venomous animals.
“It’s starting to get dark,” Forrest told her as the sun that filtered through the thick leaves seemed to fade.
It was the first inkling of a rapidly approaching night.
It didn’t seem like much, but if you didn’t pay heed to it, you’d be stuck.
When it got dark in the jungle, it got dark fast. “Let’s set up a campsite. ”
“I think we should have a fire, but if you think it’s too dangerous then we won’t,” Jordana told him as they searched for the best place to camp for the night.
“You know this jungle better than I do. I won’t put us at risk just in case they have men closing in on us. I’d rather stand and fight than die from wrestling a jaguar.”
Jordana nodded and looked around seriously.
“We don’t want to go over there. See that brown looking formation?
That’s termites. They can swarm and we don’t want that.
Too close to the water and anaconda and caiman become an issue.
Trees can be good, but they can also be bad—tree boas and the very poisonous Amazonian palm viper.
It’s a light green snake that loves to hide in trees and shrubs.
They tend to stick closer to the water. So tonight, it’s best we get something off the forest floor a little way into the jungle. ”
Forrest nodded in agreement. That’s what he would have done also.
Forrest pulled out a knife and notched a tree as they went off the path and deeper into the jungle.
Every twenty feet or so, he’d mark another tree.
There was no way he was going to get turned around in the jungle and not find their way back.
It seemed as if they had traveled for miles, when they most likely hadn’t gone more than a fifth of a mile. “Here is good,” Jordana said once they reached an area she deemed safe enough.
“You get wood for a fire and I’ll build us a shelter,” Forrest told her as he grabbed the machete. It took two hours, but as darkness descended like a thick blanket, they had a fire started and a shelter.
“I got more food.” Forrest watched as Jordana set a variety of fruits and plants down in front of the fire. His stomach rumbled at the thought of food. “This root has a lot of water in it. It tastes bitter, but we need the water.”
Jordana held out a root for him. He did the best he could to clean the dirt from it and then he bit down on it. The earthy flavor of the dirt mixed with the bitterness of the root. However, water flooded his mouth causing him to sigh with relief. “Thank you. I needed that.”
Thunder cracked overhead and lightning flashed across the night.
That was all the warning they got before the sky opened and rain fell in heavy torrents.
“Take off your boots,” Jordana said as they snatched up their fruit and watched the fire go out.
“Stuff your socks inside and turn them upside down and cover them with leaves. Wet feet that can’t dry lead to trench foot.
You don’t want that in the jungle, I promise. ”
Forrest grabbed some extra leaves and hurried inside the shelter. The leaves and shrubs he’d used to create the roof of the lean-to were holding up for now. He did as Jordana told him and took off his boots and socks, turned them on their sides, and covered them with leaves.
The wind gusted and Jordana shivered. It was still hot out, but the wind mixed with the rain could leave a chill. “Come lie here. I’ll shield you from the rain.” Forrest moved enough so Jordana could maneuver to the far side of the tent.
“Won’t you get cold?” Jordana asked.
“I’m from the snowbelt in New York. This isn’t cold.” Forrest moved to spoon Jordana, shielding her from the wind and any rain that made it into the shelter. “We could get over a hundred thirty inches of snow during the winter. So, a little rain and wind are nothing for me.”
“I can’t imagine that much snow,” Jordana told him, wiggling closer to him, and reached back to grab his arm.
She pulled it across her chest and held it to her like a stuffed animal.
“I’ve never left Brazil. I want to travel someday.
I’ve learned so much about plants from all over the world.
I’d love to see them in person and to study them.
I think there are so many more plants with medicinal benefits out there that haven’t been discovered yet. ”
“I could take you. To see the snow and to study all the plants you want. My work sends me all over the world. I’d love to share it with you.” Forrest could practically hear Damon chuckling. This was exactly what he said he wanted for Forrest. And somehow, here, in the middle of the , he’d found it.
“I’d love that,” Jordana said, almost to herself as if she were imagining it. “Tell me about some of the places you’ve been.”
Forrest talked as the thunder shook the trees and the rain drowned out any noise outside of his voice. He talked until Jordana fell asleep and only then did he allow himself to close his eyes.