Chapter 9 – Emma
CHAPTER 9
EMMA
I ’d never been very good at cuddling. The concept was beautiful, but I always felt hot and claustrophobic when sleeping close to another person. Not to mention, the last man I shared a bed with snored like a garbage disposal.
Yet, somehow, in the sticky heat, with no blanket and only a bed of leaves and sticks to keep us off the jungle floor, I slept in Nathan’s arms all night and didn’t wake up once. The crippling anxiety pressing down on my chest seemed a little lighter when I opened my eyes to him kissing me on the forehead, and somehow it felt like as long as he was around, everything would be okay.
“Are you just staring at me sleeping, you creeper?” I yawned, covering my mouth as I sat up.
“You were exhausted.” He cracked his neck and got to his feet. “You’ll need your strength if we’re going to make it back to town today.”
“Do you really think we can?” I rubbed my arms and brushed off a few tiny pebbles stuck to me.
“If you move like you did with those wasps on your tail, we’d be out of here in no time.” He picked up his socks from beside the fire.
“Very funny, wiseguy.” I stretched.
After enjoying a breakfast of small fish again, we washed up in the cool pool and put out our fire.
We drank some water to prepare for the day’s hike. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to wake up every morning next to Nathan. True, he probably wouldn’t look like a marble sculpture of a Greek god forever. Still, I didn’t imagine his wisecracking and compulsion to look after others would diminish over time.
Reading people for a living, you learn what parts of a person are a mask–and what parts are their true selves. Plenty of things are easy to fake, but much less so in high-stakes situations. When the chips are down and push comes to shove, most people will always choose self-preservation over the well-being of another person.
That didn’t apply to Nathan.
As a therapist, my feelings towards Nathan are perfectly explainable as a trauma bond.
An ache in my heart settled when I thought about Estelle and Mary, how close we'd come to death at the hands of man and mother nature, and how no one on earth would ever know how or if we perished out here in the jungle.
I'm an animal just like everyone else. My spirit is easily extinguished with one wrong move.
A shiver ran up my spine.
Luckily, I've survived so far, and the sting of my blistered feet and itching bug bites were no longer the most pleasant distraction at my disposal.
Now I have a beautiful, protective man-beast watching out for me.
Even though we were miles from the nearest roll of toilet paper, this, as insane as it sounds, had been the most intense, memorable, and mind-blowing intimacy I've ever experienced.
Even though guilt and common sense threatened to quash any notion that whatever this was with Nathan could be a good thing, the undeniable thrill of exploring something real with him kept surfacing.
Despite the risk, I found myself daring to indulge in the pleasure of his company, savoring each precious moment.
The bright green leafy canopy allowed small beams of light to dance around us, and the earthy scent of the forest floor after the fresh rain mixed with the salt of his sweat. Even dirty from hiking, I couldn't get enough of his musky smell. I just wanted to curl up beside him and breathe every bit of him in that I could.
He moved through the brush like it was his natural element, and I longed to become more like him–confident and skilled at adapting to our chaotic world.
Ducking low-hanging vines and weaving between tree trunks, my heart raced, and I imagined what it would be like if we were the last two people on earth; Tarzan and Jane or Adam and Eve, our island paradise the perfect backdrop for a simple, pure kind of love.
The breeze kissed the sweat rolling down my body as we moved through the trees and I relished the sensation. I imagined catching up to him and capturing him in a kiss so passionate that he would lay me down on the leaves and take me one more time.
Visions of last night flickered in my mind.
What came over me? He had me so worked up! I became so... primal.
Staying lost in fantasies of our naked bodies intertwined on the forest floor extended my endurance further than worrying about what might happen if that big blonde man caught up to us again.
No sooner had that thought crossed my mind than Nathan halted in his tracks. He held up a hand and I froze.
Oh, shit. I didn’t even breathe, let alone ask questions.
He dropped to a crouch and several male voices spoke... Patois ?
Most on Saint Lucia spoke both English and a version of Creol. Many words are similar to French, if not exactly the same. Still, it's not an easy accent and language, even if someone's speaking slowly.
Following Nathan’s lead, we moved into the dense brush alongside the game trail and laid down on our bellies.
Two men armed with hefty guns moseyed along the game trail, laughing and joking. Side by side, they unzipped their pants and started peeing not more than twenty feet uphill from where Nathan and I hid.
A dark puddle spread, trickling down in our direction. My eyes widened as I pinched my lips together. Gross .
Nathan frowned, holding up a hand, his eyes yelling at me to stay quiet. They took their time zipping up and slugging each other's shoulders in brotherly banter as the pee trail barreled toward me.
Nathan shook his head. At long last, the two men turned and walked back the way they came, and I rolled out of the path of the pee just in time. Nathan did a pushup motion, side-stepping over the urine to lay beside me.
I bopped him on his hard tricep. “You were going to let me get peed on!”
“Better peed on than shot,” he whispered.
I swallowed hard. “You think they’re looking for us?”
“Could you understand anything they said?”
“Something about the short one having a girlfriend that was older than his mom and having...genitals bigger than a house? I hope I heard that wrong.”
“Okaaay.” Nathan nodded.
“And then he jabbed at the guy with the sloped forehead for dating a girl with a mustache thicker than his dad’s.”
“Huh.” Nathan blinked. “Well, just judging from how slow they were moving and that neither seemed to be scanning their surroundings, I doubt they’re the kind of guys you’d hire for a manhunt. Probably guards.”
“Guards for what?”
“Let’s see if we can find out.” Nathan got up and headed in the direction the guys came from.
I let out a sharp sigh. “Yeah, sure… We found guys with guns that aren’t actively trying to shoot us. Let’s go piss them off.”
“Better to get pissed off than pissed on .” He shrugged, and I shook my head.
And this day started out so well…
A horse-wire fence radiated an electric hum as we peered out of the bushes just behind the treeline. An old derelict building that might have been a house once overlooked a garden, overgrown with wild vegetation.
“An old farm, maybe?” I whispered.
“An old pot farm,” Nathan replied. “They probably used to grow ganja here. You know, marajuana?” He made a sucking gesture between two fingers as if smoking an imaginary blunt.
I rolled my eyes at him.
Two men walked by inside the fence, patrolling the perimeter and making a racket with their crude banter.
“Why bother guarding a weed farm–when there’s no weed here?” I asked.
“Weed isn’t nearly as profitable now that it’s become legalized in so many places,” he explained. “It’s not worth the expense to grow, smuggle, and sell it when so many people can get it legally. So I’m betting there’s a meth or fentanyl manufacturing operation here.”
“Oh,” I slapped a fat mosquito. “So, shouldn’t we just… get back to not dying and head for the south side of the island? Let the authorities know it's here and stay clear?”
“Pretty sure these guys pay the authorities, Emma. And what if these guys have what we need to fix the plane?” He chewed his bottom lip. "We may make it to town, but it's not like there's a 24-hour hardware store waiting for us there."
“Okay, so what do we do?” I steeled my nerves to focus on the plan.
“ We won’t do anything.” He pointed left. “ You are going to march your sexy little backside in that direction until I can catch up with or without the stuff we need.”
I snorted. “If you think I’ve followed you this far to let you ditch me and go off on a side mission, you’re sorely mistaken.”
“Emma–”
“Nathaniel…” I turned up my nose and put a finger on his lips. “Don’t even try it. We’re sticking together, so either we keep heading south, or I tag along on your little scavenger hunt.”
He let out a long, weary sigh and hung his head. “Goddamnit. Stay close to me–and don’t make a sound.”
“Aye, captain.” I gave him a salute, and he laughed quietly.
“That’s… not how you salute.”
“Shut up and get moving, sailor.” I patted him on the ass.
“Yes, ma’am.” He got up and started moving through the underbrush.
We made our way around the perimeter, careful to avoid the guards. Nathan's eyes continually scanned the compound inside the fence.
The entire place couldn’t have been more than ten square acres. The only road in or out of the place was barely wide enough for a compact sedan to fit, and no vehicles were in sight.
The house’s windows were all boarded up, and a plastic sheet hung across the doorway. Now that we were close, a powerful vinegar smell drifted on the wind. The only other structure visible was a shabby barn with faded red paint and a partially collapsed roof.
Nathan found a mud puddle and crouched, dipping his hands in it for makeshift camouflage.
Awwww, seriously?
I shot Nathan a glance of grossed-out disapproval.
This is what I get for pushing to come along?
Imitating what he did, I smeared streaks of mud up and down my arms, and he did the same for my face.
Picking up a forked branch, Nathan broke it to make a Y-shape and asked me to help him find another one. After a quick search on the forest floor, I found something similar, and he stepped on it until it was roughly the same length as the first branch.
A couple of yards beyond the treeline, we laid on our bellies, melding with the shadows as best we could, waiting for the unsuspecting guards. Their conversation about which popstar would be a better lay grew louder as they passed. They slowly faded as they reached the southern corner of the property and moved beyond our sight.
Finding a spot in the fence where the t-post was less than secure, Nathan used one of the branches to pry it out of the mud. Then, we worked together to fold the fence sideways, bracing it with our wooden forks as we passed underneath. So sneaky!
The tiny hairs on my arms stood on end, feeling a pulse of electricity radiate off the metal wire as I ducked under the fence.
Propping the t-post back into its hole, Nathan motioned for me to follow him, and we darted toward the barn in a crouched position. Crawling between the horizontal logs of the wooden fence, we entered the barn from the side where it looked like animals had once been kept in stables. The wire gate inside creaked as I climbed over, and Nathan grimaced, putting a finger to his lips. I sighed. I knew the goal was to be as quiet as possible. Apparently, a SEAL level of sneaky is different than I thought.
It probably helps to have legs a mile long so you don’t have to put your weight on anything. I rolled my eyes to myself as I followed him into the dark, dusty space.
A couple dozen metal tables lined up against a wall. Satellite-shaped light fixtures hung above them. That must have been for growing seedlings.
Sunlight filtered through the hole in the roof, and Nathan spotted an indistinct shape of something under an old disintegrating tarp.
Delicately pulling the tarp back revealed a motorcycle. Rust and cobwebs had reclaimed the old relic, much like everything else in the barn.
Nathan traced his fingers over the handlebars and fuel tank in reverent appreciation. Both tires were flat and the vinyl seat cover was cracked and warped from sitting out in the sun.
“Damn, that’s a shame,” Nathan said under his breath.
I put my hand on his arm and gently squeezed, looking back over my shoulder as the guards' voices became audible.
“Is there anything we can use?” I whispered close to him.
“Let’s see.” His brows pinched together as he crouched down, reaching into the mechanical tangle of wires and cables.
Pulling off two black rubber tubes from the motorcycle's tank, he blew air through them to clear the dust, then covered the end with his thumb to see if they were airtight.
“This is good!”
He coiled them up and shoved them into his pocket.
“Let’s see if there's a supply closet here somewhere. We still need electrical tape.”
Climbing the wooden ladder leading up into a hay loft, I swept the cobwebs aside, something I wouldn't have been so cool about if I’d found them in my own apartment.
A broken office chair lay on its side next to an old metal desk. I drew a breath out of excitement, then immediately coughed from the dust.
“Shhh.” Nathan called up the ladder behind me.
I glared down at him, covering my nose and mouth with my shirt. Climbing up to the second floor, I shuffled through the desk, looking for black tape.
Come on, come on…
I opened the file cabinets to find a pencil dented with teeth marks, an empty snuff can, and a pack of wintergreen gum.
I held up the gum and cocked an eyebrow to Nathan.
Nathan nodded approvingly, as though I'd found something of value, and stuffed the gum into his pocket. “Let’s go.” he whispered.
“Ello?” One of the guards called from the front of the barn. “Who there?”
My eyes widened, and I clapped a hand over my mouth as the two guards argued loudly in hushed tones about the barn being haunted. Nathan held his finger up to his lips, and I nodded. He reached for his knife and unfolded it. The faintest "click" of the blade locking into place felt like the loudest thing I've ever heard in my entire life. He held it with the blade facing out. The guards walked the length of the barn, and I clenched my eyes shut, trying to stay calm and not breathe in any dust that would make me cough. I wished I could remember if we’d left footprints in the dust and hay on the floor down there, but perhaps it didn't even matter.
A deep cramp formed in my thigh, and I gritted my teeth, wishing I’d thought to stretch before doing all this. Apparently my muscles aren't used to the strange motions required to crawl and sneak about.
Much to my relief, they seemed to decide the coast was clear and walked back to the entrance to leave.
"Boo!" one of them yelled at the other, and they both laughed.
Thank God they're gone. I can't take this kind of...
My cramp now screaming at me, I shifted my weight slightly, and the wooden floor creaked under me. Nathan’s eyes shot daggers into mine. I silently mouthed, "Sorry!"
The guards mumbled something to each other.
Oh, God, what do we do now?
The two men rushed away from the big barn doors towards another building with other armed friends of theirs, yelling as they ran.
"Help! Wi have a trespassah!" they belted out.
Nathan grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the ladder. He jumped down, landing in a crouch, and I clumsily fumbled my way down after him. We booked it for the stables and ran out the door and through the wooden fence.
My head snapped up as four men with guns ran toward us from the front of the barn.
“Go!” Nathan positioned himself between me and the gunmen, and I bolted for the fence.
Using the branch, I pried the metal post out of the ground, and the fence folded over, laying flat on the ground. I tried to lift it like Nathan had done on the way in, but a spray of machine gun fire told me I better hurry.
The sharp crack of gunfire echoed through the jungle, followed by the high-pitched whine of bullets slicing through the air. The rapid whoosh as they tore through leaves and branches was like a sinister whisper, the foliage rustling and snapping under the onslaught. It was a chaotic mix of sounds—the piercing hiss as bullets passed close by, the thunk as they embedded themselves into tree trunks, and the splintering crackle of wood shattering. Each impact sent shards of bark and leaves flying, creating a cacophony that was both terrifying and surreal.
Lucky for me, as I stepped over the downed electric fence, it spared me from shock.
No point in hiding our tracks now.
We entered the treeline at a full sprint, and all I could do to keep from getting torn to shreds by the thorny foliage was hold my arms up and charge blindly ahead. Rocks crumbled under my feet as I slid down a steep embankment.
More gunfire crackled around us, feeling like it was coming from all directions.
My heart pounded as I reached the bottom and kept on going.
Nathan grabbed my hand, taking a sharp turn and shoving me against a rock face behind a curtain of vines, covering my mouth with one hand as he pressed his body against me. Nathan no doubt knew our already worn-out bodies could never outrun these guys. I reminded myself he was the one with killer instincts and resisted the urge to run.
I held my breath as rapid footsteps ran past us. The men shouted at each other as they fanned out through the trees.
My heart hammered wildly against the inside of my ribcage like a runaway train, a hair’s breadth from jumping the tracks. A wave of nausea swept over me, and my vision darkened. I must have been visibly ill because Nathan cupped my face in his hands and gently pressed his lips to my forehead before pulling me close.
Nuzzling into the safety of his embrace, I somehow convinced myself that I wasn’t going to die… not today. There were a few exploratory bursts of gunfire, birds squawking, and men yelling back and forth as they continued searching the forest. Still shaking like a leaf, I looked up, and Nathan smiled at me.
“I think the coast is clear.”
“But we didn’t find the tape.” My eyes filled with tears.
“Hey…” He frowned.
“And I almost got us killed.” I looked down.
He lifted my chin. “We made it out in one piece. I’d call that a successful mission, wouldn’t you? Besides, I have everything I need to fix the plane. You found gum! It won’t be perfect, but it’ll get us to Martinique.”
“Really?”
“What could go wrong?” He grinned and used his arm to open the curtain of vines.
I took in a breath and debated a dozen expletives to hurl at him for no doubt jinxing us yet again, but he glanced over his shoulder and shot me a heart-warming smile. I calmly let out my breath without a single swear word leaving my mouth, but a lingering worry remained.
Oh, god, I silently prayed. I hope I didn't seal our fate when I joined Nathan in the compound.