TRAPPED (11 page)

He carried his water bottle in one hand and his walking stick in the other. He had Mrs. Hardy’s knife in his pocket.

He and Elle had discussed whether he should take the knife or leave it with her. In the end, she’d won, insisting that she intended to stay hidden, that she wouldn’t need the knife, while he still had an hour’s worth of jungle to navigate and the knife might be absolutely necessary.

He encountered his first person less than thirty minutes from where he’d left Elle in the jungle. He was a thin, dark-skinned man, wearing a big straw hat and carrying a small shovel.

The man paid no attention to him and Brody let out a sigh of relief. Another fifteen minutes later, there were two women, both with tan blouses, long dark skirts and sandals. They carried baskets. They rested their gaze on him and he nodded politely in their direction but didn’t break stride.

It was frightening and exhilarating at the same time to finally see other humans. It had been almost seventy hours since the plane crashed and more than once in that time, when he’d been surrounded by trees and plants, with no trail in sight, he’d doubted that this would be the eventual outcome.

He wanted to run up to them and demand to know whether they knew Leo Arroul, but he waited. Elle had been right about almost everything so far. If she believed that people might be looking for American strangers, then he didn’t intend to raise their curiosity more than absolute necessary.

The village of Mantau was less than fifteen minutes down the dirt road that would only have been wide enough for one American car. But there were no cars. There were people pulling three-wheeled carts, but that was the extent of the moving vehicles.

There were probably twenty-five small square bamboo huts, all on risers so that their front doors were at least six steps up. All had thatch roofs. Most had a porch of some kind and he was close enough that on one, he could see an old woman using a brick fireplace to cook a fish with its head still on.

He kept walking. On a street in roughly the middle of town, there were two stands akin to the hot-dog vendor he loved in New York, without the hot dogs or wheels on their stands. On the right was a young woman who had raw fish and baked bread on her counter. Next to her was a much older man selling fresh fruit, vegetables and something that resembled hard brown sugar.

Jungle commerce.

He reached into his pocket and fingered a real. He had exchanged dollars for the Brazilian currency at the bank before boarding the plane in Miami. Before leaving the plane with Elle, he’d made sure he had the money with him. Everywhere in the world, money talked.

And right now he wanted the young woman to feel chatty.

He admired her bread and selected a long, flat loaf that would be easy to carry. She wrapped it in tan paper that she secured with a piece of string.

“Obrigado,”
he said. Thank you was about the extent of his Portuguese. She smiled and put the money in her skirt pocket.

“Do you speak English?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Some,” she said with a heavy accent.

He took a deep breath. “I am looking for an old friend. His name is Leo Arroul. Do you know him?”

Chapter Eleven

She smiled wider this time and he noticed that one of her eyeteeth was missing. She raised her arm and pointed to a building at the end of the street, on the left side. “Leo,” she said. “Good man.”

He could feel his heart start to race in his chest. But he contained his energy, much like before he did a very complex surgery.
“Obrigado,”
he repeated.

He turned and caught the stare of the man selling the fruit. A frisson of unease settled between his shoulder blades, but he ignored it. He walked at the same pace that he had used when entering the village. It took him ninety-three steps to reach Leo’s front door.

He knocked and waited. The door opened and there was an older man, maybe close to sixty, wearing wrinkled cotton pants and a matching shirt. He was completely bald. He had friendly brown eyes.

“Are you Leo Arroul?” Brody asked.

The man nodded.

Brody looked over the man’s shoulder. There was no one else inside the small one-room house. “My name is Brody Donovan. I am a friend of Elle Vollman. She needs your help.”

Leo pulled him inside and offered him something to drink. Brody drank the water and then filled up his water bottle, intending to take it back for Elle. He quickly told Leo about the plane crash, the walk through the jungle, the helicopter and the men shooting at Elle.

When he said the name T. K. Jamas, Leo’s eyebrows shot up.

“Do you know him?” Brody asked.

“I have met him,” Leo said. “He can be quite charming. I wish I’d known that Elle was involved with him. I’d have warned her.”

Brody started to argue that Elle wasn’t
involved
with Jamas but then realized it wasn’t important. What was important was getting back to Elle and getting her safely to the United States.

“Elle believes that he’s involved in human trafficking.”

Leo did not look surprised. His next statement, however, took Brody off guard. “Jamas has a home somewhere near here. I’m not exactly sure where. I’ve never been interested enough to find out. I believe it belonged to his father and Jamas is only there occasionally.”

“I don’t think Elle had any idea that he had any connections to this area. She would never have come this direction.”

“Well, then, I’m glad she didn’t know. I can help you. But how did you find me?” Leo asked.

“I asked the young woman who was selling bread, just down the street.”

“Did anyone hear you?” Leo asked.

“I think the man behind the other stand might have.”

Leo nodded and stood up. “Then we must hurry. We might not have much time.”

“What?” Brody demanded.

“His name is Paulo and let’s just say he’s easily influenced by others. And most easily influenced by money. If it’s known that Jamas will pay for information about Elle, then Paulo would be in line for the money.”

“I never said her name.”

“You wouldn’t have to. You are American. Elle is American. I am perceived to be American, even though I am really Canadian. That would be enough.”

“Let’s go. It could take an hour to get back.”

Leo grabbed a large black backpack off a hook near the door. He filled it with mangoes and bananas from the bowl on his table. Then he opened a container on the table and pulled out something wrapped in white paper. Finally, he opened the door of a freestanding cupboard and retrieved several items that Brody couldn’t clearly see and added them to the backpack. The last thing he did was sling the strap of a machete over one shoulder.

They did not walk past the fruit stand on their way out of town. Leo turned the opposite direction. Brody took a fast look down the street before they left and he did not see Paulo at his stand.

And while he knew there could be many explanations for the man’s absence, Brody could not shake the fear that Paulo was contacting Jamas. Money talked, after all.

Leo led him out of the village and around the small collection of houses. Brody’s strides were long, his pace fast.

“Slow down,” Leo said, barely moving his mouth. “We’re out for a stroll. Two old friends.”

Brody forced himself to slow down, to appear relaxed. He glanced at the birds in the trees, at the brilliantly colored flowers that bloomed everywhere.

He watched to see if anyone was following them or taking a particular interest in them but saw nothing that concerned him. It would be okay. He and Elle would be okay.

“Perhaps it’s best that we don’t tell Elle that I’ve seen Jamas in Mantau before,” Leo said.

Brody shook his head. “We need to tell her. She needs to know everything.”

Leo shrugged. “Maybe you’re right. Forewarned is forearmed.”

When they finally passed a bend in the road that protected them from view of the village, Leo turned to him. “Are you a runner?” the man asked.

Brody nodded.

Leo started off jogging and quickly picked up the pace. “I gained forty pounds after my wife left me,” he said. “Then I realized an early death from heart disease wasn’t going to hurt her and I started running.”

Whatever the reason, Brody was grateful. He would soon be back with Elle.

* * *

E
LLE
HATED
THE
JUNGLE
. She’d come to that conclusion about six minutes after she’d watched Brody walk away. It was noisy and damp and too green.

She was tired and she desperately wanted to sit down, but she was scared to—something would bite her on her butt, it would swell up, Brody would have to administer first aid, and he’d see the cellulite that hadn’t been there thirteen years ago.

While it was hard to know exactly how much cellulite might be there, it was not a stretch of the imagination to imagine that there must be some. After all, her legs were not those of a twenty-one-year-old college student who went to the gym every day and cocktailed most nights. Her arms? Well, she saw some jiggle the other day. Her neck. She didn’t even want to talk about that.

You’re thirty-four, not sixty-four,
she told herself. If sixty was the new forty, then thirty-four was the new fourteen. Great. If she slept with Brody, it’d be illegal.

If she slept with Brody.
She repeated the words in her head and let them simmer there, in her half-baked brain. Wasn’t that presumptuous of her? She was jumping way down the track. Sure, he’d had a physical reaction to her. But maybe that was just because he’d been busy and hadn’t had sex for thirteen years?

Who was she kidding? Of course he’d had sex. She had, after all. At least once every two years, that’s what she’d told Father Taquero when the two of them were sipping bad wine in the back of the church late one Saturday afternoon.

He’d assured her that was barely worth a Hail Mary.

Even so, after he’d left to get ready for evening mass, she’d added a couple of Our Fathers just to hedge her bets.

The men had been decent guys that she’d met either through her work or through friends. But none of them had been Brody.

And so even the ones who had called several times afterward, she’d politely turned down. And in the past year she hadn’t even dated because she’d had Mia, the absolute sweetest little eleven-year-old.

And as Father Taquero was fond of saying, God willing and if the creek don’t rise, she and Mia would soon be safe in the United States and they would build a new life together.

But first she needed to get out of the jungle.

Which brought her thoughts full circle to where they’d started when her mind had contemplated cellulite on her rear end. She looked at her watch. Brody had been gone for almost forty minutes. Time enough for him to reach the village and inquire about Leo.

Please, please, let Leo be home.
There were times when he was in the depths of the jungle, teaching natives about the importance of clean water and how to test their water using his little strips.

It would be dark in a half hour and that would make it very difficult for Brody to find her. He’d said that he wouldn’t mark the trail, but rather he’d find her through several prominent landmarks. But landmarks easily got out of focus when the sun went down.

She saw a sudden burst of white birds, as if they’d been scared up from a tree. She looked. Was that bush moving? Did she hear something?”

There were sounds from her left.

She whirled.

Only to turn back quickly.

Brody and Leo emerged from the jungle. She didn’t think she’d ever seen a more welcome sight. And without thinking, she ran toward them and it seemed the most natural thing in the world to get caught up in Brody’s strong arms.

“You made it,” she murmured, her mouth against his neck.

“Of course,” he said, his voice soft. “I wasn’t going to leave you out here in the jungle.”

His touch felt warm and safe and she didn’t want to pull away. But she forced herself to.

“Leo,” she said. “I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it is to see you.” She stepped close to her friend and gave him a hug.

“It’s always wonderful, Elle, but knowing just a little of what you’ve been through in the last three days, it’s better than usual. I am grateful that we found you. Brody was confident, but I was getting concerned that it would soon be too dark.”

“We have to tell the authorities about the crash,” Elle said.

“Of course,” Leo replied. “I’ve been thinking about that on the way here. Brody told me about your trouble with Jamas. You know he’s a very evil man?”

“I do now,” Elle replied. “Did Brody tell you about the man in the helicopter?”

“Yes.”

“I’m confident that was Jamas’s doing. I didn’t want to drag you into this, Leo, but I didn’t have any choice.”

The man waved a hand. “Nonsense. Of course you should have come to me. But we’ll need to be very careful. Jamas’s family has a home in this area. As I told Brody, I’m not exactly sure where but I’ve heard it is north of Mantau, near where our small river merges into the Amazon.”

Elle shook her head. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Of all places.”

Leo did another hand wave. That was clearly his favorite gesture. “I don’t believe he’s here very often. But in any event, it would be best if you and Brody could keep a low profile until we can safely move you out of the country.”

Brody stepped forward. “How do we do that and lead the authorities to the crash?”

“There is someone I trust in the local government. I’ll tell him that I received an anonymous tip about the crash. You indicated that you marked the trail up until a few hours ago. If I give them the approximate location and the trail is marked, they should be able to find the wreckage.”

“Will they believe you?”

“I think so. Because of my work with the natives, I often get information that people in more official positions cannot easily obtain. I use my discretion about which information I pass on.”

Elle stepped forward and gave her friend another quick hug. “I kept telling Brody that you would help us. Thank you so much.”

“You’re quite welcome. And while I’d love to invite you back to my home for a meal and some rest, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Brody may have been overheard asking about me. I don’t want to take the chance that Jamas will be watching my house and see the two of you.”

A meal and rest, even if the rest was on a wooden floor, sounded heavenly, but she knew that Leo was right. She would handle another night in the jungle. “I understand,” she said.

“I have someplace you can go,” Leo said. “A house. Outside the village, in a very private area. I...I have a...friend. A special friend. She lives in Costa Rica with her husband and grown children. While that’s a substantial distance, her husband is a very powerful businessman, so when she is able to visit, we still must be very discreet.”

Elle was happy for her friend. He’d been terribly hurt when his wife left him so many years before. And the offer of shelter for the night sounded heavenly. But she could not afford to make any mistakes. “Are you sure it will be safe?”

“I am. Fortunately, we’re already halfway there. It shouldn’t take us more than another forty-five minutes to walk there, but it’s going to be dark soon and forty-five minutes in the jungle at night is a long time.”

“We can do it,” Brody said. “We’ve been a good team so far, right, Elle?”

His comment was bittersweet. They had almost been a team. A real team. The ultimate team.

A lifetime ago.

“We can do it,” she said, keeping her eyes focused on her friend. She was afraid to look at Brody. Afraid that he might see the longing on her face, might realize the truth that she’d regretted leaving him from almost the minute she left.

“Let’s go, then,” Leo said, taking the lead.

Elle followed with Brody taking up the rear. Mindful that Jamas might have people looking for them in the jungle, they did not talk on the way but tried to move quietly through the heavy growth. Twenty minutes into the trip, they did have to turn on their flashlights. Leo had his own and Brody carried theirs. Both men were careful to keep the light down, to have it shine only a few feet ahead of them. Twice they did have to resort to clearing the path. Fortunately, Leo’s machete was much more effective than Mrs. Hardy’s knife. It was also noisier and while Elle knew it was difficult for sound to carry through the heavy jungle, she was still worried. She’d brought danger to Brody and now Leo was involved, too.

Just as Elle was thinking that she was going to fall over from fatigue, the little house seemed to suddenly pop out of the jungle in front of them. Leo flashed his light up, allowing her a minute to inspect it. It was on stilts, with bamboo walls and a thatch roof. It was almost frightening how well it blended it with the surrounding area.

They climbed the steps and Leo opened the door. The inside was one big room. There was a small table and two chairs to the right. On the far wall was a large fireplace. That surprised her. Most of the homes in the jungle villages did not have indoor fireplaces for fear of highly flammable materials catching fire. There were two large tanks of water. That didn’t surprise her. After all, water was Leo’s business. There were several buckets, stacked upside down, next to the tanks.