Turning It on (Red Hot Russians) (15 page)

Hannah gasped. “Oh my gosh, it’s gorgeous.”

Byron looked up, and then shrugged. “It’s nice. Ready to head back?”

“Back? There are two farther down the mountain. Don’t you want to go?”

“Not really. You’ve seen one waterfall, you’ve seen them all.”

“Look who we found!” A familiar female voice rang out behind them, and they turned to see Gina and Vlad come out of the jungle. Gina waved to the camera crew. “Hey, boys!”

Byron crossed his arms. “What are you doing on our trail?”

Gina smirked. “Didn’t know you owned it, cupcake.”

Vlad shrugged his broad shoulders. “No one is on anyone’s trail. All of us came to see waterfalls.” He came and stood beside Hannah, drinking from a water bottle he pulled from a canvas strap across his body. That, and the black bandana knotted over his head made him look like a rather dashing pirate. He glanced at her and smiled. “Is beautiful, yes?”

“Very beautiful,” Hannah replied. “I wish I’d brought a camera.”

“You’re in luck,” he said under his breath, as he pulled a palm-sized disposable camera from his pocket.

Hannah’s eyes widened and she glanced toward the cameramen, who were watching Gina by the falls. “Where did you get that?” she asked in a low voice, in case the roar of the falls wasn’t enough to drown out their conversation.

“They asked only for my computer and cell phone. I didn’t bother to mention I brought this as backup.” He nodded toward the falls. “Stand over there. I’ll take your picture while they’re not watching us.”

“No, that’s all right. I don’t want to get you in trouble...or interrupt anything,” she said, with an eye on Gina and the cameraman.

“You aren’t,” Vlad said. They watched as Gina shed her T-shirt and shorts to reveal a black bikini. As the camera filmed, she waded into the pool and then joined other hikers posing on the shiny rocks by the cascade. “She has what she wants. Are you going on to see the rest?”

“I want to, but Byron doesn’t.”

“Then I’ll go with you.”

Hannah’s desire to see the falls and not go alone outweighed her concerns about going with him. She nodded, and he leaned in, speaking in a low voice. “Let’s go now, while the crew is busy.”

Unnoticed, they slipped into the crowd, and onto Big Tree Trail, which led south to Juan Diego Falls. Once they were down the path, and had safely eluded the cameras, Hannah unhooked the tiny microphone from the front of her shirt and dropped it into her back pocket. According to Cristal, the audio techs would still get a signal from her transmitter, but most of what it recorded wouldn’t be usable. “You realize that by coming with me, you jeopardized Team Red’s chances for a spa day.”

“And you jeopardized Team Blue’s. So we cancel each other out.”

“Good point. I might still get my spa day after all.”

He grinned. “Do you like being pampered by someone eager to meet your every desire?”

He was flirting and she briefly wondered if he was miked, but the only people wearing them today were the four contestants and the flings they had chosen as hike buddies. Even so, she steered the conversation back to where it belonged. “As long as it’s Jack doing the pampering.”

Vlad’s jaw twitched. “He’s not with Robynne today.”

“I think he might be starting to see her true colors.” Or if he hadn’t yet, he would by the end of the day. Crusher would be successful. Hannah didn’t let herself imagine otherwise.

Like the previous trail, there were small signs along the paved path to identify the various trees and plants. Yet it was emptier, as if the other park visitors, like Byron, had decided seeing one waterfall was enough. To the right of the descending trail, the land dropped off into dense brush. “I wonder if people ever get lost in here,” she said.

“They definitely do. Before we came to Puerto Rico, I read up on this place. Fifteen kids vanished on school trip. No one ever saw them again. Another guy was lost for twelve days. They found him, though.”

Hannah’s shoulders tightened as she thought of the scheme she and Cristal had concocted. She hadn’t expected this park to be so vast, or the dense trees to muffle sound so effectively. Getting lost here seemed not only possible, but also frighteningly easy. “Alive,” she asked, rather afraid of the answer.

“Alive, yes. But skinny. And scared.”

She released an anxious laugh. “Twelve days in a jungle crawling with tarantulas? I’d be scared, too.”

“That’s not the only scary thing here. There are stories about UFO sightings and even aliens living in the woods. Little creatures with long heads and protruding eyes, like insect. I saw a photo of one. It is blurry, but you can still make out what it is. The government has supposedly known for years but covers it up, like that place out west.”

“Area 51.”

“Right. Not only that, but did you know they’ve seen chupacabra here?”

“What’s a chupacabra?”

“Creature that walks upright like a human, but is covered with scales and spikes. It has long claws and teeth. Sometimes they call it the goat sucker, for obvious reasons.”

The reasons were not obvious, but she didn’t care to think about them. Especially not on this deserted trail, with no one but her and this...aspiring horror novelist. “You’re making this up, aren’t you?”

Vlad laughed. “No, I’m not. But you don’t have to believe the stories to like them.”

His smile took her back to The Smiling Shark. Away from the cameras, he was sweet and funny. Wasn’t it possible the show had gone out of its way to make him look bad? Of course it was possible. They’d done it to her, after all. Hope that he really was the good man she wanted him to be flickered to life, though she wasn’t quite ready to trust her feelings.

The pavement was moist and muddy from the drops falling from the canopy overheard. The tall trees kept the path in shade, but also trapped the humidity. Her hair stuck to her neck and cheeks and sweat rolled down her neck. She used her T-shirt to wipe it away. She must look a fright. Thank God they had ditched the camera crew.

She looked up. Did tarantulas or giant millipedes climb? What about aliens? She brushed her hand across the back of her neck again and glanced down just as something long, black and shiny scurried across the path, inches from her feet.

She shrieked.

“Hannah?” Vlad hurried to her side. “What?”

“I almost stepped on a huge millipede!”

“Where?” His concern changed to excitement, as he pulled the camera from his pocket and started pushing aside ferns. “Here?”

“You want its picture? It was black and slimy. What else do you need to know?”

“Hold this.” He thrust the camera into her hands and grabbed a stick. He rooted in the underbrush and when he pulled the stick out, a six-inch black millipede clung to the end. “Quick, take the picture!”

She managed three shots as the creature wormed along the stick, perilously close to Vlad’s hand. Then he tossed the stick and the millipede to the ground. Hannah shuddered and gave the camera back. He gazed at the retreating millipede, his expression rapt, as if he’d never seen anything so wonderful.

“Okay. Explain. Why do you want pictures of disgusting bugs?”

He put the camera back in his pocket. “While we were walking, I had idea for a story. What if long time ago, an alien race landed here and moved into the jungle? They lived on millipedes and snakes, making home in the trees where no one sees them, venturing out occasionally to spy and kidnap hikers in order to learn secrets of our world. Then one day...they attack.”

“Sounds a little like
War of the Worlds
,” Hannah said, as they resumed walking.

“I bit, I suppose. But Puerto Rican setting would give it unique flavor.”

“Is the hero a stripper?”

He laughed. “Maybe not in this book.”

She’d worked with enough authors that it took a lot to surprise her, but this buff exotic dancer, whose secret thoughts involved rain forest aliens and flesh-eating monsters, made her shake her head. “You don’t fit the horror geek stereotype at all. What’s your attraction to this stuff?”

“I grew up reading Asimov, plus some obscure Russian writers you’ve probably not heard of. From there, H.G. Wells, Franz Kafka and Arthur C. Clarke. Then I discovered King, Koontz and H.P. Lovecraft.” His smile faded. “World’s a scary place, you know? It’s easier when the monsters are made up.”

Again, she wondered about his past. “What was it like for you as a kid?”

“I never knew my father. I loved my mother, and deep down, she was a good person...but not a good parent.” His casual shrug didn’t match the somber tone in his voice.

Her heart went out to the neglected little boy he’d once been. “It must have been hard growing up without anyone.”

“It wasn’t quite like that. I had my grandparents, though they died when I was very young, and my uncle. Ivan was a good, honorable man, and tried to give me what was missing in my life. He showed me the kind of man I wanted to be.” He absently rubbed his hand over his shirt, near his heart. “Making him proud meant a lot.”

He’d spoken of his uncle in the past tense. As messed up as her own family was, at least her parents loved her and were still alive. “It must have been terrible to lose the people who meant so much to you.”

“Ivan’s not dead,” Vlad said, quickly. “He’s just not part of my life anymore.” He paused, his hand raised and his head cocked. “I think I hear the falls. They must be just ahead.”

She wanted to ask more, but he was walking rapidly and was already across the highway. Hannah picked up her pace and hurried after him. On the other side of the road, they plunged briefly back into the jungle and scrambled down a rocky embankment into a grotto. The splash of falling water echoed, and a louder roar came from above. Hannah craned her neck. “Is there something else up there?”

“Maybe.” He walked around to the edge of the pool and peered up to where the cascading water began. “Looks like there’s another falls up there.” She went to stand beside him. From here, she could see part, but not all it. Ahead was a makeshift trail with muddy footholds where other hikers had climbed. “Looks like we can go up this way,” Vlad said.

She didn’t want to put a drag on the adventure, though the climb did not look easy. Vlad ascended the first footholds easily. Hannah followed, carefully placing her feet on one rock, then the next. As they climbed, the going became tougher and Hannah moved more slowly, determined not to look down. Even being cautious, she stumbled twice. The second time, she cried out and grabbed a branch, as her feet scrambled for purchase in the mud.

“Hannah!” Vlad grabbed the trunk of a larger tree and stretched down to grasp her wrist. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. I won’t let you fall.”

The sureness in his voice made her feel safe, and she carefully shifted her weight from one foot to the other until she came to stand beside him, on a small patch of firm ground. Together, they gazed up a wall of rock that ascended at least thirty feet. At the top, a dense curtain of water cascaded down to splash into a crescent-shaped pool. The pool flowed into a rocky, fast-moving stream that flowed past them and spilled over another ledge to form the lower falls.

The falls’s breathtaking beauty and power left Hannah in awe. A gentle mist covered her face and she wiped the spray from her cheeks. “I saw Niagara Falls once, but we couldn’t get close like this.”

After a long moment, Vlad spoke in a low, reverent tone. “Feels like it’s only ours to enjoy.”

That was exactly what she felt, too, that these falls were their private discovery. Vlad put his arm around her waist. Her body tensed as her heart pounded. Though she craved another kiss, the rational part of her mind knew wanting him was wrong. She was still engaged to Jack, and after today, Robynne might cease to be a problem between them. Did Hannah really want to complicate things with her own guilty conscience? She shifted her gaze from the water to his handsome face, just inches from hers. Vlad’s gaze was intent in the dim, water-filtered light. His throat moved as he swallowed, and his lips formed a single word.
Beautiful.

Hannah stepped away from the circle of his arm, and shook her head. “We can’t.”

Vlad frowned. “I thought you liked when I kissed you.”

“I did,” she said, quietly. “And that’s the problem.”

He heaved a sigh. “Right. Jack. Can’t forget him, can we?”

“No. I can’t forget him,” she snapped, then added. “And he isn’t the only reason.”

“What’s the other one?”

She turned. Though she might be a fool to bring up his ugly on-camera behavior, she hoped his reaction would confirm the truth, one way or another. “What you said on the show the other night, about how you pay special attention to the ugly girls, so they’ll give you money.”

His face reddened. “And that’s how you see me? Just a hustler out for money, not caring who I hurt?”

“You came on
Last Fling
! How else am I supposed to see you?”

He stared at her coldly as a long moment passed. “And you would rather believe what they show you, instead of what I hoped you would see,” he said, then turned away and started down the path.

Stunned, she was rooted to her spot. She had expected him to be angry, not hurt. The sadness in his voice cut her to the quick. Resigned, she followed him down the trail.

The hike back to the visitor’s center in the steamy midday left Hannah hot and tired. As badly as the muscles in her legs ached, her heartache was worse. It never occurred to her that he cared enough to take her rejection personally, but the truth was, she’d hurt him. This show was turning her into a person she hardly recognized and did not much like. First, she had hatched a potentially dangerous scheme to eliminate a rival. Now, instead of trusting her instincts and giving Vlad the benefit of doubt, she had bruised the heart of one of the few people here who hadn’t treated her like crap.

Vlad walked a short distance ahead but stopped occasionally, so she wouldn’t fall too far behind. They didn’t speak, but as the visitors’ center came into view, she felt a sense of urgency to make things right. If she didn’t do it now, she might not have another chance. She called his name, and when he turned, his expression was blank, but the dull look in his eyes revealed his sadness. “I’m sorry for what I said. I misjudged you, when in reality you’ve shown me nothing but kindness. Can you forgive me?”