In front of him, Dana tottered dangerously.
“Crouch down,” he commanded. “Crawl toward the other side. It’ll be okay if you just keep moving.”
He saw her drop to her knees and begin to crawl, inching along the swaying, insubstantial bridge. He crawled behind her, urging her on. Only another fifteen or twenty feet and they were safe.
Suddenly there was a give in the bridge, a sickening sound as the vines began to pull away from their moorings.
“Alex, what’s happening?” she called to him.
“Don’t stop,” he yelled. “Go for the other side!”
But before the words were out of his mouth, the bridge broke loose from the trees on the mission side of the ravine and with a sickening lurch hurtled toward the opposite wall.
“Hold on, hold on,” he cried out.
They had only seconds to brace themselves against the jolting crash. It threw them into the dense brush that clung to the sides of the ravine.
Alex looked up and saw Dana, six feet above him, clinging desperately to the bridge that had become a tangled mass of vines. He was relieved to hear her call to him in a voice that was shaky but determined. “I guess all I have to do now is climb up.”
“At least we’re not swaying anymore,” he yelled. “Give it a try, Dana.”
He watched as she gingerly attempted to establish a foothold and shift her weight from one side of the vine to the other. It was a great effort but useless because the vines weren’t holding, and she knew it. He watched her hang on grimly, suspended like a puppet on delicate, fragile strings. If he didn’t do something quickly, both of them would end up on the bottom of the ravine.
“Hang on, Dana,” he shouted.
“It’s slipping, Alex. Oh, God, it’s slipping,” she called to him.
“Don’t worry, it’ll support you. I’m letting go.”
“No, Alex—”
“Dana, what’s left of the bridge won’t hold both of us. It’s going to break any minute. There’s a narrow ledge about ten feet below. I’m going to drop down to it.”
“Don’t you dare let go! Don’t you leave me!”
“The vines will support you, and when I let go, you can make it to the top.”
“No!”
“Dana, listen to me. One of us has to flag down Glenn. He won’t land if no one’s there,” Alex insisted. “I’ll try to let go gently, but there might be some swaying so hold on.”
“Alex—”
“Hold on, Dana. I’m dropping onto the ledge now.”
She cried out to him again, but he had already pushed away from the wall. She felt the vines swing out and then go slack. Seconds later, she heard the sound of his body crashing through branches and bushes. Then there was one last horrific thud.
“Alex, are you all right? Alex!” she screamed.
There was no response. Dana looked down. Branches had broken from the trees as he crashed by, but she still couldn’t see all the way to the ledge. There was nothing but green visible below her. And in the distance she could hear the sound of the elephants rampaging on the other side of the ravine.
Fighting back her sobs, Dana began to pull herself toward the top of the chasm. It was slow going as she found a foothold and eased her body another inch higher, pulling with her arms. The vines were holding, at least for now, but she didn’t know how long they’d last.
She made another foothold in the wall of the ravine, and then another. The muscles in her legs and arms quivered with exertion—and fear. Alex’s life—both their lives—depended on her survival. She had to get to the top and signal Glenn when he flew over.
Gasping for breath, Dana pulled another few inches upward. Then she reached out with both hands and dug into the hard earth at the edge of the ravine. She’d made it, but she still had to get her body over. She gave one great lurch and managed to hook her upper arms onto the rim. It was excruciating, but she didn’t give up, making a final all-out effort to heave her torso across the top.
Squirming like a snake, calling up every extra ounce of energy she possessed, she threw herself onto the dirt, dug in with elbows and knees until she was free of the vines and over the top. Then she rolled away from the edge and lay in the dirt only long enough to catch her breath before crawling back toward the abyss.
She couldn’t see Alex, couldn’t even see the ledge he’d fallen onto, if there was such a place. As far as she could tell, he’d vanished into the cool green of leaves and vines.
She was afraid he was dead.
Across the ravine, she saw the elephants, no more than forty feet away, milling wildly on the other side of the chasm and kicking up a cloud of dust with their huge deadly feet. They were so near, she could look into their crazed eyes, but they were no danger to her now.
Finally, like a sleepwalker, Dana got up and headed for the plateau. It was bare of trees, much like the clearing on the other side, another perfect landing spot for Glenn’s plane. She shielded her eyes with her hands and searched the skies. The sun beat down, and in the glare she saw a hundred other suns reflected again and again. But no plane.
She dropped to the ground. There was no possibility of returning to the shade; she had to stay here, in the open, so Glenn could see her. She would wait as long as necessary.
It seemed like hours before she heard something, the faint hum of a motor. She got up, planted herself in the center of the open plateau and began to wave her arms and shout at the plane that appeared out of the blue sky.
“I’m here. Please land! Oh, please. Alex needs help!”
She knew that Glenn couldn’t hear her, but she needed to say the words and let him at least see her desperation.
He flew over the mission, where the rendezvous with Alex was planned. The plane was so low that the trees swayed with the breeze it created before Glenn headed in the direction of the forest. The elephants, frightened by the sound, ran frantically back and forth along the ravine.
Just before hitting the tops of the trees, Glenn shot upward, looped and disappeared, leaving Dana hopelessly waving her arms at the little dot in the sky.
Then, suddenly, he was back, making another sweep of the area, flying even lower, dipping toward the chasm. She could see him clearly now. Their eyes met, he smiled and held a thumb upward.
They were saved!
* * *
“WELL, that’s the damnedest thing I’ve ever heard. Alex Jourdan actually jumped off the bridge to save your life? Doesn’t sound like the Alex I know. That one never had a hero complex.” Glenn smiled broadly, revealing white, even teeth that looked even brighter against skin burned deep brown by the African sun.
Very quickly, Dana realized that the soft-spoken Glenn Bedell didn’t mince his few words. He was obviously one of those men who’d been everywhere and done everything and didn’t need to talk about his exploits. They showed in his deeply creased face and his snow-white hair, which was covered by a broad-brimmed hat. A cowboy of the African jungle, as he spoke he coiled a rope in his hand and surveyed the ravine.
“This where he jumped?”
“Yes, right below here,” Dana replied.
Glenn walked along the chasm, gazing down intently, not commenting. Then he stopped and moved closer to the edge. His trained eyes had spotted something. “There he is.”
Dana looked down, seeing only thick green vegetation. “I don’t see him. Where?” she asked frantically.
“Move closer and look to the left of that spiky shrub. See, right there.” He directed her gaze. “You can glimpse his trouser leg.”
Dana saw him, and her heart skipped a beat.
“Trouble is, I don’t see any sign of movement,” Glenn told her. “That concerns me.”
His remark ended Dana’s momentary surge of euphoria. “He may just be knocked out,” she said hopefully.
“Well, let’s find out. I can rig a rope on one of the trees and get down there to him. Problem is, I need someone up here with the strength to get us back.”
He looked Dana up and down. She could imagine how she appeared to him. Thin and haggard, wild-eyed and hysterical, not someone to depend on in any emergency. She tried to slow her breathing, calm her voice. “I’m going down there.”
Not the type to argue, Glenn asked just one question. “Are you sure you can make it?”
“I’ve climbed mountains back home, and I know how to rappel down. Once I get there, you have the strength—and the know-how—to pull us out.”
Glenn nodded. “I can get you out. If you can make it.”
Her answer was to take the rope and loop it around herself, fashioning a makeshift harness. She was calm now and sure of her purpose. “I can make it. I have to find out if he’s hurt or—” She bit back the hated words, not allowing herself to think that Alex might be dead.
Glenn nodded understandingly. “Take it slow going down and give me a pull on the rope when you hit the ledge. I’ll bring Alex up first and then you.” He raised a bushy gray eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”
Dana checked the ropes around her waist and across her chest. “Let me tell you just how sure I am, Glenn. I recently broke out of a Congolese jail. I’ve lived among the Pygmies, been attacked by hippos, escaped from an elephant stampede and a machine-gun attack. I lassoed Alex and pulled him out of quicksand, so you might say I’m good with ropes. By the way, I’ve even killed a man. Right now, there’s nothing I can’t face. So please lower me to the ledge. Alex needs me.”
As she listed her recent encounters, the look on the bush pilot’s face registered stunned disbelief. Without another word, he wrapped the end of the rope around a tree and, bracing his feet, began to lower Dana down the side of the cliff.
* * *
DANA’S FEET touched the ledge. She pushed against it, giving herself room to maneuver, then came to rest solidly beside Alex’s motionless body. As she knelt beside him, she saw that his face was deathly white. Praying silently, she fell across his body, holding him close, listening for a heartbeat.
She heard it immediately, strong and even. He was alive!
From above she felt a tug on the rope.
“Sorry,” she called up, tugging in return. “I forgot.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes, but he’s unconscious,” Dana yelled.
“Take it slow and check him out. We’ve got time.”
Dana had no idea what to do first. She knew that if Alex’s back or neck was broken, moving him could be fatal. But how was she supposed to check him out?
There was barely enough room on the ledge for her to kneel beside him, but she did the one thing that came naturally. She dabbed with the tail end of her shirt at the blood that oozed from a cut near his hairline. And she talked to him.
“Please wake up, Alex. Please be all right. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.” She smoothed his hair and fought the prickle of tears in her eyes. “I’m supposed to check you out, but I don’t even know how. You have to tell me what’s the matter, Alex.”
His chest rose and fell gently, but otherwise there was no movement. His eyes didn’t open.
“You’re such a fool,” she chided, trying another tack. “Acting the hero. The role doesn’t fit you, according to Glenn. But I know you did it to save me.”
She leaned over and put her cheek next to his. His body was warm; his beard tickled her face. But he didn’t move. The tears began to flow from her eyes, down her face, onto his unshaven chin. She kept on talking, saying everything that was in her heart.
“I tried to pretend that I didn’t like you when we first met, but I was just afraid of my feelings, scared of letting go. You were dangerous, and that intrigued me, excited me—and terrified me at the same time.”
She felt Alex stir, and she sat up, waiting for something to happen. From above, Glenn urged her to get moving, at least give him a report.
She ignored him and kept on talking to Alex. “We’ve been through so much together.” His shirt was torn open, and she touched his bare chest, which was scratched and bruised from the fall. “These past days have seemed like a lifetime. A lifetime that we’ve shared, you and I. We’ve shared everything, Alex.” She moved her hand along his warm, damp chest. He felt very much alive to her, very vital. If only he would open his eyes, speak to her.
“I love you, Alex. I can’t lose you now. Promise me you’ll be all right. Promise me you won’t die.” She leaned over and rested her head on his chest, just below his heart, listening to it beat, listening to the sound of life. “Promise me,” she whispered desperately.
At first she wasn’t even aware that his arms were around her; it seemed so natural, so right. Then she realized that he’d moved. He was hugging her!
“I’ll promise you anything as long as you give me a kiss, Dana,” he said in a barely audible voice.
“Alex!”
Without waiting for an answer, he kissed her—long and hard, as if savoring the taste of her. She returned the kiss and then broke away and sat up, looking into his laughing green eyes.
“You rat,” she said. “You were awake all along, listening to me pour my heart out!”
Alex pushed himself to one elbow and looked into her eyes. “I swear, I was out until you promised me anything. That’s enough to wake a man up. Now, about that promise...”
“Later,” she answered shakily. “Right now, all that matters is that you’re okay. Are you okay?” she added.
“I think so.”
“Can you move?”
Alex flexed his legs and arms and pulled himself to a sitting position. “Battered, bruised but basically in good shape.” He cocked an eyebrow and looked at Dana, encased in her rope harness. “Thanks to you.”
She smiled in relief. He was all right!
“My God, woman, you are amazing.” He stroked her arm thoughtfully. “How many rescues does this make, anyway?”
Dana laughed. “Who’s counting?”
“Well, I am. And I can always count on you.”
She touched his cheek with her fingertips. “At least for a while. Until we reach Nairobi.”
“Ah. Nairobi. Hot showers and soft beds.” He leaned forward and kissed her again. “And a date with my favorite heroine, the unstoppable Dana Baldwin.”
He was about to steal another kiss when a voice boomed toward them from above. “Hello, down there! Let’s get this show on the road.”
Chapter Twelve
Hotel Inter-Continental
Nairobi, Kenya
How seductive civilization was, Dana mused, with all its comforts and conveniences. Within hours of her arrival in Nairobi, she was wrapped in its pleasurable folds, sitting in an air-conditioned room in a luxury hotel, sipping a cold soft drink, wearing a new robe and talking long distance to her brother Kurt.
“My contact at the embassy said my passport was in the works. I’ll have it tomorrow,” she told him.
“So you mentioned my partner’s name,” Kurt said with a laugh that was strong and clear over the phone lines.
“Of course. The fact that he’s a friend of the ambassador’s son didn’t hurt at all!”
“What about the money Andy wired? He was pretty worried about you stuck there with no cash.”
Dana took a long sip of her iced drink before answering. “The money’s in my purse. There’s a bank right next to the hotel, so it wasn’t a problem. And a new credit card is being express mailed. I’m going to be a real person again.”
“Good,” her brother said. “Now, let’s hear more about how you got in this mess, Sis. I can’t get the story straight. Why were you wandering around in the middle of a rain forest alone?”
Dana swung her feet to the floor and stood up. “How I got separated from my tour is a long story, too long to go into now. I’ll put it all together when I see you.” Dana paced the carpeted floor. What she’d told her brother so far wasn’t really a lie—that she’d wandered alone across the border into Zaire and then found her way into Kenya. It was just
a slight whitewashing of the truth. “The whole story’s—well, it’s complicated,” she added.”
“Complicated is right, and Andy and I want to hear every adventurous detail. And we want you back home where we can keep our eyes on you. We miss you, Dana.”
“I miss you, too. I have a lot to tell you.” Suddenly she was anxious to get off the phone and keep any more questions from Kurt at bay awhile longer. Her tale had holes in it that wouldn’t take much longer for his lawyer’s brain to focus on like a laser beam.
“We’re looking forward to seeing you. Love you, Sis.”
Dana felt a glaze of tears across her eyes. “I love you, too, Kurt, and I’ll see you soon. Thanks for everything.”
She hung up the phone, thinking how lucky she was to have Kurt and Andy on her side—and Glenn, who’d gotten her safely to the American Embassy. Her luck held when the embassy accepted, with very few questions, her story of being a lone, lost tourist. And it was still holding. Not a word about her problems with the law in Porte Ivoire had reached the outside world.
Glenn had offered to alert the officials in Zaire about the deaths of Millicent and Yassif and the destruction of the Congo Waterways helicopter. Soon she’d write to Kantana and tell him the identity of the real murderer, but until she had her passport in hand and was safely out of Kenya, Dana had no intention of revealing her association with Congo Waterways Tours, Porte Ivoire, Louis Bertrand and certainly not the theft of the Elephant d’Or.
Dana turned up the air-conditioning and padded across the thick carpet to her bed. Her new purchases were spread out on it, a silky white dress for tonight with lacy underwear and all the accessories, a pantsuit for traveling, even a canvas bag to pack her purchases in for the final leg of her trip—the return flight to Tangiers, where her adventure had begun.
Alex was due at seven o’clock. She hadn’t seen him since he’d dropped her off at the embassy, where she’d followed his advice and not mentioned his name to the officials. “Let’s just say that my reputation may have preceded me,” he explained to her with a shrug.
Tall, Dark and Deadly Page 19
