She sat up. “I’d wait until you meet them before you make that judgment.”
He screwed up his face.
“Jesus, Carter, I’m joking. They’re not that bad.”
He sat up and tugged at his laces. “It’s not that.”
She copied his lead and untied her boots, yet he failed to elaborate on his comment. “Well, tell me, or do I have to slap it out of you?”
He winced as he kicked off his shoe. “You know I’ve been to jail, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, your wonderful country won’t let me in with my drug conviction.”
Lily turned to him, blinking. “Really?”
“Uh-huh.”
“So you’ve never been to America?”
He shook his head. “Nope.”
“Oh.”
“That’s another one of those buts I should’ve mentioned earlier.”
Her mind spun over that complication and she sucked air through her teeth as she peeled off her sock. She placed her foot onto her thigh to inspect the damage. “Owww.” Her foot was red raw, and several blisters on her sole had not only burst—they were bleeding.
“Oh, Jesus. Why didn’t you stop earlier, you crazy woman?”
“There wasn’t a decent place to rest.”
He shifted to his knees with a groan and lifted her other boot onto his thigh. “Let’s get this one off. You need to dry your feet out.”
Lily allowed Carter to remove her shoe and sock. She refrained from looking at her second foot; the expression on his face was enough to know it wasn’t good.
“Okay, you stay right there.”
She gave him a salute. “Yes, boss.”
“Oh.” He stopped and turned back to her. “I brought your book.” He plucked her father’s journal out from down his shirt.
Her chin quivered; she’d thought it was long gone. A lump sprang to her throat at his thoughtfulness. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He gathered their socks from the ground and hung them over a nearby branch.
Lily picked up the journal. Without even unwinding the leather strap, she knew it was ruined. A tear tumbled down her cheek, and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to quell her emotions.
“Hey.” Carter’s touch on her shoulder was like a soft blanket. “You okay?”
She shook her head; certain words wouldn’t form.
Kneeling down, he thumbed a tear from her cheek. “We might be able to save it.” He motioned to the journal in her lap.
“I don’t think so. It doesn’t matter.”
“Like hell it doesn’t matter. We’ve lugged it this far, it’s going to make it all the way.”
She chuckled at his assertiveness.
“Here, let me put it in the sun.” He plucked the journal from her hands and placed it in the one and only ray of sunlight that pierced the canopy. “There, it’ll be dry in no time.”
“Thank you.”
“No worries. Get some rest.” He strode off to her left and she lay back to study the tangle of vines that hung above her in a living macramé. The spear of sunlight that hit her journal had her wondering what the time was. It didn’t matter, though. They had much more important things to worry about. The pains in her stomach were at the top of her list. If she didn’t get food soon, she’d likely pass out.
Carter made trips back and forth with armfuls of twigs and branches, while she studied the trees around them, searching for anything edible. But even once he’d amassed a huge stack, she’d found nothing.
“Want to help me get this fire going?”
“Sure.” She rolled onto her knees and crawled forward. Just the thought of standing was enough to keep her off her feet. With a handful of leaves on the bottom, she added small twigs, alternating their direction to create a crisscross pattern. When she fished the lighter from her pocket, she found the pencil too. She’d forgotten all about it.
As she touched her finger to the lead point, she wondered if it was strong enough to double as a weapon. Placing it aside, she struck the lighter and touched the flame to the leaves. Within a minute or so, the fire was substantial enough that she eased back and tossed on a couple of larger branches.
Carter arrived at her side carrying a forked branch with her socks draped across it. “Here you go.”
She smiled up at him. “You’re a fast learner.”
“Taught by the best.”
She held it over the flames and he left her again, returning moments later with his own forked branch. He sat beside her, and they both held their damp socks over the fire.
“Any idea about food?” he asked.
“Not yet. We need to watch the monkeys again. Whatever they’re eating is good enough for me.”
“They don’t usually get active until sunset.”
“True. Any idea what the time is?”
He looked up to the canopy, and she followed his gaze. A spear of light cut through a break in the canopy. It was angled enough to confirm it wasn’t the middle of the day. “It must be afternoon. Maybe three or four o’clock.”
“I’ll go with whatever you say.” He shoved a loose curl from his eye.
A breeze rustled the vegetation and Lily shuddered as the air swirled across her damp shoulders and back. Her stomach growled loudly, and she was torn between searching for food or planning a way to keep warm overnight. The jungle temperature dropped dramatically once the sun went down, and their damp clothes were a problem. Acknowledging that she had no choice, Lily placed her sock-covered branch aside, stood, and began to unbutton her shirt.
Carter raised his eyebrows. “Hello . . . did I miss something?”
“We need to get our clothes dry, or we’ll freeze. Come on. Your turn.”
She peeled her shirt off her shoulders and squeezed out the excess water.
Shirtless, she grabbed a nearby branch, but it wasn’t sturdy enough. “We need to find a way to secure these over the fire, or we’ll be putting on wet clothes again tomorrow.”
He grinned at her. “You just want to get me naked.”
“Maybe.” She grinned back. “I’m serious, actually. Come sunset you’ll get cold, and by morning you’ll have sores everywhere. Believe me, I know.” She recalled one particularly rainy camping trip as a kid where she’d suffered so badly that her father had declared she’d never do it again. Of course, he didn’t win that declaration.
“Right.” He whipped his shirt off and Lily cast her eyes over his body. A flush of heat blazed through her at what she saw. Carter might look unkempt, with long hair and a shaggy beard, but there was no hiding the steely abs lining his torso.
Dragging her eyes away, she pushed through the stinging in her feet to scour the area for a long branch. A vine would be ideal too, but it might be difficult to remove from its host tree without a knife. She didn’t feel uncomfortable walking around in just her shorts and bra, and at every opportunity, she snuck glances at Carter, trying to take in more of his surprising physique.
Working together, they rigged up a contraption that held their shirts, shorts, and socks over the flames. Once their clothing was sorted, her grumbling stomach begged for attention. “We have to find food.”
“I know. But where?”
Lily shook her head and looked to the trees. “Let’s look around while we still have a bit of light.”
“Okay, but make sure we can see the fire at all times.”
“Ahhh,” she said. “Who’s the survival expert now?”
He tapped her bottom. “Learning from the best.” He reached for her hand, entwined her fingers in his, and glancing to the trees, they stepped from the fire. Every tentative step was agony, but she didn’t complain, aware that Carter would be feeling the same.
After a while, her neck grew stiff from looking upward. She tilted her
head side to side and noticed a strange plant that half clung to an enormous tree and half hung off it as if it was too heavy to hold itself there. At the end of each sinewy tentacle grew a large pink bulb. Each bulb was covered in flaps that stuck out like triangular ears.
“Hey, Carter, check this out.”
Carter arrived at her side. “Pitahayas! Good stuff.” He twisted one off, tore it open, and bit into it.
She copied his move. The white flesh inside was dotted with hundreds of tiny black seeds. She took a bite and the consistency was similar to a pear, but it was very bland, almost tasteless.
She cocked her head at Carter, who’d already devoured half of one. “Is it ripe?”
“Yeah, I’d say so.”
“But it doesn’t have a taste.”
“That’s normal.”
“Oh, okay. I hope it fills me up.”
“From what I’ve seen, nothing fills you up.”
“That’s true.”
After eating one more each, they plucked off a handful each and carried them back to the fire. She’d eaten two more before her stomach pangs subsided.
As the air cooled, the monkeys started their evening ruckus, and the minimal light they had faded at lightning speed. Soon, they were surrounded by complete black. She couldn’t even see stars.
With the darkness came the cool air, and Lily shivered in response. She stood up and reached for her shirt hanging over the fire. It was dry, and she tugged it off the branch and pulled it on. Her shorts weren’t ready though, and she left them there. Carter did the same, and she was a little disappointed when he was dressed again. Her boots were still damp, and she turned them around and nudged them closer to the fire.
As Lily stifled a yawn, she contemplated where they’d sleep. When she was a kid, she’d learned the hard way that sleeping on the ground was not a great move. Damp could seep up from the earth, allowing hypothermia to set in. They needed to build a layer between the dirt and their bodies.
“We need something to sleep on,” she said.
“Okay. What do you suggest?”
“For starters, let’s bunch up these dead leaves and put them into that area between those exposed roots.” She pointed at the base of an enormous tree. The roots keeping the tree upright bulged from the ground like retaining walls. One of the roots was as high as Lily’s thigh and curved in a way that was perfect for what she’d planned. She was annoyed that she hadn’t thought of their bedding earlier, or she would’ve made the fire closer.
Together they scooped up handfuls of leaves and tossed them toward the tree base. Once they’d collected all the leaves within the firelight, only a quarter of the exposed root area was covered. “We need more.” Lily stated the obvious.
She grabbed a branch that was about the size of her forearm from the fire. Using it as a torch, she scanned beyond the tree. A mass of ferns, tightly knitted together, caught her attention. She bent down for a closer look. The tops of the ferns were lush green, but the lower branches were dry and brittle. Exactly what they needed. “These are perfect.”
She tugged one and it came away freely. “Grab the dry ones.”
Fortunately, the dried fern leaves were in abundance, and soon they had an ideal bed set up.
“It looks positively cozy,” Carter said, upbeat.
“It’ll do the trick, that’s for sure.” Lily tossed the branch she’d removed back into the fire and sparks sprung to life, floating up into the air until they disappeared. She crawled onto the leaf pile and sat facing the fire. Her body ached all over, especially her shoulders, and she rolled them, wincing at the stiffness.
“Sore, huh?” Carter kneeled behind her and gently massaged the knotted muscle at the base of her neck. Moaning at the pleasure, she rolled her head from side to side. “Oh, that feels so good. How’s your wound? You must be in loads of pain.”
“Yeah, some.”
His thumbs applied pressure and she groaned at both the bliss and agony of it. “It’s okay to admit you’re in pain.”
“Oh, pot, kettle, madam.”
“What?”
“Even when I can see you’re in pain you refuse to admit it.”
Her stubbornness was born from years of sibling rivalry. “I guess so. I learned pretty early on that I needed to be tough to compete against my brothers.”
He eased forward, placing his legs either side of hers, wrapped his arms around her waist, and rested his chin on her right shoulder. “You were amazing in that cenote today.”
She shook her head. “If I was amazing, I would’ve done it on the first go.”
“That’s what made you amazing. You didn’t give up.”
She huffed. “The prospect of dying is a great motivator.”
“So is the determination to live.”
Lily leaned her head back to rest on his shoulder, and as she stared at the glowing coals on the underside of a log, she ran her hands along his forearms. “Do you think we’re going to make it?”
“I know we are.” He squeezed her to his chest.
With nothing else to do but pray for an uneventful night, Carter lay down with his back to the exposed root, and when he patted the leaves in front, Lily crawled in beside him.
He nestled in behind her, his chest to her back, and as she stared into the dancing flames, sheer exhaustion had sleep beckoning. She closed her eyes, and breathing in long, deep breaths, she thought about her family. They’d be going out of their minds looking for her. Her thoughts jumped to her passport, which was now in the hands of the drug runners, and wondered if her blind determination to come to Mexico to find answers had now put her entire family in danger. She’d never be able to forgive herself if anything happened to them.
Carter’s breathing grew deeper and when he squeezed her, it was like he could sense her troubling thoughts. The warmth of his flesh, nestled up against hers, made her feel complete and she knew that no matter what happened, Carter would protect her.
In an attempt to force all the uncertainty from her mind, she focused on her breathing, determined to get some sleep.
Sometime during the night, the mosquitos came, attacking every inch of her exposed skin with cruel hostility. They buzzed in her ears until she was driven crazy. They bit her arms, her legs. They bit her face too.
She tugged her collar up, did up the top button on her shirt, put her hands over her ears, and prayed for the night to be over.
Chapter 21
Screeching monkeys dragged Carter from sleep. He blinked his eyes open, and was surprised to see orange coals still glowing in the fire and sunlight spearing its way through the jungle.
Lily scratched her chin and he couldn’t decide if she was still asleep or not. He reached for her hand. “Don’t,” he whispered.
“It’s itchy.” She sounded groggy.
Carter propped up on his elbow. “Your fingernails are dirty. If you break the skin, you’ll get infected.”
Lily whimpered and rolled to sit up. Carter swiveled around to sit beside her. “Crappy night, huh?”
She nodded. “Just a bit.”
He leaned over to kiss her forehead. “We’ll have a better day today. I’m sure of it.”
“I hope so.”
Carter stood and reached for her hand. “Come on. Let’s eat something and get going.”
Carter launched her to her feet and she winced the moment they touched the ground.
“You okay?”
“My feet hurt.” She pulled a sad face.
“Do you think you can walk?”
“Yeah.” She didn’t hesitate with her response, and his heart just about burst with pride. Many people would’ve crumbled into a mess by now.
“Hungry?” he asked.
“Always.”
He handed her a pitahaya, and as he ate he noticed dozens of bites on Lily�
�s legs, arms, and some on her face. His were the same and he wasn’t sure if he could stand another night like that. Some of Lily’s spark seemed to have trickled away too. He decided to keep things upbeat. “Lucky we found these.” He indicated to his half-eaten fruit.
“I’d rather have a steak any day.”
“Me too. Hopefully we’ll be eating one before sunset.”
He wiped his hands on his pants, and then reached for his boots to feel inside. They were still a bit damp, but they’d have to do. He handed Lily her socks and boots, and she sat down to put them on.
Within minutes, they were ready to get going again. Lily gathered her father’s journal and hesitated with it in her hands. She closed her eyes, her lips pulled into a thin line, and when she opened her eyes again they were filled with sadness. Turning to the fire, she tossed her journal into the embers.
“What’re you doing?” Carter reached for the book, trying to pull it from the heat before it took hold.
She wrapped her fingers around his arm. “Leave it. It’s ruined.”
“Are you sure? It might dry out.”
“I’m sure.” She gripped his hand in hers as the book caught and burst into flames. Even if she changed her mind, it was too late now.
They watched it burn until little gray puffs of ash floated into the air, and within minutes there was nothing left of her father’s notes but the charred leather binding.
He squeezed her hand. “Come on. Let’s grab some more pitahayas and get going.”
By the time they had several fruits secured in their shirts, the sun was permeating the vegetation enough that they could see where they were going. Not that it helped. “I don’t suppose you have any tricks to tell us which way to go?”
“Sure,” she said. “Find me a patch of sunlight, and I’ll identify east and west.”
“Oh, okay.” But as they continued walking, finding a decent patch of unfiltered sun was like finding scents in the air. The occasional rays of light that pierced through the canopy were nothing but a tease.
The blisters on his heels and the balls of his feet were agony. He imagined Lily was the same and had no idea how she was continuing. Twice they stopped to eat fruit and take a quick break, but each time, it was Lily who announced it was time to carry on. His tongue was as dry as leather, and although the fruit helped, he’d give anything for a gallon of water.
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