“A field trip isn’t a horrible idea,” she said slowly.
“There are some easy trails around the longhouse. But I’ve got one in mind that . . .” The sentence dropped as he was stilled by her nearness. This was ridiculous and seemingly unavoidable. He only wanted to touch her, and he did in a tentative flirting of fingertips against her cheek. But her skin was too soft, too provocative, too tempting. His lips met hers. He would have dragged her closer, deepened the kiss, taken everything she had to offer. Would have, if reality hadn’t intervened in the maniacal shrill that echoed through the jungle around him. He stepped back, let her go.
“Arrogant bastard.” There was a tremor in her voice and he knew she felt it too.
“You’re going to give in sometime.”
“You and me are going to part ways long before that happens.”
“My odds are on me.”
“Your odds are totally out of date, Tarzan.”
“Tarzan. Interesting concept. He was rather the ladies man of the jungle, was he not?”
“Whatever you want to think. I’m going upstairs.”
“Wait. See that hornbill?” He pointed overhead, where a large black bird with a prominent yellow-orange bill sat. “That was what shrieked earlier.” It was part of his jungle and somehow he wanted to share it with her. As if the bird itself would bridge the shaky connection between them.
“It’s absolutely gorgeous.”
“More beautiful than those bugs of yours?”
“Hardly.” She laughed. “But close.”
“He’s calling for a mate. See that one there?” He pointed. “She’s answering. The attraction is unavoidable.”
“They’re birds. They follow nature, not their heads.”
“Exactly. When they mate, they mate for life.”
He wasn’t sure why he had said that. If it were possible to retrieve words, pull them from the biosphere, he’d pull those.
“What are you suggesting?”
The acid humor in her voice confirmed he had handed the edge in this game over to her.
“I’m suggesting that the attraction between us is undeniable and unavoidable.”
“Interesting. I thought you were suggesting marriage, Tarzan.” She drawled the last part out.
“Only sex.” He couldn’t help himself.
“Only sex. How very romantic.” She trailed her finger down his chest, sending tremors through his entire body. He swallowed, trying to keep his overheated body in check.
“I’m sorry. That was unnecessary.”
“Apology accepted. Recreational sex in the jungle really isn’t my thing. Not this trip, anyway. Besides, I rather like the mate-for-life idea,” she said, startling him.
He should thank her. It was those words that sent his mind from his more basic needs and into the realm of other more frightening possibilities. It was those words that allowed his loincloth to settle down and it was those words that made him question the practicality of a loincloth. Western wear allowed for a lot more forgiveness. He’d think about that in future. Of course, in future he wouldn’t be running around towing a frustrated group of scientists headed by a tempting little piece with wit that would scorch a man if he weren’t paying attention.
She was so close that the perfume that was all her only made him want to take her in his arms, closet her in his lair and never let her go.
He was doomed.
He swung away from her and headed for the deep foliage that grew near the river. He needed to be alone. She did strange things to him over which he had no control.
Later he stood alone on the narrow strip of flat land that bracketed the wide, aggressive river. Mate for life ran through his mind, and despite the heat a chill rolled through him.
Chapter Fourteen
Her image was seared in his mind. He had loved her as a child. Married her as an adult. Anne had always been there, engraved in his mind from the first moment he had met her, but since her death her memory was fading, unlike the pain that ached deep in his breastbone each and every day. He hated that about himself, the fact that he had forgotten what she had looked like. But there were no pictures. And despite family, he felt alone. If they knew who he really was he would truly be alone. It didn’t bear thinking about. They would never find out, not until he had succeeded.
He wasn’t sure how the killing had begun, but once it had, it had only escalated. He stood up, clenching his fists. He pushed away, looped his thumb through his belt and pushed his glasses up with his other hand.
Foreigners, interlopers. Without them the animals wouldn’t be endangered, the guide wouldn’t be dead. Foreigners, without them, all that he was wouldn’t be at stake. And without them he would still care.
Foreigners. Her. She threatened everything. He had seen her in the jungle. Seen her when she discovered the body. He’d seen the fear on her face and now he wasn’t sure what else she might have seen. Because of her, Aidan had almost caught him. Aidan would try to protect her. And to do that he had to find out what had happened to Malcolm. Aidan had to be diverted. He needed another cause, something bigger than Malcolm.
Death, like everything, came easier with practice.
* * *
“So, day two in paradise.” Sid’s voice had the usual edge and Burke took exception.
“Can you quit making it so difficult on everyone?”
“Ah. Mute boy finally speaks.”
“Sid,” Garrett warned as she came up to the group.
“Yeah. All right. But I can’t take much more of this. I had the crap bitten out of me last night and lying around here is beyond boring. Can we get out of here?”
Garrett tried to sound casual. “The telephone is still out. We’re waiting for a part from another longhouse.”
“What does that mean?” Sid frowned.
“That we might have communications by this time tomorrow.”
“So we sit around here for another day,” Ian said morosely.
“No,” Garrett said. “We’re going on an expedition today. We head out in an hour. And tomorrow, we either fly or walk out of here. Worst-case scenario, four or five days and this ordeal will be over. One other thing.”
They all looked at her with suspicion and resignation.
“Malcolm was buried.” There, she’d said it.
Ian paled. “What do you mean?”
“She means they dug a hole and buried him,” Sid snapped. “What do you think?”
“Shut up!” Ian volleyed.
“Guys!” Garrett bellowed to get their attention. “There was no choice. He was decomposing.” She put her hand on Ian’s arm. “I’m sorry. Aidan and Mark did it. I had no say.”
“What about the autopsy?” Ian asked.
“Mark did one. He thinks he has enough evidence for the coroner’s report in Kuching.”
“And the police report?” Ian asked quietly. His face was still pale but today, unlike yesterday, he wasn’t swaying on his feet.
Only a few days and they would be back in civilization. With a shower and other conveniences. She caught a whiff of body odor as Drew walked by. She wrinkled her nose and tried not to think about how she must smell.
“You smell like woman.” Aidan’s breath was warm and possessive, his breath hot and provocative as it fanned her ear. She started. The man was impossibly silent, even in flip-flops.
“Let’s get going,” Aidan said as he faced the group. “Get your gear.” He turned away and headed to the end of the verandah, where Mark sat.
“Me Tarzan.” Ian laughed. “You Jane.”
She lightly air-punched Ian’s arm. “Hush,” she chastised.
Ten minutes later they were regrouped, ready to head out.
“Let’s do what we came here to do,” Garrett said. “I’ve been looking at the environment in the general area and it’s similar to where we found the first sample.”
“What are you suggesting?” Burke frowned.
“That we look for a colony.”
“Let’s go.” She waved her hand forward.
Aidan was up ahead, scouting the land or whatever it was he did. Garrett tried not to watch him. Surprisingly she found Sid beside her as they hiked along the trail that led directly along the river.
“I’m glad you’re doing this.”
“Doing this?”
“This trek,” he replied. “I thought you’d forgotten the purpose of this trip. What with Malcolm dying, trying to get Miss Hysteria”—he shifted his gaze to Ian—“safely out of here and then, of course, dealing with Tarzan.” He gave her a wink. “Don’t think we don’t notice.”
“Don’t think it’s any of your business,” she shot back.
“Point taken,” he said cheerfully. “Look, I’ll lay off Ian.”
“That’s big of you.”
“No. That’s grown-up of me. I know I was being childish but I’m worried about him.” He cleared his throat, covering his mouth to muffle the sound, but the others were yards ahead. “And, I was panicked.”
Garrett started at the admission. “You?”
“Yeah, and I’ll deny it if the topic ever comes up, so don’t bother. But yeah, I’d never been in the rain forest. Had you?”
“Just on day trips.”
“Lucky you.”
She smiled. They were headquartered out of New York. That didn’t leave much opportunity for rain forest expeditions. She had been lucky to have the connections she did. But she knew her father would never have brought her or her coworkers over here if they hadn’t proven themselves. They were all young but some of the best in their field. When it was offered, the chance to spend time in Malaysia had been an opportunity that none of them could refuse. Two months after arriving in Malaysia, her team had flown into Sibu and this expedition had begun.
“Look.” She turned to face him. “I need your help getting Ian out in one piece.”
“You can count on me. I’ll lay off Ian.” He grimaced. “Okay, I’ll try.”
“It was Malcolm that shook him.” She touched his arm, seeing his expression become rigid. “Don’t.”
“I can’t help it. That makes me cringe, that whole guy attraction thing. No, don’t say it, I’m not a homophobe. Really, I’m not. I just don’t want to see it.”
“A little close to the line, don’t you think?”
“Maybe my tolerance is thin, I admit.” He frowned. “It wasn’t just my imagination, was it? Ian had the hots for Malcolm.”
“You could say that.”
You could say a lot of things, Garrett thought, but she wouldn’t say them to Sid. His tough-guy approach didn’t allow him to show any sensitivity to the gay lifestyle. If she were to mention the amorous embrace she had encountered between Ian and Malcolm on the last day she saw Malcolm alive, she knew she wouldn’t be getting any help from Sid. He was finding innuendos difficult enough to deal with. She assumed that the reality would be well beyond him.
“Face it, Sid, you’re rather fond of him,” Garrett said, going for the light buddy, friend humor that Sid understood.
“What are you insinuating?”
Apparently buddy humor wasn’t working today. Garrett frowned. “Nothing, obviously. Get real,” Garrett jibed back with the same rough humor Sid could understand.
“I’ll never admit it,” he said.
“Don’t expect that you will.”
“If I’m going to keep the twerp alive or at least prevent him from killing the rest of us, I’d better get started.”
“Go, Sid,” Garrett teased.
“Shut up,” he said lightly as he jogged ahead.
Garrett trailed behind the others for the first twenty minutes, enjoying the solitude as the river rushed on one side and on the other the long grass and brush grew in the lush river soil. Insects buzzed and sang a continual backdrop that had her automatically searching for signs of beetles similar to the one they had found earlier, before everything had gone so horribly wrong. Her breath hitched as she thought of him, Malcolm. She forced her thoughts back to the living, the present, and the purpose of this excursion. For now it was her, nature and the possibility of a discovery. She knew eventually she’d have to make her way ahead, give Aidan some direction, and check the signs that might indicate if they were in an area where another specimen or, more important, a colony might be found. But in the meantime she had this temporary peace.
“What are you thinking about?” Aidan’s voice emerged unexpectedly from behind her and she jumped.
“I’m enjoying the quiet,” she replied honestly as she pulled her gaze from a form-fitting T-shirt that only outlined the well-defined muscles that sculpted his torso. He was luscious, clothed or unclothed. She looked away. This was utterly ridiculous. A common trollop would have such thoughts. Not a Harvard-educated entomologist with a doctorate in a subject that most people knew little about. Not a woman fighting for a foothold in a corner of the world that had been up to now a man’s world.
But despite her thoughts of logic, reality, and clinical detachment, an earthy scent wafted from him. A natural, masculine scent that jangled her nerves and made her want to get closer.
“It’s like that for me, too,” he said softly, his breath warm on her ear. “Maybe it’s time we did something about it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know what I’m talking about.” His finger lightly caressed her upper arm.
“Don’t.” She jerked away.
“Why not?”
“This isn’t the place.”
“Where would be the place?”
“That’s not what I meant. Never. Never would be the place.”
“You’re a poor liar.”
His lips met hers.
She took a step backward and turned away. This was becoming a disturbing habit.
“You know it’s going to happen.”
“Your ego is frightening,” Garrett replied and walked away before he saw the quiver in her fingertips, and before he realized what she found frightening was that he was right.
Chapter Fifteen
She was spinning him into her web. He couldn’t have planned it better if he had deliberately thrown the two of them together. He chuckled. The attraction between the two had flared like the path of a pair of hornbills in mating season. The rest only required opportunity, and that he had provided in spades.
Aidan would discover nothing. He had been sure of that from the beginning. So far everything had gone as planned. Aidan suspected the Chinese hunters, which was as it should be. And the Iban guide was oblivious to the fact that the expedition he had led the Chinese into had a dual purpose. It was a hunting opportunity for the Chinese and a chance to transfer blame. So far it was working.
But things were a long way from okay. He was still just a wanna-be, an anomaly as a businessperson, a joke to the foreigners—to Aidan. For that’s all Aidan was no matter what Akan tried to make him. Aidan would never be Iban no matter how many years he spent in the jungle, no matter how retro he dressed. Just like he was an Iban, no matter how many times he tried to escape.
He gritted his teeth. He was so much more and soon Aidan would know all he could be. But when that happened, he would be well away from the primitive world that was once his destiny. No longer—it was Europe all the way. He glanced at his watch, at the calendar that marked the days until this was over and he was on the first plane out, never to return. So far everything was going according to plan, neat and clean without bloodshed, a perfectly civilized ending, just as he’d planned.
* * *
The next day was every bit as hot and humid as the day prior as Aidan prepared to begin the trek that would take Garrett and her team on a journey that would test their limits and hopefully their knowledge of the crime. He had told Garrett only an hour ago that the communications were not going to be up today. The lies were weighing on him. He wrestled with his conscience while reminding hims
elf that it had to be done. This was a crime scene and they were suspects. Nothing more. Trouble was, she was everything more and he wasn’t sure how that had happened. He didn’t know her. It was too soon. But yet in the other world of the jungle it seemed that time had its own path. He closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his hand across them, as if that would clear not just his vision but his thoughts.
“So you’re really going to do it. Take them into the jungle,” Blue said from behind him.
He opened his eyes and faced his brother. “Got a better idea?”
“Let it go,” Blue replied. “I doubt if there’s anything that group knows. Didn’t you say there were poachers in the area?” He pushed his glasses up with a knuckle. “I suspect there’s a good chance their guide got between them and some game.”
“I suspect you’re right on both counts.”
“As far as them”—he motioned with a twist of his body back to the longhouse—“I wouldn’t be apt to believe what they say, not under that kind of stress. The jungle and city folk just don’t agree.” He paused and thought for a moment, then said, “I might register for another class.”
“In what?”
“Don’t laugh. Tourism.”
“Good direction, all things considered,” Aidan said but frowned at the sudden change of direction. Yet it was the first time in a long time since Blue had made any effort at brotherly closeness. When was the last time they’d had anything longer than a five-minute conversation?
“Yeah, maybe.” Blue’s tone was stiff and Aidan hesitated over what to say next.
At another time Aidan would have asked about Blue’s new interest in tourism, but there was something in Blue’s demeanor, in the tense way he held himself that said now wasn’t the time. It seemed the natural flow to the conversation was gone. The feel of familiarity they had once had was lost and they were again struggling for something to say.
“I suppose this is good-bye,” Blue said rather gruffly.
“For now.”
“Watch yourself,” Blue said darkly. “You never know what can happen. Sometimes, these things are better left alone.”
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