“Sometimes,” Aidan agreed.
“Remember Akan saying about this happening before? A dead body turning up with no head, and he never did finish that story.”
Aidan frowned. “I’d forgotten.”
Blue pitched a smooth river rock into the water. It skipped once and then sank with a slight splash. Their attention both remained on the water for minutes after the rock sank before Blue spoke. “There have been some accidents in the bush, more than usual.”
“What are you saying?” Aidan asked. There was something Blue wasn’t saying, something he couldn’t put his finger on. He could feel it in the energy his brother was projecting. His stance was tight, self-contained, almost defensive, and he wouldn’t look at Aidan.
“I’ve done some guiding, just tourists to see a longhouse and a few of the more remote villages, nothing more. But I’ve heard some stories.” He glanced back to the longhouse.
“The loggers?”
“No, not the usual protest against logger violence. Akan suspects one of the tribes farther upriver.” Blue threw another rock and waited until it sank before speaking again. “And I’ve heard stories upriver that I don’t like, that’s all.”
Blue’s words hung between them as Aidan tried to digest what he had said.
Blue clapped his hand on Aidan’s shoulder. “Be careful.”
“You know more than you’re saying.”
Blue dropped his hand. “Maybe.” He squinted into the sun. “The weather might only hold another day or two.”
“Tell me,” Aidan said, frustrated, as he knew that Blue had revealed everything he would for now. “What’s going on with you?”
“Will you e-mail me when you get back?” Blue asked instead of answering his question.
Aidan grimaced. Blue had shut down. There was nothing more he would get from him today. “For sure.” His attention drew upward to the verandah to where Garrett watched them, a slight figure in the distance.
He turned his attention back to Blue and the unsettling feeling that he was losing his brother. Blue hadn’t been the same since his wife Anne had died two years ago. Nothing Aidan did spanned the distance that grew between them. And for once in his life he ached to leave the rain forest, to go back to work, to the city and the known.
* * *
While Garrett rejoiced at finally seeing the end of this expedition, she dreaded the journey ahead and leaving a potential discovery behind, even for a short time. Oddly she felt a small tug of regret at leaving the longhouse.
“Good-bye,” she said to Akan and shook his hand.
“This isn’t good-bye,” he said gruffly.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll be back,” he said and winked.
“Maybe, depending where my next expedition takes me.”
“No maybe,” Akan said. “Safe journey.”
She walked back to the end of the verandah and leaned against the railing. On the dock, Aidan was with Blue. The two men were so engaged in their conversation that it made her briefly consider what they might be discussing. Then Blue looked up and the Stetson he was wearing masked his features. Garrett gave a slight wave, feeling foolish and oddly reluctant to acknowledge Aidan’s tribal brother. His gaze met hers but his glasses glinted in the afternoon sunlight and hid what he might have thought. Then he waved and smiled before he reached for his belt and hitched it up.
She turned her back to the dock and returned her attention to the longhouse. Already the tribe went about their daily activities as her team headed down the stairs. She had said her good-byes to the women and to the shaman, who eyed her and said she would look forward to her return. It was all rather strange and unsettling as Garrett hurried down the steep steps for what she considered to be the last time.
She was surprised at the brief twinge of regret. They weren’t off to a good start. Trekking long hot days to the village before they could hope to find a plane that would get them out of here was a daunting thought. Especially considering Ian’s emotional state, his continued upset over the indecent burial for Malcolm, and Sid sliding back into his previous unpleasantness. The thought was getting to them all.
Mark had outlined the route to her and explained some of the hazards they might face. Nights on the ground, centipedes, snakes, nothing she didn’t already know and nothing she wanted to think about. Aidan, of course, had remained silent about it all.
She liked Mark. He was easy to get along with, had no edge, nothing, just easy conversation and logical suggestions. He even admitted that three days was optimistic, it could be four or more depending on her team’s pace.
She knew after talking to Akan that there was no guarantee that a plane would be at the village when they arrived. They were so far off course that Rumah Muleng was no longer the first destination. They were going to hop and skip across country and downriver.
None of it was ideal but it was the best they were being offered, and all things considered the alternative hadn’t been so great. They could be lost in the rain forest or dead for that matter. They had much to be thankful for. But at this point it was just difficult to pinpoint what those things were.
Unfortunately, a few hours into the trek Aidan mentioned the possibility of the absent plane in full hearing of her team. Like he wanted to get a reaction, and she wasn’t sure why. He grated on her like no other man did and yet at the same time she was reluctantly drawn to him.
“What do you mean there might not be a plane when we get there?” Burke’s tone registered his total disbelief. “When would we get out of here then?”
“It’s not for sure.” Garrett stepped in, glaring at Aidan.
“Don’t be too sure about that,” Aidan said, sounding altogether too cheerful.
“It’s only a chance. He’s only mentioned it so you’ll be prepared,” Garrett repeated, fighting to stave off a group panic. “Worst-case scenario we spend a night or two in the village. But there’s a good chance the plane will be there on the day we arrive. That’s what we’re shooting for. On the upside, we can call out from there,” Garrett said. She glanced at the team, hoping her words were having some effect. But Ian looked like he might throw up and Sid like he might punch someone.
Her gaze took them all in. “One other thing. It will take three, maybe four days. It’s up to us how quickly we get to Rumah Muleng.”
“Garrett, I can’t take much more.” Ian’s voice had an edge but this time it was shot with sincerity. He was close to the edge.
“I know, Ian. It’ll be okay. We have Aidan and Mark. They know the area, it’ll be fine.”
“I’m trying, Gar.”
“I know you are.”
“Maybe this journey will toughen me up for the next one,” he said hopefully.
“Ahh, Ian, there’s not going to be a next one for you.”
“That’s where you don’t know me. I’ll come back and I’ll be stronger.”
“Maybe. Don’t forget how tough this has been. We’ve been out here more nights than expected.” She couldn’t imagine Ian even considering another trip. This one had been so hard on him.
“Three nights, maybe more,” Burke said. “This expedition has turned rather into an acid test.”
“You’re not kidding,” Sid agreed as he wiped the back of his hand across his forehead.
“Look, guys, suck it up. This is what we’ve got to do to get out. You can either make it tolerable or extremely unpleasant. It’s your choice.”
“Garrett, please don’t play amateur psychologist, it doesn’t become you,” Ian said.
Drew laughed aloud and Burke joined in.
“Complete fiasco,” Sid muttered and stomped ahead.
But they picked up the pace, none of them anxious to spend an extra day out here with no purpose but to get to civilization. They slept on the ground the first night. The fire that Aidan built was the only thing reassuring to any of them. Fire kept the predators away, and despite the heat they all crowded around it. There wasn’t
much sleep that night. By the time daylight arrived none of Garrett’s team wanted to sleep another night in the open.
And the next day dawned sunny but emotionally bleak, for they were at the end of their endurance, bitchy with themselves and each other.
On the banks of the river the heat pressed in a heavy band of thick, still air. It was a frighteningly suffocating feeling. Garrett wiped sweat that literally dripped down her face and knelt beside the rushing water to cool her overheated skin.
She sluiced water over her face, careful to keep her lips closed, to keep water droplets from entering her mouth. Parasites didn’t need much of an invitation, and the last thing she needed was to get sick. She wiped her face and sat back on her haunches as she took in the never silent beauty around her.
“Get back!”
She jumped at the edge in his voice and almost lost her footing, and then Aidan was beside her. His hand was on her arm, his grip tighter than necessary.
She twisted to look at him, and if she didn’t know him better she would have thought he looked like he was about to panic.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Others have slipped too easily on these banks. You’ve got to be careful where you get close to the river, and where you don’t.”
His hand dropped as she stood up and his gaze roved over her and something curled soft and pleasurable in her gut.
“You look good,” he said in a voice that could have seduced a well-fed python out of any tree.
“Get lost,” she snapped. Her edge was wearing thin. She was tired. But it seemed confrontation was the only defense from an attraction that had burned between them since the beginning.
“That might be difficult.” Laughter threaded his voice. “Unlike you, I’d never get lost here. And I don’t think you’d want to find out how that was again. The forest isn’t exactly your thing, if you know what I mean. When I found you, you didn’t even know I was there. I watched you for a while.”
She looked sharply at him. “Ian heard something, voices he said.” She frowned. “That wasn’t you.”
“There were tourists, hunters, in the area. I was listening to your crashing through the bush and listening to them as well. That’s probably what Allan saw.”
“Ian.”
He smiled. “Ian,” he amended. “What’s he to you?”
“A good friend.” She smiled. “We grew up together. Neighbors.”
A stick insect rested on a nearby branch and she admired the simple genius of a skeleton that allowed the insect to merge so easily with his environment.
“I’ve loved insects since I was a little girl in Minneapolis. Ian did too.”
“Minneapolis,” he said slowly. “I lived in Detroit before here.”
“Me too.” She smiled. “Until I was five. I don’t remember it much. My parents died in a car crash. My adoptive parents were actually distant cousins, at least my father was.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. They’ve always been father and mother to me. My birth parents, I was too young to remember.” She smiled sadly. “Enough of that.”
He nodded. “What drew you to this?” His arm stroked the air in a gentle sweep and for a minute she imagined what those large hands would feel like gliding over her skin. She looked away.
“I think I always loved insects. Instead of a prom dress I begged my father to allow me to accompany him on his latest field trip.” She looked out over the river as around them the jungle continued its noisy melody. “But this. The Borneo rain forest and leading an expedition here is what I’ve always dreamt of.”
“A hard road from the sounds of it,” he encouraged.
“You could never imagine.” She turned away from him, folding her arms across her chest.
He was behind her, his hands on her shoulders. “What brought you here on this expedition?”
And maybe because she was tired, she let him. “It was a fight from the beginning. When I finally got it all together, my life, education, everything, it took my father and his cronies five minutes to shoot down my first proposal to head an excursion into the Borneo jungle in the hopes of a discovery, a new species of coleoptera.” She twisted to look at him. “Beetles. It took me six years to finally get a yes from them.”
“Malcolm’s death ended what should have been a victory,” he finished, finally beginning to realize the impact all of this had on her. He could understand her antagonism to him, for even the poor timing of the attraction between them was nothing more than a threat that deepened what she had already lost—a navigator, an expedition, control.
“For all of us,” she replied. “There’s none of us whose career didn’t ride on this expedition. And there’s none of us that would have considered killing him. Look, I’ve got to see how they’re making out.”
He watched her leave. Deep in his gut he believed her, but his job was to ask questions. Hard facts won every case he had ever investigated and the only hard fact he had now was a body—a dead, headless body.
Chapter Sixteen
Aidan managed to get time with the two quietest of the group later in the day. Burke and Drew were trailing behind the others and he easily slid back to join them.
“Are you okay?” he asked. He offered the question with little interest. But he assumed that’s what they would expect him to ask and so he played the game.
Drew glared at him. “What do you care?”
“Fine,” Burke snapped.
“I know this isn’t easy,” Aidan said.
“Do you?” Burke asked quietly. “We witnessed a murder. We’re stuck in the jungle, lost, dependent on a stranger.”
“Witnessed?” Aidan asked. This was an interesting turn.
“Not literally,” Burke amended.
“You’re sure it was murder?” Aidan pushed.
“What else? He was shot,” Drew snapped. “I can’t believe this happened.”
“Not what I signed up for,” Burke replied. “This is it for me. Any field trips and we’re talking good old U.S. of A.”
“The head was taken off with a knife and not a very good one,” Aidan offered and waited for their reaction.
Burke’s face drained of color. “He was a good guy. I hope you find the bastard that did this.”
“Do you know what I’ve been thinking?” Aidan asked.
They both stopped walking and stared at him.
“What?” Burke asked.
“That someone in your group knows what happened.” He pinned them with a look. Drew looked away first.
“He was meeting someone.” Aidan provided the idea that had no basis in proof—not yet.
“How do you know?” Burke snapped.
“Do you know who he was meeting and where he was meeting them?” Aidan continued and ignored Burke.
“He didn’t say,” Burke said.
“I heard him say he was going to meet someone upriver. I assumed it was another guide. Who else would be that far in?” Drew added.
Yeah, who else? Aidan thought.
“I’d ask Ian,” Drew added.
“I will.” But that was one interview that could wait. A few more days in the jungle and he was confident that Ian would tell him everything he knew.
* * *
“He’s a strange one. Incredibly gifted and all, but strange.” Sid shrugged in Ian’s direction. “But they’re good friends. I don’t know why she puts up with him as a friend—a scientist, yeah, I get that. Don’t get why she’s never with a guy either, just a gay guy. She’s a looker.” He clapped Aidan on the shoulder. “No worries, mate. Not my type.”
“Is that any way to talk about your boss?” Aidan could have snipped his tongue after that rather insipid remark but he felt compelled to defend her.
“She’s not my boss. At least she’s not normally my boss, just this trip. Otherwise we’re equals, friends of sorts. This trip she heads it. Next one—if I survive it, maybe I’ll head.”
“Really?” Aidan said softly.
He eyed the burly man and considered why he was suddenly so open with him. There was obviously an agenda, he just wasn’t sure what. Of all the members on the team, Sid was the one that seemed to have an agenda. Whether it was an agenda with an accessory to murder . . . well, he wouldn’t rule that out.
“Yeah.”
“Then I’d suggest you pull your dick back into your pants,” Aidan prodded the man. “Quit acting like a rebellious teenager.”
“You have your nerve, mate.”
“Shut up, Sid. It isn’t all about you. You’re the only strong one she has on this team but all you do is bitch.”
“Bugger off, man.” Sid’s fist came up lightning fast but not unexpected. Aidan caught it and at the same time delivered a solid blow to the man’s midsection. Sid doubled over.
Aidan waited until Sid got his wind; the others were ahead now and apparently hadn’t noticed their altercation. After another minute, Aidan offered a hand to Sid, who surprisingly took it. “Grow up, Sid. You’ve got real potential if you’d quit hating the world.”
Sid said nothing as Aidan pulled him to his feet.
“Are you all right?”
Sid nodded. “You pack a mean punch, mate.”
Aidan waited.
Sid’s face was flushed and he was still bent over.
“I’m just going to hang back and get my breath.” He straightened and his gaze met Aidan’s.
“Don’t get too far behind.”
“Right, mate,” Sid replied, and there was respect in his tone.
The incident with Sid had been one of the strangest interviews Aidan had ever had. He didn’t dwell on it. With no new information in the investigation, they needed to get shelter before dark. While he tried to set a quicker pace, the group walked slower than nursing-home candidates.
“Night’s falling. We set up camp soon,” he ordered.
He glanced behind and saw Sid jogging to catch up. The man’s face had returned to its normal color and he looked almost happy.
“Where were you?” Burke questioned him.
Fatal Intent Page 9
