Virgo's Vice

by Trish Jackson

  I hesitate. “You should probably wash it first,” I say, keeping it close to me.

  “Sure,” Andy still has his hand out.

  “There’s been a . . . a problem,” Mark says. “Eve’s dead.”

  The look of disbelief on both of their faces makes me feel like I’m suffocating again.

  I suck in air. “This knife has blood on it,” I say, handing it to Andy.

  “I’ll wash it,” he says and starts clambering down the bank. Then he stops and stares at it. “You don’t mean . . . This isn’t . . . What happened?”

  “Someone cut her throat,” Mark says.

  Kelli lets out a yelp. “No,” she says.

  “And that knife has blood on it,” I add.

  “This blood on the knife . . . It couldn’t be?” Andy is thinking what we thought.

  I glance over at Mark, and he stares at me.

  “You don’t mean . . . Who?” Kelli says.

  Mark sighs. “The theory is that some tribesman—a.k.a. the monster—snuck into our shelter and took her, killed her, and stuffed her in the tree. And nobody woke up or heard a thing, not even Jake.”

  “Tree?” Andy tilts his head.

  “Yeah. She was up in a tree.”

  “I didn’t even notice she was missing when we left,” Kelli says.

  “This dog would have barked if it was some stranger,” Andy says, patting Jake.

  “We know,” I say. “Trip was on watch.”

  “And he didn’t see anything?” Andy dips the knife into the water and rubs it while he talks.

  “Did you get water?” I stare into Kelli’s face. Her lips are red and bruised. That doesn’t surprise me. It’s her eyes. There’s something off about them. Her pupils are big and dark. I wonder where I’ve seen that before.

  “Yeah. It’s in the shade in the condoms. We can fill the pot now and put the cleaned fish in the water for stew.” She giggles. Doesn’t she understand? Eve is dead. Someone murdered her. And then I remember.

  Drugs. She looks like she’s taken some kind of drug. That’s what’s made her eyes so weird. When Andy comes back up I make a point of scanning his eyes and they’re also weird, but he’s better at hiding it.

  I don’t talk much on the hike back to camp. I vaguely hear what the others are saying, but I think about Eve and the knife. Trip is a monster, and he may have killed that little girl, but why would he kill Eve? Why? I go back to the possibility that she uncovered something about his past. Did he kill her to stop her from talking? Then why did he put her in a tree? Did he think we would believe it was a leopard? And why put the knife back in the shelter? No. He may be an asshole, but he’s not a fool. Then who? Or what? Whoever it was must have wanted us to see the blood on it. I shiver although it isn’t cold.

  When we get back, the others are all standing at the graveside watching Sam, who is busy sticking a crude cross into the dirt at one end of it.

  Billy beckons me with his hand, then puts his arm around my shoulders. “You okay?” he asks, staring into my eyes.

  “Sure,” I say. I’m not, but I don’t think anyone is okay. I mean, this is too strange. I move away. His arm is suffocating me. I know he’s staring at me, and he’s wondering why I don’t want him to touch me all of a sudden. I know he’s not a killer, but everything is so screwed up I don’t know what I want.

  Once the cross is firmly buried, Sam stands up and dusts her hands off on her shorts. She stares at it.

  “Good job,” someone says.

  Maria pages through her bible until she finds the place she wants. She stares around at the faces of all of us, and then clears her throat. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,” she begins.

  We all bow our heads. Me and some of the others join in. I don’t know all the words, but I know enough.

  “Amen,” most of us say.

  “I guess that’s it,” Stretch says. “At least with that marker her family will be able to get her remains and do whatever they want with them.”

  Billy slides his arm around my shoulder and drops a kiss on the top of my head. I move further away from him. Remains. Yesterday, Eve was a living human being, like all of us. Now she’s just ‘remains.’

  “Come on.” Billy almost takes my hand but he pulls back and settles for walking beside me and Mark.

  Trip has gone back to camp before us and is smoking his pipe again. He stares at me with a hungry look on his face and my already upset stomach churns.

  I can’t forget that look.

  I will never forget that look.

  Suddenly I’m cold again.

  That night the mood is somber. There isn’t enough fish to make a difference, but Faith has cooked a lot of rice again, and it helps to add some bulk to our meal. I’m so hungry I wolf it down and wish I could have more. I know everyone else must feel the same way.

  “We have to get more protein,” Trip says. “We didn’t find anything today, but tomorrow we’ll go in that direction.” He points. “I think I can see signs of previous human habitation over there.”

  “I’m sure I’ll catch some birds tomorrow, too,” Rodriguez says. “If my traps don’t work I might be able to do something else.”

  “The Old Man should get here tomorrow.”

  “Yeah,” Mark says. “Old Man Dockery will be here tomorrow sometime. You’ll all get some instructions and you’ll finally know how the game’s gonna work.”

  “But, don’t you think he’ll cancel the show after what happened to Eve?” Stretch asks.

  Mark shrugs.

  “He needs the money. He has to have a success,” I say then glance at Jared. I know Stretch is right.

  Chapter 25

  Riaan Marais lay back in the chair and stared at his new wife. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing the deep breaths of sleep. She already had a good all over tan, but he had slathered sunscreen all over her gorgeous amazing body and he knew she was enjoying the warmth of the sun on her naked skin. He wanted to touch her all over again but he decided to let her sleep a little longer. They hadn’t done much sleeping these past two days or nights and she probably needed it.

  He smiled at the thought of what he would do to her when she awoke and they went back to their cabana. He was thinking the Jacuzzi would be a great place to make love again, with the candles and champagne he had ordered secretly that morning. Right now, as soon as she woke up, he was gonna do it out here in the open.

  There wasn’t another soul anywhere around.

  This sure beat working. Flying people around the African bush and camping with them was an okay job, though, and there was usually a nice spirit of camaraderie when he sat around a campfire with the sound of a lion grunting in the distance. He loved the wild parts of Africa and being in the bush, but honeymooning in Kenya with these incredible private stretches of white sand beaches and the turquoise water was something he could get used to. Not to mention his amazing new wife and the delights of exploring her body. She was the one who had picked Kenya and it was a great choice. Neither of them had ever been there before, even though they were both born and raised in Africa.

  He thought about that group he had taken out to the boondocks a couple of days ago—three to be exact. He wondered how they were doing. That producer seemed to be more than a little crazy. Making those people jump dressed like that was nuts. They could have been badly injured. Some of them didn’t even have shoes on. When he had realized they weren’t going to change their clothes he had tried to reason with the old guy, but he wouldn’t bend. Said it was part of the challenge, and they had all agreed to it.

  “I sent you copies of the contracts and release of liability forms they signed, didn’t you read them?” he had said. “They agreed that they believed they had exceptional survival and endurance skills an
d indemnified me, you, and anyone else. The contract clearly states that they will be asked to perform tasks that are out of the norm and may be dangerous.”

  Dockery had also assured him they had all done some training, but that little camera girl definitely wasn’t expecting to have to jump, and it sounded like she hadn’t had any instruction at all. He had been about to intervene when the old guy had pushed her. He didn’t think any of the others had seen it, because Dockery’s body had blocked their view. But he had.

  If it wasn’t for the fact that he was getting married the next day, Riaan would have flown back there to make certain everyone had made it okay.

  He would also have liked to have been the one who flew that producer and his crew to join them tomorrow, but Hendrik would handle that just fine.

  Kendall stirred and moaned, then opened her eyes. She smiled at him and his body stirred as his hands slid over her buttocks. Four more days of bliss, and he was going to make every second count.

  Chapter 26

  “We’ll have to have two people on watch at all times,” Billy said as he scraped his bowl.

  “I’ll go first then,” Sam, who was sitting across the fire from him, said. “And I won’t fall asleep.” She glared at Trip. “Who will stand watch with me?”

  “I will,” Maria volunteered.

  “I think we should have a man and a woman each watch. Period,” Billy said, wondering if he was going to get slammed by one of them. “No offense. I’m sure you ladies could handle an intruder. It makes more sense to have someone who’s physically strong with you.”

  Maria stared at the fire. “You think it could get close up and personal like that?”

  Billy shrugged. He didn’t know what to think. Eve’s tracks had not left the camp and he had not seen any stranger’s footprints. And there was the dog.

  “I’ll stand guard with you, then, Sam,” Stretch said. “It probably would make more sense. We don’t know what we’re dealing with here.”

  Sam stared at him and opened her mouth to say something, but she closed it again. Billy figured she thought she was as tough as any man, since she worked in a man’s world. Maybe Stretch’s size was something that made her realize she could possibly be weaker than him.

  “I’ll relieve you.” Billy glanced across at Lexie, hoping she would want to sit with him. She was watching Trip with that same haunted expression on her face. He managed to catch her eye after a few seconds. He winked and smiled at her. She gave him a half-hearted smile. “Want to take the watch with me?”

  “Sure. You can wake me. I’ll watch with you.”

  Billy couldn’t help the warmth that rushed through him. He had only known Lexie for three days now, and yet sometimes it was almost like they had been friends forever. In some ways. In others, she was very much a stranger to him. He wished he knew what caused her moods to swing like that. Was it the thing with Trip, or was it something else? She said Trip had hurt her. What did that mean? He wished she would talk to him about it, but since Eve’s body had been found she’d been distant and moody.

  It seemed like nobody wanted to turn in that night. Everyone was too nervous, but eventually Kelli said she was going to bed and Andy followed her. The others stood up and followed, one by one.

  Billy wanted to take Lexie’s hand. He petted Jake instead. “Come on,” he said. “It’s been a heck of a day. We need to sleep a little.” He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep for long, but he would probably be able to get a little rest at least.

  They left Stretch and Sam sitting by the fire. Sam had the knife on her belt in its holster.

  Billy waited for Lexie to lie down and he slid in beside her, but he was careful not to touch her. After the terrible events of the day, she had made it clear that she didn’t want him to get too close. The last thing he wanted was to scare her. The kisses had been real enough. She had kissed him back. He hadn’t imagined that. She had enjoyed him touching her, caressing her breast and hell, he wanted to touch it again so badly. What was it about boobs that could drive a man wild? He put his hand out and gently stroked her arm. She moaned and turned over on her side with her back to him. He wanted to cuddle her. To spoon with her, but that wouldn’t work tonight. He sighed.

  It felt as though he had just fallen asleep when Stretch gripped his foot. He kicked out, dreaming it was leopard.

  “Sorry, man,” he stage-whispered.

  “No problem.” Stretch yawned.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, everything’s real quiet.”

  Billy reached out to touch Lexie. He held his hand above her for a moment before he laid it on her leg and shook her a little. She felt warm and soft. He could clearly see her silhouette in the bright moonlight that spilled in through the doorway. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, and slid off the edge of the bed. She slipped her shoes on and dug into her backpack and dragged out a fleece sweater.

  Sam nodded to Billy and climbed up onto the space Lexie had vacated.

  Billy threw a couple more logs on the fire and the two of them sat side by side on the big log. For a few moments neither of them said anything, both apparently mesmerized by the flames.

  “The knife had blood on it today,” Lexie said so quietly he almost didn’t hear her. She picked up some dry leaves off the ground and crumbled them in her hand. “When we took it to Andy and Kelli.”

  “What do you mean? Blood. Like red blood?” Billy leaned forward and held his hands out over the flames to warm them.

  “Like a person’s blood,” Lexie said.

  “Shit. You think one of us?” Billy said, careful to keep his voice down. His shoulder brushed hers as he leaned back. It sent a shower of sparks and an instant burning desire rushed through him.

  Lexie lifted her knees and hugged them. “I don’t know what to think. Trip was on watch. He could kill. You don’t know how evil . . .”

  “Yeah, you told me he hurt you, but you didn’t say how.”

  “I . . .” She sucked in a deep breath.

  “Murder is pretty serious shit. Why do you think he did it?” Billy slid his arm around her shoulders. He couldn’t help himself. He wanted to feel her. He half expected her to pull away, but she leaned into him.

  “I can’t talk about it.”

  She was actually resting her head on his shoulder. It felt so good. Billy wanted to pull her closer into him. He wanted her to press her body into his. He knew it could scare her off, though.

  “He’s dangerous. A monster.” She snuggled into him.

  “I wish you’d tell me more so I could understand who we’re dealing with. You said he hurt you. So are you saying he’s some kind of a psycho?”

  “Yeah. Something like that.” She sat up and moved away from him. He let his arm drop. Did he say something wrong?

  As he thought about the way Trip stared at her, it wasn’t hard to guess the only thing on that sicko’s mind was sex, and whatever he’d done to Lexie, it had been sexual. Billy’s gut tightened, and he stroked her hair without knowing he was doing it at first.

  “I don’t know anything about you, Billy. For all I know you could have killed her.”

  Billy felt like she’d slapped him in the face. So that was it. She thought he could be the killer. But why? He had never done anything to make her think that. She couldn’t know about . . . anything about him.

  She blew out a loud breath. “I was a child, Billy. Just a little girl and Trip . . .”

  Billy held his breath and waited for her to continue. She was breathing hard and fast. She buried her face in his chest and let out a ragged breath.

  “I can’t,” she said.

  “That’s okay. You don’t have to tell me the details. I’ll keep an eye on him and if he does anything, anything at all you don’t like, you let me know.” He stared into her f
ace. “Promise me.”

  Lexie sighed and turned her gaze to the sky. “Tell me more about the stars,” she whispered.

  He got it. She didn’t want to talk about it anymore. His eyes lingered on her face a little while before he looked up. “Okay, do you see that bright white light up there? It’s moving across the sky.” He leaned into her and pointed. Their arms touched and she didn’t pull away.

  Billy almost gasped at the ridiculous rush of joy. That, and physical excitement. God he wanted her.

  “Yeah. I see it.”

  “That’s the ISS. You know, the International Space Station. Have you seen it up there before?”

  “How do you know that’s it? I’ve heard it can be seen sometimes, but isn’t that an airplane?”

  “Airplanes have flashing lights, and they’re usually red. That’s the space station. I’m sure.”

  She turned her face toward him. He couldn’t stop himself. He gently leaned his hands on her shoulders and bent down to brush her lips with his. She didn’t pull away. He slid his mouth down to the pulse point on her throat and heard her moan softly. He lifted his head and stared at her. Her face was turned up to his. She wanted his kiss. He laid his mouth over hers and tasted her. Her lips parted and her tongue met his, eagerly now. He drew her into him. He wanted her closer. He stifled a moan, and slid his hand under her sweater and T-shirt until he found her breast. He pushed down her bra and for one sweet second, her nipple was in his fingers and, oh God, he wanted to taste it.

  “Hey, sorry to interrupt,” Jared said. “I couldn’t sleep. I keep thinking of her, you know.”

  Billy slid his hand out of Lexie’s blouse, doing everything he could to calm his beating heart. He hoped Jared couldn’t hear his breathing. He kept his arm around Lexie and felt her tremble. A fire raged through his body. He didn’t know how to make it stop. He didn’t want to.