Scavenger Hunt

by John R. Little

  Jonathan opened his door first. “What? What?” He was half asleep. Pietre opened his door seconds later.

  “Someone’s stealing our money.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Jonathan.

  “Look at this.” She held the laptop so both the men could see it. “We’re under ten thousand.”

  “Well, they’ll have to give us the money back if someone stole it. Relax.”

  Pietre didn’t say anything.

  They moved into Jonathan’s room and Samantha set up the computer on a small table in front of a couch. They all stared, waiting for the producers to answer her IM.

  Finally they did. Transactions stopped per your order.

  Jonathan grabbed the tab and typed, The money was stolen from our account. We need it replaced.

  Another couple of minutes passed. They all stared at the computer.

  The card was provided by your team as part of a business transaction. It was not stolen.

  “That’s fucking ridiculous,” said Jonathan. “Fucking assholes are screwing with us.”

  He typed, We did not authorize any such fucking transaction.

  A small delay before they got their answer. Play video clip B-303-29.

  Jonathan found the video clip now available in a drop down menu on the screen.

  They watched the view from Pietre’s forecam as he handed over his credit card for the cocaine. His voice said, “Spend whatever you want.”

  Samantha shook her head. “I can’t believe it.”

  Both she and Jonathan stared at Pietre, who sat on the couch and hung his head. “I’m so sorry. I just don’t know what came over me.”

  “Cocaine? You’re a fucking cocaine addict?” Jonathan’s voice was full of venom and hate. “That’s how you lost all that fucking weight, isn’t it? Fucking drugs. I can’t fucking believe it. You goddamned asshole.”

  Pietre said, “Well, you can be all high and mighty if you want, you prick. You don’t know what it’s like. It fucking eats at you day in and day out.”

  He put his hands on his face and seemed to start crying. “God, I’ve screwed everything up. I’m so sorry.”

  “Fucking right you have.”

  Samantha moved between them. “Hold on, now. We’ve got to remember we’re all friends here.”

  Jonathan didn’t seem to want to hear that. He moved to the window and for a moment his face was surrounded by light from a faraway firework.

  Samantha said, “Let’s talk to Jackie in the morning. She’s our connection to Cynthia. Maybe it’s not too late. We’re just hearing from some flunky who’s stuck monitoring the computer right now.”

  She looked between Pietre and Jonathan. “Guys? Come on. We can’t give up.”

  Jonathan turned and crossed his arms. “I won’t give up. But I sure as hell want him off the team.” He walked toward Pietre. “You need to quit, pal. We can’t trust you.”

  Pietre stared up at Samantha, a pleading look on his face.

  Just then they heard a loud beep from the computer.

  Someone on Team Superior had pressed their panic button.

  Chapter 20: Team Superior

  Maria - The Amazon

  Maria barely slept. They were camped on the side of the river, but it wasn’t the environment keeping her awake. It was the memory of sitting by the campfire and somehow finding herself making out with Tanya.

  How could she ever face her again?

  Maria wasn’t like Tanya. She’d never had any feelings for another woman, never wanted to experiment when she was younger, never felt anything remotely sexual with a girl until last night.

  She could still remember the feel of Tanya’s lips on hers. Oh, God, how could I?

  Maria was sure everyone would see her face and know that she’d been attracted, however briefly, to Tanya. Emma would know. That’s for sure.

  But that wasn’t the worst part.

  The forecam.

  How could she have forgotten that every move she made would be broadcast on live TV. All her friends. Her sister. Mom.

  She cried as she huddled in her bed.

  Her mom was a devout Catholic. The worst part was that Maria couldn’t even contact her to explain what happened. Mom would just see the raw footage of her kissing Tanya. She could imagine how they’d edit it to make it look like much more happened. She wasn’t naïve. Sex sold. Cynthia had been very upfront about wanting sex on Scavenger Hunt, saying it would boost ratings. Maria just never imagined that wish of Cynthia’s could possibly involve her.

  It was almost six o’clock. She hadn’t slept all night. Just reliving the shame, the drunken sluttiness she’d let herself succumb to.

  She got up and walked out of the tent. A cool breeze shook her from her thoughts and she walked to the dead campfire, staring at the place she’d kissed Tanya.

  She walked past the ashes toward the water.

  As she stared out over the Amazon, somebody grabbed her.

  They had snuck up behind Maria and clamped a hand on her mouth. It was a strong person, a man, and he had such a strong hold on her she couldn’t move, couldn’t talk, could barely breathe.

  Two voices whispered in a language she didn’t recognize. She tried to shake herself free, but she couldn’t. Somebody punched her hard in the side. Pain rushed through her body and then someone hit her on the other side.

  She tried to cry but only a muffled sound came out.

  One of the men stuffed a rag in her mouth and used rope to tie it around the back of her head. She found it even harder to breathe when a canvas bag was pulled down over her head. More rope tied the bag around her neck.

  No!

  She felt like she was suffocating, but somehow she didn’t pass out.

  More rope tied her hands behind her back and she was hit hard in the stomach. She almost threw up. She collapsed on the ground and moaned.

  Somebody lifted her and carried her. Finally, she did pass out.

  Maria could barely open her eyes. She was lying on the ground in the forest. Her stomach hurt, like cramps, but much worse. Her arms were still tied behind her back and they called out in pain to her. The gag was in her mouth and for a moment she felt panic rise up inside her, worrying she might throw up and suffocate from the vomit.

  My God, please help me.

  Finally, she blinked her eyes open and looked around. It was lighter out now, close to dawn. A thin column of smoke rose from the embers of a campfire. She couldn’t see anybody.

  She tried to shake her hands, to get the rope off her wrists, but no luck. The ropes just dug deeper into her and hurt her more.

  I pushed the panic button, she remembered. In the struggle, she’d reached for the button on her wrist band almost without thinking. Now she needed to hope that somebody from the show would come to rescue her.

  The wrist band was missing now. If her captors had discarded it at their camp, the GPS signal would lead help to her. She had to believe that would happen. Any other thoughts crossing her mind were quickly terminated. She would only think about her rescue. There were no other options.

  There were two tents that she could see. They both seemed big enough to sleep several people.

  Maria was looking at them when somebody came out of one of the tents. He was a caricature of what Maria had seen of native South Americans from adventure movies. He was stocky, with bronze-colored skin and black hair. The only thing he wore was a thin piece of cloth around his hips with a bigger piece hanging down to hide his genitals.

  He stared at Maria and said something that she didn’t understand. It was almost like he was yelling at her to do something, but she had no clue what.

  Another native came out of the tent, virtually a carbon copy of the first. He carried a spear and spoke to the first man.

  Maria felt like she was in a 1940s movie. Could tribes like this still exist today?

  The pains she felt throughout her body told her the answer was a resounding “Yes.”

  Tanya
- Three Years Earlier

  Tanya loved working at Second Chance. She got to be surrounded by books all day long, have fun helping customers locate the treasures they searched for, and she couldn’t have asked for better co-workers than Emma and Maria.

  She never talked about being gay to them. That part of her life didn’t belong in the store. Not because she was ashamed of it or anything; to the contrary, she loved her life. She just didn’t think displaying her sexuality was something that should be done in her workplace. She wanted to be professional, always. Emma and Maria rarely talked about their love lives, so there was no reason for Tanya to, either.

  Emma knew, though. It just didn’t make any difference.

  Until Christine.

  She came into the store one day and was wandering through the different parts of the store. The store was split with the right side containing shelves of fiction, and the left side being non-fiction.

  Tanya watched as the woman seemed to meander back and forth between the stacks.

  “Looking for something?”

  The customer flashed a beautiful white smile and said, “Where can I find books on sex techniques?”

  The question didn’t faze Tanya at all, but she wanted clarification. “Do you mean erotic fiction or more of a self-help manual?”

  The woman laughed. “Oh, non-fiction, for sure. I’m looking for woman-on-woman stuff, to be honest.”

  “Oh.”

  Now Tanya found herself blushing a bit. The woman was so up-front and carefree about it. She walked down to the section of the store at the base of the T, near the coffee maker and looked at a shelf near the top.

  “Here’s what we have.” She pulled out one called The Best Sex She’ll Ever Have. The cover showed two women kissing in bed, naked, with their hands on each other’s bodies. She could feel that her face was still warm as she handed the book to the customer. Tanya couldn’t help glancing at the cover for a second or two.

  The customer was beautiful. Tall, slim, with long brown hair. Tanya tried not to stare at her, but she couldn’t help it. Fortunately, she was flipping through the book, stopping every once in a while to look at some pictures.

  Tanya’s heart was racing and she put her hand on the bookcase to help steady herself. The longer the woman looked at the photos, the more Tanya felt flustered.

  The woman looked up and locked eyes with her. She still had that huge smile that seemed to melt Tanya.

  “You’re so petite! So adorable!”

  Great, Tanya thought. Adorable. How sweet.

  “Thanks. You’re so… tall.”

  You’re so tall? What the fuck?

  Luckily, she didn’t seem to mind. “Do you like this position?” She held open the book and showed two women having 69.

  Tanya stared at the photo.

  “Actually, you guys serve coffee here, right? Would you like a cup?”

  “Umm… sure!”

  Tanya rarely took breaks since she was part-time and normally only worked four hours each evening.

  “Over this way…”

  As they walked, the customer said, “I’m Christine. Christine de Chancie.”

  “Tanya. Morawski.”

  Tanya poured two mugs of coffee and handed one to Christine. Their hands touched, sending electricity through her body.

  They sat and looked at each other, ignoring their coffee. Christine finally commented on how nice the store was and how wide a selection of books there was. Tanya talked about Emma and how she’d inherited the store and tried to keep it going as well as her mother wanted it to. It was easy to talk about stuff like that, which was good. She wasn’t sure she could talk about anything she actually had to think about. God, this girl was beautiful. Christine kept looking at her the whole time.

  They never discussed the photo in the book. There was no need.

  They talked for 45 minutes. Christine was twenty-four years old, three years older than Tanya. She was a ballet dancer. They found they had a lot of common interests in books, movies, music.

  And the unspoken interest in each other.

  When Tanya reluctantly decided she should go back to work, Christine asked her to meet for lunch the next day.

  Their romance started then. They met for lunch every day after that and most evenings after Tanya closed up the store. They went to movies and plays and walks, but sometimes they preferred to sit around watching television together and eating popcorn.

  Other times, they just spent their time together, making love.

  Christine was Tanya’s first lover and she was amazing. She was experienced and knew exactly how to please Tanya, who had never been so happy in her life.

  There was only one problem: her family still didn’t know. She was getting quite serious with Christine and her family still thought she was just a good friend. Christine never pressured her to tell her family, just shrugged it off and said, “You’ll tell them when the time is right.”

  After two months of being together, Tanya was lying next to Christine after a long session of lovemaking, when she suddenly sat up with a very determined look on her face.

  “I’m ready to tell them.”

  Christine hugged her tightly for a long time, then pulled away so she could look into Tanya’s eyes.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. But, can you help me? Come with me? I’m not sure I can do it alone.”

  Christine hugged her closely again, as if to protect her. “Absolutely.”

  The next day, they went to Tanya’s home and told her parents together. It was a very difficult day; her parents didn’t take the news well at all. They said they would support her but they obviously weren’t happy about it. Tanya could see the disappointment written all over her father’s face, but there was nothing she could do about it. She was who she was.

  Even with the day being hard, Tanya was so relieved to have her secret out in the open. Her brothers were very supportive, and they tried to help her parents understand.

  They dated for two years.

  One day, Christine came over and said, “We need to talk.”

  Uh oh.

  Christine had a tight smile on her face, and Tanya’s heart sank.

  They sat on the couch facing each other. Christine took Tanya’s hand.

  “I’ve been offered a job.”

  “Oh! That’s great!”

  “It’s at the Ballet Nationale de Marseille.”

  “Okay.”

  “In France.”

  “Oh.”

  “I’m taking it, and I want you to come with me.”

  Tanya pulled her hand back, not sure that she heard right. France?

  “I can’t leave. I have a life here. You have a life here. With me…”

  “I know. But I can’t let this opportunity slip by. I’ll never get a chance to do this again.”

  Tanya didn’t know what to say, but she felt her heart breaking into a million pieces. She knew this meant they were breaking up.

  “Why can’t you come with me? You just work in a bookstore.”

  “Just? Is that what you think? That my job isn’t as important as yours because I didn’t go to school? The bookstore means a lot to me, and Emma needs me there right now. She’s counting on me to be there while she goes to school.”

  “What happens when she’s done and doesn’t really need you anymore?”

  “Well, then maybe I’ll be the one going to school to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. I can’t just drop everything to follow you to the other side of the planet.”

  Christine tried to hug her again but Tanya stood up and turned her back. That only lasted a moment before she sat back down and snuggled into Christine. She cried and didn’t hear much of what Christine said.

  The next morning, Tanya phoned Christine.

  “What now?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Do you think we could try the long distance thing?”

  There was a long pause before Chris
tine said, “I don’t know.”

  Tanya’s heart sank.

  She spent the next few weeks by Emma’s side. Emma was a wonderful friend, who let her cry on her shoulder whenever she needed it.

  Eventually her heart started to mend. She thought about Christine a lot, wondering what she was doing, but slowly things started to get better. She concentrated on doing the best job she could at the store and also looked at different choices for schooling.

  Maria was a big help, too. She was so energetic and happy that it started to rub off on Tanya. She was awfully cute, too…

  Pietre - The Amazon

  Pietre heard the panic button and immediately checked the SatLink to see what was going on. He was surprised to see that it was Maria’s bracelet that had signaled for help.

  “They’re close. Only a couple miles from here.”

  Jonathan didn’t react. Pietre knew he was still mad about the money Pietre had pissed away for cocaine.

  “We’ve got to help her,” he said. “We’re closer than anybody else.”

  “You go help if you want,” Jonathan said. “We don’t want you here anyhow.”

  “Jonathan…” Samantha looked at the computer with Pietre. “It is awfully close.”

  “I’m going,” Pietre said.

  He got his jacket and headed through the door without another word. Shit, if the players in this game don’t hang together, we’re fucked.

  He could use his own bracelet as a GPS device, which would lead him to Maria. Or at least to her bracelet. He followed the red arrow pointing to the north-east and could see it directing him into a forested area.

  The readout device on the bracelet read 2.4 miles.

  He hesitated as he saw the forest ahead of him. It was dark and lonely. Fucking Jonathan. He didn’t stop, though, just slowed a bit to be sure he wouldn’t trip over any branches.

  Pietre tried to remember which of the girls was Maria. He thought it might be the dark-haired black girl, but he wasn’t sure.

  The forest was quiet except for a soft wind that rustled some of the leaves. He slowed even more as the light decreased more. There was no hint of the village behind him and he wasn’t completely sure he could find his way back.