He stopped and looked up. The tree tops all merged together, totally blocking out the sunlight. He could barely see anything at all in front of him. He slowed his pace even more.
Maria was now 2.9 miles away. Shit. She was moving. The panic button hadn’t been reset so she still needed help.
As he watched, the distance changed to 3.0 miles.
Now he didn’t have a choice. He was lost and the only direction he could go was the one the bracelet told him to go. He had no way to call for any other information.
He moved again, step by step.
It was after 3:00 in the morning. Pietre walked deliberately, not rushing. If he fell and sprained his ankle or something, he’d end up pushing his own panic button. Not much of a hero.
He heard a hooting call to his left and felt goose bumps raise on his arms. It didn’t sound like any bird he recognized. He listened more as he walked and then heard a growling noise.
There were no bears here. At least that’s what he thought. He had no clue what animal could have made the sound, and he didn’t want to know. He just wanted the fuck out of here.
He moved faster, following the GPS as best he could. Sometimes he had to detour because it led him to a stand of trees he couldn’t get through.
As he walked, branches swatted at him. He could feel webs lace across his face a couple of time and really didn’t want to know what lived in the webs.
At 4:00, his GPS said that Maria was still 1.8 miles away. At least he was getting closer.
He stopped to catch his breath and leaned against a tree.
“What are you doing, Jonathan? Sleeping? Or getting me booted off the team?”
Not that he could blame him. It was a lot of money he’d sacrificed just to satisfy his drug craving. He felt sad that he hadn’t had any more will power. More sad that Sammie knew. He thought about the sadness in her eyes.
Samantha had been his best friend in high school, even closer to him than Jonathan had been. He loved her like a little sister and that look of disappointment in her eyes would live with him forever.
He tried not to think about that.
He started walking again.
At 5:00, he found her. She was tied up on the ground and the ropes were all connected to a stake in the ground, so she couldn’t leave.
There were two men standing outside one of the tents. They looked like they came right out of an old adventure movie. Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade or something.
No way they’re real.
So who were they?
As he watched, they went back into the tent. As they lifted the flap open to step inside, he saw the red glow of a GPS device. Maria’s. They’d taken it from her, but thank God they hadn’t disposed of it somewhere else.
Pietre took his chance and crouched down as he walked. There was a little daylight streaming into the campsite and he knew the natives could see him if they came out of the tent.
He moved to Maria and whispered in her ear. “I’m going to try to untie the rope.”
She jumped at his voice, not expecting him. Recognition soon filled her eyes and she relaxed a bit. She nodded.
Pietre was able to untie the knots and then he helped Maria to her feet.
“Run!” he whispered.
“Not sure I can. My legs are so cramped.”
He held onto her arm and helped her into the jungle. His first priority was just to get out of sight. He moved deeper into the jungle, holding Maria as she limped.
The light was better now and he could see the ground easily, so he wasn’t worried about her tripping. He wondered how badly she was hurt. Her face was bruised and there was clearly something wrong with one or both of her legs. It wasn’t just a cramp.
“Your ankle hurt?”
“Yeah. I think I twisted it. I don’t think it’s sprained, but it hurts like hell.”
They hurried along for about ten minutes before stopping.
“They’ll never find us now,” he said.
Silence fell between them before Maria added, “And maybe we’ll never find our way back.”
“One thing at a time.”
He helped her to sit at the base of a tree and looked at her face to try to assess the damage. Her right cheek was badly scraped and her lower lip was cracked. Dried blood covered her cheek.
Beneath that, he could see that she was a beautiful girl. It’d been a long time since he’d looked so closely at a woman. It’d been so long since Allyson. So long since he’d felt anything romantic for a girl.
He felt like laughing. Here he was lost in the Amazon jungle, possibly never to find his way out, and now he was able to actually feel something for another person again.
Maria seemed to try to smile.
“Thank you for saving me. I really don’t know what would have happened to me if you hadn’t come to get me.”
He smiled back and shrugged.
“The production company would have come for you.”
“Maybe.”
“I’m Pietre.”
“Maria.”
“Do you mind?” He licked his finger and rubbed some of the blood from her cheek. “You don’t need that.”
“Thank you.”
Maria gave Pietre a summary of what happened to her. She couldn’t tell him anything about why she’d been kidnapped, though.
“I have no idea why they took me.” She blinked away tears. “I’m just so grateful you found me.”
“You pushed the panic button on your bracelet?”
Maria nodded and then hugged him. He could feel her crying into his shoulder. He felt an urge to protect this woman, the woman who’d been a stranger an hour earlier but now somehow was a part of his life.
He held onto her, wanting only to comfort her. She started to cry more but then pulled back and brushed the tears away.
“We’re going to be okay,” she said.
“Yes.”
Pietre smiled and she smiled back before leaning over and kissing him. He kissed her back and the whole thing felt completely normal and natural, as if they’d been longtime lovers.
He loved the feel of her in his arms, the taste of her mouth, and the press of her body to his. They kissed and hugged for longer than he could have imagined, and all of a sudden, he realized he didn’t much care about the ten million dollar prize for Scavenger Hunt. He’d found something more valuable.
Finally, they stood and held hands. Pietre looked at the GPS device on his wrist band. It pointed in a direction about ninety degrees from the way they’d come.
“It’s changed. It’s not pointing to your bracelet anymore.”
“That’s good, right?”
“That’s very good. It must be telling us where to go to get help.”
“Let’s not disappoint them.”
They started walking. As they did, they talked about their lives before coming on the show. Pietre mentioned Allyson in passing, and for the first time, he realized that’s all she deserved: a passing mention in his life.
Maria told him about working in the bookstore and how her family was well off but she’d never really had much luck in the love department.
Pietre told her about his drug problem. He wanted that to be out there immediately.
No secrets. She needs to know.
“I can help you,” she said.
And he knew that was true.
It took four hours to find their way out of the jungle. All their teammates were waiting along with a medic, who looked at Maria’s ankle and taped it up.
Sammie smiled at Pietre. “You done good.”
Even Jonathan patted him on the back. “Good for you, bro.” He added, “But we’re not done talking about that other thing.”
Pietre nodded. He didn’t care what Jonathan thought of him taking the money. That part of his life was over, anyhow. He hugged Maria one last time and promised to keep in touch via their sat phones.
Chapter 21: Production
Cynthia - Cedars Sinai Hospit
al
Cynthia Wright woke but she couldn’t quite convince her eyes to open. It felt like a pound of molasses glued them shut. She imagined the cancer spreading from her blood to her eyeballs, tumors spiking out and piercing her eyelids.
Nonsense, she knew. But being helpless has a way of changing your perspective on things.
She realized she was feeling clear-headed and… sane.
Maybe I’m getting better.
No. She knew that wasn’t going to happen. The doctors had told her she’d have both challenging days and better days and that she couldn’t take any comfort or despair either way. She just needed to hope for the best on any given day and appreciate the lucid times.
Her ass hurt. Her thighs. Her neck and shoulders. She wasn’t sure how much was due to the leukemia, how much to do with bedsores, and how much to do with being tired, lonely, and scared.
She wondered what day it was. She wondered how Rick was doing. She wondered how her players were doing on Scavenger Hunt. Hell, maybe the whole show was finished. Maybe she slept through to the end of the eight-week series.
She tried again to open her eyes and this time, she was able to see a thin film of gray in front of her. She blinked and blinked again and her vision started to clear.
“Hi, Mom.”
Cynthia was shocked to hear Mary. She turned her head to the left to see her.
“Hi,” she answered. She knew her voice sounded like that of a ghost — thin and whispery.
Mary leaned over and kissed Cynthia’s cheek. Her lips lingered and Cynthia treasured every millisecond of the time.
“How are you feeling?”
“How do I look?”
Mary seemed to force a smile. She was heavier than Cynthia remembered, but it’d been so long since they last saw each other. She reached out to hold Cynthia’s hand, and Cynthia grabbed onto her tightly.
“I wish…” Cynthia didn’t know how to finish. What did she wish? That they’d never fought? That Mary hadn’t been so pig-headed? That she would have had an open mind and cared about her mother’s career?
It all seemed so unimportant now. I wish I’d spent more time with you.
“I saw the opening episode of the show,” Mary said.
Cynthia looked at her and realized she actually cared about Mary’s opinion.
“What did you think?”
“I think it’s exactly what you’ve been trying to do your whole career, and I hope you’re able to enjoy its success.”
Mary smiled and Cynthia’s heart sunk. The comments were rehearsed. Mary hadn’t said anything about what she thought of the show, and that told Cynthia everything she needed to know.
“It’s just entertainment.”
“A man died.”
Cynthia blinked and realized she had nothing she could say to justify that. “It was an accident, but you’re right.”
“It’s just not my thing, Mom. I’ll watch old movies like Citizen Kane or Gone with the Wind. You enjoy your reality shows.”
Mary’s smile disappeared as a tear fell down her cheek. She leaned over and hugged Cynthia.
“Let’s not talk about that. I just want you better. I still need my mother.”
Cynthia put her arm around Mary.
“I need you, too.”
More than I ever knew, she thought.
Cynthia - Fourteen Years Earlier
The jungle in Pulau Tiga was hotter than Cynthia had expected. She was a location producer on the first season of Survivor, a rookie who was lucky enough to fall in with Mark Burnett.
It didn’t take long to discover a truth within her soul: this was what she wanted to do.
She was forty-two years old and had worked in various capacities on a dozen television shows. None of the shows were particularly memorable, and neither was her role in them. She sometimes managed to get credits as producer but mostly she was just a go-to girl, answering to the beck and calls of the higher ups.
But this was different. There hadn’t been a show like this before, and Cynthia had visions running through her mind of other shows that could grab the same audience. Shows that would reach further and grab the viewers right by their asses and shake them up. The power of this kind of television wasn’t passive, where the show just played in the background. Now, she saw how the viewer could experience a much higher level of emotional attachment.
She knew the equation: eyeballs on the screen = money.
Money for the advertisers, money for the network, money for her.
The taping of the show lasted just over a month, and the entire time, she knew it was going to be a hit. She just needed to get back to the United States and start working on her own production company.
And late in 2000, she did exactly that. She abandoned her job at CBS and formed her first company, Wright Entertainment Inc. It took her almost no time to find her partner, Rick Sanderson. He had the industry contacts through his legal firm.
Cynthia was bursting with optimism when she met with a dozen private investors. She had the startup money she needed within weeks.
Lost World aired in 2001. It was a jungle expedition show, with two teams battling to find buried treasure. The show aired on Fox and overnight, Cynthia and Rick were household names.
They never ran the same show twice, but they did license them to other countries. In America, they only wanted to do new, untested, risky shows. Each show moved the boundaries a little further.
Everything succeeded. Their touch was golden.
It wasn’t enough for Cynthia, though. She wanted more excitement, more risk, more danger.
More than the FCC would allow them on broadcast television.
And with every show, she pushed her daughter, Mary, further from her. Mary couldn’t understand making money at other people’s expense. Humiliation, pain, shock, anger, conflict were all arrows in Cynthia’s quiver. Mary wanted nothing to do with any of it.
She wrote the rules for Scavenger Hunt in a single evening and Rick crafted the network contract in the weeks that followed. They went shopping to Reality Television Studios, satisfied that their dream show would air.
Scavenger Hunt Week Two Airs
It was Thursday night, 7:58 p.m.
Peter Crowley was tapping his fingers on his chair. He’d finished chugging two beers in the last half hour waiting for Scavenger Hunt to air.
Carla was making noise in the kitchen, putting leftovers in the fridge.
“Jesus, Car, it’s going to start. Get in here already.”
“Yes, I’m coming.”
“And don’t start the fuckin’ dishwasher. We need it to be quiet.”
7:59.
Carla slid in and took her seat.
“We can rewind it with TiVo, you know.”
“I want to see it live.”
“It’s not really live here. It aired three hours ago in the east.”
“Shhh.”
He sat back and watched the logo spin on the screen, and when it cleared, there was Rick Sanderson. Peter scowled. What was he doing there? It was supposed to be Cynthia that introduced each show.
“Good evening and welcome to Scavenger Hunt. I’m Rick Sanderson, co-producer. Tonight’s show is packed with action, danger, conflict, and sexual situations that may offend some viewers.”
Peter smiled. That’s what he wanted to hear.
“Some of you may have heard of a second death related to the show. I want to offer my condolences to the family and hope that we all learn from this person’s death.”
“Who the hell died?”
Carla whispered, “It’s Carlos. He kills himself or something.”
“Jesus. On the show?”
“I suppose.”
Rick had faded away and was replaced by Karen’s smiling face. She was talking about the Faroe Islands. Then a map appeared and showed Team Harvard’s path from Antarctica to Tibet.
Peter felt hypnotized for the next two hours and again felt angry when the show finished. What the hell
was Fernando going to do without Carlos? How was Pietre going to face his team after stealing all their money for drugs?
He ran to the computer to see if he could find out anything more up-to-date than had aired on the show, but two hours later he gave up in frustration.
Rick’s Scene List:
Teaser
1. Karen teases about the show.
2. Quick look at Michael in the hospital.
Act 1
3. Interviews with Team Harvard — Focus on Susan.
4. Interviews with Team Hollywood — Focus on Fernando.
5. Interviews with Team Genius — Focus on Pietre.
6. Interviews with Team Superior — Focus on Tanya.
Act 2
7. Team Harvard — Flying to Tibet.
8. Exploring Lhasa City.
9. They figure out what Drak Yurma is.
10. Interview with Joe prior to taping of show, with lie detector showing he loves her.
11. Susan wakes and finds Joe masturbating in front of her.
Act 3
12. Team Hollywood — Overview of their travel.
13. Interview with Brittany showing how nasty she can be.
14. Litla Dimun.
15. Night vision showing Brittany and Steve having sex.
16. Fernando and Carlos climbing the rope to the top of the cliff.
Act 4
17. Team Genius — Jonathan sneaking off for a private chat with Emma and proposes that they work to have only the two of them split the prize.
18. Interviews with Emma and Jonathan prior to taping of show, where each mentions the other.
19. Sailing down the Amazon.
20. Pietre suffering withdrawal. Interview with cocaine addiction specialist.
Act 5
21. Team Superior — sailing down the Amazon and setting up camp.
22. Interview with Maria prior to taping of show.
23. Party time at camp, with wine. Discussion about them being on their own if they really need help.
24. Tanya and Maria kissing.
Act 6
25. Susan’s reaction to Joe when she wakes.
26. Bea interviews Susan and Joe.
Scavenger Hunt Page 19
