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Amy gave a small headshake.
Did he need to point out Amy was too busy trying to stay alive after being abandoned by a guide who’d been set up presumably by Lorna and Donnie? And then she became target practice for a pair of men who had yet to be identified while Donnie abandoned her.
Knox made a show of cleaning fake earwax out of his ear. When he had both women’s attention, he laser-beamed Lorna with his gaze. “Did you really just ask that question? You think your biggest concern right now is whether or not Amy got the footage you wanted? What part ofyou risked your friend’s life and now all you care about is footagedo you not understand?”
“I didn’t…I wasn’t…” Lorna stammered.
“She’s just making conversation, Knox,” Amy cut in. “Could you settle down?”
“No, I can’t. Not while there are men with guns who want to kill you and could be anywhere in this jungle, not to mention the fact they could be within spitting distance right now with the barrel of their automatic weapons pointed right at us.” The truth hurt. The men could be anyone, anywhere.
In fact, he needed to take a minute to think about who those men might be. One plausible explanation would be environmental workers. They risked life and limb to protect the rainforest. But why would they shoot at Amy?
Why would they want to stop—kill?—an American documentary filmmaker?
Didn’t add up. She wasn’t trying to damage the environment. She certainly wasn’t trying to harm the creatures. The men might not know that, though. Would they believe she worked for a developer? Someone who wanted to cut into the jungle for profit?
The problem was real.
Another explanation for the men was they didn’t want witnesses in the area of the jungle Amy and Donnie were in. Sinister? Yes. But erasing a witness wasn’t exactly a new reason for murder.
The men could be working for rebels instead of the government. They could be drug runners.Although, most folks shied away from the deadly jungle, searching for an easier route.
What kind of person, organization, or government sent weaponized men inside the rainforest?
He would have to chew on that idea more later because he was coming up blank.
Could they be assassins?
Sure. They could be anyone or anything at this point. There was no way to rule out possibilities with the little information he had so far. Almost anyone could throw on camo pants, shirt, and hat and carry an automatic weapon in the jungle without drawing too much attention. Unless they wanted to be seen.
The pair of men shot at Amy. They could have sprayed bullets. Could the shots have been a warning?
Or did they want her alive for some reason?
4
“We shouldn’t stay here for long,” Knox said, and he was right. Still, nothing inside Amy wanted to stand up, let alone leave the relative safety of this spot.
Then again, she realized they were sitting ducks if they stayed.
“They were set on killing us,” Amy recalled, now that some of the shock had worn off and clear thinking returned.
Knox gave a slight nod. Meanwhile, Lorna sucked in a breath.
“What if they circled back and found Donnie?” Lorna asked. “What if…?”
The look on Knox’s face said they would never find Donnie’s body if he was already dead. Thisplace would swallow him whole and spit out his bones.
Amy put her arm around Lorna. “The men followed me. Donnie is probably hiding somewhere or he might have made it back to base camp by now. He’s familiar with the jungle. Even without A.J., he should be able to circle back.”
Lorna pursed her lips and shot a look of apology.
“He has been in the jungle multiple times before, right?” she asked her friend.
Lorna gave a small headshake. “I may have exaggerated about that part so you would relax.”
“Relax?” Amy felt her blood pressure rise. What about this mission was the honest truth? “You lied to me, Lorna.”
