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12
Something was different with Knox. Amy saw it in his eyes. Could she ask what had changed?
Not now. Maybe once they got to the extraction point where they could huddle up while they waited for the chopper. This was a conversation that needed to take place between two people, no offense to Lorna.
Knox set up the hammock in a matter of minutes. The man could do anything and everything. Amy was thoroughly impressed. Ranger school did him good.
Amy and Lorna sat sideways on the hammock, shoulder to shoulder, as Knox paced, scanning the area.
“Let’s see what you got,” Lorna said, excitement in her tone.
This is what they’d come for. The anaconda might not set records or prove anything, but the footage, this story, would have interest. Amy could finally see the possibility of her career taking off. The thought of leaving the Honkey-Tonk improved her mood tenfold. Even if the film didn’t get the attention she hoped, it was time to find another side gig. She couldn’t go back to the bar. That much was obvious to her now.
Before this trip, she’d been in a rut anyway. Her mom was moving away from Texas. Amy wasn’t interested in Seattle. Maybe it was time to find where she fit at this point in her life.
Moving cost money,a voice in the back of her head reminded.
Fingers crossed she made enough from this film for a fresh start. Where would she go? Colorado? California? Her main requirement was somewhere with cooler weather. No matter where she landed, she would be a Texan through and through.
Amy found the spot on the film with the anaconda. She glanced up at Knox.
“I didn’t realize you were Tarzan,” she quipped. “Maybe Jungle Man should be your new nickname.”
“You’re bad at this,” he said without hesitation. “That sounds too much like a compliment.”
Amy laughed as Lorna studied the footage on the small screen.
“Hold on a second,” Lorna said, her forehead creasing with concern. “What is that in the background?”
“Holy shit,” Amy said. “Wasn’t Donnie wearing a yellow t-shirt?”
“Let me see that,” Knox said, already closing the distance between them. She handed over the camera and told him to blow up the righthand corner.
Knox did.
“Sonofabitch,” he said. “He’s tracking us.”
“Why would he do that?” Amy asked Lorna.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Does he think you have something on the camera that you’re not talking about, so you can keep the profits?”
The camera. That was all Donnie cared about anyway.
Knox handed it back to Amy before placing an index finger to his lips. He glanced first at Amy, then Lorna, and back. His slight head nod said they should keep talking while he investigated.
The thought of Knox moving out of sight, even for a few seconds, set Amy’s nerves on edge. It was important that Donnie not realize Knox was on the move.
“I have film for the documentary going all the way back to when I left Houston,” Amy said. “I preferto stay out of the shot, so I capture everything around me instead.” She paused, thinking back. “The anaconda is the big deal. The rest is just to give viewers context. Much of the footage won’t even make it into the final product.”
“He must have expected us to continue on with the original plan,” Lorna stated but that didn’t make any sense.
“Why would we do that?” Amy asked.
“He thinks everyone is as obsessed with work as he is, for one,” Lorna pointed out. “I’m just throwing out ideas.” She shrugged. “Like I said, I thought I knew him until I realized I’d made most of it up based on the ‘show’ he put on to keep his hooks in me.”
Her cheeks flamed. Being taken for granted by someone she cared about didn’t make her a fool. It made Donnie an asshole.
“One thing I know for certain,” Lorna finally said. “Donnie would do anything to get the film. Including follow us to figure out if we already had it.” She rocked her head back and forth a couple of times. “In fact, he was poking around to find out if I knew what kind of film you have, now that I think about it. Bastard.”
