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He nodded, noticing the change in smell as the jungle enveloped them. It had a dark, musky, mud-like quality. And, yes, he knew about being porcupined, which was the reason he’d rather listen to the monkey calls and other sounds instead of talk. These types of attacks might be rare these days with the backlash that came with them, but they still existed.
“I should probably tell you something else, Knox,” Lorna said.
“And then will you be quiet so I can listen?” His voice came out sharper than intended.
“A.J.’s wife stopped by to check on me a few hours ago,” Lorna began, her voice tight. “Said two men came around asking about the white people who went into the jungle.”
“I’m guessing A.J.’s wife didn’t tell these folks about you camping here,” he said.
“No,” she confirmed. “But the men were armed to the hilt.”
Mercenaries? It didn’t make sense. “I thought you said the three of you were here to document anacondas in the Flooded Forest.”
“I did,” Lorna said. “We were…are. That’s the whole reason we came.”
“And funding is the reason you told your boyfriend and Amy to leave you here so no days were wasted?” He needed to hear her say the words so he could tell if she was lying. At this point, he didn’t see any reason for Lorna to send her best friend—according to Lorna anyway—into the jungle with her boyfriend. What would she have to gain?
“That’s right,” she said. “We can’t afford to lose time, and A.J. is a popular guide.”
“I doubt he will be once word gets out about this, unless people realize Donnie had the option to go with him and the danger was explained to him,” he muttered under his breath. “And, of course, it’s not his fault if Donnie is too much a fool to listen.” Knox had known sherpas who would die with a client in the Himalayas before they would abandon a person who trusted them. He somehow doubted A.J. would just disappear. He must have said something to Donnie first.
“A.J. came out looking like he’d seen a ghost,” she said. “I’m not happy about what happened either, but A.J. said he circled back to find them and couldn’t.”
Well, shit. “And you picked this moment to tell me that bit of news?”
Lorna shrugged as she shot more daggers at him. They were at an impasse. She didn’t want to bearound him any more than he wanted to be around her. “You would have come either way, right?”
He didn’t respond.
“She talked about you once,” Lorna said, her voice had a lost quality to it now.
Had she given up on finding them alive?
“Yeah? What did she say?”
“Just that you were basically better than a Marvel hero,” Lorna confided.
Shit. He didn’t want to hear that right now.
“We have known each other for a very long time,” he finally said. “I was eighteen the last time we were in the same room and about to head off to the military.”
“With her brother, right?”
“Yes,” he said, hearing the catch in his voice. “You knew Garrett?”
“Mostly through Amy, but yes.”
“What did she say about him?” he asked.
“That he trusted you with his life and if anything ever happened, she should trust you with hers,” Lorna said softly.
He was too choked up to respond.
“I’m sorry if that’s too personal,” Lorna interjected. “You might not know Amy very well anymore, but I do. She’s my best friend and I’m the reason she’s in here, alone, probably scared to death, if not al?—”
“Not until we know one way or the other,” he cutin. “Until we find a body, we assume this is a rescue mission, not a recovery mission.” Again, his words came out harsher than planned. With effort, he softened his tone when he added, “Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Lorna stated.
