Amazon Burning (A James Acton Thriller, #10) (8 page)

Somewhere North-East of Rio Negro, Northern Amazon, Brazil

Laura tried to control the adrenaline rushing through her system, it
only making the situation worse, panic having set in almost from the moment she
had awoken. Her captor had an iron grip on her arm, not to mention a menacing
looking spear and set of sharpened teeth. There was no hope of escape at this
point, it still nearly pitch black, the only light from the stars and a half
moon overhead, little of which made it through the thick canopy of tree
branches above them. Should she manage to break away, she knew he’d simply
recapture her within moments.

But for
some reason he hadn’t seemed too perturbed by her shouting out, three times
now. Each time she had called for help, her captor had glared at her, hissing
slightly, frightening her back into silence. And the last time, when she had
heard James’ voice so close, she had a flood of hope, but then there was a
flurry of shouting in the distance and a smile from her captor.

Then
silence.

And she
knew something had happened to her beloved husband.

But for
now she had to survive, and to that end she did the only thing she could think
of to do.

Leave a
trail.

With
every step of her right foot, her captor on her left, she put as much weight as
she could on her heel, digging it into the ground so it would leave a mark,
rather than drag her foot which was more likely to be noticed by her captor. If
someone could just pick up her trail, they might be able to follow it to
wherever they were going.

The fact
she was alive for now had her hopeful that he intended to keep her that way.
Then again, cattle were walked to the slaughter house, not carried. Her
cooperating might simply be making things easier for her later demise.
Cannibalism had been reported in the Amazon, but it was rare, and not in this
particular area. Usually it was a war ritual—eat the enemy, gain his strength,
not to mention scare the shit out of his friends the next time you might
encounter them.

She had
a funny feeling this was more of a counting coup situation, where the young man
performed an act of bravery against the enemy to prove himself to his tribe.
Perhaps by abducting her he was passing some sort of test. From what she could
see of him he seemed rather slight, even for a native of the Amazon, typically
known for being short and very fit.

The
runt of the litter?

He had
no obvious deformities which might have merited him a quick death at birth,
instead he seemed to have simply been cursed with a short stature and slight
features. She might have actually felt a touch sorry for him if he weren’t in
the process of abducting her.

Suddenly
they stopped and he pointed at her feet several times, then slapped his chest,
then pointed at the tree branches above them, all the while speaking a language
she had absolutely no possibility of understanding.

“You
want me to stay here while you climb the tree?”

He
repeated the gestures, then shook his spear, which she took to imply he’d kill
her if she didn’t stay put.

She
nodded.

This
seemed to satisfy him and he sprang up the tree so fast, he could have been
mistaken for a primate. Suddenly a hand dangled in front of her face, motioning
at her.

I
guess he wants me to climb.

She
reached up to grab the lowest branch but instead he grabbed her arm by the
wrist and hauled her up to the large branch he was on. She yelped in surprise at
his strength and grabbed onto the massive branch, his hand steadying her until
she found her balance. The branch was large, easily the width of a twin bed
with a large concave in the trunk of the tree at the branch’s root. Her captor
quickly cleared out this area of accumulated debris then lined it with large
leaves, motioning for her to lie down inside the protected alcove.

She
nodded then obeyed the order, lying with her back to the tree trunk, her spine
curving with the trunk, it oddly comfortable, and, more importantly, signaling
he had no intention of killing her before morning, and should they stay put
overnight, it might give James and the others time to find her trail.

James!

What
were those shouts? It wasn’t his voice she had heard but those of at least
several others speaking a language that might be the same as her captor’s. All
she knew was it wasn’t English, Spanish or Portuguese. But she also hadn’t
heard him cry out, which she hoped meant they hadn’t killed him.

But why
would her captor not join his friends?

She knew
enough about the Amazon Rainforest to know that there were hundreds of tribes
that minimized contact with the outside world, and dozens that had had no
contact whatsoever. She wondered who her captor was, whether he knew of white
people, or whether he thought she was some sort of demon or otherworldly
creature.

If he
thinks that, then he is either extremely brave or incredibly stupid.

Counting
coup with an otherworldly creature had to take the cake for bravery. Which
might make sense. His slight stature and features would probably have him
marginalized among the men of the tribe, and undesirable to the women.

Oh!

The
thought had her heart leap into her throat. Was she to be his mate? Was she
about to be raped? She pushed herself back a little deeper into the alcove. She
calmed herself, all the while keeping an eye on her captor as he continued to
prepare their shelter, expertly weaving what was shaping into a wall around
them, the large leaves providing an effective cover. Within ten minutes they
were enclosed enough so no one from the ground would be able to see them.

A small,
shallow clay plate was produced from what she would characterize as a satchel
that hung around his neck. The bag appeared to be pieced together from
different animal skins, and had gone unnoticed up to this point in her panic. A
hand drill for producing fire was removed from the bag and within minutes they
had a small fire sitting on the clay plate. He placed it close to her and she
held her hands out, warming them, as she suddenly realized how cool it was as
her body chilled, no longer kept warm by their constant running.

She
shivered.

Her
captor’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if concerned. He pushed the plate closer,
then stood, removing more leaves from a higher branch. Placing them over her
body, he layered her with the greenery. She almost immediately began to feel
the thermal effect as her body heat began to be trapped.

“Thank
you.”

The
words startled him and he jumped back slightly. She realized from her training
that if she were to survive this, unscathed and unmolested, she needed to
establish a rapport with her abductor. She sat up, repositioning the leaves to
cover as much of her as possible, then pointed at her chest.

“Laura.”

He
looked at her, eyes narrowed, confused.

“My
name, it’s Lau-ra.” She pointed again at herself. “Lau-ra.” She pointed at him.
“What’s your name?”

He was
still confused, pointing at his own chest. “La-wa.”

She
smiled, shaking her head, then pointing at herself. “Lau-ra.” She then pointed
at him, using her best “tell me your name” expression, trying to convey that
she was asking him something.

His jaw
dropped and his head bobbed rapidly as he seemed to get it.

What
sounded almost like a popping sound followed by a hard ‘k’ emerged from his
mouth as he pointed at his own chest. He repeated it several times.

“Tuk?”
she repeated.

He
grinned, revealing his barbarous teeth as he slapped his chest, repeating his
name.

She
smiled. “Your name is Tuk.” She pointed at her chest. “Laura.”

“Lawa.”

“Lowr-raa.”

“Lowr-raa,”
he mimicked almost perfectly.

“Laura.”

“Lau-ra!”

She
smiled, giving him the thumbs up. “Perfect. You’re Tuk, I’m Laura.”

He
smacked his chest. “Tuk,” he said, then pointed toward her. “Lau-ra.”

This
seemed to excite him greatly, and after a few more repetitions, he sat down and
pulled some dried food out of his bag, offering her some. He said a word with
it, then pointed at it then his mouth.

“Food,”
she said. She took some and tried it. It wasn’t bad, though she could imagine
what Reading would say.

Like
dried bloody oats!

But it
was food and she didn’t know when she’d get fed again. Besides, she wanted to
establish a bond, and he was already repeating “food” over and over, handing
her more. After several minutes of him feeding her, she was indeed full, having
eaten a good sized meal earlier in the evening, so she begged off any more. He
seemed to understand and pointed at her bed, saying something along with her
name.

She
nodded. “Laura sleep.”

She lay
down and he jumped forward, startling her slightly but she kept her control. He
repositioned the leaves to cover her again, then jumped back, turning his back
on her in what appeared to be an attempt to give her privacy.

She
closed her eyes, her mind slowly settling as she tried to figure out the best
way to handle things in the morning. It appeared at this point he meant her no
harm, but that could turn in an instant should she not cooperate with him. There
didn’t appear to be any sexual component to the abduction, at least not yet,
and they still weren’t that far from the campsite.

She
would have to figure out some way to delay their travel and continue to lay her
trail.

If she
didn’t, she might very well be lost to her world forever.

Professor James Acton knew he was in deep shit. He had stumbled upon
what appeared to be a hunting party camping for the night. The spear pressed
against his throat felt ready to pierce the skin. He slid his hand with the phone
into his pocket, pressing the button to turn it off when inside so they
wouldn’t see the display flash. He slowly raised his hands, keeping his
expression as neutral as possible, and not exposing his teeth. He knew very
well that in some cultures, the baring of teeth was considered hostile, and the
fact they seemed to be showing him their own teeth had him clamping his jaw
shut.

He had
no idea how primitive these half dozen men were, whether or not they had ever
seen a white man before, technology like his phone or his gun, or even if they
had heard a modern language.

Staying
quiet and cooperating seemed the best option at the moment.

Four
spears were held on him as two men stepped forward, patting him down as
thoroughly as any cop, his gun, magazines, phone and other supplies all tossed
in a pile on the ground.

And as
he eyed the phone, he realized what an idiot he had been. It contained a GPS
locator in it, which meant it could be tracked.

But only
if it was turned on.

His
hands were bound along with his ankles and he was pushed to the ground, his
back against a tree. Two of his captors crouched nearby, their spears aimed in
his direction as the others returned to sleep. And with nothing else he could
possibly do, he soon found his own exhaustion overtaking him as the adrenaline
that had fueled him for the past couple of hours wore off.

God,
please take care of my wife.

Rio Negro River, Northern Amazon, Brazil
Two days before the attack

Dawn broke suddenly, at least for Reading, he having fallen asleep at
some point through the night. He glanced over at Milton who was awake, the
satellite phone still gripped in his hand, the iPad on his lap. The sound of
the motor and the motion of the boat had Reading on his feet.

“Where
are we going?”

“Just
upriver a bit, apparently there’s a tribe there that might be able to help,”
replied Milton. He held up the iPad. “Do you realize we’re only a couple of
miles from the Venezuelan border?”

Reading
shook his head. “No.” He frowned. “If she’s taken across the border, we’re
going to have bigger problems getting her back. The local searchers probably
won’t cross and the Venezuelans won’t exactly be cooperative.”

“We
can’t be sure of that.”

Reading
nodded, sitting down again. “No, you’re right. But look at that map. Almost
their entire population is concentrated in the north along the coast. For them
to mount a search and rescue operation, even if they were willing, would take
days at least.”

“I got
an email from Terrence a few minutes ago.”

Reading’s
eyebrows climbed a little at the mention of Laura’s star grad student. “And?”

“And
he’s contacted the head of her security team, Lt. Colonel Leather. Leather says
the security team at the Peru dig site where Jim’s students are is too far
away. It would take them a few days to get here—it’s a day just to get to Lima
from that dig. He’s bringing in a half-dozen men who will arrive in-country
tomorrow. They’re apparently going to try and charter a small plane and parachute
in. We could have boots on the ground as early as tomorrow night.”