Marked in Mexico (15 page)

Jessica was stunned. She had heard of malaria, but she had never known anyone who had contracted the parasite and knew very little about it. The sickness was one of those frightening things that had always seemed so far away from her reality that she had never given it much thought. The ailment affected third-world countries and a few adventurous travelers, and had never infiltrated her world of elegant fundraisers and political rallies.

“You sound like an expert to me. How do you know so much about it?”

“I’ve had it a couple times
¾
got it when I was in Africa. It never made me delirious, but it’s nasty and I pity anyone who has to go through it, especially without drugs. Her fever will probably only last a few hours and when it breaks, she’ll look pretty good, but feel very weak. The fever will be back every two or three days, she might even have fevers daily at first, and she’ll keep getting weaker if we can’t get her the medicine she needs.”

“Oh my God, Jack. What are we going to do? How are we going to get medicine?”

“Let’s worry about that in the morning. Come sit down and rest. You’ll need to keep your strength up.”

Jessica stayed behind Jack in case Megan woke up. He sat down next to the sick woman and motioned for Jessica to take her place on the other side of him. She peered around him and watched Megan squirm. It broke Jessica’s heart to see her in such agony, but there was nothing she could do to make it any better.

Jack wanted her to sleep, but she couldn’t as long as Megan suffered. She tried to remain still so Jack might be able to rest, but overwhelming anxiety had her crawling out of her own skin. Jessica was ready to rise and start pacing when Megan stilled and the moans ceased. She looked over at Jack, terrified by the silence.

“It’s okay. The fever has finally broken. Sweat is pouring down her temples, but her temperature’s dropping, so you can relax now.”

At the first hint of light, Jessica and Jack rose and moved far enough away from Megan so they could talk without waking her. Megan had tossed and moaned most of the night, making it impossible for Jessica to sleep. She doubted Jack had scored any rest either. Once Megan’s fever broke, he had kept vigil at Megan’s side, making sure she was covered and as comfortable as possible.

Jessica paced and tried to run her fingers through her hair, but matted tangles prevented her from expressing her anxiety in one of her usual forms.

“What do we do, Jack? Megan was so sick last night. I can’t stand to see her in such agony. Why has this happened to us? Why is this happening to her?” Jessica cried out as she fought to free a stubborn tangle in her hair.

Jack grabbed her hand to keep her from yanking her own hair from its roots and gathered her into his arms and let her cry. She’d been so strong that seeing her finally fall apart was almost more than he could bear. He hadn’t seen her shed a tear throughout all the horrors they’d been through and he wasn’t sure how to comfort her. He’d never been good at showing his emotions or doing the right thing when others needed him, but he desperately wanted to make her pain and fear go away. He could think of nothing to say, so he just held her until the sobbing stopped and her shoulders quit shaking.

“I’m sorry. I just don’t know how much more I can take. I’m scared and I’m tired and I want this to end. We keep running, but we don’t seem to be getting any closer to freedom.”

“Have faith. We’ll make it. I promise.” Jack eased her back. “If it were just finding our way out of the jungle, it would be a piece of cake. Unfortunately we have some very shrewd men after us. I’m sure it feels like we’re not getting anywhere and we’re traveling in circles, but I’m doing what I can to keep
Las Culebras
off our trail. Problem is, that isn’t necessarily the shortest distance from point A to point B and it has proved to be quite difficult. You’ll have to trust me on this one.”

“I do trust you. I’m sorry.”

As Jack gently wiped the tears from her cheeks, she felt comforted and could almost believe he was right. They had to survive and somehow would, if they could all hold it together and tackle one crisis at a time. Thinking about everything that was going wrong at every turn was too overwhelming.

“Are you going to be okay?”

Jessica nodded and forced a weak smile to her lips. She hated that she’d allowed her fear to get the best of her and had broken down in front of Jack. She’d been close many times over the past few days, but had somehow held it together until Megan got sick. Criminals had dogged them and threatened their very existence, but now even Mother Nature had turned against them. It was possible to elude or destroy a person, but Jessica felt helpless against nature and its mysterious inhabitants. Despite the setback, she gathered raw determination.

“Won’t happen again. What do we need to do?” She threw her shoulders back and lifted her chin in a display of stubborn resolve.

“I’m going back to the village. I saw a clinic there. If Megan has malaria, I’m sure she’s not the only one around here, so they should have chloroquine available. Give me the money you have left, so I can buy supplies.”

“You can’t go back there. Even the police are looking for us now. If you get caught, they’ll kill you when you won’t tell them where I’m at, and they’ll probably torture you to death trying to get the information.”

Jack looked at her with a wry smile and lifted a brow. He was quite familiar with torture, but he was sure he could avoid it in this instance, though he liked the idea that she was worried about him and couldn’t help teasing her a little.

“What makes you think I won’t tell them where you are? I don’t like to be tortured.”

“I’ve gotten to know you well enough to be certain you would never give up a friend. You’ve had plenty of opportunities to save yourself and you haven’t taken them.” She handed him the crumpled wad of bills.

Megan stirred and sat up. Jack and Jessica rushed over and knelt down in front of her.

“How are you feeling?” Jessica asked.

“Achy and weak. What’s going on?”

“Jack says you have malaria and he’s going back to the village for chloroquine.”

Megan rubbed the side of her face and tried to run her fingers though her hair, now matted to her head. She knew it was dangerous for him to return to the village, but after what she had been through, she trusted Jack knew what he was talking about and she needed the drugs. Megan wanted to argue, but as she tried to move, the words she wanted to say wouldn’t come out.

“If you could snag a pain reliever too that would be great,” she uttered with a weak smile.

Jack squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek. He couldn’t believe this had happened on top of everything else, but they’d just have to deal with it. He couldn’t help but feel a little responsible as he glanced from her bug-bitten legs to the long pants he had acquired for himself.

“You’ll be okay. You and Jessica try to rest. You look too weak to handle the gun again, so I’m giving it to Jess. I know that’s frightening, but just coach her if it’s needed.” He gave Jessica a little wink.

Jack handed Jessica the pistol, gave her a crash course on how to use it, tossed the water bottle down next to her and slipped into the trees before either woman could try and talk him out of returning to the village. He wasn’t the least bit concerned for his own safety, having been in much worse situations before, but he hated leaving them alone, especially with Megan in such a fragile condition.

As soon as Jack was out of sight, Jessica cautiously sat down next to Megan and handed her the bottle of water. Megan gave no indication that Jessica frightened her, so whatever had set her off the night before had apparently passed.

“Here, drink some of this. Jack said it may give us a stomachache or make us race for the bushes, but at least we won’t die of dehydration in the meantime.”

Megan took a long drink and handed the bottle back to Jessica. She drank also and the two women sat in silence. Jessica was curious about what had happened the previous night, but wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. Megan had said they were like family now, so Jessica decided to plunge right in.

“Last night you were a little delirious and mistook me for someone else. You were certain I was going to hit you.”

Jessica watched as Megan’s head turned away and dropped. Megan rubbed her eyes and shook her head.

“I’m so sorry, Jessica. I feel as close to you as a sister and I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings. I know you would never do anything to hurt me.”

“I wouldn’t, but I’m afraid someone has. Can you talk to me about it? Sometimes it makes people feel better.”

Megan was silent for a long time. Jessica could sense her thoughts had drifted far from the jungle. She’d offered to listen, but she wouldn’t push Megan any further even though she could see the pain on her face as a tear slid down her cheek. The cheek was still bruised from the blows she had taken from their abductors and a swath of black had formed a fading ring under her eye. The thought that this probably wasn’t Megan’s first black eye tugged at Jessica’s heart and she wanted nothing more at the moment than to offer comfort.

“My stepmother, Janice, used to beat me a lot when I was a little girl. She never hit my two sisters, so no one believed me when I tried to get help. My dad was sympathetic, but he thought I was just lashing out because I missed my own mother and he cautioned me not to lie about Janice. She seemed to make him happy and since he didn’t believe me anyway, I never mentioned it to him again. My sisters liked Janice, so I assumed I must just be a very bad child.”

“That’s horrible. Did you ever figure out why you and not your sisters?”

“The only thing I could think of was that I idolized my dad and we did everything together until she came around. My sisters were quite a bit older than I. They were already in high school, but I was still in elementary when Janice married my father. The verbal and physical abuse escalated after they left the house and went to college. I was the baby of the family and dad always called me his little princess. Maybe she was jealous or hated me because she knew she would have to pretend to care for me in front of him for so long.”

Jessica had assumed the lovely, young, long-legged blonde had a charmed life when she had first seen her at the ruins. She hadn’t disliked her, but she had no intention of getting to know her until circumstances threw them together. Megan’s strength after Ashley’s death had surprised her and the young woman had continued to impress her. Now, she admired Megan even more. She knew from studying case worker files that child abuse often left permanent scars so deep that a woman such as Megan would have to struggle to emerge so confident and strong.

“Janice hated it when I was sick, because she was obligated to care for me and Dad used to go overboard with syrupy affection when I didn’t feel good. I had to be on my death bed before I would admit I was sick. It was easy for her to abuse me and not have anyone notice when I was already down, so it was always worse then. That’s probably why I freaked out on you last night. I haven’t lived with them since I graduated from high school and thought I’d put it behind me, but obviously I haven’t dealt with my fear of her completely.”

“I don’t know what to say except that I’m sorry you had to go through such a horrible situation. It had to be rough. My blood boils whenever I think of any child being abused.” Jessica paused. “I’ve done a lot of thinking about my life and career ever since we were abducted and I’ve decided that if we survive I’m leaving the practice when I get back and I’m going to focus on helping abused children and women. The case I was working on when I left about drove me over the edge and I’m not doing it anymore. I’m going to practice law that makes a difference.”

“You’re a good person and a good friend.”

Jessica could sense Megan was growing tired and weaker. She convinced her to lie down and sleep even though she wasn’t comfortable standing guard alone. She had never fired a gun before and the thought of using one terrified her. Jessica wasn’t even sure she could remember what Jack told her to do, so she picked up the pistol and tried to go over his instructions.

The gun looked small and simple enough, yet as she held it, her hand began to shake. She touched the trigger, but her finger felt frozen solid, unable to bend. She glanced over at Megan and the woman looked so weak and helpless. The thought of anyone hurting her again made fury surge through Jessica’s body and then she thought about Ashley. Her screams rang through Jessica’s head and she felt her finger thaw. Her hand steadied as she looked over at Megan again and knew that if anyone tried to hurt her, she would be able to pull the trigger. Jessica wasn’t sure if she could do it to protect herself, but she was confident she could do it to save a friend.

Jack could hear dogs barking, so he knew he was approaching the village. It wasn’t going to be easy to sneak into town in broad daylight, obtain supplies and disappear without being seen, but he didn’t have much choice. The sooner he could procure medicine and food, the sooner they could figure out how to cross the river and put some distance between them and those hunting them.