Katherine Garbera - Deadly Desire

She torpedoed her body and caught up to the packs, flying close to them. She’d lost sight of Mac. The chutes opened and slowed her descent.

Her feet hit the tops of the trees. She pulled them up but it was too late. She was knocked off balance and continued falling through the thick green canopy of the tall rain forest trees.

Her chute got tangled in the branches and she was held suspended over the floor of the jungle. The momentum of her fall caused her to rock back and forth. Her cheek stung where a branch had cut her face on the way down. She was about four feet from the ground.

She heard a loud boom and guessed that the plane had crashed. A few minutes later she saw smoke billowing up from the sky. Oh, my God . She prayed Bob had made it out okay. She should have insisted he jump when they did. She looked up for another drifting parachute, but only saw the smoke and sky through the high canopy.

She had her Blackberry in her pocket, but had left her change of clothes and food behind. There just hadn’t been time to get everything out of the plane. And the medicine had been the most important thing.

Her heart raced and her hands shook. She finally unbuckled her harness and let herself fall to the ground. Her injured leg gave as she landed and she rolled a few feet before stopping. When she got her bearings she looked up into the painted face of a warrior who held a spear with a sharp tip aimed straight at her.

Chapter 4

Jane gingerly got to her feet. Her leg ached. She had no idea how to defend herself against a spear-wielding native. The man’s eyes were calm, cool. She made eye contact with him but didn’t sustain it, not wanting him to think she was aggressive. After a minute he lowered his weapon but continued watching her.

His face was painted in broad stripes of red and blue. His eyes were a dark chocolate and his body was covered in modern clothing. Civilization had come to the Amazon basin and yet the old traditions remained. Jane was struck by the dichotomy.

She was still trying to deal with everything that had happened. She couldn’t believe their plane had crashed. Her hands shook and her mind was racing. The jump hadn’t been as bad as she’d expected considering they’d had to drop out before they’d planned.

Where was Mac?

Jane held her hands at shoulder level. The warrior continued watching her, spear in hand. She noticed he had an old AK-47 rifle slung over his shoulder.

“I’m a doctor,” she said in Spanish. “I’m here to help the Yura.”

He took a step closer and raised his spear. Jane didn’t flinch or back up. She figured her rudimentary knowledge of martial arts would buy her some time if she needed it.

“The Yura aren’t around here, they are closer to the Madre de Dios River,” he replied in Spanish, gesturing to the south.

“My plane had engine trouble,” she said.

The man just looked at her. There was nothing threatening in his gaze. Jane had the feeling that he’d come out to make sure there was no threat.

“Can you point me in the right direction?” Jane asked. She wanted to find Mac. But getting her gear and heading toward the Yura was her first priority.

“Why are you going to them?” he asked.

Not wanting to alarm the warrior, she sidestepped the question. “Have you had any dealings with them recently?”

“No. More trouble than it is worth to trade with the Yura lately.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Three more men emerged from the forest. All were armed like the man holding her at spear-point. And all wore identical face paint. She wondered if any of them were infected from contact with the Yura.

“Where is your guide?” he asked. “Too dangerous for a woman alone in the jungle.”

“I have a guide waiting in Puerto Maldonado. And another doctor parachuted out with me. Have you seen him?”

“My men are looking. Are you crazy?” he asked.

She couldn’t help but smile. She’d been asked that question before. Mostly it stemmed from the fact that she always had to do things by herself. “No. Just in a hurry.”

“You can travel with us as far as our village. From there it is a day’s journey to the Yura.”

“I’m Jane,” she said.

“Reynaldo,” he said. “Saturnino and his son, Daniel. That’s my son, Aldo.”

Jane nodded to the men. What had Reynaldo meant by trouble with the Yura?

He conversed with his men. Jane wished she understood the native dialogue. And she had more questions for them. Finally, Reynaldo came over to her.

“We’ll travel in a line. Aldo will lead then you follow. We’ll be behind you.”

“I must find my friend and my gear,” Jane said.

Aldo said something to his father in a language she didn’t understand. She heard a few Spanish words mixed in, but couldn’t follow their conversation. She pulled her Blackberry phone from her belt and checked her location via the GPS function. She wasn’t that far from the Yura. She should be able to reach them in a day, maybe two if the terrain was rough, just as Reynaldo said.

But she had to find Mac first. She couldn’t leave him alone in the jungle.

“Aldo saw your gear and a man, as well. We will take you to them now.”

“Thanks, Reynaldo.”

Aldo moved off at a fast trot and Jane followed behind him. She wasn’t used to running like this and after a few minutes she was breathing heavily. The scent of fresh flowers mixed with wet soil filled the air. Monkeys chattered overhead.

Jane slipped on a patch of wet earth. Throwing her arm out to brace herself against a peach palm and stop the fall, she felt Reynaldo grab her arm and jerk her off balance before she could make contact with the tree trunk. She gasped when she noticed the needlelike spines on the trunk. She had forgotten such dangers.

“The spiny plants are dangerous. Just fall next time.”

She nodded. Aldo hadn’t stopped and the other men just looked at her. She felt incompetent and didn’t like the feeling. She shook her head to clear it, pushed her glasses up farther on her nose and moved to catch up to Aldo.

Jane kept moving at a steady pace following the men through the jungle. It was hot and humid on the jungle floor. Rotting leaves and other vegetation provided a cushioning layer. She let the lush greenery soothe her mind as she moved. She flashed back to her childhood, remembering one time when the village they’d been living in had moved. Jane had been a child then and she’d traveled with the other children, singing a song whose words escaped her now. But the rhythm beat through her mind and body as she jogged along behind Aldo.

* * *

After fifteen minutes they stopped under a large canopy. Aldo pointed up and Jane saw her gear suspended from the trees. Jane looked at the base of the tree, which was the size of a compact car, and wondered how the hell she was going to get up there to retrieve her stuff.

But Daniel was up the tree before Jane could say anything. He pulled a knife from his waistband and cut the cords. The packs dropped and Jane hurried forward, afraid the fall might have damaged the vials.

Jane moved toward the packs, but Reynaldo stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Someone’s coming.”

“It might be—”

Reynaldo covered her mouth and the men all drew their weapons. Jane found herself in the middle of a protective circle. She thought about trying to explain that she could take care of herself, but it was such an odd feeling, having someone try to protect her, that she was bemused.

Mac burst through the underbrush. Mac had survived, but then she’d figured he would. He had the look of someone who had survived a lot of things. But she was still relieved to see his familiar face.

Mac put his hands up, showing that he was clearly not armed.