Marching orders settled, the crew set off in a flurry. Rafa pulled out the camera to document the ordeal: unloading and reloading vans to redistribute weight and equipment; carrying Quinn to the van and making him comfortable; hooking up the GPS so they wouldn’t get “lost” again.
Rafa climbed in the van once more to speak to Anissa. “Make sure he doesn’t sleep,” he said, motioning toward Quinn. “And he was talking total gibberish earlier. Just ignore everything he says.”
Rafa, Miri, Felix, and Logan stood in silence as they watched the other van drive away from the side of the road. Leaving Quinn alone with the crew was a potential liability. Who knew whether Quinn actually had any dirt on Rafa? But it was a risk Rafa was going to have to take. The other option—leaving Miri—was out of the question.
The Amazon wasn’t a place for the faint of heart. In all Rafa’s years and all his wild adventures withGloGeo, he’d never had one quite like this. At the very least, all his other escapades had had a concrete destination.
And in all those other undertakings, his goals had been the same as everyone else’s. This was uncharted territory for Rafa.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” Rafa said, though what he really needed was a moment to himself to figure out how the heck he was going to get out of this mess.
He walked twenty feet into the forest and rounded a tree to go relieve himself, when a giant tarantula scurried out in front of him.Nope, he thought to himself, changing direction. When he finally found a spot that looked clear, he took his break and allowed his mind to spin as he sorted through his options. Not that Rafa ever had a solid plan, but being stuck out in the middle of nowhere certainly wasn’t part of it. Though, the more he thought about it, maybe he didn’t need a plan at all. Perhaps all he needed to do was convince Miri that the accident and Quinn’s injury were a bad omen.
He made his way back to the van to find Felix and Logan rolling a couple of downed logs out of the dense forest toward the clearing by the road to sit on.
“Where’s Miri—I mean, Dr. Jacobs?”
Felix responded without even looking in Rafa’s direction as he fumbled with the log. “She said something about taking some measurements. She went that way,” he said, pointing toward the opposite direction from where Rafa had been.
Rafa set out into the jungle, quickly losing sight of the road. Jeez, where the hell had she gone? Didn’t she realize how dangerous it was to wander off in the rainforest alone? The dense forest was full of plants he’d never seen in real life. Bromeliads. Açai palms. Trees taller than imaginable. He walked in what seemed a straight line, but quickly realized there was no going straight when trekking through the rainforest.Shit. He spun around, unsure which direction he’d even come from, when he heard a faint voice coming from beyond a stand of trees.
“ ‘Fuck it all up,’ ” Miri said, talking to herself and clearly unaware she had an audience. “ ‘Leaveherin charge?’ ” Her tone was mocking as she paced around, pantomiming.
“That’s right, Dr. Dipshit,” she continued. “Look who’s inchargenow. I’m a fucking badass!” she proudly proclaimed as she sprinted toward a vine hanging from a tree, grabbing the woody rope and swinging from it like Indiana Jones. But with a quicksnap, the vine broke, sending Miri crashing to her ass.
“Oof!” she grunted.
Rafa flinched for a moment, ready to jump to her aid, when she quickly stood and brushed off, then looked up at the vines again. Searching for another option.
This time, she reached up and tugged on a vine first, then walked back a few feet before running and attempting the stunt again. She soared through the air, then let go of the vine for a dismount and landed flat on her face.Ouch.
“Fuck!” She pushed herself up onto all fours and growled.
She brushed herself off more forcefully this time, then huffed before trying yet again. And landing this time on her knees on dismount.
What exactly was she even trying to do? Win an award in the Most Ungraceful Vine-Swinging Competition? From his observation, there wasn’t anywhere for her to go. Nothing for her to accomplish. Swinging around the jungle wasn’t exactly a skill that needed to be mastered. But whatever her goal, she certainly had tenacity, never giving up. Just like her van antics earlier in the morning. Rafa admired her gumption and spirit. Had to admit—Miri was one of a kind.
Rafa pulled out the camera, documenting her attempts. Observing her through the lens, focusing on each subtle movement of her face and the determination in her eyes. He couldn’t help but smile as he watched her.
Attempt number five: Miri let out a gibberish raspberry and shook every part of her body like Elvis gyrating onstage. “Here we go,” she said, taking off on the vine and calling out like Tarzan.
Rafa laughed softly under his breath.
Miri’s head snapped in his direction, catching him capturing her on camera.
Shit. He lowered the camera, and their eyes connected as she set her feet to the ground.
“Are you taking pictures of me?” She narrowed her eyes at him, one hand on her hip, the other clinging to a vine overhead.
Rafa glanced at the camera in his hands. Okay, sure. It didn’t look good. But he hadn’t intended to stand there for so long. It wasn’t his fault that he was so captivated by her. Besides, it was his job to document the expedition. And candid photos were always better than the posed ones.
“I was looking for you,” he said, standing from his crouched position behind a fern and tucking the camera behind his back.
“From the other side of the camera lens, hiding behind a fern?”
“Yes?” He was questioning himself more than anything.
“You know, Rafa, some would say it looked like you were spying on me. Again.” She stared at him pointedly as she pursed her lips.
