“Dad, what if you’re wrong about this?”
“Wrong about what? About Vautour leaving?”
“No. About Dr. Jacobs. And Mom. And os pro—”
“Rafael,” his dad said with his commanding voice, “we’ve already talked about this.”
“No,you’vetalked. I just listen and take your direction. And wedon’ttalk about things. Why won’t you ever talk about Mom?”
“Rafael,” he warned again, “that’s enough.”
“Why? Becauseyousaid it’s enough?”
“What’s gotten into you? Is this because of Dr. Jacobs?”
“No, Dad.Iwant to talk to you.”
“We can talk when you get home.Afteryou’ve stopped the expedition.”
“And if I don’t? If I tell you that I won’t continue lying to her? If I call my editor to follow through on my resignation?”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t bother coming back at all. Don’t test me.”
Click.
Rafa stared at the phone, silent in his hand. Never in all his thirty-two years had his father hung up on him. Whatwasthat?Whowas that? His dad wasn’t exactly the warm-and-fuzzy type, but this? Rafa didn’t know what to make of it.
But this update on Vautour’s crew changed everything. He had to let Miri know.
Almost in a daze, he walked back to Anissa’s cabin to returnthe phone only to find her sitting outside with Miri, passing a bottle back and forth. Anissa sat on a chair and Miri on the edge of the raised walkway. Miri’s feet dangled over the side as her arms hung over the lower rung of the split railing, protecting her from falling.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Snap Snack,” Anissa slurred. “We were just talking about you.”
Rafa’s eyes widened.
“What about me?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Miri said, narrowing her eyes at Anissa. “Anissa’s enjoying the booze a little too much, is all.”
Anissa tsked and rolled her eyes at Miri. “Want some?” she asked, then held up the bottle to Rafa.
He took a tentative step forward, noticing the bottle. That same crap that had gotten him drunk a week ago.
A gurgling bubbled in his stomach, and not the pleasant kind that accompanied being near Miri. “I think I’m good,” he said, waving his hand at Anissa.
“Suit yourself,” she said, taking another swig.
“I came over to return this,” he said, resting the satellite phone atop the railing and then taking a few steps back and sheepishly tucking his hands in his pockets. He’d clearly interrupted something. With the way Miri avoided eye contact, he wasn’t sure he was welcome. “I guess I’ll leave you to it,” he followed up before turning to head back to his cabin.
“You don’t have to go.” Miri’s voice was quiet.
And hopeful.
He spun back around. Both women were looking at him. Anissa, the Cheshire cat. Miri, a timid mouse. Everything inside him screamed to retreat. To go back to his room and figure out how to get out of this mess. With Miri. With his dad. WithGloGeo. But his body floated toward her, and he sat down only a few inches from her on the edge of the raised walkway.
It wasn’t exactly the safest place to sit. For many reasons.
A loud splash came from the river nearby and they froze to listen. An animal made a high-pitched squeal as the thrashing continued, eventually subsiding. Likely a caiman capturing its prey.
