She rolled her eyes. “Wrong again. The creature falls in lust for the female assistant of the head scientist.”
“How do you know so much about that movie?”
“It’s one of Pedro’s favorites.”
Ah, good ol’ Pedro Montañero. That lucky son of a bitch had managed to get out of this bungle in the jungle by having a paying client that required his helicopter piloting services to ferry supplies to a cluster of somewhat remote dig sites near Mérida for a few days. Had that job up north not been on Pedro’s calendar, the longtime family friend of the Garcías would be here hacking away at the jungle with the rest of them.
Juan had told Quint this morning before they’d left Calakmul that his first goal on this trip was to clear a spot wide enough for Pedro to land his big whirly bird. Of course, that wasifAngélica found anything worth having them stay longer than a few days.
Making a suitable landing pad had moved to the top of Quint’sgoals after arriving at the camp and seeing how rough their next few nights would be out here. He’d grown accustomed to having tents tall enough to stand inside at the previous digs, not to mention nightly showers.
He’d also appreciate having a quick way out of here if someone got bit … or shot. That helicopter had helped save his life once. He’d like to have it close enough to offer that service again if any one of them stepped on the wrong snake or came face-to-face with a two-legged killer.
“Come on, heartbreaker.” Angélica held up the jar of goop. “Let me protect you from the big bad bugs.”
“I don’t know. I just killed the last mosquito that was on this side of the zipper.” He tried to adjust his pack so his notebook wasn’t poking him in the shoulder. “Maybe you should wake me up with a morning rubdown,” he added for her ears only, shooting her a wink.
“Trust me, you don’t want to wait until morning.”
“Why not?”
“KuTu just told me there is anaguadanearby.”
He paused, staring at her through the mesh. “What the hell is anaguada? Some kind of freakish mix of an alligator and iguana that lives in a swamp?”
She let out a bark of laughter, which set off an ear-blasting ruckus from the nearby troop of howler monkeys. The uproar practically rattled the top off Quint’s head.
“Shhhh,” she whispered, still giggling.
“You shush. You’re the one who woke up the neighbors.”
“Alligator and iguana,” she repeated, tears of laughter making her eyes shiny.
“Come on, it wasn’t that funny.” He adjusted the backpack, turning it soft-side up. “Okay, giggles, what’s anaguada?”
She coughed out one last chuckle, and then sniffed. “It’s like a small watering hole.”
“But it’s not a cenote?”
“No. Cenotes are underground caves in the limestone shelf that have collected water or are part of an underground river network.”
“I know that, Tour Guide Barbie. I also remember that they are considered portals to the Maya Underworld. Now tell me what thedifference is between the two.”
“Aguadasare shallower. They tend to be depressions in the land where soil was removed to make houses or other buildings.”
“You mean removed recently or back during the Maya heyday?”
“Both, but mainly the latter.”
“So, having one of these shallow waterholes nearby means more insects to chew on us?”
“And other creatures. It’s a meeting place for mammals, reptiles, and insects.”
He smirked. “And humans.”
“Well, only if you need to get up in the middle of the night to use the latrine.”
“What latrine?” According to Bronko, they weren’t going to invest time in digging a latrine until Angélica confirmed they were staying more than a few days.
