He tipped her chin up. “When this trip is over, I’m going to need something extra special from you to make up for the bugs and heat.”
She smiled. “Like what?”
“I’m thinking about naked things.”
She wrapped her hand around his neck, pulling his mouth closer. “I’m thinking about naked things, too.”
Someone cleared their throat outside the flap of their tent.
“I’m hoping neither of you are doing any naked things right now,” her dad said loud enough to wake the monkeys. “Because I’m tired and I just lost all of my pebbles to Pedro, who showed no mercyat cards tonight.”
Angélica sighed and pulled away from Quint. “Rain check, Parker?”
He grinned. “Sure, if we make it out of here without being eaten alive.”
“Again, not funny.”
Zippppp.The tent flap swayed open.
“I’ve got some bad news,gatita,” her father said, joining them inside.
“What now?” she asked, her chest tightening yet again. “Please tell me nobody got bit by a snake.”
“Nope, it’s worse than that.”
“What, Dad?”
He sighed. “We’re out of beer.”
Part Three: THE CACHES
“Wherever men have lived, there is a story to be told.”
~Henry David Thoreau
Chapter Eight
Bad Thoughts from a Good Demon
Hunting treasure …
Whether ancient gold coins or sparkly gemstones, an answer to an age-old mystery, a miraculous cure for a deadly virus, or even the long-buried historical secrets of an ancient civilization—do not dare come between the hunter and the treasure.
But where is the line between curiosity and obsession?
And at what point does obsession turn into madness?
It all starts when a seed of curiosity is planted, then watered with further questions, and eventually prompted to sprout by the early rays of clue-spurred discoveries.
At best, the seed becomes a flowering tree that later delivers intellectually delicious fruits of knowledge.
At worst, it grows into a carnivorous plant with bewitching blossoms that trigger allergens of madness. This madness multiplies into a disease that festers andgrows into
and spreads to
and annihilates
Shit, where is this going?
