Page 13 of Knox's Mission

“I know and I feel like crap about it,” Lorna whined. “It’s just…would you have gone if I’d told you this was only Donnie’s second time?”

“Where did he go the first time?” Knox interrupted before Amy could answer.

“Near here,” Lorna said.

Knox practically bared his teeth. “Did he go inside?”

Lorna shook her head. “Aerial view.”

“Does that mean what I think?” Knox ground out.

“Someone needs to clue me in here to what the hell you two are getting at,” Amy interjected.

“Your friend here neglected to give you thedetails of her boyfriend’s first mission because he didn’t enter the jungle at all,” Knox accused. “In fact, he flew over it in a helicopter, probably taking a tour.”

“Sounds expensive,” Amy clued in. “I thought this mission was important because further funding hinged on it and you were out of options. I sold my piano to take this assignment that has been nothing but lies and deception—deception that almost got me killed once already and has my life on the line now.” She scooted away from her friend. “Were you even sick or was that an excuse to get out of going with us?”

“I was sick, Amy. You saw for yourself.”

“Yeah? I don’t know what to trust anymore.” Amy stated. How could someone who claimed to be her friend deceive her like this? The wordsselfish gaincame to mind. Others followed likedevoted girlfriend.Did Donnie have his hooks in Lorna to this degree?

“Would you have come with us if I hadn’t told a little white lie?” Lorna asked.

“We’ll never know now, will we?” Amy responded flatly.

“This could get you out of the Honkey Tonk too,” Lorna said softly, looking like she would jump at every noise. “It’s not like I ever expected anything like this to happen.” She waved her arms around.

Amy sighed. “I’ve known you for years, Lorna. Irealize you wouldn’t put me in this position on purpose. The problem is that I trusted you and you lied. Once this ordeal is over, we need to go our separate ways.”

Lorna shrank. “I’m sorry, Amy. I really am. Can you accept my apology? Believe me, I wouldn’t dothisto you. You’re my best friend.” But the documentary mattered more than their friendship the second Lorna lied to gain Amy’s cooperation. This wasn’t the time to point out the fact, though. Amy had said her piece. There was no use beating a dead horse. And that’s exactly what their friendship was to Amy right now…dead.

Of course, they needed to stick together if they had a prayer of getting everyone out of the jungle in one piece. It also occurred to Amy that she hadn’t thanked Knox for dropping his life on a dime and showing up to save her.

“Thank you, by the way,” she said to him. “I’m sure this wasn’t part of your plans for a Tuesday.”

“I knew what I was getting myself into,” he ground out. “Big difference.”

Amy didn’t respond. He was right, though.

“I couldn’t feel worse about this,” Lorna continued. “It’s all my fault and I understand if you hate me for the rest of our lives.”

“Hate’s a strong word,” Amy countered. Donnie was another story. The man had ditched her,allowing her to take all the heat. For a split second, she’d believed that maybe he was regrouping to find a spot to attack or throw her pursuers off balance, but no. The man had disappeared, saving himself while sacrificing her.

Logically, he might have circled back to the Flooded Forest as a meetup point, and then accidentally slipped into the water never to be found again. The last place Amy wanted to go was back to that place. The darkness. The sounds. The smells. Her body involuntarily shivered at the memories. The image of being porcupined haunted her. Being eaten alive by insects kept her from closing her eyes for more than a few minutes at a stretch.

“What can I do?” Lorna asked.

“Stay quiet, for one,” Knox said through clenched teeth. Amy wanted to hear his theory about what happened. It would have to wait. The groove deepened and his eyes darkened as he moved.

“Excuse me,” Lorna said under her breath, a little too indignant for someone in her circumstances if you asked Amy.

“Your voice might be giving away our location,” Knox seethed. “And, you know what? We aren’t just trying to escape the obvious threat here, men with automatic weapons. You already know there are anacondas and jaguars. How schooled are you on pit vipers, scorpions, wasps, army ants? Oh, and lest Iforget about the pin-size catfish that can swim up a stream of urine to lodge itself in your urethra? Because I’m looking out for those things in addition to drug smugglers and hostile strangers. And if you would shut the hell up, I might be able to get us out of here in one piece without taking anything we don’t want with us, like a terminal bite.” He glared at Lorna. “So, yes, I’m telling you to zip it. And if you can’t do that, you’re on your own.”

Lorna hugged her arms, clearly rattled by Knox’s monologue. But then, maybe she needed to be in order to get some sense back into her. Apologizing for getting Amy into this mess could wait until they were safely back at base camp where Amy reserved a piece of her mind to unload on Lorna.

“What’s the plan?” Amy whispered to Knox.

“Get back home alive.”

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