Why am I being so stubborn? Why am I still so mad at Summer? If Lana can forgive her, I should be able to as well.
Maybe I shouldn’t ask myself to make peace with my twin all at once.
Right!
Baby steps.
I unlock my phone and tap her contact before I can change my mind.
Summer picks up after five long rings.
“Hello?”
Her voice sounds broken, as if she… “Are you crying?”
“A little,” she says. “But nothing serious. I’m just watching Notting Hill, the bit where Julia Roberts goes back to the shop and tells Hugh Grant she’s just a girl…”
My sister getting sentimental over romantic comedies? Lana was right, the situation is major.
“Where are you?” Summer asks. “The line sounds weird.”
“Thailand, near the coast. But I’m leaving for the jungle tomorrow. Thought I’d give you a call, as I won’t have service for a few weeks.”
Summer instantly calls bullshit on my story. “Lana told you to check in on me, didn’t she?”
“She did,” I admit.
“Guess you’re up to date on all the big news, then.”
“I am, and to be honest, I’m glad you’ve broken up with Johnathan. He’s a cockroach who never deserved you or Lana.”
“True. Which only makes me feel worse…” Her voice cracks again.
I swallow back all the harsh retorts that pop into my head and try to be conciliatory.
“At least now it’s over,” I say.
I’m not being the most uplifting, but… I’m trying.
“Can we… not talk about any of that, please?” Summer pleads. “Tell me about your trip. How’s the team? Mom’s worried because you’ve never worked with any of them before…”
That’s all the encouragement I need to tell my sister how I ended up working for Satan.
“He sounds like a handful…” Summer chuckles when I’m done. And that deep part of me that is linked to her for life whoops with joy that I could cheer her up a little. “How about the rest of the team? Anyone interesting?”
“Bah, the security team guys are all buffs, but they take themselves too seriously. The only fascinating fella is the topographer.”
“Fascinating how?”
“Think tall Viking warrior with dirty-blond hair and ice-blue eyes that stand out against his tan skin. Oh, and did I mention? The man has a beard.”
“Ew. I hate beards.”
“Just because you’ve never kissed one; his looks like the soft type.”
“Well, enjoy your bearded Viking.” Summer yawns. “I’ll let Mom know your team is cool.”
Leader aside, I think, but only say, “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
I have no response, and she doesn’t say anything else. Suddenly our easy flow of conversation is gone, and things become super awkward again.
After a few seconds, Summer yawns, a bit too loudly to be genuine. “Well, the movie’s over, and I have to go if I want to wake up at a decent hour tomorrow…”
“Yeah, right. Of course.”
“Thanks for calling.”
For a few brief, wonderful minutes we’ve been the Knowles twins again, inseparable from birth. But now we’re back to walking on eggshells around each other. I still haven’t forgiven Summer for what she did, and she knows it. A conversation, no matter how nice, isn’t enough to mend our relationship.
But, as I said: baby steps.
“Sure,” I say. “I’ll let you get to sleep. Night.”
“Night.”
When the line goes dead, I drop the phone on the nightstand and lay on the bed staring at the ceiling.
Lana was right: holding a grudge is no good. Now that I’ve talked to Summer, I feel a million times better, at least mentally.
Physically, I’m about to melt. The room has gotten too hot; the air conditioning is crap and does nothing against the midday Thai heat. Good thing there’s an ocean just a few yards away. I change back into my bikini and go for a swim.
Logan
“Man,” I say to Archie, snapping my fingers. “I’m talking to you.”
Archie, Tucker, and I are seated outside at a table in the shade under the giant wooden hut where the resort serves breakfast and lunch. We’re discussing more in detail the laser-scanned images of the area we are to explore on foot and the difficulties we might encounter reaching it. But it seems I’m the only person interested in the topic. My two friends are staring behind my shoulders like two hypnotized dummies.
“Sorry.” Archie’s ice-blue eyes flicker to me. “I was enjoying the view.”
A twitch of his mustached upper lip lets me know he’s not talking about the ocean.
I turn toward the beach just in time to see Miss Pain-in-my-ass Knowles walk out of the sea with the same sex appeal of a Bond girl in a 007 movie: wet hair swept back, water dripping down her body, wearing a bikini so skimpy it makes the shorts she had on before look like nun-ware.
If that wasn’t enough, she walks straight to the beach shower.
“Tucker,” Archie says. “Please tell me there’s going to be open showers at our camp.”
I turn back and find both of them still staring like imbeciles.
“No,” Tucker says. “But if we ration drinking water we could make one just for her.”
“I’m ready to die a happy, thirsty man,” Archie replies without removing his eyes from the photographer.
See? See? That’s why I didn’t want a woman on board. It’s objectively disrupting. And a woman like that…
I throw another furtive stare behind my shoulder just as Winter closes the water faucet and walks back to the beach to go lie down on a chaise lounge by the shore, finally out of sight.
“Okay,” I say. “Now that the show’s over, can we please concentrate?”
“You should learn how to appreciate the small joys of life, Logie Bear,” Archie says, using my college-football-playing-days nickname.
“A groundbreaking discovery of an ancient, untouched city is what would give me joy.” I flare my nostrils and point at the open maps on the table. “You were saying we won’t have a clear path of approach?”
Archie throws me another don’t-be-such-a-spoilsport look before he continues. “What these images tell us is that beyond this position”—he points at the red-circled area Tucker has selected as our base camp—“we will have to hack our way through every inch of jungle to reach across”—he moves his finger to the other red circle on the map identifying our destination, code-named Area X—“to here. It’s a jungle stretch just shy of fifteen miles that will take us at least seven or eight days to clear.”
“Tucker,” I say. “What is your suggested approach? Should we advance each day, leaving enough time to circle back to the main camp, or should we set up secondary, one-night-only camps as we go? I’d prefer this second solution; it’d save us time.”
“I’d rather circle back to base, at least for the first few days. Unless you want to get eaten by a tiger, that is.” He stares down at the aerial pictures, where only thick green vegetation is visible. If it weren’t for the correlated laser scans, no one could’ve guessed the jungle harbors more than just vines and trees. “The place we’re going is so wild, the animals there must’ve never seen a man.”
“That’s why we hired a security team. I’m sure they can scare off a few big cats,” I counter. “Those military guys don’t look like they’re joking around.”
Archie scoffs sarcastically. “Aye, aye.”
“Still,” Tucker says. “We have no idea what’s waiting for us out there, and I’d rather we all got back in one piece. It’s not an everyday thing to reach one of the last unexplored regions on Earth.”
Archie pulls at his short beard. “Let’s hope we actually find something when we get to Area X.”
We have to. I’ve put everything on the line to orga
nize this trip. My career, my reputation… I can’t fail.
The legend of a lost city made of gold and hidden in the thick of the Thai jungle has haunted me since I first heard it the summer of my freshman year in college, when I spent a month backpacking in this country. Since then, finding the legendary city has become an obsession of mine. I’ve spent years collecting every scrap of research I could find on the topic.
But the area the various rumors pointed at had always been too vast to grant any real hope of success. Until I heard of a new technology that could take an aerial scan of even the thickest forest and reveal what lay hidden underneath. A city.
But will it truly be the legend I’ve spent years tracking and obsessing over?
Three
Winter
When I get back to my villa from the beach, it’s already dark outside. One minute the sun was up, and the next it had disappeared behind the mountains.
Inside the hut, the AC is still doing a crap job, and the atmosphere is suffocating. I wish I could leave the French windows open to let the evening breeze in. But, as per the thieving monkey population, I’d better not. Still, I need the fresh air, so I jump on the bed and examine the overhead window.
Bingo!
There’s a fixed mosquito screen, unlike the sliding one that protects the door. It should be safe to leave this window open…
Mmm… I sigh in relief as a gust of fresh night air blows in my face. Then, I hop off the bed and move to the bathroom to take my last—for how long?—hot shower.
I stay under the water as long as I can, enjoying this simple comfort of civilization. But when the heat makes me lightheaded, I have no choice but to step out. I wrap myself in a towel and collapse on the bed to lie down for a minute.
“…Nah, man, come on,” Logan’s voice drifts in from the open window.
Hey, I said I wanted to relax, not listen to Satan yapping. I’m tempted to get up and close the window, but the night air feels too good on my wet skin. And I’m just too plain lazy to move right now.
“We have to,” Archibald the Viking replies. “It’s a tradition.”
“Shouldn’t we wait until after dinner?”
“No, Tucker wants everyone to go straight to bed, and we can’t rush this. You have glasses?”
“Inside,” Logan says, sounding resigned. “And close the door,” he adds.
I smirk to myself. Looks like Satan is a quick study.
There’s a moment of silence, followed by the sound of the sliding door opening and closing, a few quiet minutes, and finally the door again.
Then Archie speaks.
“Here’s a glass of the best bourbon money can’t buy.”
“Amazing, man. Priscilla still sends you a bottle every year?”
Archie’s reply is jokingly cocky. “Must’ve made quite an impression on the lady, haven’t I?”
“That you did,” Logan agrees in a tone of friendly reproach.
“To a new adventure,” Archie declares. “And the greatest archeological discovery of the millennium.”
“Cheers.”
They clink glasses and presumably drink. There’s another pause before Logan talks again.
“Speaking of ladies,” he says. “I call dibs on the photographer.”
“What?” Archie bursts out.
WHAT? I echo in my head. I thought the professor hated my guts.
“Seemed like you weren’t interested,” Archie says. “And since when do you mix business and pleasure?”
“I don’t,” Logan replies, sounding infuriatingly complacent.
“So why…? Wait a minute!” Archie protests, riled up. “You can’t call dibs on her just to cockblock me.”
“I can, and I did.”
Oh, Satan thinks he’s so smug.
I, on the contrary, am not pleased with either man. The nerve of them to barter between themselves who should “get the girl.” Well, sorry guys, I’m not some brainless object you can trade amongst yourselves.
Both gentlemen would greatly benefit from a meal of humble pie.
“Dude.” There’s a mocking note in Archie’s voice. “Are you sure the dibs has nothing to do with the lady having the best pair of legs I’ve ever seen, not to mention pretty big…”
He doesn’t finish the phrase, only makes a caveman noise. But I know he’s not talking about my big eyes. I can practically see Archie mimicking cupping boobs.
“She’s a beautiful woman,” Logan says. A compliment that, coming from Satan’s lips, doesn’t resonate as one. It’s like Logan has to admit I’m attractive against his will, and he resents me for it. And his next sentence confirms I’m right. “There’s no denying it. But she’s been a giant pain in my ass from the moment I set eyes on her.” Why? What did I do, besides existing and being female, I mean? “So, yes, I’m sure.”
“If you say so.” Archie sounds unconvinced.
“Promise me you won’t try to get in her panties,” Logan insists. “This expedition is important to me, Arch. I need you to be focused. Promise me.”
“All right, man, I swear. Relax…”
“When you and the genteel sex are involved, I can’t. I’m only trying to avoid another Acapulco.”
“Ah, yes, that would be impractical.”
“Impractical? You nearly got us both killed. The lady’s father chased us off his property with a loaded shotgun.”
These two sound like they have a lot of history together.
“Okay,” Archie concedes. “You’ve made your point. But—”
“No buts!”
“—if the lady can’t resist me and tries something, I can’t make assurances…”
“You’re incorrigible! Sooner or later it’ll come back to bite you in the ass.”
“Until then.”
I hear the clinking of ice in a glass, as if Archie just raised his drink in a mock toast.
There’s a pause, and then Archie talks again. “You worry too much, my friend. You said it yourself: the scans don’t lie. Something man-built lies hidden in this jungle.”
“But is it the legendary lost city of gold?”
“Would it make any difference if it were only stone?”
“No,” Logan admits. “It’d still be the greatest discovery of the century.”
“Even greater than an untouched pharaoh tomb?” Archie asks, an edge to his voice.
“Low blow, man,” Logan says, sounding displeased. “She has nothing to do with this.”
She? There’s a she?
Archie sighs. “Too soon?”
“Can we please not talk about women ever again?”
“Nah, and where would the fun be in that?” After a few moments of silence, Archie continues, “Let’s make a bet instead. How long you reckon before the photographer falls at my feet?”
I’m tempted to jump on the bed and yell, “Not gonna happen!” out of the window, but I keep my anger in check. Vengeance is a plate better served cold. And both gentlemen definitely need to be taken down a peg or two.
But how?
Archie is an easy fix. Ignore his sex appeal, show him I’m immune to his charms, and his ego will get bruised all right.
But what about Satan?
Dr. McEvil seems like someone who hates to make mistakes. Which means all I have to do is prove he’s wrong about me. But first, I might need to bait him a little more.
Oh, the two of them, they think they’re so hot and clever. But wait until they meet the real me. They won’t know what hit them.
Boys, beware… Winter is coming!
Four
Winter
“Time to go eat,” Archie says a while later.
The two smartasses are still out there on Logan’s patio, drinking, and effectively trapping me inside my hut. I don’t feel like going out as long as they’re there.
“And?” Logan asks.
“The whole team is getting together; someone should inv
ite Miss Knowles.”
Silence.
“Either you go, or I do,” Archie continues. “I’m sure she’d rather see my handsome face than your ugly snout.”
Logan scoffs.
“Come on, man, work with me, you’re being completely irrational,” Archie says. “The lady has rubbed you the wrong way only because she’s beautiful and because she gave you a verbal ass-kicking you totally deserved.”
Okay, Mr. Hill, you’re already walking up redemption road, maybe I should go easy on you.
Logan doesn’t reply.
“Dude,” Archie says, humor fading from his tone. “We are a team, and you’re the leader. You can’t push a member out just because you don’t like her. Time to grow a pair, buddy.”
And the Viking continues to impress. He’s not all swag and muscles. You know what? I’m taking back my decision to mess with him. He’s officially off my hit list.
“All right,” Logan snaps. “I’ll invite her. Happy?”
Satan makes asking me to dinner sound like such a chore.
“Use some of your good-boy charm while you’re at it,” Archie quips, “won’t you?”
Wait, so Logan is supposed to be the good one of the pair?
Ah.
And charm? What charm? If the man had any charm, it’d work on the monkeys at best! And not even. He had to bribe the macaque with a banana.
“You think she’s in her bungalow?” Logan asks.
“Yep, and she’s most likely been listening to every word we said, silently hating us.”
Aha. If only you knew, my sweet Viking.
“Nah,” Logan says. “If she had been, she would’ve already come out to kick my butt and yours.”
I love how Satan sounds so cocksure while being so utterly wrong.
“All right, buddy.” A chair scrapes, signaling that Archie got up. “I’ll see you at the restaurant.”
I listen to the Viking’s steps as he walks away. Then it hits me that Satan is on his way over, and I’m lying on my bed in a towel.
How much time do I have?
Should I pretend I’m only now getting out of the shower?
No, I don’t want him to see me half-naked.
From Thailand with Love Page 3