by JoAnn Ross
“By the time she finds out, we’ll have reconciled, and she’ll think me a dashing romance novel hero for using any means at my disposal to win my woman back.”
“I hope you’re right,” Rafael said, his expression less assured than Alec’s.
“It’ll work,” Alec insisted. It had to. Because even in this part of the world, tying Kate up and keeping her prisoner until she relented might be a bit over the top. “Are you ready for part two?”
“Yes, but I still have concerns—”
“It’ll work,” Alec said again. “I’ll see you at the river at first light.”
Rafael murmured an agreement, then disappeared back into the shadows, the jaguar following obediently.
As Alec returned to his bride, he couldn’t help whistling under his breath. Things, he thought with a strong sense of satisfaction, were definitely beginning to look up.
11
A PALE LILAC LIGHT was shimmering through the wicker slats covering the windows when K.J. woke again. She looked down at the floor beside the hammock, where Alec had spent the night alone in his bedroll. He was gone. Although she wanted to just turn over and go back to sleep, she reminded herself that he could always change his mind about giving her the divorce—which why she couldn’t allow him to spend the entire day away from the village alone.
After covering herself with sunscreen and insect repellent, she threw on a pair of shorts, T-shirt, her hat and boots, and scooped up her camera bag. She left the hut and, following her instincts, found him down by the river in the same spot where she’d landed yesterday. He was loading a motorboat with what appeared to be electronic equipment.
“Good morning.” His greeting was accompanied by a friendly smile. “I didn’t expect to see you down here.”
“I was thinking I might go with you. To take some photographs. If you don’t mind, that is.”
“Sure. It’ll be nice to have company.” He held out a hand to help her aboard. “Perhaps you’ll bring me luck.”
“I wouldn’t count on it.” She stepped onto the deck, pleased that it felt much sturdier than yesterday’s dugout canoe. “Since my luck hasn’t exactly been stellar since I left New York.”
“Then it’s undoubtedly due for a change.”
“I can only hope you’re right.”
K.J. smiled a greeting at Rafael, who’d just come from belowdecks. “Good morning.”
“Good morning to you.” His dark eyes were warm with a male appreciation that was in no way threatening. “May I say you look very lovely this morning, Kate?” After she’d murmured her thanks, he asked, “So, I trust you slept well?”
“For the most part.” Kate refused to look at Alec. She just knew he’d take the opportunity to remind her, with merely a look, of how she’d literally thrown herself into his arms.
“It is often difficult, sleeping in a strange place,” Rafael said.
She thought she heard a note of laughter in his voice and decided that she must be imagining it.
“I asked Rafael about our problem,” Alec said. “And, apparently, it’s not going to be that hard to dissolve the marriage.”
“Is that right?” she asked with a calm that belied the fact that her heart had just sunk to her toes.
“Alec exaggerates a bit. It will not be exactly easy, either,” Rafael warned. “It will require an official form signed and notarized by a government official.”
“I see.” K.J. immediately got his drift. “And I assume there aren’t any officials handy in Santa Clara.”
“I am afraid not. They’re all in the capital city.”
“And where is that?”
“About three day’s journey downriver. But only a few hours by plane.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound too bad,” she decided. She looked toward Alec, who was busy on the other side of the boat with ropes. “Do you think we could go today?”
“Sorry, sweetheart.” Alec shook his head. The dark glasses he was wearing prevented her from seeing his eyes, but she didn’t hear a great deal of regret in his voice. “But I’ve planned today’s search for a long time.”
“And one day will make that much difference? After all this time?”
“Actually, it will. See, the Global Positioning System works with satellite communications, and as you no doubt learned in science class, they’re out there circling the Earth—”
“I know about satellites, Alec.”
“Of course you do. But you see, today’s the only day all eight of them are perfectly in line.”
“And that makes a difference?”
Alec studiously avoided looking toward his friend. “Absolutely,” he lied blithely. “I’ve been waiting months for just this exact alignment, which should give me the optimum positioning to compare the current river basin with my map of the treasure.”
“You actually have a treasure map?”
“Of course. I told you all about it that night. It came in an old sea captain’s log I ran across in Barcelona.”
“A sea captain’s treasure map? Are you certain it isn’t some prize some kid got with Captain Crunch box tops?”
“Nah.” If he was the slightest bit wounded by her sarcasm, Alec didn’t show it. “My secret decoder ring came with box tops. This is an authentic log. From a respectable antique bookstore.”
“If it’s so authentic, why haven’t you located the treasure? You’ve been down here almost a year.”
“I know exactly how long I’ve been here, Kate.” His tone had turned momentarily gruff. “But landscapes change over centuries, especially in this part of the country, where the river is constantly reclaiming land and covering other parts of it up again. And besides, as I said, I’m using satellite imaging, and—”
“This is the first day all eight satellites are in alignment,” she said dryly.
“Exactly.” He beamed at her like a proud teacher.
“How about tomorrow?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” He rubbed his chin, which, she noticed, he’d shaved this morning. “It’s kind of a fortyeight-hour window we’re working with.”
“They stay in alignment for two whole days?”
“They’re slow-moving satellites. Comparatively speaking, of course.”
“Of course.”
She suspected he was lying, but had no way to prove it. K.J. now wished she’d paid more attention during her junior high science classes.
“How about the day after tomorrow, then?”
He sighed and shook his head. “You’re definitely a Campbell, Kate. I doubt I’ve ever met a more stubborn woman.”
“And I’ve never met a more frustrating man.” Her hands were on her waist, her chin pointed straight at him. “Last night you agreed that a divorce was the best solution.”
“Because that’s what you wanted.”
“Well, nothing’s changed since then.”
“Nothing?” He lifted a brow, reminding her of that hot, hungry kiss they’d shared when he’d rescued her from the killer jaguar.
K.J. refused to be intimidated. “Nothing important.”
It was not a lie. Nothing had changed. He could still make her ache with a single look, a caressing touch; he was still determined to find his stupid Inca gold; he still possessed the power to break her heart. And she still needed to bring a bachelor back to New York.
As they stood there, like two children engaged in a staring contest in a playground, K.J. asked herself what she’d do if Alec was suddenly willing to give up his treasure hunt. If he’d promise to put her first in his life.
That question had her reluctantly admitting that she wasn’t exactly being fair. Would she do the same? she asked herself. Would she risk being fired by returning to New York without him? Or, even more recklessly, would she turn her back on the security of her editorial job, and all its accompanying benefits, and stay down here in the jungle to help him find his treasure?
When she realized that they’d probably been at cross purposes from th
e beginning, she bit her lip and turned away, back toward Rafael, who’d wisely stayed out of the conversation.
“I suppose this paper has to be signed by both people in the presence of the official.”
“Yes.” His eyes offered sympathy.
“Well, then.” She seemed to have come to a dead end. Although Alec might be willing to grant her a divorce, he wasn’t willing to lift a finger to help her get one.
Frustrated, she was trying to decide whether to curse or cry when Alec surprised her yet again by putting down the rope he’d been coiling.
“I’ll make you a deal.”
“What?”
“Give me three more days.”
“To find the treasure?”
“That, too.” His lips quirked in a ghost of a smile. “Then, if you still want a divorce—”
“I will.”
“If you still want a divorce,” he repeated doggedly, “I’ll take you to the capital, sign the paper and return to New York with you for that damn auction. Then afterward, we can go our separate ways.”
She’d already determined that it was important to listen carefully to this man. Even taking away the chemical brain bath she’d been experiencing that night, K.J. realized that there were unspoken nuances underlying so many of his statements. Although she’d thought him outspoken, she was beginning to understand that it was every bit as important to listen to what he wasn’t saying.
“Do you promise?”
“I swear on the family Bible Ian Mackenzie brought with him from Scotland.” Alec lifted his right hand in a pledge.
“I don’t see any Bible.”
“Fine.” He huffed a frustrated breath. “How about I swear on the honor of the Mackenzie name?”
She crossed her arms, and although she wasn’t in a much better position than five minutes ago, K.J. was almost enjoying herself. “Now there’s something I can trust.” Her dry tone said otherwise.
He put a hand over his chest. “You wound me, Kate.”
The masculine irritation in his eyes had softened to something far more dangerous. As she felt herself being drawn into that silver snare, K.J. struggled to remind herself how vital it was to stick to the plan.
She lifted her hand to rub the back of her neck, where the tension had settled. “Didn’t you say something about not wanting to waste this valuable winow of time waiting for the satellites to become ligned?”
He couldn’t help smiling at the way she’d turned usinesslike on him. It reminded him of that gray suit he’d worn to dinner; both were protective camouage.
“Good point.” He turned toward Rafael. “Good luck with the preparations for the festival. We’ll see ou this evening.”
“I’ll be watching for you.” Rafael held a small book oward Kate. “Occasionally, days on the river can seem exceedingly long, even when you have things to o, such as taking your pictures,” he said. “I thought ou might enjoy this to read in your spare time.”
The paper was thinner than she was used to and the over lacked the book-rack appeal necessary to get leaders to stop and take a look. But the name on the over was definitely familiar. “You wrote this?”
“Actually, I served more as editor, simply writing own the old tribal legends that have been passed own orally through the generations.”
She smiled. “I’m definitely looking forward to reading it. Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure. Adios, Kate. Until tonight.” His ow would have been appropriate in a fifteenth century Spanish court. Kate found it charming. Alec looked irritated.
Neither spoke as they watched him walk away. When he’d disappeared into the crowd of villagers who′d come out of their thatched huts to begin their ay, Alec turned toward K.J.
“Ready to cast off?”
The thought of being alone with him all day did not seem quite as simple as it had when she’d first awakned. K.J. assured herself that Alec was not the kind of man who’d force himself on a woman. She also reminded herself that if she wanted a divorce—and sh did—she was going to have to keep her distance from him today. Both physically and emotionally.
That’s going to be difficult. On such a small boat.
K.J. really hated it when her scold stated the obvious. She straightened her back and her resolve.
“Ready,” she said, tamping down the uneasy feeling that she’d just agreed to go skydiving—without a parachute.
K.J. spent the first hour standing at the rail of the boat, snapping shot after shot: photographs of women beating clothing against rocks, children bathing at the edge of the river, men spearing huge fish that glittered like silver in the early morning sunlight, long-legged herons wading along the muddy bank, crayon-hued macaws flying overhead and clouds of huge butterflies that fluttered through the moisture laden air their wings glistening in the bright Amazon sun lik precious jewels.
As the sun rose higher in the sky, she felt its heat on her face—which was much better today, thanks to whatever fragrant balm Alec had given her—and moved beneath the canvas awning. Since this wasn’t exactly a pleasure craft, it didn’t have any loung chairs, but she was content to sit cross-legged on the reed mat on deck and watch the scenery. And her husband.
He’d turned down a tributary thirty minutes earlier and although she had no idea where they were, K.] had decided to put her trust in Alec’s G.P.S. system and the perfectly aligned satellites.
Rather than the muddy brown color of the wide Amazon, this smaller river was a satin ribbon as blue as the sky above them. It also ran through a slot can yon that had K.J. feeling extremely grateful that she wasn’t claustrophobic.
The motor hummed as they followed the narrowing tributary upstream. It was the only sound in the cathedral-like silence surrounding them, a quiet beauty only untamed nature could produce. K.J. hadn’t seen another person since they’d turned off from the main river.
She watched Alec thread the boat through the reeds and the narrow passage with a skill that she suspected could never be taught. For not the first time since she’d arrived in Santa Clara, she thought how he seemed to be in his element in this remote and wild land.
“I just realized what this reminds me of,” she said as they approached their third hour on the river.
“What?”
“The African Queen.”
“This isn’t Africa.”
“Well, of course I know that. But it’s a great deal the same. A wild, foreign river, a desolate place—”
“A man and a woman who could be the only two people in the world,” he said. The reeds were beginning to grow thicker. Alec checked his depth finder to ensure they wouldn’t run aground.
“That, too,” she admitted.
Alec found himself rather liking that idea. “So, do you see me as Humphrey Bogart?”
“Absolutely.”
He liked that, too.
“Do you see me as Katharine Hepburn?” The canyon was now narrow enough that if she’d wanted to, K.J. could have stretched her arms out and touched both towering rock walls.
“Nah.”
“Oh.” Her voice held a faint tinge of disappointment.
“You’re a lot prettier. And a lot more fun than she was in the early part of that movie.”
“She’d been raised to be a proper lady. Her upbringing hadn’t included any preparation for river running with a belching, swearing, hard-drinking man like Charles Allnutt.”
The grin Alec flashed her was pure Bogie. “Sounds like some other Kate I know. Perhaps the two of you have more in common than I first thought.” He gave it a bit more consideration as he slowed the engine. The tangled greenery was definitely beginning to remind him too much of that classic movie. “You both have spunk.”
Spunk. K.J. liked that. Liked that he thought it of her even more. “Charlie respected her for that.”
“And even reluctantly came to like her,” Alec agreed. “By the time they’d gotten past the leeches, he knew he was sunk.”
“Is that how you see
being in love?” she asked, honestly curious. “As being sunk?”
There was a brief silence as he thought her question over. “Not if it’s reciprocated, as it was in their case.”
He cursed as they suddenly emerged from the narrow canyon upon a lake that was almost entirely green with water plants. The roots of the plants and the trees had matted together to form islands of vegetation.
The lake reminded K.J. of a wild botanical garden. Branches bent low beneath the weight of passion fruit vines; the vine roots tangled with pale moss that hung down like uncombed hair. Clumps of bright flowers, their petals flared like trumpets, rose out of the thick greenery like oversize bouquets; bees as big as hummingbirds buzzed from bright blossom to blossom. In the distance, far across the lake, she could see the shadowy purple form of a mountain. If she closed one eye and squinted just right, its craggy form somewhat resembled a sleeping giant.
“What now?” K.J. asked quietly, sensing Alec’s frustration.
“I don’t know.” He raked his hand through his hair. “I thought for certain this was the canyon—it matches all the writings in the log. But there was nothing about a lake.”
“You said yourself that the riverbed is always changing.”
“True. But certain landmarks should stay the same. Even a river as wide and wild as the Amazon can’t completely wash away an entire mountain. Not even in five hundred years.”
He glared out across the lake, then down at the screen of his ultrasonic device, which kept him apprised of the depth of the water, then up at the sky, where the daily, gray-bordered clouds were already beginning to gather.
“And wouldn’t you know it.” His growl reminded K.J. a great deal of last night’s jaguar. “The damn rain’s going to start early.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Hell, you didn’t do anything.”
“Well, of course I didn’t. But you were hoping I’d change your luck, and—”
“People make their own luck,” he said, unknowingly echoing what her grandmother Campbell had said on more than one occasion while K.J. had been growing up. He ripped off his tattered Seattle Mariners baseball cap and dragged his fingers through his shaggy dark hair. “They’re also pretty much responsible for their own fate. Which means we’re going to have to turn back.”