by Robyn Nyx
Pablo pulled into the center of the river. “Away we go.”
Chase tapped Rayne on the shoulder after a few silent minutes had passed, hoping the soft lull of the water might have assuaged her mood. She turned and smiled, but her eyes spoke of an anxiety Chase had never seen before. She’d been relatively blasé about Turner and Owen’s pursuit, but Chase felt sure it must be bothering her at least a little bit, and the look in her eyes backed that assumption.
“What do you need?” Rayne asked.
Chase ignored the sharpness. “We should take a look at the map together.” Chase tapped the map’s hermetically sealed case with her foot. “We need to have some idea of what it means when we get to the tree.”
Rayne turned on her seat. “That makes sense. Let’s do it.”
Chase hoisted the heavy glass case onto the empty bench section beside her before retrieving a paper copy of the map and a journal from her bag. She’d made a few notes in it from the time she’d spent with the map on the plane journey. She had a feeling it wasn’t the map Rayne or Turner thought it was. The way Rayne had spoken about it was as if the map alone would lead them to the Golden Trinity. Chase was pretty sure it would turn out to be only the first piece of a much larger puzzle.
She rolled the paper map out and used a couple of pieces of duct tape to stick the top edges to the glass case so she could lift it up to look at the original if necessary. It might be that they hadn’t needed to lug the original all the way here, but Chase didn’t want to take any chances. It could easily be that they’d need the real map to feed a jaguar that would lead them to the next puzzle piece. Wasn’t that always the way with treasure hunts?
“Sit with Pablo. I need that seat.”
Rayne and Effi exchanged seats, with Effi showing no reaction to being spoken to so firmly. Chase buzzed at being physically close to Rayne again.
“Can you move so I can see the map?”
“Sure.” The proximity was all too brief, but it made sense to shift for Rayne’s comfort, although Chase would’ve been happy having Rayne lean across her lap to look at the map. Behave. Nothing had changed. This still wasn’t the time to act on their attraction. Chase stood and swapped places with the map.
Rayne ran her fingers over the symbols beneath the laminated plastic. “Mayan glyphs have never been my thing. I should’ve paid more attention to them, then maybe more of this would make sense.” She twisted to look at it from a different angle. “It looks so different from the other codices that still exist. Even the colors vary dramatically.”
Chase nodded and swept her hand across the map, still slightly in awe of being this close to such an ancient artifact. That feeling never grew old. “I think the colors relate to how the Mayans saw the world as a quincunx.”
Ginn laughed. “That sounds like a curse…or maybe a sex toy. I can’t decide.”
She and her twin giggled like a couple of college boys seeing naked titties in a porn magazine for the first time.
“Behave.”
Rayne said the word but looked as if she could barely stop herself from joining their joke.
“What does it mean then, Doc?”
Tonyck’s use of Chase’s formal title came as a surprise. More surprising that she sounded respectful rather than mocking. Had she had an attitude adjustment while Chase and Rayne were deep in the forest with the tribe? “It’s a similar system to the four traditional points on a compass with four colors representing north, east, south, and west. The fifth ‘direction’ is the space in the center of the quadrants. It’s thought to represent the sun.”
“How did you figure out that we had to begin this journey from the tree this was found inside?”
Rayne smiled as she asked the question, and Chase realized she was giving her the opportunity to score some credibility in the eyes of the tank twins. “Generally, Mayan texts are read left to right and top to bottom in columns. And the whole text fits into an invisible grid. That doesn’t apply here, which makes sense. The scribe needed to protect the Golden Trinity at the same time as providing a route to it.” Chase became aware her hands were flapping around and telling the story. She tried to rein them in. “The map, if it was ever found, was only to be read by the Maya elite so it appears to be constructed in a circular fashion. It was rare that they wrote this way, and it was usually to keep things from a more general audience.” She pointed to the two green signs at the center of the map. “This is the symbol for tree, along with the sun god or sun-faced ruler. The sun god allows everything to grow and has encouraged the tree to develop in order to protect the secret within it. Everything around it moves outward in increasingly smaller circles, with each ring of signs giving less and less information.”
“How do the colors play a part?”
Effi, who’d initially seemed disinterested, had now turned back to the group and was intrigued enough to ask a question.
“They’ll tell us which direction to go until we get to the next marker,” said Chase.
Tonyck shifted her gun and laid it across her lap. “We better hope all the markers aren’t trees or we’re fucked. It could be they’ve already been chopped down.”
Tonyck’s concern was well placed, but Chase hoped it would be unwarranted, especially since the symbol for tree repeated almost ten times on the map. She figured some were bound to be subterfuge. “From what Turner told Rayne, he was the deepest logger in the area. I think it’s highly unlikely that, in the timescale from him discovering the map to now, anyone else has made significant progress beyond the origin tree.” Chase looked beyond the boat to the horizon. Lush green trees stretched into the sky for miles. It was hard to believe that within the forest, there’d been vast swaths of it chopped down or burned to make room for crops, or worse, burned in retaliation by criminals so that no one would benefit. From the river it looked untouched and untamed. But if the Brazilian government continued to release large chunks of it to logging and agriculture, how long would it be before this vista was destroyed? Unless the Golden Trinity was real enough to broker a deal to keep the Amazon safe forever… Sitting in the boat, on the world’s second largest river amongst nearly four hundred billion trees, Chase suddenly felt too small and ineffective for this challenge. She gave herself a mental motivational kick. Screw that. Plenty of world-changing ideas started with just one person.
“Unlikely but not impossible,” Rayne said. “And that’s what will make it interesting.” She nudged Chase. “You didn’t want an easy ride, did you?”
Rayne winked, and Chase thought of all the sexual comebacks Rayne would have responded with if she’d asked the question. Chase was tempted to try one of her own, but it’d probably be an epic fail like a T. rex trying to high-five a pterodactyl. “Has it ever been an easy ride with you?”
Rayne raised her eyebrow; the left one, the one that seemed to be directly connected to the dirty part of her brain. Chase had seen her do it to other women, and Rayne had often used it on Chase too…when Chase had been adamant she wouldn’t fall for Rayne’s considerable charms. Now that she’d opened that door, Rayne’s small action had a big impact, and Chase was aware of the reaction in her shorts. She couldn’t hold Rayne’s gaze and focused instead on the map, hoping that the cornucopia of color might distract her from only seeing the beauty in Rayne’s eyes.
“Do you want it easy?”
Rayne’s seductive smile made Chase clench her pussy and her jaw, but neither stemmed the desire to pull Rayne onto her lap and do unspeakable things to her.
Pablo laughed. “You women need to get a room.”
Truth. But since that wouldn’t be happening for a good while, Chase needed Rayne to…well, rein it in because the hammocks they’d packed definitely wouldn’t stand up to the two of them going at it like horny rabbits. And Chase was never quiet when it came to having sex.
Chase glanced at Tonyck. Still no glare. A questioning raised eyebrow but no obvious disgust or rage. Chase didn’t know what Rayne had said to her, if she’d
said anything at all, or if something had happened while they were gone, but this was a much-preferred atmosphere. There was almost a camaraderie building, something Chase had never experienced before. She’d only ever worked with Rayne and that hadn’t turned out so good last time. Chase could only hope that this time would be different.
Chapter Twenty-one
Chase had just closed her journal and stuffed it back into her pack when the engine began to billow smoke. She tapped Pablo on the shoulder and nodded toward the dark black plumes heading toward the clear sky. “I’m thinking that probably isn’t a good thing?”
Pablo turned and promptly began to curse loudly in Brazilian Portuguese. He pulled open the engine lid, and a pungent heat hit Chase’s nostrils. That definitely wasn’t good.
“This isn’t an abandon ship moment, is it?” They’d made solid progress upriver, and Pablo had estimated they were a half day from the point where they’d transfer to the smaller boat and paddle to the headwaters before starting their land journey to the origin tree. Chase was beginning to question the logic of not going in by Jeep or chopper, though a potential army of Turner’s loggers would have been alerted to their presence. Chomped on by a caiman or held captive by Turner’s terrorist tree choppers? It wasn’t an attractive choice.
“Would you be angry if I said yes?” The skin around Pablo’s eyes creased as he scrunched his face apologetically.
“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Chase elbowed Rayne gently. “Are you so against an easy ride that you’ve sabotaged your own boat?”
Rayne winked. “You’ll never know.” She stood and moved up the boat to stop behind Pablo. “Are we paddling the rest of the way?”
Effi joined Rayne. “No. The current is too strong for easy progress. We’d be better off paddling to the shore and beginning our overland trip immediately.”
Pablo stopped the engine and looked at Effi, clearly not convinced. “Are you sure?”
Effi waved her hand dismissively. “You’re the boat man. I’m the guide.” She pulled a map from the leg pocket of her hiking pants. “We’re here.” She tapped on the map, her impatience evident. “The water level has already dropped far lower than it ever has by this time in previous years. We shouldn’t waste our energy battling the current when we can head west on land and cut this section off.”
Effi drew her fingers across the map in a small triangle. What she said looked like it made sense so Chase didn’t understand Pablo’s reluctance.
Rayne looked to Tonyck. “What do you think?”
Tonyck shrugged. “Both options have pros and cons. But at least the land is more predictable.” She smiled. “And you know I prefer feet to boats as a mode of transport.”
Chase seconded that logic. If their luck was bad enough that the second boat sprang a leak, getting everyone and everything safely to shore was problematic and fraught with danger. “We’d also be easy pickings for those boat bandits you told us about. We wouldn’t be able to out-paddle an outboard motor.” Even with her and the tank twins rowing. “We’d be too vulnerable out here.”
Rayne nodded slowly. “But we were avoiding land so we didn’t run into Turner…”
Tonyck scratched at her forehead before gesturing toward the jungle. “Yep. It’s a risk. But at least this way, we’ll be better able to tell if they’re in front of us or behind us.”
Ginn whistled. “I agree with those three, Rayne. The jungle suits us two far better than a wooden bowl in the middle of an alligator-infested river—and don’t correct me on whatever animals are lurking in this murky water. I don’t give a shit if it’s an alligator or a crocodile. They’ve both got big fucking teeth, and they both eat humans. That’s all I need to know.” She hefted her AK47 over her shoulder. “And this baby works better on dry land.”
Tonyck lifted her rifle and smacked it against Ginn’s. “Hooyah, sister.”
Chase didn’t care much for the macho display, but they’d backed her and that was progress. Rayne clearly held their opinion in high regard, and why wouldn’t she? They had extensive military service. Why bother having that on the payroll if she wasn’t going to listen to what they had to say?
“So you just want to abandon both boats?”
Pablo still needed convincing.
“You were hired to get us upriver as far as you could, Pablo.” Rayne put her hand on his shoulder. “You’ve done that. It’s not your fault the boat has failed us. You can stay with it, fix it, and head back to Tabatinga. Consider your contract fulfilled.”
Chase recognized Rayne was giving Pablo an easy out. She leaned forward to get a better look at Pablo’s face, interested to see if he took it. Did he have nothing left to lose or had he given enough?
Pablo patted Rayne’s arm. “My contract to you will never be fulfilled. Do you not know that by now?”
“Going overland wasn’t part of our deal, Pablo. That’s why you found Effi for me.”
Gentleness and humility seeped from every word Rayne spoke. Chase couldn’t grasp why Rayne hadn’t shown this side of her before. Unless she just hadn’t been around to see it…or didn’t want to see it.
“I can handle it from here,” Effi said.
Pablo shook his head and put his finger to his mouth without looking at Effi. “No more of this, Miss. Rayne. I am coming with you all. I wish to be part of the team that discovers the Golden Trinity.”
Effi clenched her jaw, and it was the first time Chase had seen anything other than casual nonchalance on her part since she’d told Chase her FUNAI story. Chase didn’t know whether Effi was irritated more by Pablo’s dismissal of her insistence that she could handle it or that he thought she couldn’t handle it because she was a woman. Chase didn’t think Pablo was sexist. He’d chosen Effi in the first instance, was clearly indebted to Rayne and didn’t begrudge her gender, and he seemed completely comfortable being surrounded by strong and powerful women, of mind and body. Chase figured Pablo had never intended to leave Rayne to it and simply hadn’t shared that with Effi. Perhaps he thought Rayne wouldn’t have let him come at all if he’d told her he was in it for the whole journey.
Rayne sighed and looked slightly exasperated, but she had a small smile that told Chase she was quietly glad that Pablo was insisting on going with them. Rayne had something that made people want to be with her, over and above the call of duty, and she suspected the tank twins would follow Rayne to the inner core of the earth if that’s where the adventure took them, whether Rayne paid for the services or not…And it was that same “thing” that had ensured Chase was here by her side now too.
“There’s no getting rid of you?” Rayne smiled a little more.
“Not a chance.”
Pablo tugged his ball cap lower over his eyes, his emotions clearly getting the better of him. Chase shared Rayne’s relief at Pablo’s insistence. With Turner and Owen behind them, and with no idea how close they might be or who else they’d brought with them, an extra body on their side of the fight was welcome.
“Now that that’s sorted, can we get on dry land before this piece of junk completely gives up the ghost and sinks?” Tonyck tossed a bag onto the paddle boat. “I’ve never fancied swimming with dolphins, let alone piranhas.”
She had a point. Chase hefted her backpack onto her shoulders, picked up her water bag, and dropped it into the other boat. She went to grab Rayne’s bag, but Rayne waved her away.
“I’ve got it. Get the map.” Rayne lifted her pack with relative ease and threw it to Tonyck’s waiting arms.
Within a few minutes, everything and everyone bar Pablo was safely off his failing craft.
He pocketed the keys and patted the steering wheel. “Good-bye, old friend. I hope that you will be here on my return.”
Chase raised her eyebrows at Rayne. The proliferation of banditos meant his boat would be long gone and stripped for parts or fixed up and sold within the day.
“If she isn’t, you can buy a new one with your share of the treasure.”
&nb
sp; Chase tried not to react visibly to Rayne’s declaration, even though her words jarred. Rayne still intended to make some kind of profit from the find. “I thought we’d decided we would discuss what we did with the Golden Trinity after we found it. We shouldn’t be talking about shares of something when we don’t even know what it is yet.”
Rayne smiled and held up her hands. “Apologies, Chase. Old habits, etcetera.”
Chase tried unsuccessfully to get a read on Rayne’s seriousness. Had Chase fallen for a tall tale again? Did Rayne have every intention of trying to broker the treasure to the highest bidder?
“I’m serious, Chase. Stop looking at me like that.”
Chase might be struggling to read Rayne, but it clearly wasn’t a mutual problem. Chase never had been good at hiding what was going on in her head…especially from Rayne.
“If we find this treasure, I’ll make so much money from the fallout, I won’t need to sell it to anyone.” Rayne tugged at Chase’s shirt. “And you can install it in the Brazilian National Museum…if they have room for all of it.”
Rayne’s laugh eased Chase’s tension a little. Old betrayals died just as hard as old habits, but Chase had seen a whole new side to Rayne over the past few days. The near-death Syrian experience had clearly triggered something in Rayne and maybe even left the old Rayne behind altogether. Chase hoped so, because every moment they were spending together was bringing them closer to each other. And Chase didn’t want that to end.
Chapter Twenty-two
Rayne watched Chase and Effi work together to figure out a route to the origin tree based on the Mayan map and Effi’s modern one. They operated quickly and smoothly, as if they’d been doing it together for years. They rolled up their respective scrolls and motioned the team forward into the depths of the rain forest. Rayne allowed herself to drift to her earlier conversation with Chase. She pulled at the straps on her backpack to stop the friction at the base of her spine and moved on, following Effi but slightly to her side so she could see ahead. She didn’t want to miss a moment of this.