I read about your particular camp, doctor, and the fact that you were actually requested to join the team.” I eased under the body of the Jeep, carefully using the bright light to search for all the normal areas a tracker was used. While many of the recent designs were sophisticated, I’d kept up with the various kinds during my tenure with the Specialists.
“Is there something wrong with that?” she huffed. I could tell she was leaning over the doorframe, an edge in her tone. “It’s a wonderful program.”
“Nothing except you never applied. It takes a special person to desire to live out in the jungle for up to a year. From what I could find, you never even made inquiries about the possibility. You were asked to join the team, and from what I could tell, you were out of the country within days, not the weeks that it usually takes in order to pass certain criteria, have various immunizations and fine-tune all the paperwork. Doesn’t that seem odd to you? Any red flags here at all?”
I could almost hear her wheels turning. While it might not mean shit given the needs of the Brazilian people, every angle needed to be looked at.
“You’re such an asshole,” she managed.
“I don’t see anything, Jack. I doubt we have a bug on the vehicle,” Diego called from the other side.
Yeah, he was likely right, but I continued to look, crawling to the front bumper. I could see her pensive face, the way she chewed on her inner lip.
“I respect and trust the doctor in the program. I knew him from medical school, had attended several of his classes. It was the right time to find my place within the medical field and I had some friends who helped me get everything I needed quickly,” she stated in a determined fashion. “Dr. Russell didn’t sell me out. His reputation is stellar. Why would he? As you made certain to let me know, I’m just a lowly doctor.”
“You’re be surprised what men will do for money or revenge,” I managed, finally moving to a standing position. “And one thing I do know is that your father does have money.”
“My God. Now you’re accusing my father?” she demanded.
“I think we all need to calm the fuck down,” Diego snapped.
“Dr. Russell isn’t like that. Money means nothing to him. He knew what I was interested in, including repairing the hearts of children so he thought it would be a good fit. That’s it, Jack,” she continued. “One of the doctors got sick and they were hoping for a quick turnaround by finding another doctor. He made a phone call. You have no idea how dire the crisis is in the jungle. Children are dying from lack of care, malnourishment only a portion of the reason. Don’t chastise the work I hold so dearly. That makes you a bigger asshole.”
I sighed. It hadn’t been my intent to antagonize her, but there were aspects of what we were going through that contained holes.
“Stop nagging her. We need to continue on,” Diego snarked then jumped back into the Jeep. “We’ll grill her later.”
“Like hell you will,” she countered, hissing under her breath.
I held the console into the morning light, thinking about the various methods we’d used in the military to sync tracking devices with various instruments owned by our enemies. Almost anything had worked, including standard phones. While this would be somewhat more sophisticated, I had no doubt the Serpent had experts in several fields on his payroll. “The instrument is the only other possibility. I’ll need to ascertain whether or not the communications device has been tampered with. The Serpent might have the technology to sync with it. If so, they already know we’re alive. Then it’ll be a matter of time before his soldiers find us.”
“Goddamn it,” Diego railed. “Then shut it down, if for no other reason than keeping us alive. If you honestly believe the Serpent has that much technology, then why the hell…”
He didn’t finish but he didn’t have to. The operation had been rushed; neither the intel nor the equipment provided nearly what we needed in order to stay alive.
I exhaled, hearing the tone in his voice. We’d all been indoctrinated to what to do if certain circumstances occurred. I wasn’t certain this fell into one of the categories, especially since we’d be out of contact altogether. “Fine. Then we’ll shut it down and I’ll make certain we haven’t been compromised in another