Their downhill trek was doomed from the outset. They were three days early for their return helicopter ride. But even if their descent had been timely, they had to circumvent the landing site in the “Lost City” where the hunters would be returning their horses and meeting their own helicopters. That forced Diane and Olimpia and their Kogi guides to take a more challenging route with several waist-deep whitewater crossings through the domain of the guerrilla. Unrelenting rain, water snakes and mudslides were mere annoyances compared to Diane’s fear of being taken by bandidos.
They spent the first night in an abandoned jungle hut with a sieve for a roof. Early on the second evening, they stopped at a cave hung with a million bats and crawling with scorpions. The cave was dry, however, and it provided a fitting environment for Olimpia to reveal the rest of her story.
She leaned wearily against a stone near the cave’s entrance and, accompanied by nocturnal voices from the wilderness, she began:
“I know you wonder why I have been lying about my identity in Santa Marta all these years. It is because I wanted to make sure I would not be tracked. I wanted to protect the Kogi and my son from people who might want to follow Olimpia Garza—pharmaceutical spies, my family and so forth.
“As for the hunters: For years I thought their visits to the mountain were random. I did not know their timetable, and I was ignorant as to their identities. But when my son turned eight years old, I learned those things in the most painful way imaginable.
“For his eighth birthday, I brought Eduardo to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta to visit his Tia Yami. The hunters rode into the high valley two days after we arrived at the Kogi village.
“Yami warned me to keep Eduardo close while she and the priestesses descended to the cloud forest for three days. I did not take heed, and when I awoke the second morning, Eduardo had gone in search of his Tia.
“Yami returned from the high valley to report that hunters had taken Eduardo. She said that I should return home and they would get in touch with me. They warned her that I should not contact the authorities. She told me I must heed the hunters more closely than I had heeded her. My life and Eduardo’s were at stake.
“After a month in hell waiting for the kidnappers’ demands, I was stunned to hear Carlos Carrera’s voice on the other end of my telephone saying that he had my son. I had never met the man. I only knew him by media reports of his wealth.
“Carlos had encountered my son on the trail, much the same as he did you, Diane. But when he looked at Eduardo, he saw the face of his dead son—green eyes, cowlick and all. Immediately, Carlos knew Eduardo was his grandson. And his lineage was confirmed when he asked Eduardo his name.
“Of course he was not interested in a ransom. He assured me he was not punishing me; he did not hold me responsible for the death of his son years ago. But he wanted to keep Eduardo with him for awhile.
“Dumbstruck, I listened while Carlos reported on Eduardo’s activities as if he were merely away at summer camp. He ended the conversation by telling me that my son was enjoying himself at his ancestral home, but now he would like to see his mother. ‘A boy needs to connect with his heritage, but he also needs his mother,’ he said.
“In order to see my son, I had to visit him at the Carrera mansion. Eduardo was content there. He sensed that we would both be safer if he stayed connected to his grandfather. At first I feared he had been brainwashed. But then I remembered that he was bred in the wilderness and had trained for the Kogi priesthood; he saw things that most did not. I agreed with the living arrangement.”
Olimpia took a weary breath, then went on: “Two years later, I was visiting with Eduardo when Carlos invited me into his study. He told me that Eduardo had learned what was expected of him as a Carrera. So now he could come to live with his mother. But first, he said, a deal must be struck.
“He then informed me that Gabriel refused to recognize Eduardo as his son legally. It was not that he felt threatened that he would lose his inheritance to Eduardo. Gabriel has his own money—outside of Carrera Industries.
“With a sizable inheritance from his mother—and it is rumored there were other sources also—Gabriel started an investment fund that has made him quite wealthy in his own right.
“No, it was not about money. The reason Gabriel would not recognize his son was because he still harbored ill-will toward me. Carlos said that Gabriel was not a forgiving man.
“Therefore, he, Carlos Carrera, wished to adopt Eduardo to legitimize his claim to the Carrera empire. He also wanted my vow of silence regarding his secret hunting camp on the mountain and the circumstances of Eduardo’s conception. I pledged my life and that of my son. What choice did I have?
“After we shook hands, Carlos presented me with a mansion in Bogota and the villa on Aruba that he had purchased for Eduardo and me.
“From that day forward, I would live in safety and luxury. But the Carreras owned me and, more so, my son—despite my efforts to pull his affections away from them.
“Never believe you can turn one Carrera against the other. No matter the contention between them; Carlos, Gabriel and Eduardo are inextricably bound together by their polypeptide chains. DNA is the strongest bond in the universe—but particularly here in Latin America.
“So, you see, when Gabriel requested that I move to the States to set up the ethnobotany program at BRI or else find him another botanist, it was actually a command. Giving him your name seemed like the perfect answer back then.
“That day I phoned you from Houston, I had been to the Texas Medical Center there—nothing serious, just some tests—and I stopped by BRI for a tour. I found the physical set up quite nice. But the building had a malevolent aura.
“I knew BRI had contacted you, so I called you to warn you off of them. But you did not answer. Then later at a meeting with Gabriel, he told me that after vetting your credentials, he decided that he had to have you at BRI. I told him I would try to influence your decision. But of course I was lying. I had no intention of intervening for him. After that I spent a lot of time praying that you would not accept the position.”
Olimpia walked over, sat on a rock beside Diane and looked her in the eye. “Through my relationship with the Kogi, I have developed a deep sense about people and places. For example, I have known of your distrust and fear of me since your phone call when you were fleeing Carrera Island”
Diane reached over and touched her friend’s arm. “Olimpia, I am so sorry—”
“No need to apologize. In fact, you should have been wary of me years sooner. You were still a child when you became the subject of my ill-thought-out experiment with mind-bending tree lichen. As a result, you bonded to me like a duckling to its mother. I had to be very careful not to plant the wrong ideas into your suggestible mind. But now Yami has freed you from any influence I might have had over you. Your future is your own.”
Then she added in a quivering voice: “I was certain that the hunters were not due for another month, or I never would have brought you here. I am so sorry. I have made things worse and worse for you.”
She gripped Diane’s hand as if to underscore her next words. “The hunting club is much more than it seems. They kill to guard their identity. My vow of silence and Eduardo as my collateral are the only reasons I am still alive. I am quite concerned for your safety though.”
The clanking of the metal stairs outside startled Diane from her thoughts. She glimpsed out the small window, then turned toward the door. Had the “Padrone” arrived?