Alves gave DeeAnn a knowing look. “From what I understand, Luke Greenwood had a very similar reaction.”
She just stared at him, shaking her head silently in utter disbelief. Finally, she put her hand against her cheek. “Luke told you that story?”
“Nearly word for word.”
“That’s… amazing. And in the wild. My God.”
“Luke was equally shocked,” said Alves. “But he was also excited. In fact, he was so enthralled that he stopped his missions and began working with Dexter. He knew what you were doing with Koko and then here with Ms. Shaw. He was planning to contact you. I’m surprised he hadn’t already.”
“He never did.” DeeAnn’s excitement quickly faded to disappointment.
Alves noticed Alison staring at him with a raised eyebrow and turned back to her.
“I’m afraid you still haven’t told us what you need help with,” Alison reminded him.
He looked at her, impressed. “You’re both very sharp. The reason I’m here is that while I understand that he did not have Ms. Draper’s experience, Luke was able to make quite a bit of progress communicating with Dexter. I believe this was why he was following your work here with such interest.” The pleasantness in Alves’ face seemed to fall away and was replaced with grief. “But, eventually came the attack on our complex.”
“And the animals were killed.”
“Yes. And Luke disappeared.” Alves sat up straight. “But there may be a silver lining. We believe Dexter survived and escaped back out into the preserve. I’ve come to get your help in finding him.”
17
“Excuse me?”
“Ms. Shaw, I know this may sound a bit presumptuous, but I’d like you to help us find Dexter.” Alves’ expression was serious. “We still don’t know who attacked us, or where Luke might be. Even though we haven’t received any communication, we are still hopeful. But more than that, I believe Dexter saw what happened that night, and he may just be smart enough to give us vital information about it. How many were involved? What they were wearing? If we can just get an idea of who did it, I promise you, I will spare no expense tracking them down and finding Luke.”
“I don’t-” Alison started, then turned to DeeAnn, who remained silently thinking.
Finally, DeeAnn looked back at him curiously. “This isn’t just about finding the monkey. This is about talking to him.”
Alves nodded. “That’s correct.”
“Is that even possible?” Alison asked.
DeeAnn rubbed her finger softly against her lip. “It’s feasible… maybe.”
“I thought IMIS was programmed specifically for gorillas. Is this monkey similar to a gorilla?”
“No,” DeeAnn answered. “Not even close.”
“Could IMIS talk to it?”
DeeAnn shook her head. “Doubtful. But…”
“But what?”
“But there’s another possibility. Dulce may be able to talk to a capuchin.”
“Are you kidding?”
“No.” She paused to think again before continuing. “I’m not sure, but I think it’s possible. When I worked with Koko at the Gorilla Foundation, there was a researcher by the name of Joanne Tanner. She was brilliant and had worked there for years.” DeeAnn’s speech began to speed up, with a trace of excitement. “She spent ten years filming gorillas at the San Francisco Zoo and discovered something startling. The gorillas there had never been taught to sign like Koko, but she found that they used gestures. She documented almost thirty common, instinctive gestures used by the gorillas. It was a major discovery in primate studies, demonstrating what some of us had already suspected. There is a lot more to their communication than we know. More importantly, she found those common gestures spanned multiple species. And I believe one of them was capuchin monkeys.”
“You mean like some kind of sign language?”
“Yes, exactly. And with Dulce and this Dexter monkey both being highly intelligent, it’s conceivable that they could actually speak to one another. I don’t know how likely it is, but it’s certainly possible. Joanne was sure there were many more gestures yet to be identified.”
Alves was smiling broadly, excited at DeeAnn’s explanation.
“But transporting a gorilla is a production,” she continued, thinking about the logistics. “It would have to be as fast as possible so she didn’t become too anxious or nervous. She would also need to be in a cage, just in case. Dulce is young, but she’s still strong. Too strong for us if she became frightened. It would definitely have to be by plane.”
“I can provide whatever you need.”
“Whoa, hold on!” Alison interrupted, holding up a hand. She looked at their visitors. “Would you mind if we excused ourselves for a minute?”
“Of course,” Alves replied.
With that, Alison stood up and motioned for DeeAnn to follow her. They crossed the room and opened the door, stepping out into the hallway. After it clicked shut, Alison wasted no time.
“Okay, hold up. What exactly are we thinking here?”
“A trip,” answered DeeAnn.
“A trip,” repeated Alison. “Just like that?”
DeeAnn folded her arms. “I don’t think we have much choice, Ali. Or time.”
“Okay,” Alison said calmly. “I know you’re worried about Luke. I understand that. But we just met this man. We know nothing about him.”
“That’s true, although we should be able to check him out pretty easily. I mean, the man sounds like some kind of billionaire mogul. I doubt we’d have much difficulty finding out.”
“Okay, fine. Let’s assume everything he says is true. We’d be heading off into the jungle in some unknown country-”
“You mean I would be.”
“Wait, what? Alison looked confused.
“I would be heading off into the jungle.”
“You would be? What about me?”
“Because you, Alison, have a very big day tomorrow. You can’t miss this.”
“Are you kidding?” Alison raised her voice. “You think I’m going to just ship off while you and Dulce get on a plane bound for God knows where?”
“Yes,” replied DeeAnn, with her face forming a determined look. “Because everything is ready now. Including Dirk and Sally.”
Alison froze with her mouth open, working on her rebuttal. But she had none.
“Listen, Ali. I don’t want to argue. Do I think this is a brilliant idea? No. But we also don’t have a lot of time. If there is any chance Luke is still alive and we can help find him, then I have to try.” Her dark eyes softened. “He would do it for me.”
Alison glanced at her, then off to the side, finally closing her mouth. She sighed in resignation. “Okay. What are the risks?”
DeeAnn thought about the question. “Something happens to me… or Dulce.”
“Exactly!”
“I see what you’re doing. Could something happen to me or Dulce? Yes. It’s a possibility, but probably not a very likely one. Listen, Ali, something has already happened to Luke. We’d be talking about a low probability against one that’s already occurred. It’s not a terribly hard decision.”
“Dee, there’s a lot more involved than that and you know it.”
“I do, but when it’s all boiled down, it still comes down to whether we try to help. And I think we both know each other well enough to know what that answer is.”
Alison stared at her in silence. Her head began to shake back and forth. DeeAnn was right. As long as Alves and his security team checked out, it wasn’t a huge risk. It was really more about the logistics. And it was not as though they wouldn’t be coming back. “Well, I don’t like the idea of both of us being gone at the same time. It doesn’t seem smart.”