On top of it all, DeeAnn’s heart was sinking at the realization that the chance of finding the capuchin monkey was remote at best. Alves’ preserve was simply too big.
They had spent almost four hours in the field yesterday. Alves and his head of security Blanco had escorted them into areas of the preserve not yet searched. But the place was just too huge. They would never be able to cover the area, even in Alves’ giant four-wheel drive vehicle. But getting out and hiking through the jungle was the only way Dulce could listen for the monkey. Without at least some idea of where Dexter might be, it was quickly feeling hopeless.
DeeAnn watched as Dulce examined more trees. There were thousands of trees in the preserve, maybe tens of thousands.
DeeAnn had been quietly, yet reluctantly, thinking of an exit plan. What she was worried about the most was the vest. If she lost the ability to communicate with a frightened gorilla in the wild, things could get much worse for them.
She realized her mind had drifted off and looked back to find Dulce now watching her.
No monkey, Dulce said, matter-of-factly.
DeeAnn smiled and shook her head. “Not yet. Should we go look again today?”
Yes, Dulce replied, looking up at DeeAnn. Look more.
“Okay, we look more,” DeeAnn smiled, placing her chin gently on Dulce’s furry head and rubbing her back. “We look more.”
Upstairs on the top floor of the state-of-art facility, Alves and Blanco observed DeeAnn and Dulce from the inside, through a tall window.
“How long are we going to search?” asked Blanco. It was a difficult question but one that needed to be asked.
Alves answered without looking away from the window. “As long as necessary.”
Carolina, Alves’ assistant, approached and joined them. “Everything is ready.”
Alves nodded.
Carolina waited for a reply, but getting none, she continued. “And everyone is looking for you.”
Who cares? Alves thought. Business could wait. It would wait. The businesses could run themselves for a long time.
He continued watching DeeAnn and Dulce out in the grass. This was far more important. It was the most important thing he had ever done, and in the end, nothing else mattered. Nothing.
Blanco wasn’t convinced. He was sure there were other ways, but it wasn’t up to him. He would do as he was told. At least for now.
Standing behind Alves, Carolina looked at the hardened Blanco, who then glanced briefly at her. They would both do what they were told. For now.
Brazil’s unrelenting humidity made wearing the thick vest almost unbearable, especially through the peak heat of the afternoon. The only relief was the wind flowing over the open top of the vehicle. DeeAnn couldn’t tell what model it was, but it reminded her of the old military Jeeps she had seen as a girl. These, however, were much nicer.
She turned and looked at Dulce, who was sitting on the bench seat between her and Juan. Dulce was smiling the entire way. Bouncing up and down while they drove over the rough ground, Dulce loved every minute of the ride. It was a nice change. The young gorilla looked up to the open sky at a group of birds darting away from a nearby tree.
DeeAnn still held Dulce’s leash firmly in her hand, worried that a sudden movement or shift could result in her falling out. A motherly instinct that was never fostered through a child of her own, she clearly still had it.
Blanco slowed the vehicle and brought it to a stop in another open field. A vast sea of trees began a few hundred yards away and continued on, high into the mountains.
Juan promptly jumped out and helped Dulce down. DeeAnn followed closely behind, careful to keep extra slack in the leash. It took only seconds for her to feel the sweat return under her vest.
Alves hobbled around the back from the passenger’s seat. “This is another area Luke had taken Dexter to. They’d spent a few days out here last month.”
DeeAnn turned and scanned the area. Luke probably brought Dexter out periodically to keep him calm. Wild primates often became agitated with too much time in a captive environment, even one as nice as Alves’ facility. However, with Dulce, DeeAnn had the opposite challenge. She was born in captivity and now being outside her normal environment was causing her stress.
Together, they crossed the small field and passed into the edge of dark green forest. The group continued following Dulce as she knuckle-walked from place to place, looking and listening.
DeeAnn watched the others who were idly scanning the area. All except Alves, of course. He was intently watching Dulce as he had been all day. She had to admit it was beginning to feel a little odd. His interest was beginning to go beyond mere curiosity.
Juan checked his watch and gave DeeAnn a concerned look. He was forever thinking about the system and was no doubt estimating how much battery life they had left for the day. That and, of course, the errors. The vest still seemed to be working well, but he didn’t know for how much longer that would continue.
DeeAnn noticed Dulce examining something on the ground and walked up behind her to have a look. She frowned when she discovered that Dulce was looking at the remains of a bird nest. Four tiny pink bodies were lying next to it on a wide rock. DeeAnn looked up at the tall tree above them. The nest must have fallen, causing the hatchlings to tumble out. They were much too small to move about on their own, which meant they likely died on the rock.
Dulce used her rough brown finger and reached out to touch one of them. She poked the featherless pink body gently and waited. Nothing happened. She then poked the others one by one. Finally, she turned to DeeAnn with her lower lip drooping sadly. Babies die.
DeeAnn frowned and knelt next to her. “Yes, the babies died. It’s very sad.” She was surprised when Dulce turned back, gently picked up the four little bodies from the rock, and placed them into her palm. Using her free hand, Dulce then turned and dug her fingers into the soft earth, creating a small hole. She placed them all carefully into the cavity and laid a leaf on top. Finally, she began covering them with the dirt.
DeeAnn was awestruck. She couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed, on so many levels.
Me no like die.
DeeAnn shifted her eyes to look at the amazing little gorilla in front of her. “Me either.”
33
We here Alison.
Alison smiled and quickly stepped out of the salon, into the boat’s spacious cockpit. She trotted to the side and peeked over the starboard hull. Sally was waiting with her head poking out, gently batting the water with her fins to stay up. “Are we here?”
Dirk abruptly popped his head out of the water next to Sally. We here.
Kelly immediately killed the engine and allowed the boat to drift to a stop. “Thank goodness.”
Thank goodness, indeed, Alison thought. It was much further than they were expecting, repeatedly promised by Dirk and Sally to be just a little further. That “little” further had taken them well south of their expected location, almost within sight of the small island of Grenada. She knew that dolphins had a sharp understanding of distance, but they seemed almost purposefully vague this time. It was something they had never witnessed before with Dirk or Sally. Their conclusion was that the dolphins’ home wasn’t stationary. It moved.