Caesare reached down and felt through the man’s pockets. When he found what he was looking for, he reached inside and pulled out a set of several keys. He took his boot off of him and stepped back. He then turned to Juan. “Anything else?”
“Yeah,” Juan said. He stepped forward and kicked the man as hard as he could in the groin, causing him to double over and howl in pain. Then Juan cursed in Spanish and spit on him.
Caesare nodded. “Well said.”
They left him lying in the darkness and quietly reentered the building. Together, they moved slowly down the hallway in case Caesare had missed someone. Juan’s former capturer was still lying face down in the room, lifeless. Caesare found the small phone and dropped it into his own pocket.
“Juan, if we can find the server room, can you shut everything down?”
“Hell, yes, I can!”
It took two and a half hours to reach Belem and find the hotel. When the two walked into the well-lit lobby, Mariana was startled to see Caesare again. She recognized him immediately. But this time, his face did not appear nearly as jovial.
“You’re back, senhor.” She glanced curiously at Juan, who was standing weakly next to Caesare. “Would you like a room?”
“No.” Caesare shook his head and approached the old, run-down counter. “Actually, I’d like to see your brother again.”
Mariana’s lip curled with a hint of humor. “Another late night swim?”
Caesare turned toward Juan, who was looking at him with raised eyebrows. “Don’t ask.”
Lucas arrived within minutes, as the men stood waiting in the lobby. He stuck his head in the doorway and motioned for Caesare and Juan to come outside. They followed him out and Caesare smiled when he saw the same old Chevy Malibu. He and Clay had returned it to the hotel after borrowing it the week before, just prior to hightailing it out of Belem.
Lucas and his friend, who was standing on the other side of the car, looked Juan up and down. “Is he okay?”
“Someone tried to rough him up.”
Lucas nodded. He was unfamiliar with the phrase, but he got the idea. “No swimming tonight?” Lucas asked with a grin.
What is it with the swimming jokes? “No,” Caesare replied, dryly. “I need a helicopter.”
Lucas’ face became serious. With a concerned look, he peered at his friend over the roof of the car.
“Not the whole thing,” Caesare clarified. “Just a ride.”
“Senhor… that is expensive.”
“It’s urgent.”
“Do you have money?” Lucas asked.
“No, I don’t,” Caesare replied. He reached into his pants pocket and withdrew a key ring. “But how would you like a new Humvee?”
Lucas remained silent for a few long seconds. “I may know someone.”
“I thought you might.”
It took them less than thirty minutes to reach the old airfield. Completely dark, it looked like a skeleton of its former self. Unfortunately, even broad daylight wouldn’t have helped its appearance much.
Lucas drove his new Humvee up an open embankment to an old building. All four doors opened and they climbed out, hearing the sound immediately.
Soon after, they saw two bright flashing lights appear over the treetops, followed by the faint outline of a large helicopter. It approached and began to descend, finally bouncing down on the open grass in front of them.
Caesare was not the slightest bit surprised to see that it was a Brazilian Army chopper. Given the poor economy, someone was obviously moonlighting.
The side door on the gray helicopter slid open and a man dressed in the same color fatigues waved them forward.
Caesare hefted the heavy bag up on to his shoulder and turned to Juan. “You’re staying here.” He yelled over the noise of the rotors.
“Huh?!”
Caesare pulled Lucas in close so he could be heard. “Get him to the airport!” He pointed at Juan. “And put him on the first plane to Puerto Rico!”
Lucas nodded. “I will. Right away.”
Caesare gave Lucas a stern gaze. “If anything happens to him, I’m coming after you!”
“Yes, yes. No problem. You can trust me.”
He nodded at Lucas before turning to clap Juan on the shoulder. “Everything will be fine. Just get yourself home, alright?”
Juan nodded and hugged Caesare’s larger frame. “You’re going to find them, right?”
Caesare nodded with a cold stare. “Damn right, I am!”
51
At the first ray of light, the entire camp instantly awoke to Dexter screaming at the top of his tiny lungs. He rocked the cage frantically, throwing his small furry body against the inner metal bars over and over, nearly tipping it over.
DeeAnn was the first on her feet. For a moment, it almost looked as if the cage were being shaken angrily with Dexter simply trapped inside. But it was only Dexter, and he was completely unglued. Next to him, Dulce watched with wide eyes from within her own cage.
“Dulce, what’s wrong with him?” she asked. There was no response. She began to repeat her words when she caught herself. She wasn’t wearing the vest. “Damn it!” DeeAnn turned and ran back to her bag where the vest was carefully laid out on a large rock.
“What is it?” Alves cried. He was wobbling, trying to quickly get to his feet.
“I don’t know!” DeeAnn pulled the vest down onto her shoulders and clasped the side buckles together. She flipped the power button and looked to see if the blue light was on.
And then she noticed it. Following her frozen gaze, they all did. High above them, on the distant horizon beyond the mountain’s peak, they could see it billowing up into the sky like a dark blanket.
Smoke.
52
They were out of time. The sun was up and the smoke would now be visible from every direction. He had to get out.
Chao surveyed the damage. Everything was either burning or smoldering, for almost twenty acres in every direction. He and his men had used the rest of their extra gasoline supply to douse all the giant plants they hadn’t excavated and then torched them with the flamethrowers. Most of the fire was still raging and quickly spreading out to the other trees and plants. Before long, it would cover the entire area, all the way to the cliff’s face.
What they had found would never be shared. Their discovery would give China abilities far surpassing any other nation or people. They would not just be the next super power; they would be a super power like the world had never seen.
Of course, the Americans would figure it out soon. And they would no doubt arrive here too. But they would find nothing left to harvest. Only decimation. What the fire didn’t destroy, the 2,4,5-T that laced the gasoline would finish. It would soak into the root systems and kill every last strand. Something they had already tested.
Chao watched one of his men work with his flamethrower, still spreading the bright orange streams of death onto everything he touched. With any luck, the fire would continue far enough that the Americans wouldn’t be able to determine where it even began.
He turned to the truck. It had more than enough fuel to make it back down, especially now that the cargo hold was empty. None of his men noticed when Chao walked over and opened the driver’s side door, withdrawing the .45 caliber pistol from his bag. He pulled out a short black cylinder and screwed it onto the tip of the barrel. No one had ever gotten a close look at his gun and its threaded barrel. He double-checked his magazine and pulled the slide back, chambering the first round.
The flames were high enough that few of his men could see each other. And the smoke created a thick brown curtain all around them. The time had come.