The trip back went faster. After returning to the Jeep, they wasted no time in retrieving a map from one of their packs and unfolding it across the hood of the vehicle.
DeeAnn sifted through the pictures on the camera and stopped when she found the image she was looking for. She enlarged it on the screen and studied the faint handwriting. She held the camera over the map and traced up the paper with her finger.
“She said it was along the Albertine Rift. Just southeast of Mount Bisoke. Which would put it… about here.”
Caesare peered across the hood to Clay. “Same area as Borger’s images.”
After a palpable silence, all three turned to find Janvier staring wide-eyed at the map. And more specifically, the location of DeeAnn’s finger. He slowly shook his head, horrified. “We cannot go there. It is forbidden.” He looked at them. “We will be killed.”
“By who?”
“By Ngeze. He is very fierce. He will kill us all.” When Clay and Caesare straightened, Janvier took several steps back. “No. From here I must leave. I cannot help you anymore.”
Caesare frowned. “All right, kid. We don’t want to put you in danger.” He approached and extended a folded wad of bills.
Janvier glanced briefly before taking them.
“None of us were here. Do you understand?”
“Yes. But I warn, you should not go there. It is dangerous.” With that, the teenager turned and began running back down the dirt road.
Both men turned back around to DeeAnn who was still leaning over the front of the Jeep. “Okay, I don’t know about you, but that sounded pretty ominous to me.”
They were suddenly interrupted by the vest on DeeAnn’s chest.
He scare.
Dulce was watching the teenager as he ran.
DeeAnn pursed her lips in frustration. She had forgotten to turn off the vest.
“Yes. He is,” was all she could say.
Why scare?
“He doesn’t want to go any further.”
Why scare? Dulce repeated.
She thought about how best to explain it. “There are bad people here.”
Why bad people here?
Her next reply was hesitant. “Bad people hurt other people… and gorillas.”
Why?
To this, DeeAnn had no answer. “I… don’t know.”
Danger?
“Yes. There is some danger here.”
Dulce studied the forest in front of them. She then backed up until she bumped against Caesare’s leg, where she wrapped an arm around it.
“But we will be safe.”
The young gorilla nodded but did not reply.
What no one noticed was the smaller Dexter, nearby and still staring into the deep brush — seemingly oblivious to the others.
There was someone else in the forest.
68
Alison listened pensively to each successive ring on the other end. When Clay finally answered, she smiled with relief.
“Hello?”
“Hi,” she said softly. “It’s me.”
Clay smiled and walked away from the Jeep. “Well, hello there.” He then frowned as he looked at his watch. “Aren’t you up a bit early?”
On the other end, Alison peered out over the side of the Pathfinder ship and into the darkness of the ocean. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She nodded, absently tapping the metal railing with her finger. “Just a lot on my mind, I guess. How are things over there?”
“Interesting might be a good word.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, we’re all fine. Just some surprises we hadn’t expected.”
Alison frowned to herself, wishing she could ask more questions over the phone. The call was encrypted, but she could hear Will Borger’s voice going on about how all encryption could be broken, eventually.
“I wish you were still here.”
She couldn’t see Clay’s smile on the other end. “So do I. I’d trade the jungle for the tropics any day.”
“Oh, I see,” Alison teased. “So it’s not a matter of who. Just where.”
“Well, let’s just say that if you were here, I’d have to change my answer.”
“Good. I like that better.”
“What do you have planned for today?”
She shrugged. “I thought I’d get in the water.”
“I could have guessed that,” Clay said. “Hey, look up.”
Alison tilted her head back. “What?”
“Can you see the moon?”
“Yes.”
“So can I.”
Alison’s expression softened. “We’re looking at the same moon.”
“Yep. Almost like I’m there with you.”
“I really wish you were.”
“So do I. And not because of the weather.”
Alison laughed. “Well, I should probably let you go. I just wanted to check in on you guys.”
“I’m glad you did. Tell Dirk and Sally I said hi.”
“I will. Any messages for Will? He’s following your signal from satellite.”
Clay looked toward the Jeep. “Any message for Borger?”
“Yeah,” Caesare said. “Tell him next time he’s coming with us.”
Clay turned back to the phone. “Tell Will that Steve sends his love.”
“I will,” Alison chuckled. “Be careful.”
“Always.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Ali. Enjoy your swim,” he responded tenderly.
“Bye.”
Alison ended the call and inhaled, still smiling. She looked back up at the moon, wondering where Clay was standing at that exact moment.
She had no idea that in barely twelve hours she would be wondering whether that would be the last time she ever spoke with John Clay.
69
The moon was only partially visible through the thin cloud layer sliding ominously across northeast China. Barely illuminating the ground for Peng and the rest of his squad, a glow now shone lightly on Sheng Lam. The man had not spoken a word to them for hours.
They were all irritated.
It shouldn’t have taken this long to find the girl. She was still a kid for Christ’s sake. But somehow she had managed to evade both them and their helicopter pilot. And while only a teenager, the girl was proving to be an exceedingly smart one. She knew enough to stay under the cover of the trees, blocking the view from above. She also seemed to know where to walk over objects such as logs and rocks when possible, causing them to stop more often to reestablish her tracks.
In front of Peng, Sheng Lam studied the ground under his dim red flashlight. Still silent. They should have had her by now. They should have had her hours ago! But Peng and his men were slowing him down, moving methodically through the brush when they didn’t need to. The girl was moving much too fast to suddenly stop and hide. So fast, in fact, that Lam was coming to an unlikely conclusion.
She was moving as fast as she had been earlier in the day, if not faster. But that was impossible. No one’s endurance could last that long. Even the best, most highly trained soldiers began to show signs of exhaustion after just a few hours of heavy exertion. It was impossible that the young girl wouldn’t.
And it wasn’t only how fast she was moving, but where. She was headed directly toward Shenyang, the next large metropolitan area, now less than a day away. There, the streets and walkways would leave no prints — no traces at all to help him find her. And fewer cameras. They had to find her quickly, before even Lam’s skills would become irrelevant.
As he stood up and turned off the light, Peng and his men watched Lam suspiciously in the darkness. His pale skin highlighted his dark eyes.
It was their fault, he thought. He’d had the girl within his grasp. It was their fault she’d gotten away. And now their opportunity was rapidly diminishing — and with it, Lam’s growing certainty that he was needed only to track the girl and nothing more. They were using him… like a dog. And would soon simply dispose of him.