Problem was, there was no telling when the mixture would explode. The only way to be safe was to cool the liquid to low temperatures. Acetone peroxide achieved a level of stability when cold. Emma couldn’t imagine where they’d cool the mixture. They would need a refrigerator or freezer, because the jungle environment would warm it far too fast.
She once again walked the length of the gazebo, this time looking for anything that could contain ice or dry ice. Nothing.
Perhaps they’re storing it farther away for safety in case it blows, Emma thought. She widened her search area. She found two coolers twenty-five yards into the trees. She knelt down and very gently removed the lid. There, nestled in a glass container labeled AP, sat the dried granules of acetone peroxide. Ice filled the remaining space. She opened the second cooler. This one was stacked with silver metal plates just like the ones she’d watched the guerrillas use to mine the road back at the airstrip. They, too, were covered with ice. Several rolls of duct tape lay all about.
An idea bloomed in Emma’s mind: AP explodes when jarred or pressed. She could use the AP to create her own pressure-sensitive mine. If she could bury it outside the hut’s entrance, the first person who stepped on it would be blown up. Her biggest challenge would be to add only the amount of AP needed to affect the individual stepping on the mine. She didn’t want it to destroy the hut, and Sumner and the soldier, with it. The other question was, How would she ensure that Sumner or the wounded soldier didn’t step on the mine first?
Emma shook off her indecision. It was the only idea she’d had so far. She’d solve these problems when she came to them. She got to work creating her mine. She took the AP out of the cooler, being careful not to jar the glass. She sprinkled it over a flat metal disk. Then, very slowly, she lowered a second disk over the first. She was impressed that the guerrillas thought to cool the metal disks as well. When held together with the tape, they would help keep the AP stable for a bit longer. She bound the ends of the disks together.
She made a second mine as quickly as possible. The outside temperature was rising steadily. When the disks warmed to above ten degrees Celsius, the AP would once again become unstable.
Emma carried her two mines back down the path. She moved with as much grace as she could muster so as not to jar them. She reached the spot outside the hut where she’d hidden the rifles and lowered the mines to the ground.
The situation at the hut seemed to have taken a turn for the worse since White had arrived. He paced back and forth in front of Sumner in agitation. Sumner watched White with his characteristic lack of emotion. White crouched down and spat directly into Sumner’s face. Sumner’s eyes remained blank. He gazed at White’s face, only inches from his own, with a level stare.
“Who the hell are you?” Sumner’s voice floated to Emma. She strained to hear White’s response.
“I’m your worst enemy, you just don’t know me,” White said. “Caldridge owes me the formula, and with your help, I’m going to make sure she delivers.”
Sumner frowned. Emma could see him trying to make sense of what White said. Before he could say anything, White backhanded him, hitting him in the face. Sumner pitched to the side but managed to catch himself before he fell on the wounded soldier. Emma felt her anger begin to bubble under the surface. She reached up and fingered the cross hanging around her neck. Worried the beads with her fingers. She calmed almost immediately. She took a deep breath.
Focus, she thought. The soldier leaning against Sumner looked unconscious, but for a second she thought she saw a flash of awareness in his body language. He was not as bad off as he wanted everyone to believe. She was right to have brought him a weapon.
It took an effort for Emma to divert her attention from the unfolding scene. She analyzed the dirt around the hut, trying to get a handle on the most likely traffic pattern. The grass was beaten to dust in a line outside the door that curved to the left. Twenty feet away sat a large, flat boulder. The path curved around it and continued down toward the ocean. Halfway down the trail, Emma saw the glow of a cigarette tip moving toward the beach. The second bodyguard was headed toward the water’s edge.
Emma lifted both disks off the ground, took a deep breath, and carried them to the path, taking care to stay out of direct line of sight from the hut. She placed the disks back on the ground before clawing at the dirt. She was sweating and in a state of near panic. The sun was rising and along with it came the heat. The AP would soon be too warm to handle.
While she worked, she heard White talking to Smoking Man, outlining a plan.
“Burning the plants set us back at least six weeks. It will take that long for her to grow new ones that can be infused with the chromosomes we need.”
She finished burying the first disk. She turned to the second. Her panic was taking over now. She didn’t want to remain out in the open any longer. The second bodyguard could return at any time. White’s Range Rover was parked next to the line in the dirt. She maneuvered the second disk through the open passenger-side window and lowered it onto the seat. The minute she let go of the mine she hightailed it back toward her hiding spot. Once in the trees, she used the scope on the rifle to look down the path. The second bodyguard was strolling toward the hut, still pulling on the cigarette in his mouth. Emma held her breath as he approached the buried mine. He walked past it, missing it by only a few inches before heading into the hut.
“Get started on him,” she heard White say. He waved at the bodyguard. “Go get her. She needs to watch.” Smoking Man repeated the order in Spanish. The guard loped off, once again missing the mine by inches.
Emma’s panic spiked even higher. The guard would discover that she was gone and raise the alarm. Whatever she was going to do, she’d better do it now.
The remaining bodyguard grabbed Sumner by the shirt. The wounded soldier rolled off him onto the hut’s dirt floor. The bodyguard dragged Sumner out of the hut straight toward the mine.
Oh, no, Emma thought. She targeted the bodyguard, preparing to shoot him in order to stop him before he dragged Sumner right over the mine. Six feet from the spot he veered off and headed to the flat boulder ten feet farther away. Emma lowered her gun.
Smoking Man snapped out an order in Spanish. Sumner said nothing, but Emma could see that he had gritted his teeth to prepare himself. For what, Emma couldn’t tell. She didn’t know what was going on, but Smoking Man, his second bodyguard, and White all stood around with an expectant air, so whatever they were preparing to do, it wasn’t going to be good. Her fingers returned to worrying the rosary stones.
There was a yell from the bodyguard who had been ordered to get her.
“He saying she’s escaped,” Smoking Man said.
White’s eyes bugged. “What?” Emma watched his face grow red with his rage. “Are you kidding me?”
The bodyguard ran up to Smoking Man, babbling in Spanish.
“She’s gone,” Smoking Man said.
White rounded on him. “Find her. Now. Tell him to get the pilot to use the helicopter to search from above.”
Smoking Man spoke in rapid Spanish. The second guard nodded and ran back down the path.
He didn’t come close to the buried mine.
White rubbed at his eyes with his beefy hands. For a brief moment, Emma relished watching him panic.
“She can’t be far,” White said.
Smoking Man pulled a cigarette out of a pack and lit it. He stared at White, a speculative look in his eyes.
“Did you take her away? Have your soldiers bring her to the buyers while we were up here?”
White looked indignant. “Why would I do that?”
“To keep the money for yourself. Cut me out of the deal.”