Page 37 of No Questions Asked

I pulled the brim of my hat lower across my face and mostly watched the jeep in front of us as it bumped and grinded along. I could see Gwen’s red hair peeking out from beneath her hat and watched as she snapped photos with her phone. I didn’t know how any of them would come out as we were bouncing around so much. Insects buzzed past my ears as we drove. I feared one would splat on my face, or worse, fly into my mouth, so I kept it tightly shut.

Slash, however, didn’t seem bothered by the bugs or the potential for swallowing them. “I expected the insects to be worse than they are,” he said to Vicente.

Vicente laughed. “It’s early yet. Just wait until dusk. Then you’ll get close with a thousand more bugs, all who’d like to make your acquaintance.” The driver said something and Vicente turned around in his seat. “Oh, Jorge wants me to warn you of the enormous, poisonous Brazilian river spider that hangs on the bottom of leaves and drops on its prey. They’re called three-steppers because once you’ve been bitten, you will take no more than three steps before you die. They’ve brought down everything from large cougars to monkeys and plenty of humans. So, keep an eye out for them.”

Despite my fear of swallowing a bug, I opened my mouth to ask a question because I had to know. “A giant river spider? Are youfreakingkidding me?”

Chapter Twenty

Lexi

“I’d never joke about the river spider,” Vicente said solemnly, but the way he was grinning made me wonder.

Slash patted my knee, but said nothing. What was that pat supposed to mean? That I shouldn’t worry? That Vicente was kidding? Or that I needed to be hyperaware of spiders so I didn’t die? I really needed people to spell things out for me, otherwise I wasn’t sure.

While I wanted to know more about the river spider—in case it involved my survival—I also didn’t want to open my mouth any more for fear of swallowing insects. For two hours we barreled along on rutted, muddy roads mostly in silence until we reached a spot where the vehicles could no longer traverse. Although I wasn’t looking forward to walking, at least we’d be out of the direct sun, so I was ready to face giant spiders and snakes as long as I could get out of the heat.

Once out I downed an entire bottle of water. I was dripping sweat as we collected the drinking water, coolers, equipment, and all the items we needed, doling them out between us to distribute the load as evenly as possible. Slash carried a backpack and the heaviest cooler. I didn’t envy him that. I had my laptop bag and equipment and backpack, but I also had to help carry water for the team. I hoped it wouldn’t be a long trek, because it was heavy.

Once the supplies were distributed, we began to prepare to hike to the village along a footpath. I fell in beside Vicente.

“I noticed the drivers took the keys from the ignition and pocketed them,” I said. “Who else would be out here to steal them?” I hadn’t seen another human or animal in the entire two hours we’d been on the road.

“The rule of the river is to always be watchful, as danger lurks everywhere,” Vicente replied cryptically. “And not just from the spiders.”

The path became so narrow that we had to hike single file to the village. I was lost in drops of sweat and thinking about the last time I’d hiked through a jungle. At least this time I had Slash and no crazy Chinese assassins to worry about, so I counted that as a plus.

Once we’d reached the village, Salvador and our drivers/soldier guards remained on the fringes, so as to not frighten the natives. Slash might have also remained there, as well, but they needed him to haul the heavy cooler, so he was permitted to join us. We walked slowly toward the huts with Natelli and Vicente in the lead and Slash and I bringing up the rear.

We stopped a couple times to drink water. When we got close enough to the village, I could see several of the structures were made of wood with roofs of woven palms. There were no doors or windows, just open beams holding up the structure. Two men stood near a smoking fire watching us, one young and one old. Both men were naked except for loose shorts and elaborate necklaces and beaded armbands. The older one’s necklace was bigger and heavier and his face was painted with red streaks around the top and bottom of his eyes. The younger one had red streaks of paint on his face, but below the eyes only. They did not smile as we approached.

We hung back as Vicente, our translator, approached first, issuing a greeting and presumably explaining our presence. After a moment, the older one spoke and there was a short back and forth before the younger man said something and villagers began to emerge from inside the huts. The children came first, followed by the women and elderly, all of whom eyed us curiously. I’m not sure if it was the entire village, but by my count, there were only about fifty people.

The people seemed welcoming enough and things seem to be progressing, with Vicente communicating with the villagers about the upcoming process. Martim strode forward and interrupted Vicente. Natelli joined them before Vicente relayed whatever Martim had just said. Unfortunately, the older villager became agitated and shook his head. The three of them returned to us and said we’d have to leave the village and return another day to do the vaccinations.

Ugh! That meant we’d have to carry all the equipment and water back again.

It didn’t take much to see how furious Natelli was with Martim and whatever he’d insisted Vicente say to the villagers. Martim didn’t seem to care and brushed past all of us with a superior air, presumably instructing the drivers to lead the way back to the jeeps. I exchanged a puzzled glance with Slash, who shrugged and picked up the cooler. We closed up the rear of the line.

Melinda, Gwen and Natelli were in front of us discussing not so quietly what Martim had done. Apparently, Martim had stirred up doubt about the vaccinations. Despite Natelli’s objections and trying to set the record straight, the villagers had become uneasy and decided to reconvene again to discuss if the vaccination program was right for them.

“Why do you think he did that?” I said in a low voice to Slash.

He slowed a bit to give us more space behind the group. “I don’t know. Maybe he thought he was doing his job. But he may have just killed a lot of children if they decide against getting the vaccination.”

On the hike back, Slash’s head swiveled constantly as he looked for threats. I wasn’t sure if he was looking for people or giant spiders, but either way, it made me feel better to stay as close to him as possible. That was good because as we finally caught sight of the jeeps in the clearing, two guys jumped out from behind the trees, taking several years off my life. They started waving guns and yelling at us in Portuguese. Several of us, me included, hit the ground in case they started shooting.

Pirates!

The security guards reached for their weapons, but it was over before it started. One of the pirates grabbed Melinda and held a gun to her neck. After that, Martim took charge, insisting we should all surrender peacefully. The soldiers dropped their weapons and held up their hands.

“Everyone stay calm,” Vicente translated for us as the pirates barked orders. “Just do what they say and they won’t hurt us. They want us to line up by the vehicles and hand over any valuables we have.”

Since I’d dropped to the grass, I dared sit up and look over my shoulder to see what Slash was doing. He’d vanished. Panicked, I scanned the rest of the group, but I still didn’t see him.

“Lexi!” Vicente shouted. I blinked, realizing I still hadn’t moved from my spot and one of the pirates was coming for me, waving a gun.

I scrambled to my feet, holding up my hands. “Whoa. Hey, it’s cool. I’m coming.”

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