Page 83 of In the Heat of the Jungle

“They were fooled.”

“You’re pathetic,” Louisa sneered and ran inside.

A saturated Cynthia glanced from Reid to Chad, then followed Louisa to their tent.

“Let’s get out of this downpour,” Reid advised.

Drenched, Jace stalked from the jungle. He went straight to Chad and slugged the man across the jaw. The blow sent Chad to the muddy ground. “What did you do this time, old friend,” Jace shouted. “Have a deadly snake put in her tent? I let both of you convince me you weren’t a threat to her. I thought you had changed; you seemed to be returning to your old self. I should have known that was impossible. You sorry bastard, you didn’t have to kill her to punish me again!”

“Where is Leigh?” Chad asked, looking behind Jace.

Fury and coldness exuded Jace. “Right where you sent her, to her grave. If you wanted her money this badly, she would have given it to you. Hell, I would have helped you get it so she could live.” Jace’s expression and tone altered to sadness, then bitterness. “You didn’t have to kill her, Chad. She lied, didn’t she? You do inherit everything if she dies, don’t you? Damn you!”

Chad did not get up, as if the grim news made him weak. Mud oozed between his spread fingers, and water pooled around them. Rain flowed in rivulets over his black hair and pale face. He lowered his head to protect his eyes and nose from filling. “No, my mother does. But I didn’t harm Leigh. She can’t be dead. What did you do with her? The authorities will have you in chains by tomorrow. You’ll be shipped to London and hanged!”

Jace looked surprised, then angry. “So that’s why you came here! That’s your plot, isn’t it? Kill Leigh and frame me. Why, because your first frame didn’t get me killed? How can you hate me this much and for so long? Dammit, man, I didn’t betray you. I don’t deserve all this torment. It has to end, Chad. Why don’t we have a duel here and now to settle this destructive war for good?”

“This isn’t a game, Jace. I love her. I want to marry her. Bring her back and I’ll do anything you say. I’ll give you all the money, and I’ll confess to the crimes. I just want Leigh. Please return her to me.”

Reid pulled Chad to his feet. “Can’t you see he’s tricking you into confessing to anything? It’s your grief talking, Chad. She’s dead. Nothing you say or do can bring her back. Stop this nonsense.”

Chad looked at Jace and glared. “She’s dead, and you’re using that to get revenge on me. You’re the one trying to frame me. You killed her and I know why!”

“If this wasn’t a setup to look like another accident, why did she have a bush knife in her hand? Did you hire some of Jim’s men to do your dirty work for you?”

A servant shook Jace’s arm. “I give her knife. She asked. Little gun gone. She afraid. It was kindness.”

Louisa returned. “You’re both fools. After you left camp this morning, Leigh said she wanted to ‘clear the air between us.’ She didn’t trust either one of you …” she began. Then, without revealing her side of the conversation, she told them what Leigh had related. “You’re both fools. She was duping both of you.”

Chad asked Jace, “She agreed to marry you, too?”

“No, I never proposed. I don’t know why she would tell Louisa such a tale. Maybe for the same reason she lied about that beau in America. That doesn’t change anything, Chad. You’re to blame. I would have persuaded her to marry me. Everything was going fine until recently. You did or said something to turn her against me. What was it? Did you tell her about Joanna, tell her I was after her for revenge?”

“I never mentioned Joanna to Leigh,” Chad yelled over the loud rain. “You’re up to something. If Leigh’s dead, I want to see her body.”

Jace’s jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed. “What do you think I did with her? Left her bound to a tree with a fatal snakebite?”

“I think you left her in that village, sick or captive.”

“If it’s proof you want, you’ll get it at first light.”

“How do I know you’ll take me to the right village?”

Jace looked ready to strangle the man. “You’ll know when we dig up her grave and you see her body. It won’t be a pretty sight. You know what happens after a tropical snakebite. Damn you, Chad, damn you.”

“Why didn’t you bring her back to camp?”

“And fight off hyenas and vultures all the way. You know what they do when they smell dead flesh. They would have attacked and devoured her. You couldn’t want such a fate for her. In the morning, I’ll take you to the Kikuyu village and you can dig her up.”

“That’s morbid, Chad,” Reid said. “You know what condition she’ll be in. Don’t look at her like that. Jace is in too much trouble to fake her death. Besides, he wouldn’t want you and your mother claiming her inheritance. She’s dead. Accept it.”

“Let him come with me, Reid,” Jace almost demanded, “that’s the only way he’ll believe me. I tried to save her, so don’t you try to pin another crime on me. I dare you to check her grave and body!”

In his emotional state, Chad concluded that Jace was too willing and eager to show him Leigh’s bloated and discolored body for her death not to be real. Chad wiped the rain from his smarting eyes, but they filled again in the deluge. “Get me out of this damn jungle in the morning. Rain or not, we’re heading for home.”

“Can’t wait to get back to claim her money?”

“No, Jace, I can’t wait to be rid of you. You’ve been a nemesis too long I’ll pay the twenty-five thousand pounds in Mombasa. Neither of us wins the bet.”

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