Ransom (Benson Security 4)

“What blew up?” Belinda whispered.

“I think it was the camp.” But it didn’t make sense. Not unless the search team had gone in, guns blazing, to find them. No, even then, it didn’t make sense. Benson Security had a rep for being the best. And being the best meant they didn’t blow up the people they were trying to rescue.

“Does this mean they’re all dead and they won’t chase us?” Belinda sounded so hopeful that he was almost loath to burst her bubble.

“No. The kidnappers could have blown the camp themselves, to cover their tracks after they discovered we were gone.”

“Will they still try to find us?”

“Can we take a chance on thinking they won’t?”

Her whole body seemed to deflate. “No, I guess we can’t.”

“We need to keep going. Get some more distance between us and the camp. Head that way.” He pointed. “I’ll bring up the rear.”

He swung the gun that was across his back to his front, ready to use. It bothered Beast that the natural noise of the jungle covered any sound their captors might make. If someone was close by, he honestly wasn’t sure he would notice until they were right on top of them. He wished this fight were happening back on his home turf. Buildings and alleys he knew; trees and rivers—not so much.

They ran, uncaring about leaving a trail or making noise. The most important thing was to get as far away as possible, as fast as possible. They crashed through bushes, shoving palms out of the way and feeling them slap against them as they passed. They stumbled over roots, grass and fallen trees, all the while batting at the insects hovering in a cloud around their heads.

Belinda started and detoured to the left. “Snake.” She pointed at the long reptile curled around a vine, watching them with yellow eyes.

Beast was glad she’d spotted it, as he wasn’t sure he would have. Tiny yellow frogs with large black eyes jumped along branches, singing to them.

“Don’t touch anything red. Red is bad. Everything red can kill you,” Belinda called over her shoulder. “And don’t touch any frogs. Most of them have excretions on their skin that can kill you or make you hallucinate. Neither of which would be good right now.”

She sounded out of breath. Beast noted that her dress was clinging to her back and sweat made her hair stick to her neck. As if thinking exactly the same thing, Belinda reached into her tiny bag, came out with a hair tie and pulled her hair in a ponytail. For some reason, the sight of her bare neck made Beast want to lean in and take a bite out of the woman. He shook his head to clear it. He had to stay focused on their problems, not on Belinda. And the biggest of their problems was water. They were losing too much fluid and would have to make finding water a priority.

They broke through a thicket of bushes and found a muddy bog on the other side. Belinda put a hand out to stop him walking straight into it. “We don’t know how deep it is.”

She headed off on a path that would take them around the muddy area. The sound of something large crashing through the bushes made them stop dead. Belinda reached back and placed a hand on his arm. He covered her hand and squeezed it before holding the rifle out in front of them. They stood unmoving, barely breathing, afraid of making any noise at all; anxious they’d been found, and ready to defend themselves.

The palms wavered and shook. There were moaning noises, followed by clacking sounds. Belinda shot Beast a querying look and he said, “Shh,” to make sure she maintained silence. And then the smell hit them. Belinda covered her mouth with her hand and gagged. She looked at Beast, clearly asking what it was. He shrugged. Damned if he knew. It smelled like skunk. Lots and lots of skunk.

Suddenly the grass parted and a small, pig-like animal ran out. It crossed in front of them, about six feet from where Belinda and Beast stood frozen. The noise increased as several more of the same animals crashed into the tiny clearing. They were built like pigs, with white snouts and spiky black hair covering their bodies. Beast watched stunned, as they kept on coming. There were hundreds of them, ranging from babies the size of domestic cats, right up to adults the size of wild boars. The herd rushed past them and headed straight for the mud pool. And the smell was overwhelming, to the point where Belinda’s eyes were watering and his were stinging.

Once the last of the animals were frolicking in the mud, Belinda tugged on his hand and signalled for him to move out. He nodded, and they slowly made their way around the mud. It took a few minutes to get far enough away from the animals for the smell to fade. Belinda dropped her hand and gasped for air.

“That was gross.” She pulled at her dress, lifting it up to sniff at it. “Does the smell cling? Do I smell like white-lipped peccaries?”

“White what?”

“Peccaries. They’re like pigs. Only way smellier.” She looked up at him. “Can you sniff me and tell me if the smell lingered?”

“No. I’m not going to sniff you. How the hell do you know what they are?”

She shrugged. “Must have picked it up somewhere. Weren’t they cute? That wild, bristly hair standing on end and those tiny, wee eyes. I could totally have cuddled one—if it wasn’t for the smell. I don’t even think they’re vicious. Though I’m not sure. Apparently, they snap their teeth together to make a kind of clacking sound when they’re cornered. They probably bite, too.”

Beast stared at her. His main thought had been whether the herd would overwhelm them and eat them alive. Hers had been whether it was safe to cuddle them or not. He looked at his watch.

“Get moving,” he said, because he didn’t know what else to say.

“Do you think we’re going in a circle and we’ll end up back at the camp?” Belinda said. “I’ve heard that most people naturally veer to the left when they choose a direction. We could be doing exactly that.”

“I have a compass built into my wristwatch.”

“Oh.” That took the wind out of her sails. “Did you take into account there’s so much iron in the Amazon basin that compasses have been known not to work in the rainforest? You might think you’ve chosen a direction to keep us going in a straight line, and really we might as well have been following the second hand on your watch.”

“How the hell do you know this stuff?” Beast urged her forward as he spoke. “You recognise pig species, you know about iron deposits. Are you making this stuff up?”