Heart of Fire (21 page)

Jillian eyed the sepulcher. It had to be eight feet long, or more. "There's no telling what it weighs, and it would be impossible to move it through the tunnel, anyway. From what I've seen, the Anzar didn't die out; it looks as if they left this place, carrying their personal goods and treasures with them. All that they left behind, other than a few pots, was this temple."

"What good is a stone tomb?" Kates yelled, his face twisting with rage at finding his dream of riches turn to nothing but dust. "And these goddamn stone statues?"

"You knew this trip was a gamble," Ben said coolly. "Nothing in the jungle is a sure thing."

Kates looked ready to explode, a muscle in his jaw trembling and his fists clenched. He was sick at the thought of the money he'd spent, the money he owed… the people he owed it to. His eyes fell on the tomb. "Maybe there's something inside," he said.

Jillian jerked visibly at the idea of disturbing the sepulcher. "Not likely," she forced herself to say. "They didn't leave anything of value that we've been able to find. No gold, no silver; nothing."

His tenuous control broke again. "Goddamm it, there has to be something!"

"Look around," she said sharply. "Do you see anything with even silver
plating
? There's nothing. If there was a treasure,
they took it with them
. It's gone. Maybe the Anzar were absorbed into the Incan culture; maybe that's what made the Inca culture so rich. Whatever happened, there's nothing here now."

He looked dazed, sick. "There has to be," he mumbled.

She waved her hand, indicating the surroundings. "Not that I can see."

Kates turned away and walked hurriedly toward the entrance, the beam of his flashlight bobbing. Dutra followed, but the rest of them remained in the temple, still awed by what they had found.

"Shouldn't you be taking some pictures?" Ben prompted, smiling at her.

Amazed that she could have forgotten, she began fumbling with her camera, but her hands were shaking so much she couldn't hold it steady. "I can't," she finally said raggedly, looking up at him. "I'm shaking too hard. Can you do it for me while I take notes?"

He took the camera from her, while she described how it worked. It was an "idiot" camera, with automatic everything, so simple to use anyone could operate it—assuming the idiot could hold it steady, which at the moment was beyond her. All Ben had to do was aim and press the button. The automatic flash and focus would take care of everything else.

He took several of the tomb, then walked from statue to statue while Jillian scribbled hasty notes by the light of a flashlight clumsily tucked under her arm. What amazed her even more, now that she noticed it, was that the statues all had subtly different features. That made her think these were statues of actual women, perhaps women who had in truth stood guard over the warrior's tomb. Their individuality made the statues all the more precious, unequaled anywhere else in the world.

"Happy?" Ben asked, looking down at her.

She turned a brilliant smile on him. " 'Happy' isn't the word for it."

"I thought you'd like them."

"I never, never thought there'd be anything like this. These will be even more famous than the Elgin Marbles."

He gave her a quizzical look. "Some guy collected old marbles?"

She gave a low laugh. "Marble statues, not shooting marbles."

"Well, that makes more sense." He grinned, unabashed.

"Senhor! Senhor, look."

The urgent call came from Jorge, who had dug his fingers into a crack in the stone and was tugging with all his strength. "Senhor, I think it's a door."

Jillian's heart leaped into her throat as they all went over to investigate Jorge's find. It did indeed look like the outline of a door, arched at the top. But tug as they might from any point, the stone door didn't budge.

"Try pushing on it," she suggested.

Ben placed both hands on the right edge and obeyed. Nothing happened. He moved to the left and pushed again. The stone slab creaked. He gave her an exasperated look and bent his strength to the door. Slowly the narrow slab creaked open, stone grinding against stone, and cool air rushed at them.

"It's another tunnel," Ben said, shining his flashlight into the darkness beyond. "So they did have more than one exit."

"Shall we follow it?" she asked.

"Not now; we don't have time. Let's finish taking the pictures so we can get back to camp before dark."

It was sunset when the group left the temple. Jillian was surprised that Rick had remained with them, but he had been amazingly interested. He fell into step beside her on the walk back.

"This is what Dad was trying to find when he was killed?" he asked after several minutes of silence.

"Yes. Proof of the Anzar."

"So he wasn't a crackpot?"

"No. His head may have been in the clouds, but his feet were definitely on the ground."

"What are you going to do?"

"Have these pictures printed up; notify the Brazilian government. This will clear Dad's name. Archaeologists will be swarming over this site soon, and it will all be because of Dad and his work."

He was quiet for a while longer. "Then I'm glad you found it, even if there isn't any treasure or anything."

"There is a treasure," she said gently. "It just isn't the type of treasure you expected."

"Yeah, I guess." Rick let himself drop back, evidently having said all he'd intended to say. Since she had risked her life to save his, his hostility toward her had disappeared, but he seemed ill at ease with her, as if they were two strangers forced to converse. She was glad that he no longer seemed to so bitterly resent her, even hate her, but she accepted that they would never be close. They were too different, without even the common memories of childhood to bind them together. Rick had been so wildly resentful when the professor married her mother that he had effectively sealed himself off from the family, with only minimal contact between himself and his new stepmother and, later, even less with Jillian. By the time she was old enough to really notice things, Rick had already moved out.

As soon as they reached the camp, Rick began telling Kates about the new tunnel they had found, but Kates didn't seem interested. He growled at Rick to shut up and took himself off to his tent. Rick shrugged and went over to the other men, who were settling down for a card game.

Jillian sat and wrote, totally absorbed in her thoughts as she explored various theories of the statues' existence. The ramifications were so enormous that she couldn't absorb them all. This opened up possibilities that seemed ludicrous, completely unreal. But the statues were very real; she had seen them, she had them on film. Perhaps, with careful exploration of the surrounding area, more information on the Anzar would come to light and their history would be known. She would have liked very much to know what happened to them. What had caused them to leave this place, and where had they gone? Had the tribe consisted only of women, or were the statues only of women because women had, for some reason, been dominant? If they had bred with a tribe of men, who were those men? Where had they lived? Were the men responsible for the disappearance of the Anzar? Had the two tribes simply merged, and if so, what had happened to them?

So many questions, and all of them fascinating.

It was later than usual when she retired to her tent, her mind still whirling. The men still sat outside, talking and laughing. She almost immediately began to doze, rather than lying awake for most of the night as she had thought she would. She couldn't remember ever having felt this happy before.

Ben slipped silently out of camp the next morning before dawn, while the others still slept. Unless he missed his guess, Kates wouldn't see any point in prolonging the stay here, since there obviously wasn't any treasure to be looted. It would be smart to retrieve the Empress while he had the chance.

In the camp Kates, who hadn't slept well all night, woke just in time to peer through his open tent flaps and see Ben disappear from view. He frowned; just what was that son of a bitch up to? He got his pistol and crawled out, then went over to Dutra's tent, taking care to make as little noise as possible. "Dutra!" he hissed.

The snoring from within missed a beat, then resumed. "Dutra!" Kates said again. "Wake up, damn it."

The snoring stopped, and Kates could hear the movement of Dutra's massive body as he sat up. "What?" came the sullen rumble.

"Lewis just sneaked out of camp. I'm going to follow him. If you hear any shots, you know what to do."

"Yes," Dutra said,

Kates didn't bother with any further explanation but went after Lewis, trying not to lose sight of the thin beam of light he could see, now that Lewis was away from the camp. He didn't trust Lewis out of his sight, and all night he had been thinking about the fact that Lewis had been in the temple alone before telling any of them about it. If the diamond had been there, would he have just
left
it there, or would he have taken it? Kates knew damn well what he would have done under the same circumstances, so why would Lewis have done anything differently? Lewis had never struck him as a man who played by the rules.

After Kates had left, Dutra crawled out of his own tent and stood silently with his pistol in his huge fist, his sharp incisors showing in a smile of cruel anticipation.

Rick, in the tent closest to Dutra, rolled over with a grunt, then settled into sleep again.

Pepe and Eulogio had both awoken at the first sound of Kates's urgent whispers. They lay very still in the darkness.

Jillian awoke suddenly, to an odd sensation of alarm. She listened, concentrating very hard. She couldn't hear anything close to her tent, but she could hear… something. Breathing. Had some predator negotiated one of the tunnels? Not likely, she thought. There was absolutely no light in the tunnels, and no animal would willingly go where it couldn't see. She reached for her flashlight, thinking of unzipping her tent flap a little and shining it on whatever was out there.

The others snored peacefully.

Ben went down on one knee and brushed the dirt away from the handkerchief-wrapped diamond, then carefully lifted it out of its hiding place. He removed the handkerchief and shook it out, so he wouldn't have so much grit inside his shirt, then rewrapped the diamond in the cloth.

"I thought you were up to something," Kates said viciously behind him.

"Shit," Ben muttered, even as he automatically threw himself to the ground, dropping the flashlight as he did so, but he sure as hell didn't drop the Empress. Kates fired at him, missing in the darkness.

At the camp, everyone came awake at the sound of the gunshot and began scrambling out of the tents. Pepe and Eulogio sliced open the rear of their tents and slithered out of view. Vicente was the first one out, and with a grin Dutra shot him in the head.

The sound of a shot rang out from the camp, echoing around the bowl. Ben's blood froze in his veins even as he drew his pistol. Jillian! He fired at Kates, but didn't take the time to aim. His shot went wide, though it served the purpose of making Kates hit the dirt. Ben scrambled up and started for the camp at a dead run, knowing that the poor light and heavy brush would give him cover. He'd take care of Kates later. Right now he had to get to Jillian.

Jillian was the second one out of the tents. Dutra pinned her with that animal grin but held his fire, thinking how much he would enjoy her in a few minutes. Jorge scrambled out and Dutra fired at him, but missed as Jorge dodged to the side. Behind him, Rick was already halfway out of his tent, his eyes wide with confusion. He saw Vicente, saw Dutra standing there with the pistol in his hand, saw Jillian, and yelled, "Jillian!
Run
!" even as Dutra swung on him. At such close range, Dutra couldn't miss. The first slug caught Rick in the middle of the chest and slammed him to the ground. He didn't even twitch at the second one. Jillian was frozen for one horrified second; then she dived into the foliage. She crawled, scrambling on her hands and knees, Ben's instructions ringing in her ears: Head for the tunnel. Don't let them get in ahead of you. Run like hell.
Ben
! she thought despairingly. Oh, God, Ben! She would do what he said and get out, but if he didn't follow shortly she would take her chances and return.

Shots were still ringing out. Then there was an eerie silence.

She reached the tunnel and flung herself into the darkness, running blindly and crashing into the wall before she remembered the flashlight in her hand. She didn't turn it on, for it would have targeted her if anyone was right behind her. Instead she placed one hand on the stone wall and used it for guidance, stumbling on the wide, shallow steps as if she truly were blind. She closed her eyes and found it was easier, as if the total darkness confused her brain when her eyes were open. She waited until her senses told her she had gone around a curve before she switched on the flashlight. The light seemed obscenely bright after the utter black, and at the same time very weak, a small effort against the overpowering night.

She ran, her heart thundering in her chest, her ears roaring, the blank rock walls rushing by, never changing. She felt as if she were caught in a maze without end.

Oh, God. Rick.
Ben
. The despair was almost paralyzing.

Ben bumped into Pepe and almost shot him before he recognized him in the deep grayness of dawn. "The senhora," he hissed, grabbing the little Indian by the shoulder. "What happened to her?"

"She ran," Pepe said politely. "Into the long black hole."

"Good man. I'm going after her. Take care of yourself, Pepe."

Pepe nodded. "We will wait, senhor. When the evil ones are gone, we will leave this place and return to Manaus. You must find the senhora."

"I will," Ben said grimly, and made for the tunnel. He knew Kates was still behind him, and Dutra was still in the camp, laughing as he fired at any imagined movement around him. Ben focused all of his attention on finding Jillian.

Jillian's lungs were burning like fire, and her chest felt as if it would explode when she finally plunged out of the tunnel. She fell against the huge boulder that kept the entrance hidden, gasping for breath. Birds, startled by her crashing exit, rose skyward calling their alarm.

It was dawn, the first dim gray seeping through the foliage. Higher up, it would be much brighter, but down on the forest floor it was perpetual twilight. She used the flashlight to find her way around the boulder and out into the open. She was breathing too hard to tell if anyone was following her, but she had to assume someone was. She had to find a hiding place, fast, because she was too breathless to continue. Disregarding the danger, she crawled into the thick foliage and went limp, exhausted by terror.

"Goddammit, what do you mean they got away?" Kates shrieked. "Lewis has the goddamn diamond! He could be anywhere in this damn place, but he's probably already on his way back to Manaus, laughing every step of the way!"

"I can catch him," Dutra said, his small head lowered like a bull about to charge. His mean eyes seemed to glow red.

"Yeah, sure," Kates sneered. "He's probably waiting right outside the far end of the tunnel, waiting for us to step out. He can pick us off without half trying. We're trapped in here, goddam— No, wait. Sherwood said there's another tunnel. They found it in the temple. We can get out."

"Yes," Dutra said, that strange smile showing his wolfish incisors again.

Kates gave the camp a disgusted look. "All you had to do was shoot them when they came out of their tents, but you fucked that up too. You only got two of them. Do you know how many we'll have to hunt down?"

Dutra shrugged, then lifted his pistol and calmly put a bullet in the middle of Kates's forehead. Kates collapsed, his feet twitching momentarily before stilling forever. "Bastard," Dutra said, and spat on Kates's body. "I will find Lewis faster without you."

Ignoring the three bodies as if they didn't exist, Dutra calmly began gathering supplies. He had let Lewis have his own way for weeks, but now his time of waiting was over. He would hunt the bastard down, kill him and take his rock, and then have fun with the woman before killing her, too. Kates had been a fool to think that he could ever rule Dutra, and Lewis would learn the same lesson. Lewis thought he was ignorant in the jungle, but he would find that this was not so. Dutra would track him down like an animal, and there would be no escape, for he knew where the bastard was going. All he had to do was get there first, and wait for him.

Ben plunged out of the tunnel, the handkerchief-wrapped diamond tucked safely inside his shirt and his pistol in his hand. That had been a nightmare trip he didn't want to repeat, accomplished in total darkness, for he had dropped the flashlight when Kates first jumped him. Sweat dripped from his forehead, and ran into his eyes. It had taken all his concentration to stay on his feet as he ran down those wide, shallow steps, and to keep from panicking at the sensation of being buried alive. Only the knowledge that Jillian had entered the tunnel kept him going.

The morning light that greeted him was like heaven; until he saw it, he'd had no idea how tight his nerves were stretched, and what a relief it would be to see daylight again. He edged around the boulder, out from under the thick latticework of limbs and vines, and the light became brighter, sunshine dappling the forest.

There was no sign of Jillian.

When they first reached the Stone City he had taken the precaution of slipping out during the night and hiding a pack of provisions at the outside entrance of the tunnel. Now he dragged his pack out of its hiding place, slipped the diamond into a pocket where it would be adequately protected, then swiftly lifted the burden to his back and buckled it in place. She couldn't be too far ahead, but if he didn't find her pretty soon, she would probably disappear into the jungle without a trace. His chest felt as if there were a tight band around it, continually pulling tighter. He had to find her.

Someone had come out of the tunnel. Jillian froze, not daring to lift her head for fear the movement would give her away. She lay with her cheek pressed to the ground, her eyes closed, her blood thundering loudly in her ears. She tried to hold her breath, to calm her pulse, so she could better track the person's movements by sound. Insects rustled in the moist humus beneath her ear, and her fingers dug into the dirt.

It might be Ben. The thought crept into her consciousness. The terror that he had been killed by that first shot had been so great, so paralyzing, that she had barely been able to think. But Ben was tough, and supremely capable; he knew that they would have to get through the tunnel ahead of Kates and Dutra. She had to take the chance of moving, just to see.

Cautiously, inch by inch, she lifted her head and moved a leaf out of the way. She still couldn't see anything. The sound began moving away from her.

Desperately she sat up and crawled halfway out of her hiding place. A set of broad shoulders burdened by a backpack was disappearing into the foliage, broad shoulders topped by a head with very dark, too-long hair curling over the shirt collar.

Relief shot through her, relief so sharp that it was almost as debilitating as the terror had been. She sank to the ground. "Ben!"

She couldn't put much force in her voice, but he heard her, or heard something, for he stopped and whirled, ducking into concealment. She grabbed her flashlight and struggled to her feet. "Ben!"

He stepped back into view and was beside her with three long strides, crushing her in his arms, his head bent down to hers with his cheek resting on top of her head. She clung to him, tears burning her eyes, the feel of his hard body safe and whole against hers so sublime that she never wanted to let him go. For an hour of hell in the dawn, she hadn't known if he lived or not, and the pain of it had been crushing. She had lost Rick; she didn't know what she would have done if anything had happened to Ben, too.

"Shhh," he whispered. "I've got you. Everything's going to be all right."

"Rick's dead," she said in a choked voice against his chest. "Dutra shot him. I saw it."

He stroked her hair. Personally he didn't feel that Sherwood was any great loss, but hell, he'd been Jillian's brother.

"I'm sorry." He began urging her forward. "Come on, sweetheart, we can't stay here. We have to move, and move fast."

She went, but her mind was beginning to work again. "Why can't we stay here and ambush them when they come out the tunnel?" As soon as she said it, she remembered the other tunnel. "No. We don't know which way they'll come out, do we?"

"I'd bet on the other tunnel, since we don't know where it exits the bowl. It would be safest. They'll have to work their way around, but they need to come back here so they can retrace the way we came. We need to take advantage of what time we have to put as much distance between us as we can."

"But what about Jorge and the others?"

"Pepe said they would hide, and wait until Dutra and Kates left. Then they'll make their way back to the river. They're experienced in the jungle, they'll be all right."