Marked in Mexico (14 page)

As they reached the outskirts of the village Jessica spotted an opportunity and took it. A dozen tortillas cooked on a grill and a small plastic water bottle, with its logo worn off, sat on a bench close by. She grabbed three tortillas, burning the tips of her fingers in the process, and snatched the bottle. She could have taken more, but hated to steal from those who, under normal circumstances, had so little, and Jessica figured if too much went missing the owners would contact the police and the direction of their retreat would be revealed.

The disheartened trio walked away from the village in silence. They continued on until the sound of barking dogs had all but vanished and the lights from the village had been swallowed up by the night.

“The minute I think this nightmare is over, something bad happens. I don’t know how much longer I can take it,” Megan whispered, trying to choke back the tears.

Jessica understood how Megan felt, but on top of the frustration she felt guilt. If it weren’t for her, surely the men would have given up the chase long ago. She wanted to blame Gilbert for giving away her secret, but couldn’t. He was dead, so the only person she could blame was herself.

“I should just give myself up. I can’t continue to put you two in danger on my account. Maybe if I could get to those officers without the other two men noticing and promise them a huge reward to protect me until my father can send help, they would protect me.”

“We can’t take that chance. After seeing the drugs, I imagine our former captors can offer a considerable amount of money to turn you over. I would bet the officers will be more likely to side with their countrymen than an American woman promising something she can guarantee only with her word.” Jack glanced behind them, making sure they weren’t being followed. “And, if
Las Culebras
are truly involved, most small village police forces are afraid to cross them. If they came looking for you, the police would hand you over in a heartbeat, money or no money.”

Jessica’s mind reeled. She could just wait for an opportunity and take off on her own, but every time someone did that in a movie it never seemed to work. Usually the companions came after him or her and the situation was made much worse than if they would have just stuck together. She hated placing Megan and Jack in danger, but if she left and they came after her, she knew it would only put them directly in harm’s way. As is, they had somehow managed to exist on the fringes of death, so there was still hope.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel guilty,” Megan replied. “We have to stick together no matter what. We’re no longer acquaintances thrown together by tragedy, we’re family. We’ve been through too much together now. Promise me you’re not going to try and be some kind of martyr and sneak off. We’ll come after you.”

Megan had read her mind, though Jessica hadn’t thought of herself as trying to be a martyr. She just wanted to do whatever she could to help her new friends survive the ordeal. She looked at Jack and then at Megan and could sense neither was willing to give her up. Their loyalty tugged at her emotions.

“Promise me,” Megan pleaded as she took Jessica by the shoulders and looked her directly in the eye.

“Okay. I promise. I’ll go nowhere without you two.”

“That’s my girl. Now hand over your ill-gotten goods,” Jack demanded.

Jessica had almost forgotten about the small bottle she had stuffed in her pocket or the roll of tortillas she still held in her fist. She pulled the bottle out, handed it to Megan, unrolled the tortillas and distributed them. Jessica knelt down and tied her shoes as she spoke.

“Sorry it’s not much, but if I cleaned the poor people out we probably would’ve had the police on us immediately.”

Megan took a bite of tortilla and then tipped the bottle to her lips. Her face contorted, but she swallowed and handed the bottle to Jack. “Here, have a swig. It’s good water.” She winked at him.

Jack sniffed the bottle and took a long gulp. “Yep, good water.”

Jessica stood up and ripped the bottle out of his hand. “If it’s so good, let me have some before it’s all gone.”

She tipped her head back and took a big drink. Her throat burned, but she refused to give Jack and Megan the satisfaction as she forced the tequila down without so much as a wince. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and passed the bottle back to Megan.

By the time the bottle made another round, it was empty.

“I don’t know about you two, but I feel much better about our situation,” Jessica said.

“I feel no fear. In fact I can barely feel my nose,” Megan added.

Jack laughed and shook his head. “I’m not complaining about the tequila, but you should probably start being a little more careful what you grab. Who would have guessed that our little Bluebell would have such a nose for drugs, booze and explosives?”

Jessica punched Jack’s arm, but couldn’t muster the energy to scold him for calling her Bluebell. From him, she was starting to find the nickname a little endearing, though she would never admit it to him or anyone else for that matter.

Putting the empty bottle back into her pocket, she followed Jack as they resumed walking away from the village. She figured the tequila wasn’t sufficient hydration, but the faint numbing effect felt good. The sensation would be short-lived, but for the moment she was content to enjoy the mildly carefree effect.

According to Jack, they were heading north. After several hours they came to the banks of a river. Jessica had mixed emotions. The water provided a way to clean up and she supposed they could drink it if they had to, but it also might be an obstacle. The current was moving fast, the river wide and deep. She wondered if it was always this treacherous or if the rains of the past few days had swollen the river. Crossing it would be a problem.

Jessica gazed at the river as her mind reeled through countless hours of nature programming. She couldn’t remember if there were any kind of alligators or caiman in this part of Mexico, but she hated to find out the hard way. Rivers were often referred to as the cradle of life, but could easily turn into a place of violence and death for even the wariest of prey.

Moonlight danced off the water’s surface as the nocturnal sounds of the jungle embraced them. The scene looked and sounded peaceful, but the short field of view through the darkness left too many unknowns to calm Jessica’s frazzled nerves.

A loud splash broke the trance the exotic scene had placed on her mind. Instinctively she jumped back, tripping on Megan, who was standing directly behind her. She bounced off the taller woman and stumbled to the side. She lost her balance, but before she hit the ground, Jack’s hand seized her arm and stopped her downward momentum.

“A little jumpy,” Jack stated in a deep calm voice as he continued to hold her arm.

Jessica placed a hand to her chest and focused on slowing her breathing. She looked at Jack and he was smiling at her. His grin was crooked, but not mocking. He was offering comfort and she felt warmth in knowing he was looking out for her.

“Let’s backtrack away from the river and find some place to rest. It’s not safe this close to the water at night. You never know what will be coming in to drink or hunt under the cover of darkness or what lurks underneath the surface.” Jack released Jessica’s arm.

Jessica didn’t argue. Something didn’t feel right and there was definitely a living being out there. She had no idea what, but by the sound of the splash it was big.

If the noise had shaken Jack, he didn’t show it. Sometimes his cool control drove Jessica crazy, but most of the time it helped calm her raw nerves. She took several deep breaths and followed him back into the trees. They hadn’t walked far when they found a spot densely-vegetated enough to provide a reasonable amount of cover.

Megan broke a leafy branch from a tree and began sweeping the area where they planned to sleep. Jessica looked on, hoping the girl hadn’t finally cracked under the pressure.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m tired of getting eaten up every night. Maybe if I brush away some of the dead leaves, I’ll remove some of those biting ants.”

“Oh, thank goodness. I thought maybe you were losing your mind. Not that I’d blame you, since my grasp on reality happens to be a little tenuous at the moment.”

Megan laughed. “You’re the only person, other than my stepmother, to ever accuse me of being crazy. Only she wasn’t joking.”

Jessica looked at her watch and it was only eight o’clock. They had nothing left to eat or drink, so for lack of anything better to do they sat down and wrapped the blanket around themselves the best they could. The night was mild, so their shared body heat would keep them warm even without the blanket. But, any bare skin they could keep covered was one less place to get bitten by insects.

Megan rested her head on Jessica’s shoulder. “Boy, do I miss my dad and sisters. They must be so worried. It tears me up to think of what they’re going through.”

As Jessica snuggled closer to Megan she noticed the young woman was shaking and it sounded as if her teeth were chattering.

“Are you feeling all right?” Jessica asked.

“I’m freezing, achy and my head is throbbing. I imagine the headache is just dehydration. Surely we didn’t drink enough tequila to give me a hangover.”

Jessica looked over at Jack and could see concern in his eyes. He leaned over and placed a hand on Megan’s forehead and winced. She was cold.

“How long have you felt like this?” he asked.

“My head started aching about an hour ago, but the chills have come on all of the sudden. I was feeling fine. In fact, I was sweating when I was brushing the dead leaves away just a few minutes ago.”

“Jessica, give me that bottle you’re carrying. I’ll go see if I can find something safe to drink so we can keep her hydrated. If nothing else, I can at least get some river water to help cool her fever when it comes. In the meantime, try to keep her warm and keep the pistol close.” He handed Jessica the gun and grasped the bottle in her outstretched hand.

Jessica placed the pistol at her side and told him to be careful and hurry back. She hated when he left, especially at night or when something large lurked near the river. Since their escape, anxiety consumed her whenever Jack left, a deep fear he would never return, but at the moment she was too worried about Megan to dwell on her concerns.

It already felt as if Jack had been gone an eternity, but it’d only been several minutes as verified by her watch. Watching the time was the best way to keep from overreacting. With Megan shaking, she alone was in charge, so there was no room to panic unnecessarily.

Jessica wrapped Megan tightly in the blanket and held her close to offer comfort and her own body heat. The more Megan shivered and shook, the tighter Jessica held her. For the first time since she had met the five-foot-ten blonde, Megan seemed small and fragile.

By the time Jack returned, Megan was fighting to get out from underneath the blanket. Jessica tried to help, but Megan flailed around in a state of hysteria. As soon as Megan was freed from the blanket she calmed down enough to let Jack place a hand to her forehead.

The burning heat radiating from Megan’s skin confirmed his worst suspicions. He glanced at Jessica and their eyes met. Jack could see the distress in her expression, but could think of nothing to ease her mind. The horrible situation they were in had now become much worse.

Jessica bent to feel Megan’s head, but her hand was slapped away before she could touch her skin.

“Get away from me, you evil witch! Don’t touch me! You have no right to hit me. I’ve done nothing wrong!”

“I just wanted to feel how warm you are. I wasn’t going to strike you.”

“You’re a liar. You always lie. Get away from me,” Megan screamed as she tried to scoot back.

Jack knelt down and grabbed Megan by the shoulders. “It’s okay. I’m here. I won’t let her hurt you, I promise.”

Megan quit squirming and let Jack sit next to her and put his arm around her. He took out the bottle of water and made her take a few sips. He had found a small stream feeding the river that looked clean. He doubted it was, but they’d have to drink it anyway and worry about those parasites later.

He motioned for Jessica to get out of Megan’s line of sight and keep quiet. Megan’s head jerked back and forth and she moaned, but after about an hour she drifted off into a restless sleep. Jack eased her down onto the blanket and slipped their bundle under her head to make a pillow. She continued to toss, wrench and moan, but stayed asleep. He watched her for several moments and then moved to where Jessica stood silently, chewing on her fingernails.

“Sorry. She’s delirious and obviously thought you were someone else. I figured it would be best to assure her I’d protect her rather than try and convince her you weren’t who she thought you were.” He handed Jessica the water.

“What’s wrong with her? Is she going to be all right?”

“I’d say she has malaria. It’s not as common in Mexico as it is in Africa, parts of Asia and the South Pacific, but I’m sure that’s what she has. There are different strains of malaria and it affects people differently. I don’t think her life’s in danger since I don’t believe they’ve had any
P. falciparum
parasites reported in Mexico. I’m not an expert, but she needs chloroquine immediately to be on the safe side.”