Tenderloin (Abby Kane FBI Thriller) (11 page)

He ran his tongue over his cracked lips before taking a quick look at Cabrera. Rapau then leaned in and whispered in my ear. What he told me had me thinking we should go home.

Chapter 23

Rapau’s stare didn’t waver, and he didn’t crack a smile. Surely he couldn’t be serious. I asked him to repeat himself.

“You must participate in a tribal ritual,” he said again.

“What does that mean? Am I being offered up as a sacrifice to their gods or something?”

Rapau’s eyebrows crinkled as he pulled his head back from me. “You watch King Kong too many times.”

“It’s a welcoming ceremony. You’ll become an honorary member of the tribe. By doing this, it sends a signal that you respect them and take them seriously enough to become one of them.”

“Why only me? What about him?” I said, motioning with my thumb.

“It’s your look. They’ve never seen a woman like you.”

“I’m the same height as most of them.”

“Your skin, it’s very white.”

I shook my head. I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or a slam. “I’m not joining the tribe. What if I can’t leave?” I wasn’t about to volunteer myself as an indentured servant.

Cabrera made his way over to us. “What’s going on?”

Rapau explained to Cabrera what he had told me. I watched for a reaction, but Cabrera kept his poker face in check. It didn’t appear to me that he knew anything about the ceremony. It wasn’t long after that that a pressing issue entered my head.

“Is this some sort of secret marriage pact?”

Rapau shook his head. “No, no, no. It’s nothing like that. I promise.”

“It better not be, because I’m not sleeping with anyone in that village.”

“Trust me.”

I looked deeply into Rapau’s eyes.
Did he just look up and to the right?
“Look, I know we’re both members of the short people club, but I will hunt you down and make your life miserable if you’re not telling me the truth.”

I watched him bow—the equivalent of motioning over his chest the shape of a cross. At least, I hoped it was.

“I think I’m with Abby on this. I’m not so sure this is safe,” Cabrera said. It was nice to hear he had my back.

“If we are not doing this, we need to start moving out,” Rapau said. “We’ll have to make it to the clearing we passed earlier to camp.”

Cabrera wanted more information before we made a decision, but Rapau insisted that there was nothing more to say. The elders were waiting for an answer.

We were at a standstill, and the only person who could break it was me. I stepped between the two men. “Excuse me, but considering I’m the one the elders want, I think it’s only fair that it be my decision. I’ve got a job to do, and I’m not leaving until I interview my witness.”

I turned to Rapau. “Set up the ceremony.” As soon as those words left my lips, the knot in my stomach did a backflip; it was my body’s way of saying, “Watch your back, Abby.”

Chapter 24

Soon after I agreed to participate, I was separated from Cabrera and Rapau and escorted to a tiny hut with no windows. There, three women were tasked with making me presentable but not before they poked and prodded my body like a jarred specimen. Clearly, they had never seen a person with skin as fair as mine. They couldn’t help but run their hands up and down my arms and legs. One of them even held my eyelid open so that all three of them could stare at my eyeball.
I take it green eyes aren’t common here?
The women moved around me topless, battering me with their floppy chests while they made preparations. One spent her time fashioning a headdress out of leaves and flowers. The other two did my make up. One focused on my face and painted an intricate pattern of swirly dots while the other did the same on my arms. Of course, when they started removing my clothes, I figured they were going to give me a sponge bath or something similar. Nope.

The three women took another moment to poke, and prod, and compare breasts, all while giggling. I felt like an idiot standing there while they innocently felt me up. It wasn’t until one of them revealed a large wooden bowl and started slathering red mud on me, that I realized their intentions.
I hate to disappoint the elders, but I am not walking out of this hut with only a thin layer of mud covering my naked body.
I drew the line and put my clothes back on.

As soon as I exited, ten women, clapping in rhythm while they sang, greeted me. Eight of them encircled me while the other two led the pack. I guessed it was to keep me out of view, though they weren’t much taller than I was. I strained my neck for a glimpse at what was happening beyond them. I hadn’t any idea what was going to happen next. Rapau had told me it would be fast and painless, but I wasn’t convinced. He forgot to mention that I might have to be nude, so I had to wonder what else he wasn’t telling me.

From what I managed to see, the men of the village had gathered around a large bonfire. It was hard not to think I was being served up as the sacrificial virgin.
Ha! Joke’s on them.

Slowly, we made our way toward the fire. More and more villagers gathered, all clapping and singing as they watched me parade by. The men had begun a dance of some sort around the fire. We waited until they finished, and then our group continued until I was on the other side of the fire. I had by then lost sight of Cabrera and Rapau, and I suddenly felt alone in my circle. When the women surrounding me broke away, I saw in front of me three shriveled and frail men sitting cross-legged on the ground: the elders.

One of the women guided me to a spot on the mat, opposite the old men, and motioned for me to sit. The three elders smiled at me, showing off their tiny teeth. There was warmth in their eyes, and the tension I had felt earlier slowly melted away. The middle one picked up a gourd and motioned to his mouth, like he was drinking it, and then offered it to me.
I hope that’s not something funky like bat spit or snake urine.

I took the container from him and lifted it to my mouth. I inhaled, but whatever was inside didn’t have much of a smell.
Here goes nothing.
I tilted the gourd back slowly until a tiny bit of liquid spilled into my mouth. It had a strong bite to it, like sour milk with a bitter aftertaste. That tiny amount gave me the feeling that all the saliva in my mouth had evaporated.
Okay, I’ve taken a sip. Are we finished?
But the elder reached out and tipped the gourd more, flooding my mouth. I figured a long chug might satisfy them. Wrong. Each time I thought I was done, they pushed the gourd back up to my mouth. I finally got the message. I had to finish all of it.
Suck it up, Abby. Pretend it’s Jameson.
I did, and eventually I managed to get it all down.

What I wasn’t expecting next was for the world to go spinning out of control. Whatever it was that I drank turned my head into a wooden dreidel on autopilot that wobbled every so often. I tried to shake it off and gain my composure, but it was as if I had no control over my body; my legs didn’t work, and my arms weren’t listening. There was mutiny aboard the
Abby Kane,
and she was headed for a wreck.

Chapter 25

Elan slipped quietly through the front door of his apartment, closing and locking it behind himself. Warm light from a table lamp spread throughout the small but comfortable living room, enough to prevent him from hitting his shin against the edge of a glass coffee table. He hung his jacket on the wooden coatrack and set his briefcase down next to it as he always did. He kicked off his shoes, leaving his socks on, and moved toward the leather recliner where a young woman lay sleeping. Her head was turned to the side, and her thick brown locks fanned out across her caramel skin. Elan stared at her for few seconds, watching her chest rise slightly with each breath. The soft glow from the lamp lit her in the most beautiful of ways, highlighting her delicate nose, her full cheekbones, and her ample chest. He bent down and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. Before he could turn away, her hand grabbed hold of his arm.

“Is that you, Elan?” she asked, her eyes still very much closed, and her head still turned to the side.

“Yes, dear, it’s me,” he said, patting her hand gently. “Go back to sleep.” Too late. He watched a smile form and her eyes open.

“I kept a plate warm for you,” she said, sitting up.

“Please, dear, I can get it. You relax.”

But before he could finish his sentence, his wife, Adriana, stood up and moved to the kitchen, where she removed a foil-covered plate from the oven and placed it on the table with a fork and spoon. “Sit, Elan. You must be hungry,” she said, pouring a beer into a glass for him.

Elan gave her a proper kiss before taking a seat. “I’m sorry I’m home so late.”

She removed the foil and took a seat next to him. “You’ve been working so hard lately.”

“Indeed.” Elan scooped a spoonful of rice and beans into his mouth. The taste awakened his mouth, and he quickly shoveled in a few more bites. He turned to his wife as he swallowed. “We made a breakthrough.”

Adriana’s eyes lit up. “You did? Tell me; what did my wonderful husband discover?”

“Not only did we figure out the original recipe for the drug, but it appears we have nearly perfected it.”

Adriana squealed and threw her arms around her husband. “This is wonderful. I’m so proud of you.”

Not wanting to be a party pooper about Malcolm’s condition, he stuck to the positive. “We still have tests to do, so it’s not one hundred percent—”

“Of course.”

“But what we’ve seen so far… It’s unbelievable. The strength tests are off the charts. Endurance levels are far beyond what we imagined. And Adriana, the best part is, the chimp is smarter. Julio and I were concerned we would have no control, no way to communicate, but the early signs are that it’s possible.”

Adriana once again threw her arms around her husband as he tried to scoop more of his meal into his mouth. “I always knew you could do it,” she said before smothering him with tiny playful kisses.

Later that night, after Elan had finished eating, the two lay in bed further discussing the news of the day. Adrianna had snuggled up to Elan, content to listen and play with the hairs on his chest.

“So what happens next?” she asked.

“Julio is anxious to share our results with Faro.”

“That’s a good thing, no?”

“I would prefer to do more testing. It’s the large amounts of progress that worries me and makes me want to tread cautiously. Knowing what happened in the past, we have surely tested his patience, and there is no room for any more mistakes.”

“But he is alive, the chimp you tested?”

“He had fallen ill, but we gave him a second round of injections today, and he seemed to recover almost immediately.”

Adrianna nuzzled Elan’s neck. “What do you have to worry about? You’ll be fine. Faro will be happy with the progress.”

Elan turned to his wife. Her big, brown eyes stared back at him. Her plump lips were slightly pouty. “You always have faith in me.”

“Of course. You are a brilliant man. Everyone knows that.”

If only your brother, Faro, shared your enthusiasm.

Chapter 26

Elan arrived at the lab early the following morning to get a head start. Always the conservative one, he didn’t believe he and his brother were ready for human trials. Julio, on the other hand, couldn’t have been any more confident that they were doing the right thing. He had tired of the continuous testing on the chimps after three rounds. In his opinion, the subjects were still alive; therefore, they were ready.

Elan pleaded with his brother as he tightened a strap. “Why don’t we wait at least a week to see how Malcolm #69 has fared? He seems to be recovering after yesterday’s injection.”

“Exactly. So why wait?”

Julio carried a tray with two steel surgical syringes and two cartridges filled with a yellow liquid. “Plus, we don’t have a week. Don’t you understand that? If Señor Zapata returns and sees that we have not made further progress, I’m afraid…”

“Afraid of what? He needs us.”

“Yes, but he doesn’t need our friends or our family.”

“You don’t think he would hurt them.”

“He is capable of doing anything to get what he wants.” Julio loaded a cartridge into the syringe and flicked it with his finger. His eyes followed the bubbles as they rose.

Elan took a deep breath as he moved his head back. Condensation developed along the inside edges of his goggles, forcing him to slip them off and wipe them dry with the surgical gown he wore.

Julio had finished readying both syringes and snapped on a pair of latex gloves. The test subject had been given a muscle relaxer earlier. He was conscious but capable of nothing more than lying quietly in a daze. That said, the brothers still took no chances and had used leather straps to secure the man to the metal table.

“Brother,” Julio called out, “are you ready?”

Elan nodded and pulled open the mouth of the drowsy test subject and inserted a mouth prop. Julio moved forward with a syringe, spewing a few drops before driving the needle into the roof of his mouth, right behind the top superior teeth. They both watched the yellow liquid disappear from the body of the syringe. As soon as it was gone, he removed the needle and administered a second shot. When he finished, the brothers stared at each other for a moment; they had taken a huge step forward in their research.

They had done human testing in the past though their test subject died between the one-and two-hour marks. Malcolm #69, their most recent chimp, had the most success of any subject to date. He didn’t deteriorate right away like the others, and they were able to monitor his strength and intelligence. They watched him play with a twelve-pound bowling ball as if it were a balloon filled with helium. He also managed to rip a hanging tire from its chain and proceeded to tear it in half.

His energy levels were off the charts. It appeared as though he could continue a single act for as long as he wanted. They eventually recorded Malcolm #69 jumping in place for four hours straight. Only when food was delivered did he stop.