The Amazon Code (17 page)

Ben nodded. “I’m all for using a boat, it just seems slow.”
 

“It will not be. The river’s width will make the current slower in most places, so it will not be a challenge to push the boat upstream. Besides, the boat is big, and has a motor. See?”
 

Ben followed the man’s finger as he pointed down the street. They’d slowly rounded the top of the hill and were now descending down the other side. The stretch of docks connecting Manaus to the rest of the Amazon River were now in full view, and the sight took Ben by surprise.
 

Behind him, Julie and Amanda both gasped.

“Woah,” Rhett said.
 

“Welcome to Manaus,” Paulinho said, the last of the group to clear the ridge.

Ben wasn’t sure what to expect when Archie had explained that they’d be traveling by boat. He supposed the boat would have been an open-top, flat-bottomed boat, pushed along by long poles of some sort. They would pile their supplies in the center of the deck, each taking turns pushing them along upstream until they reached their destination.
 

He could only have been more wrong if he’d guessed they would travel in a canoe. The docks in front of them stretched across his entire field of vision — boats of all shapes and sizes nearly stacked on top of one another, crammed together closer than the houses and buildings on each side of the street they were on.
 

But it was the size of the boats that most surprised him. The largest stood a full three stories above the water, wraparound decks on each level, like a floating civil war-era Atlanta mansion. There were three or four of these gargantuan boats, two of them already full of tourists, hanging over the railings and gawking at the passersby far down below. He was close enough to see individual faces now, and there were families, smiling and pointing as they held their phones out over the ledges and snapped selfies.
 

The smaller boats were still large by his standards — two- or three-stories tall, some twice as long as the largest of the tourist boats. There were freight carriers, flat-topped and powered by massive diesel engines, and other commercial-looking vessels, all bobbing along beside the others.
 

Even between these larger crafts Ben could see dozens of small, single-person boats, pushing against each other as they fought for dockside real estate. Some of the smallest vessels carried loads of bananas, fish, and other sacks of goods, while others sat empty, awaiting the return of their owner.
 

The noise was nearly deafening now, as they reached the edge of the congregation of dockworkers and tourists that gathered for the morning departures. The sound had been slowly increasing in volume, but it was only now that Ben realized how intense it had gotten. Vendors yelled for attention, tourists shouted at one another, corralling family members together, and the normal hustle and bustle of urban city life competed with all the rest of it.
 

The midsummer sun was still low on the horizon, but it was already nearly sweltering. Ben wiped his forehead with a wrist and smiled at Julie.
 

“Crazy, isn’t it?” he said.
 

“I had no idea it was this… big.”
 

He nodded, turning back to the living picture in front of him. The heat, the noise, and the volume of people and boats all screamed for his attention, but nothing could compare to the river, sitting silently behind the scene.
 

The river was absolutely marvelous. Ben could barely see the shore on the other side, and the large bridge that traversed the body of water was only visible for some distance before it too vanished. The sparkling morning light gave it a sheen that contrasted sharply with the horizon and sky above it, and painted a perfect backdrop for the thousands of travelers preparing for their journeys.

“Our boat should be one of the midsize ones,” Archie explained. He pushed his way through a group of locals and veered off to the left. “The boat is called the
Adagio
,” Archie said. “Means ‘slow,’ but don’t let that fool you — speed isn’t nearly as important as integrity.
Adagio
has the fuel capacity to get us to the higher basin and back twice, and our skipper isn’t as opposed to traveling at night as some other captains are. He’s also the only one around who didn’t have a tour planned, so we will have the boat to ourselves.”
 

“There it is!” Rhett pointed to a large, three-level boat that floated behind three smaller boats on the water.
Adagio
was stenciled in all capital letters on the bow. Aside from trails of reddish residue that had crept up the boat’s side, the
Adagio
was pristine white. One man hauled in lines and curled them up on the deck of the boat, while another, undoubtedly the skipper, watched from inside a glass-enclosed front window. The boat itself was facing the city, but a gentle foam of wake had already formed behind the giant floating machine, the engines already heated up and prepared for departure.
 

Ben and the others picked up their pace as they descended the rest of the slight hill and approached the docks. The chaos of the masses of people bustling around the makeshift harbor was heightened from their closer perspective, and Ben was growing more and more anxious as every second ticked by.
 

“Are you okay?” Julie asked, grabbing for his hand. He allowed her to bring his hand in around her waist, pulling his body closer as the walked side by side.
 

“Yeah,” he said. He knew she was only trying to help, but her question only reminded him of his own reclusive tendencies and discomfort of crowds and busy places. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he repeated. “I just need to get on that boat and find a quiet corner.”
 

“Soon enough,” she responded. Juliette leaned in closer and whispered into Ben’s ear. “And maybe we can find a corner big enough for
both
of us.”
 

He smiled, starting to feel more relaxed already. Some quiet time with Julie would be more than welcome, considering how insane the last few days had been. He started daydreaming a bit, hoping the boat ride would be mostly uneventful and give them all a chance to decompress.
 

Rhett had been walking a few paces ahead of them, and he suddenly turned and darted back into the safety of the group. His eyes were wild, wide-eyed, and it was clear he was distressed.

“That guy, right over there,” he whispered. “He’s in a black t-shirt and jeans, sunglasses. He’s one of the guys that attacked us at the cabin.”
 

28

BEN SAW THE MAN RHETT was describing immediately. He was standing to the side of the docks, between two smaller boats, and looking directly at their group.
 

“Everyone’s going to stick together,” Reggie whispered back. “We split up, we’re toast. There’s bound to be more of them patrolling.”
 

They continued walking, listening for further instructions from Reggie. Archibald, Amanda, and Paulinho formed one smaller group in the back, while Ben, Julie, and Rhett walked directly behind Reggie.
 

“He’s going to radio in and tell them which boat we’re heading toward, so we need to plan a distraction. Ben, you have that pack?”
 

Ben nodded, swinging the backpack he was wearing around to the front of his body.
 

“Left-side pocket, second from the top,” Reggie said. He didn’t explain more. Ben fished around for the zipper, then grabbed the small, cylindrical device. He held it tightly in his hand, at first surprised to find such an object in their gear, but then remembered the type of paranoid survivalist they were dealing with in Reggie. “Keep it hidden, and don’t throw it until I say.”
 

Reggie turned in a full circle, then faced forward and continued walking. “They’ve got two more grunts posted up beneath some of the stands on each side of the road. Sunglasses, jeans, and t-shirts. Same uniform. These guys aren’t trying to stay hidden — they know we know they’re there.”
 

Still doesn’t make me feel good about it,
Ben thought.
 

“Everyone listen up,” Reggie said. “Take a look at the boat, and the path to it. It’s a straight shot. There are three boats about the same size docked near it, and five smaller ones crammed in-between. Memorize the location of our boat, and don’t forget it. Visibility’s about to get very restricted.”
 

The group visibly tensed, but no one stopped.
 

“Archie, you got this?”
 

Archie nodded, his smooth and controlled demeanor unchanged. “I will be perfectly fine, Reggie. Let’s get to our boat.”
 

Reggie smirked and addressed the group a final time. “When you hear me yell, you take off toward the boat. Don’t worry about sticking together, just get to the boat. Got it? Get on, get down, and don’t wait for anyone else.”
 

Ben saw nods all around, and Reggie nudged him in the side. “Ready? Three seconds.”
 

Ben nodded, clutching the cylinder in one hand and the Sig Sauer in the other. He felt the adrenaline starting to pump through his system, remembering the last time he’d been under so much pressure.
 

You’re going to push through this, just like last time. You’re the driver,
he told himself
, you’re in charge.
 

“Now!” Reggie yelled. Ben reacted on instinct, tossing the grenade in front of the group about fifteen feet, half of the distance to their dock.
 

The grenade popped on impact, but didn’t explode. Instead, thick streams of smoke poured out over the asphalt road, shielding the entire area in seconds. They ran forward, into the thickest section of smoke. Ben watched his feet, hoping each progressive step found asphalt or wood dock, and not open water.
 

He felt Julie bouncing at his side, her smaller body pressing into his as they ran forward in tandem. He wanted to reach out and grab her, to help her along, but he knew she was every bit as capable as he was, and he had a backpack and a gun to control.
 

Ben listened for any sounds of gunfire, or any indication they were being pursued, but heard none. A few people shouted cries of surprise when the smoke grenade detonated, but anyone between his group and the boat dispersed quickly enough. They didn’t run into any bystanders or tourists as they reached their destination.
 

The
Adagio
was suddenly in front of him, and he followed along its hull until he found the gangplank. He hoped the others had been as lucky, but he followed Reggie’s instructions and worried only about himself as he launched his body up the plank and into the boat. The boat’s engine noise was now matched by a gentle buzzing throb as his feet fell on the boat’s bottom deck. He swung the pack off his back and threw it toward the front of the vessel, then turned to wait for Archie, Rhett, Paulinho, and Dr. Meron.
 

They each walked up the plank without issue, and Ben helped them aboard. The four of them walked toward the front of the boat, then turned and followed Archie up a set of stairs Reggie was pointing them towards.
 

Reggie flew back to Ben’s spot from the front of the boat. “Kick the plank out!” he yelled. “They’re searching the boat behind us, and we need to
move
!”
 

Ben did as he was told, and without pause felt the entire boat float away from the dock. The skipper was already disembarking as the gangplank fell into the brownish waters of the Manaus Amazon. Ben fingered the weapon in his left hand, swinging it up and to the front of his body, bringing his right hand along its other side. He switched his grip, tucking his left hand under and around his right trigger finger, naturally feeling the proper hold. He waited, watching the thick cloud of smoke grow to fill the new cavity left by the large boat.

Ben kept his tense posture, squinting into the smoke, but no shots were fired through it. He couldn’t hear anything but the normal noise of daily activity on the shore, knowing that their smoke-fueled getaway was only a minor attraction in the overall insanity of the busy docks and marketplace.
 

Their distraction had so far worked, but Ben wasn’t about to lower his guard. Reggie stood next to him, also scanning the cloud for anything out of the ordinary.
 

“Think they’re going to fall for it?” Ben asked.
 

“They already did, since we’re still alive,” Reggie said. “But that doesn’t mean they’re going to just walk away. They’ll probably —“

He cut off his words in mid-sentence, and Ben turned to face him. Beyond Reggie, Ben saw in the distance a flurry of activity in the smokescreen. The wisps wriggled in the air, then parted. A small boat, powered by a single tiny engine driven by one of the two men onboard, broke through their visibility barrier and launched forward toward the
Adagio
. The high-pitched whine of the tiny engine sat atop the remainder of the Manaus marketplace noise, but it was all Ben could hear.
 

He pointed, but Reggie was still focusing straight ahead. The
Adagio
was now in open waters, but it was still gaining speed. The smoke bubble was billowing upward and receding as it lost strength, punctured by the many currents of wind and air competing against it. Reggie’s eyes were fixed on the dock they’d just left, and Ben looked that direction, for a moment ignoring the single-engine craft.
 

A man stood at the end of the dock, the characteristic sunglasses and t-shirt, staring at the
Adagio
as it entered the Amazon’s main channel. He seemed to be grinning at them, but Ben was already training his eyes on the man that stood
next
to their grinning enemy.
 

This man was larger —
far
larger, if the first man was a normal-sized human being. The second man was all muscle, his glistening bald head and rippling arms poking out from an unfortunate shirt that was in no way intended for appendages that large. Still, Ben cared little for the man’s appearance — it was what he
carried
that held his and Reggie’s attention.