Page 85

While I brought Slash up to speed, the women and Salvador freed the rest of the men. Slash and several of the men left to survey the situation and tie up the guys we’d incapacitated, while a few women stayed in the building with me. I glanced at my watch. It was still another hour or so until daylight, but I could tell the villagers were ready to move on, and I agreed we didn’t want to stay in the compound especially if more of them were scheduled to arrive.

I quickly sat down in front of the laptops to confirm the data had been sent safely to Slash’s secret repository.

It had.

It shocked me that no one had even checked on the laptops once the entire evening. I presumed drug runners weren’t expected to have mad skills at the keyboard, but a cursory checkshouldhave been a given. Plus, they’d had no online security, no password protection, no nothing. Just a bunch of arrogant, stupid idiots. Somehow they thought their data would be safe because they were in the middle of nowhere. The problem was, it didn’t matter where you were. If you were online and connected, you were vulnerable.

I was still at the keyboard, with several natives curiously looking over my shoulder, when Slash returned.

“It wasn’tEl Esqueleto,”he said. I could tell he was disappointed.

“Are you sure?”

“I am.” He put both hands on my shoulders and started massaging. It felt wonderful as the tension slowly drained from my knotted muscles. “But I’m pretty sure this is his operation. Did the files all upload?”

“They did. No one even bothered to check the laptops.”

He didn’t seem surprised to hear it. “I suspect the computer is used primarily by the biologist and for communications. I saw some scientific references to coca trees when I was flipping through the documents.” He slid into the chair in front of the other laptop and started typing. One glance confirmed he was looking through their email system. While he was doing that, the villagers lost interest and left Slash and me alone in the building.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Using a tried and true strategy of trying to find the top boss. I’m looking for someone asking for approval to do something. I’ll go up the chain from there.”

“That’s a good idea. I’m done here, so I’m going to get the phone and give Vicente a call.”

“Good idea. Whoa.” He suddenly tapped something on the screen. “Well, hello there.”

“What did you find?” I walked back, peering over his shoulder. The text was in Spanish, so it meant nothing to me.

“A gem—a big one. Stand by.” His fingers flew across the keyboard. Then, with a dramatic flair, he hit the return button. “Well, that should generate a little unplanned excitement.”

Before he could tell me what was going on, Salvador rushed into the building. “The villager who got shot in the leg is taking a turn for worse. The shaman is asking if we could assist him.”

“Do we have the first aid kit?” I asked Slash.

“Probably, but they took our backpacks,” Slash said. “We can try to look for them, but I suggest looking in the bathroom or kitchen first. I suspect the compound will also have medical supplies available.”

We split up, Slash and I going to the bunkhouse and Salvador to the kitchen. I found a basic first aid kit and ran back to where the villagers had gathered. Salvador found our backpacks and Slash came back with some more gauze and towels.

The shaman was quietly chanting over the man, who was writhing on the ground in pain. One of the women had cradled his head in her lap. With permission from the shaman, I cleaned the wound, wrapped his leg and gave him antibiotics and a painkiller.

“You’re becoming quite the nurse,” Slash observed.

“Practice helps,” I said. “Although I’d rather not have to do this again. I think they want to get him back to the village as soon as possible. But there’s a catch. They want me to go with them.”

Slash lifted his head sharply. “What? Why?”

“I don’t know. But the chief indicated either I go with them or they all stay.”

He thought it over and then shook his head. “You’re not going back to that village without me.”

“I agree, but someone has to stay here and keep an eye on the drug runners until Vicente and the other agents arrive. No one else has the experience that you do.”

Slash pushed his fingers through his hair, thinking. All of us were going on twenty-four hours with no sleep, little if any food, and emotional exhaustion. It was amazing our brains were even functioning. “Before any decisions are made, call Vicente and get an estimated time of arrival.”

“Okay.”

I found Quiver Girl and she handed over the phone. I dialed Vicente’s number right where I stood. He picked up almost immediately.