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I looked up realizing several hours had passed while I’d been in the zone, and I hadn’t seen Slash yet. Gwen was working with Natelli and they were checking something in a test tube. I headed over her way to chat.

“Hey, Gwen. Have you seen Slash this morning?” I asked.

She set the test tube down in a tray and took off her safety goggles, leaving them around her neck. “Yeah, I saw him getting some coffee this morning. I think he headed into town with Gabriel.”

“Oh.” I wondered why he’d gone back into town and hadn’t told me. I rolled my stiff neck a couple of times, suddenly ravenous. “You want to catch some lunch?”

“Sure.” She took off her gloves, coat and goggles, leaving them on a chair. Natelli asked if she could join us, so the three of us headed for the dining area. We were served a delicious meal of beans, rice, fish and vegetables, accompanied by a strong shot of espresso. I ate two servings and might have had a third, but opted for the dessert instead, an incredibly tasty flan.

“I’m totally interested in this tribal mating ceremony you experienced,” Natelli said. “You say the men fought a wrestling match for the women?”

“Yes, something like that.”

“And Slash actually fought for you against a native?”

“Yes. Against the chief.” I still wasn’t sure how much of it had been real and how much had been an act. “Then we had a bonding ceremony.” I looked down at my wrist where the redness of burn was almost gone. “We told you guys all this last night.”

“But it made you married in the eyes of the villagers?” she persisted.

“Bonded, mated, married, whatever you want to call it.” I’d started to feel a little uncomfortable with her continued probing questions. Part of me wanted to keep the details of our ceremony private, because it had been such an intimate and special moment between the two of us.

Natelli asked a couple more questions about the ceremony that I managed to evade when, to my surprise, Gwen came to my rescue.

“What I really want to know, Lexi, is how you liked being unplugged for those few days?” Gwen asked. “No laptop, no cell phone, no running water or bathroom. How did you manage to do it?”

“It wasn’t that hard. There were so many interesting things to learn.” Grateful for the change of subject, I told them how the Okampa had created a bathing and bathroom area away from the water source they drew for cooking. I threw in some information about the way they cooked and socialized. They were both fascinated.

“Anyway, I didn’t miss the computer that much because I was too busy trying to survive. In a way, it was an eye-opening experience for me. That being said, I’m not sorry to be back in front of my computer, using a shower, and sleeping in a real bed again.”

We chatted for a bit more and then headed back to the lab, ready to get to work. When we were walking out of the dining building, Gwen realized she’d left her coffee mug on the table, and went back for it. Natelli and I walked on to the lab.

“Your adventure sounded frightening, interesting and incredibly exhausting,” she said. “I bet after the project is finished, you’ll be glad to get back to life as usual at X-Corp, and Slash at the NSA.”

I immediately stopped walking and turned toward her. “What did you say?”

She seemed confused by my question. “I just asked if you and Slash would be glad to be going back to work in a more civilized location.”

I stared at her, my gaze broken only when Gwen caught up with us. “Hey, guys, thanks for waiting for me.”

Without responding, I turned and headed for the lab. I had a lot of work to do, and suddenly, not all of it had to do with hacking.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Martim Alves

Even though he had the air-conditioning blowing full blast, it was insufferably hot sitting in a parked car outside the small building at the airport. He checked his watch. Fifteen minutes until the rendezvous.

He’d become increasingly nervous. For the fourteenth time, he unfolded and read the email that led him to this location. Things had not been going as planned for the past week. Last night, that damn American had returned from the jungle with his woman and was reporting that the government would be beefing up security in the area.

What a disaster.

The American’s woman and the intolerable lead scientist—he couldn’t remember either of their names—were already saying the vaccine project could be ramped back up to full operation in twenty-four hours. His government sources also reported that the federal police had become very active in the area, although no one seemed able to confirm why.

What the hell were they doing?

The situation had become even worse becauseEl Esqueleto, or one of his representatives, had somehow received word of the problems at their new compound, and they were trying to pin the blame on him. It was shocking and despicable. How could he possibly have known in advance one of the natives would kidnap a random woman? He was good at predicting things, but they couldn’t possibly believe he would foresee that.

Thankfully, they’d finally responded to the email he’d sent them days ago protesting his innocence. Somewhat ominously, they’d requested a personal meeting. He’d never personally met anyone fromEl Esqueleto’sentourage, and frankly, he never wanted to. But one didn’t say no to the drug lord, so here he sat in the car, sweating from more than just the heat and waiting for his meeting to begin.