Leap - 02 (31 page)

62

It took them hours to finally reach the top of the mountain.  With the vehicle’s powerful engine constantly roaring up the steep inclines, DeeAnn couldn’t even hear herself think.  Next to her, both Dulce and Dexter were still trapped in their cages and fearfully peered through the steel bars.  DeeAnn was trying to comfort them, but the noise was too loud for her vest to translate anything.  It was without a doubt the longest ride of her life.

The smoke from the fire was extremely heavy due to the jungle’s damp air.  Rather than rising, some of the brown layers descended outward and down the mountainside.  And the thick smoke made their climb over the final hill even more shocking, when they finally saw the fire in curtains of wild dancing flames all around them.  In some areas, it caused the dark smoke to
glow a crimson red.

Once he had a full view, Alves’ driver stopped and everyone’s mouth fell open.  The breadth of the destruction was immense.

Alves’ hope of a miracle promptly evaporated, and at the same moment, Dexter went completely ballistic.  He screamed at the top of his tiny lungs and pulled even harder against the bars of his cage.  His desperate hands searched the outside lock and frantically tried to finger it open.

Dulce was visibly shaking while watching Dexter.  A helpless feeling washed over DeeAnn as she realized that she couldn’t help either primate.  Both had devolved into full panic attacks, and no amount of training could help now.

A desperate Alves pushed open his door and jumped out onto the smoldering earth.  He stood there in shock, watching the flames stretching up into the brown sky. 
No! NO! 

From a distance, the black earth looked utterly lifeless.  He could not even ascertain what had originally been on the ground before it was burned beyond all recognition.  Alves abruptly pulled a white handkerchief from his pocket and placed it over his mouth to reduce his coughing. 

Dexter was still screaming when Blanco’s man pulled the cages out of the back of the vehicle and dropped them onto the ground.  DeeAnn spotted the fur around the capuchin’s miniature hands, soaked red with blood as he tried fiercely to move the bars.  His dark pupils were wide with fear.

“Let them out!” DeeAnn screamed.

But Alves didn’t hear her.  He and the other men were taking in the sheer destruction before them with a sense of awe.  For Alves, the scene caused a gut wrenching sense of mortality.  His mind tried to understand how something like this was even possible, here in the mountains of the Amazon. 

Then both Alves and Blanco spotted it at the
same time.  Less than fifty yards away, lying on top of the burnt ground were
boots
.  They were protruding out from behind a large group of rocks.  One of the dark boots was pointing up with the other twisted sideways against the ground.  Both men hurried across the scorched ground with Alves moving surprisingly fast without his cane.

When they rounded the enormous rock, the entire body became visible on the ground.  Dressed in a gray, partially burnt uniform, the man was twisted onto his side and wearing a giant, mechanical pack.  On it, they could see two metal tanks with a long hose dangling to the ground.  The dead man remained motionless with his right cheek against the ground, goggles pulled down over his face.  Both Alves and Blanco stared at the lifeless body with confusion. 

The soldier’s face was frozen in a look of agony and part of the skin was blackened as well.  Yet his characteristics were still clearly Chinese, with dark eyes gazing upward at the sky.  The corpse’s left arm was still under one of the straps, appearing as though the figure had been trying to get the pack off when he entered the eternal realm.  Blanco circled around the body and pushed it over further with his boot.  On the back of his uniform was a large patch of blood.

“He was shot from behind.”

Alves recognized the flamethrower and shook his head, dumbfounded.  He was still holding the handkerchief over his mouth.  “Why?  Why would they do this?  If they got here first, why would they destroy it?”

Blanco coughed and covered his mouth with his sleeve.  He scanned the area and spotted another body further away, also on the ground.  “Maybe they didn’t know what they were doing.”

Alves followed Blanco’s eyes to the second body.  “Or they were used.”

“Or both.”

Alves stepped away before reaching down to pick up a scorched piece of vegetation off the ground.  He wiggled his fingers and watched it break apart into pieces of ash and drift away.

Further down the slope, he could see a much larger section completely untouched by the fire.  The soil looked lumpy, like it had been turned up.  His eyes grew wide when he realized what it meant.  Excavation!

Behind them, the sound of Dexter’s screaming abruptly ceased.  They both whirled around and Alves’ face drained in a panic.  “NOOO!” he screamed.

DeeAnn had managed to open the cage.  Alves watched helplessly from a distance as Dexter bolted away from them and disappeared into a wisp of swirling brown smoke.

Alves was
livid!
  With the area destroyed, the monkey’s genome was his last and only hope.  “Get him!” he yelled to one of Blanco’s men who stood peering after the monkey, uncertain of what to do. 

“GET HIM!”

The man gave a brief nod and ran after the monkey, disappearing into the smoke.

Alves stormed back up the small incline.  DeeAnn, who had also let Dulce out of the second cage, stood defiantly, firmly grasping Dulce’s hand

“You’ll pay for that!” Alves growled.  “You will PAY!”  Out of breath, he stopped less than ten feet from her.  The second of Blanco’s men promptly stepped in from behind and seized DeeAnn by the back of the neck.  She stumbled forward from the impact but managed to hold onto Dulce.

Alves’ mouth curled into pure hatred and his face turned dark red.  “Tell the gorilla to go find him!”

DeeAnn did not answer.

“I SAID, TELL THE GORILLA TO FIND HIM!”

DeeAnn continued staring.  When she spoke, it was a single, unmistakable word.  “No.”

Alves’ eyes looked as though they would pop from their sockets.  He turned to Blanco.  “Kill him!  Kill Diaz!  Now!”

“You were going to kill us anyway.”

Standing next to Alves, Blanco’s dark eyes jumped to DeeAnn and studied her.  At the same time, a sinister smile crept across his rugged face, sending shivers down DeeAnn’s spine.  He was enjoying this.

Without a word, Blanco approached DeeAnn’s side and replaced the other man’s hand with his own iron grip on her neck.  Dulce whimpered and darted behind DeeAnn’s leg.

“Go get the phone,” motioned Blanco.  Without a word, his man nodded and headed back toward the vehicle behind them.  It was slowly being enveloped by a small curtain of smoke.

“Jesus, what a stupid woman!” growled Alves.  He glanced at Blanco and nodded his head.  “Take it off.”

Blanco immediately reached his thick arm over DeeAnn’s shoulder and down across her chest.  With two quick motions, he tore it loose, allowing the vest to fall to the ground.

Alves stepped forward and picked it up.  He then slid his arms through and tightened the Velcro straps. 

“Then I’ll tell her.  I’m sure she’ll want to save
your
life.”  He turned the vest toward Dulce, who was peering out from behind DeeAnn.  “Dulce,” Alves commanded in a stern voice.  “Go find Dexter.”

Dulce didn’t move.

Alves looked down at the unit.  Nothing came out of the speaker.  He flipped the power button up and down and repeated.

Still nothing.

He glared at DeeAnn.  “What did you do to it?!”

DeeAnn merely shook her head, silently.

“Tell me!” Alves yelled.

Her response was smart.  “Your idiot driver should have slowed down.  The vest is broken.”

Alves’ eyes narrowed.  He checked the vest again and spoke one more time.  Nothing.

“It’s over,” DeeAnn said.  “Your crazy obsession for immortality is
over
.”

To her surprise, Alves laughed.  “Over?  You think this is over?  Nothing’s over.  The monkey’s still out there, probably along with many more like him.  And even if I can’t find them, whatever
was
here hasn’t just been destroyed.  Some of it has been removed and taken somewhere.”  He displayed a delirious grin.  “Which means I can find it.  I have more resources than you can imagine.  Billions of dollars and an army of people.  And I’ll spend every last dime finding what was taken from here.  No, it’s not over.  It’s just beginning!”

DeeAnn was staring in disbelief at Alves, when she felt Blanco’s body weight subtly shift behind her.  She gasped when his gun appeared over her shoulder.

Alves was still watching DeeAnn when he suddenly noticed the same thing.  He looked at Blanco with a puzzled expression.  The gun was pointed at
him
.

“What are you doing?”

Blanco was still squeezing DeeAnn’s neck, yet leveled the barrel of his gun directly at Alves’ chest.  “Enough of your insanity.”

Alves was thoroughly confused.  His mind was having trouble processing what his eyes were seeing.

“You would,” Blanco said accusingly.  “You have more money than most people could ever imagine, and I believe that you
would
spend every last dime trying to escape your own fate.  It’s not bad enough that you’ve raped our country for your fortune, now you want to use your blood money to cheat death too, a fate many of your victims have already faced.”

Alves’ expression changed from confusion to concern.

“How many families could live a good life from your money?” Blanco continued.  “Families like
mine
.  Instead, you would spend every last bit trying to extend one life already lived like a king.”

“What are you talking about?” Alves cried.  “I pay you well.  You know that!”

Blanco smiled.  “Yes, and now you’re about to pay me even better.  It’s time for someone else to assume the throne.”

“You can’t,” Alves challenged.  “It’s all in my name.  Killing me gets you nothing.”

“It’s not all in your name.  Carolina has access to more than enough.”

“Carolina?”  Alves’ eyes escalated to a look of panic.  He was right.  Carolina had enough signing authority.  It wouldn’t get Blanco all of it, but it would still make him rich.  “She would never do it.”

Blanco’s smile was mocking.  “You underestimate the loyalty of a woman in love.  She already
has
.”

“You can’t do this.”

Blanco shifted his head, unmercifully.  “You said death could come from anywhere, no?”

It was the last sentence Alves ever heard. Before he could respond, Blanco pulled the trigger and fired a round straight into his chest, ripping a gaping hole through the right ventricle of Alves’ heart.  The old man was dead before he hit the ground.

DeeAnn screamed, then became frozen, stunned from both the explosion of the gun and the instantaneous death of Mateus Alves.  She stared helplessly when Dulce screamed and abruptly bounded away down the mountainous slope.

Blanco marched forward with DeeAnn stumbling beside him.  He stood over Alves and fired a second round into his chest.  Then he turned and looked back toward the smoke. 
Where were his men?
  “Luis!  Marco!  Get out here!”

He yanked DeeAnn down.  He slapped her hard across the face, causing her to collapse onto the ground in a daze.  He used her shirt to wipe the gun clean then grabbed her right hand, wrapping it around the butt.  Finally, he forced her fingers through the guard and over the trigger. 

“Get out here, damn it!”  Blanco yelled louder over his shoulder.  DeeAnn blinked repeatedly, still trying to process what had happened and to think of what to do next.

Blanco looked up as a figure finally appeared out of the smoke.  He opened his mouth to yell something else but stopped.  The figure didn’t look like either of his men.  This one was muscular and wide and dressed entirely in black.  Blanco paused, wondering whether his eyes and the smoke were simply deceiving him.  As the figure approached, he strained to see who it was.

DeeAnn recognized him immediately, if not from his face then from his profile.  The black hair and mustache were unmistakable.  The instant relief she felt was overwhelming and DeeAnn began to cry.

Steve Caesare stopped and looked down, assessing.  In his right hand was the outline of a large gun.  He smiled at Blanco.  “Luis and Marco aren’t doing too well.”

“Who are you?!” Blanco spat.

“I’m the Cavalry.”

Blanco quickly grabbed the gun back out of DeeAnn’s weak hand.  He moved his left hand around to the front of her neck and pressed the gun into her cheek.  “Take another step forward and she’s dead.”

Caesare calmly raised his gun and motioned over his shoulder.  “You’re going to have to go through me to get to that Jeep.”

Blanco snarled and pressed his gun harder into DeeAnn’s face.  “I’ll take her with me.”