Devil's Gold (47 page)

Her breath caught, but she couldn't argue. He was right. This was his world, and if he chose to party with the devil then there was nothing she could do to stop him. She turned and listened to Anna's idle chatter. The rhythmic thumping of rotor blades drowned most of the conversation taking place across the aisle, but the drone of their voices lulled Cassidy.

Remaining in that plateau where reality touched only the surface of the mind, the minutes passed quickly. With a jolt, Cassidy realized they'd dropped lower and the jungle lay directly beneath. Anna stood and held onto a strap to keep herself steady. Cassidy staggered to her feet, allowing Jake to guide her into position. He rested his hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her forward.

The helicopter hovered over a small clearing, never fully touching the ground. Cassidy jumped, her duffel bag gripped securely against her chest. A quick whiff of humid air and then her feet crashed into the ground. She bent her knees to absorb the impact and rolled to the side, making room for Anna and then Jake. Her fingers dug into cool earth and damp leaves as she pushed off to stand.

The chopper drifted away, and the jungle settled into its normal nighttime activity. Isolation and a feeling of disembodiment descended upon Cassidy. A pounding rhythm filtered in their direction; the pulsing of ceremonial drums. Cassidy shivered, dread washing across her skin.

“Come on, Sunshine. We have no time to waste.”

Cassidy focused on him as he turned and ran into the woods. She jogged after Jake, followed by Anna. Their footsteps were lost beneath the beat of drums, but Cassidy heard her own ragged breath and that of Anna's as they struggled to maintain Jake's pace. There was a narrow dirt path before them that cut through the jungle, used by the villagers to reach either the river or the road. As Jake approached the fork, he paused.

Cassidy moved beside him, holding her side and pinching at the stitch that burned. “What?” Cassidy kept her voice low, but it sounded loud and harsh against the natural music of the jungle. Jake tugged on her arm, pointing to a small area beyond a cluster of trees, indicating that she and Anna take cover.

She grabbed Anna's hand, and they moved where he pointed. Cassidy kneeled, adjusting her weight to avoid sharp rocks. The spidery fingers of the mangrove root gave her a handhold. A bead of sweat trickled down the corner of her cheek, and she rubbed her chin on the edge of her shoulder wiping away the moisture.

Her heart pounded furiously. Fear. Cassidy inhaled deeply and calmed her breathing. She wasn't cut out for this line of work. The enormous cavern that separated the two worlds she and Jake occupied loomed before her eyes. His calm detachment anchored his familiarity and ease in covert and dangerous missions. Cassidy suddenly felt like a scared rabbit. Something brushed against her shoulder, and her heart almost burst from her chest when Jake's whisper followed the touch of his hand. “It's all clear,” he said.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Cassidy exhaled, her hands shaking from the adrenaline surge. Jake led them in the direction of the pounding drums.

A small village appeared before them. There were rows of crude concrete buildings, their doorways containing nothing more than a blanket to prevent the invasion of mosquitoes. Life here wasn't easy. Darkness of night glowed with fires. In this remote corner of the delta proper there were no oil wells, which meant no gas flares. They felt the pollution in the form of acid rain and diminished river life. If Cassidy remembered correctly, there were a few pipelines that cut to the east. But there hadn't been a spill in this region for twenty years.

If what she feared lay upriver, it would all change. New World Petroleum would rip through this jungle devouring everything in its path. Within the center of a clearing, a mass of bodies swayed to the power of the drums. They chanted and banged their feet in rhythmic steps upon the hardened earth. The women wore strands of beads braided within their hair. The multicolored decorations knocked against each other, creating a beat within a beat.

The men sported colors and tattoos in varying pictures. Each tribe held its rituals sacred. Some had piercings that must be unbelievably painful; others wore a simpler display of their culture—with only one line of paint highlighted by a few white dots.

Amazing
. Cassidy stared in astonishment at the blend of tribes.

The one thing that remained common among these people was their conviction and fervor to banish the evil that controlled their soil. The band of rebels, guns slung carelessly over their arms, circled the edge of the worshippers, moving and singing along with their people.

A group of men surrounding the dancers noticed Jake and signaled across the fire. With a single cry, a large drum pounded twice and the dancing stopped. Bodies swayed and the circle opened; seven men approached them. Their hair appeared wild and gray, interwoven with feathers. Fangs and claws of the jungle were strung like beads around their necks, heads, and waists. All held staffs and their eyes burned with fire, red replacing the whites around their pupils.

Cassidy swallowed, not wanting to show fear.

They circled the Black Stripe squad, and Anna stepped forward speaking to the assembly in their native tongue. After several moments of what appeared to be intense negotiations, Anna nodded and returned to Jake and Cassidy. “They say that evil flows from the north and they won't go upriver.”

Cassidy frowned. “Evil? As in NWP?”

Anna tightened her lips and moved her eyes to caution Cassidy against speaking too loudly. “I don't know. But they're spooked. The Ijwo will head downriver and spread across either side of the banks. They'll hold the Kill-and-Go to this location.”

Jake gripped Cassidy's shoulder. “This isn't what I'd bargained for. I wanted them to cover our backs upriver. It's too dangerous. We need to call in backup.”

She stared at Jake and shook her head. “We don't know who the mole is. We're better off going it alone.” Cassidy placed her hand on Anna's arm. “Stay here and keep us apprised of any threat that breaks through the Ijwo defense.”

Anna exhaled and pursed her lips. “This is too dangerous, Cass. David and Charles…”

Cassidy didn't let her finish her sentence. “We have to be sure of what NWP's doing, Anna. I can't show up to OPEC and throw out unfounded accusations. If we're shutting this operation down, I need facts. Hard facts. Or else every life …” She choked, Steve's smile flashing through her mind. “Every life lost because of NWP will be in vain. No …” Cassidy straightened her shoulders and turned on her heel. “We're going upriver. Without backup and without the Ijwo.” She shifted the weight of her pack from one shoulder to the other and moved back toward the jungle. The flow of trepidation coursing through her veins belied the brave front she'd shown Anna. Cassidy was beyond her comfort zone and completely terrified.

T
HEY APPROACHED THE RIVER
. J
AKE MOTIONED DOWNWARD
with the palm of his hand, and Cassidy slipped to the edge of the path, pressing herself against the base of a mangrove. She watched Jake scout the area until his body blended with night and he disappeared against the shadow of the river. A light breeze kicked off the water and fanned across her face, bringing with it the acidic tingle of oil she associated with the Niger Delta.

Jake appeared before her and held his hand out. He spoke with a half whisper. “The boat's ready.”

Cassidy nodded and followed him to the edge of the embankment. She waded into the water, inhaling sharply at the chill bite of the river. As gracefully as possible, she lifted her leg and slid over the top of the thick rubber boat, tumbling inside and quickly righting herself. Jake pushed them off from shore and jumped aboard. He ignited the small outboard motor, and they began their journey upriver.

Fog thickened as Jake maneuvered them into the center of the river. It cloaked their presence but hindered their vision. Cassidy unzipped her pack and retrieved a small flashlight, map, and compass. Spreading the map on the base of the boat, she hunkered down and flipped the switch of the light. Shielding the light with her body, Cassidy placed the compass upon the map and mentally calculated their position.

“We've about ten miles to go before heading back to the shoreline.” She kept her voice soft and quickly shut off the light.

Jake patted the floor of the boat and she nodded, shuffling back to seat herself between the warmth of his legs. She held tight to the compass and map.

He bent forward and spoke into her ear. “You never really explained exactly what it is we're looking for.”

“I think a new drill site, but I'm not absolutely certain.”

Jake sighed. “Yeah, I understood that part. But something's got your knickers in a twist, Sunshine. Why is this new drill sight so threatening?”

Cassidy nestled back against his chest and lifted her face to stare into his eyes. “Charles' data shows an incredible amount of collected oil, but it doesn't show the source—that's the anomaly.”

“I don't get it.”

“During the Jurassic period the sea level of the African continent lowered, leaving behind an enormous section of land to the evolutionary process. Until the middle Tertiary the fauna and flora of Africa were distinct from those of Eurasia and the rest of the world, creating this unique pocket of organic material.”

Jake nodded. “That's what crude we're extracting now, right?”

“Correct.” Cassidy shifted her weight, and rested her elbow against Jake's leg.

Jake leaned forward and she held the compass up for him, flipping on the flashlight for a moment so that he could verify they were on course. “And why would this oil be different than all the other sites that are being drilled?”

“Because the stats Charles recovered display only vacuous space beneath the oil.”

“A canyon?”

Cassidy lifted one shoulder and stared into the night. “A very big canyon.” Cassidy's nose wrinkled, and she rubbed it against her arm. “What stinks?” She coughed and gagged as the scent became stronger, making breathing difficult.

Jake pulled the bandana off her braid and handed it to her, signaling with his hand that she should tie it around her nose. She nodded and mirrored his actions. He idled the motor and grabbed her flashlight, flipping a beam of brightness across the water. “Would you look at all these fish?”

“Dead fish.”

“There must be thousands.”

Cassidy reached overboard and plucked one from the water, holding it underneath the flashlight Jake beamed in her direction and performed a cursory check. “Gills are full of silt.” She tossed it back and peered through the fog. “How close are we to shore?”

“A couple hundred feet. Want to check it out?”

She retrieved the flashlight from Jake and consulted the map. “We're not far from our coordinates. I think whatever we find here”—she pointed at their destination—“will explain this. It seems counterproductive to investigate when my instinct says it's nothing more than erosion created by excavation of the land.”

“You sure?”

Cassidy nodded. “I've seen this before. Not quite so bad, but I've seen it. When you strip the mangroves from the shoreline, the soil erodes contaminating the water and strangling the fish.”

“Let's move on then.” Jake fired up the engine and continued upriver.

The rubber boat moved through the water, each bump and sway heightening Cassidy's anxiety. They dropped into silence, both caught within their own dark thoughts.

“This could be a suicide mission. No backup. No nothin'. We don't know what the hell's waiting for us.”

Cassidy refused to respond, her voice unable to carry any words that would dissipate the sinister edge of Jake's statement. He was right. She glanced up, startled when he flipped the engine off. “What's going on?”

Jake pointed over her shoulder. “We're here.”

Cassidy ran her palms along the cool metal that framed the levy. She couldn't see more than a few feet in front, but she felt the power and span of the dam by the sheer vastness of empty space beyond the railing. “This is amazing.”

“What's it for?”

Biting her bottom lip, Cassidy smiled when another puzzle piece fell into place. “A portable oil rig.”

“This place feels abandoned.”

Cassidy nodded in agreement. “NWP would be foolish to maintain a presence in an area they don't own. It would draw too much attention. I think we're safe to explore.”

Jake stopped her from moving down the ladder they'd located. He bent close and stared directly into her eyes. “David wasn't safe. Don't get cocky.”

She gripped the edge of the crudely built ladder, ignoring the prick of splintered wood. “Don't worry, Captain. I'll be careful.”

Jake grunted something unintelligible, pulled a length of rope off his shoulder, and tied it to the edge of the railing. He allowed it to unravel, and Cassidy watched as it fell gracefully downward. “What're you…”