Discovering Sophie (30 page)

“Shh. I won’t let anyone hurt you, Sophie.” His stomach knotted with fear. How could he keep that promise?

The noise grew louder, and the smell of diesel fuel permeated the humid air. Jack’s muscles tensed as the flat boat came into view. Several men wearing the uniform of the Costa Rican federal agents stood on deck. If they were authentic, he and Sophie would be safe.

But if they weren’t, this could be the end.

Still hesitant to believe the men might not be criminals, Jack wavered about revealing their location. Slowly, the watercraft moved closer, and he knew their time was almost up before they were discovered.

Sophie made a tiny gasp and pulled away from Jack. “Hector?” she whispered. Then more loudly, “Hector! Hector! Over here.”

Their tiny vessel rocked, and Jack’s first reaction was to cover up her mouth with his hand. He thought she’d lost her mind, especially when the armed soldiers swiveled around and pointed their guns directly at them.

Over the thunder of his bounding pulse and the chugging of the boat motor, Jack heard his name being called along with Sophie’s. He couldn’t believe it! Hector was alive and apparently bringing the cavalry into rescue them.

Guiding the canoe to the bank, Jack helped Sophie out of the boat. The moment Hector disembarked, Sophie threw her uninjured arm around him and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re alive!”

Hector’s face flushed with pleasure, and he raised his eyebrows comically at Jack. “I think she is happy to see me, ¿
no
?”

Jack laughed as Sophie let go and stepped away. “She’s not the only one happy to see you.” He reached out and gave Hector a bear hug, patting him on the back.

“I’m glad to see you too, Jack, but please don’t kiss me.”

With another laugh, Jack let go. He blinked back the tears blurring his vision, so grateful he didn’t have to tell Hector’s wife she was a widow. “Where have you been?”

Before Hector could answer , a couple of the federal agents stepped in between them and started asking questions. Jack did his best to recount their ordeal as accurately as possible. When he got to the part about the men drinking until they passed out, the agents were eager to go up the river and make the arrests before Alberto, Raul and the other criminals sobered up and moved out. The day before, one of their comrades had been shot and killed in a gun battle with Cruz.

Jack didn’t even get to the part about Maria’s death or how they had escaped. Apparently, having heard enough, the captain of the small brigade was shouting for his men to get back aboard their vessel so they could move forward.

It was impressive how quickly the men acted, and within a minute, they were on their way. As soon as the flat boat was out of sight, Jack wanted to get back into the canoe and leave immediately. The captain had told Hector about
Paraíso,
a small village that was only a couple of hours away downstream.

One look at Sophie’s pale, drawn face made Jack change his mind. “How’s your arm?”

She had her hand pressed against her wound, and when she moved it so he could check the site, Jack saw her palm was covered with fresh blood.

Hector gave a low whistle. “
Chica
, what have you done?”

“I’ll let Jack tell you the story.” She started to sway. “Maybe I better sit down.”

Jack steadied her before he placed one hand under her knees and lifted her up to cradle her in his arms. He directed Hector to get the backpack from the canoe while he found a fallen log for them to sit on.

“You don’t know how to do stitches, do you?” Jack asked Hector when he returned carrying the backpack.

“No,
amigo
.” He drew his dark eyebrows together. “It is bad, then?”

“
Sí
,” Jack said. “That scum Raul cut her with a knife.”

Sophie winced as Jack removed the bloodied bandages. “The steri-strips should work just fine, Jack.”

With Sophie instructing them as to what to do, Jack and Hector managed to close the laceration with the strips of the long bandages. It wasn’t pretty, but the wound was closed and appeared to have stopped bleeding.

Jack finished up by winding a clean stretchy-gauze around Sophie’s upper arm to cover the bandages, while Hector fiddled with the GPS. “Did you get the map?” Jack asked.

“
Sí
.” Hector showed the coordinates to Jack. “
Paraíso
is here, and from there
San Benito
is only about two or three days out, depending on how fast we travel.”

“We’ll have to reimburse them for Fred,” Jack said as he tied the gauze into a soft knot.

“Poor Fred,” Sophie said, scratching at one of the many mosquito bites they’d both acquired on their night-time boat ride with Alberto and Raul. “He didn’t deserve to die.”

“No, he didn’t.” Hector scowled. “But when I heard the gunshot, I thought for sure they had killed one of you.”

Jack stood up to stretch his legs. “By the way, how did you avoid being captured in the first place?”

“The stew we had for dinner did not sit well on my stomach.” Hector shrugged. “After using the latrine, I started back to camp when I heard the two men arguing about whether or not to kill you. I kept hidden, silently tracking the both of you. After you got into the canoe, I knew I couldn’t rescue you by myself.”

Sophie stood up and moved next to Jack. “But how did you enlist federal agents to help you?”

They all headed for the canoe as Hector finished his story. “I was on my way to
Por El Rio
to get Manuel’s help when I came across the federal agents.”

“What a miracle,” Sophie said, stepping into the boat and taking the middle seat.

Hector snorted as he held onto the canoe so Jack could take the back seat. “No, the miracle was that they didn’t shoot first and ask questions later.” He rubbed the back of his head with one of his hands. “Lucky for me, I didn’t lose consciousness when one of the agents hit me over the head with his assault rifle.”

“Are you okay?” Sophie asked.

“No worries.” He winked at Sophie. “Besides, they were very apologetic once I explained two men named Alberto and Raul had kidnapped my friends to save the life of their leader.”

“I didn’t save his life.”

“No, she saved both of our lives,” Jack said.

“Well,” Hector said as he climbed into the front of the canoe. “Since we’ve got the time, I’d like to hear all about your escape and how Sophie got that nasty knife wound.”

* * *

Jack wished they had about six more hours of daylight, but despite how hard they’d pushed it the past two days, they were not going to make it to
San Benito
until tomorrow. Ahead of him, Sophie stumbled and barely kept herself upright. Jack hurried forward and grasped her by the elbow.

“Hey, I think we better start making camp before it gets too dark.”

She looked up at him, gratitude evident in her eyes. “Okay, but I can keep going if we need to.”

One thing he’d learned about Sophie was how little she complained, even when he knew she didn’t feel good. Since leaving the small village of
Paraíso
a couple of days ago, she had suffered from a persistent headache, nausea and what she called a low-grade fever.

“I’d rather stop now. We still have about five or six hours to travel tomorrow just to reach
San Benito
, and then another three hours to reach the Jeep.” He had a feeling she was going to need all the rest she could get in order to make it tomorrow.

“Sounds good.” She gave him a smile, and shrugged her backpack from her shoulders. Jack took the bag and decided that no matter how much she protested, he was going to insist on carrying her backpack for the rest of the journey. It wasn’t very heavy, but he figured she would need to use all of her energy just to walk.

Hector came up behind her, his brown face glistening from perspiration. He’d at least been successful in getting Sophie to allow him to carry her tent. Since they hadn’t been able to retrieve any of their camping gear, they’d been lucky enough to have purchased two beat up tents in
Paraíso
, along with a few blankets and mosquito netting.

“Jack and I will get your tent up first, Sophie.” Hector slipped the straps of his backpack off and pulled out a water bottle. “Drink this, and we’ll have everything set up in a few minutes.”

“Thank you.” She reached out for the water bottle, and Jack noticed her hand was as shaky as the aged man who had sold them the tents a few days before.

He and Hector worked quickly to set up camp. Once the tents were erected, Jack motioned toward the smaller one Sophie had used the past few nights. “Why don’t you lay down and rest while Hector and I make dinner.”

Sophie only nodded and quietly slipped inside the tent. The fact that she didn’t even protest increased Jack’s concern for her.

“I wish we’d made better time,” Jack said as he met Hector’s worried gaze. “Sophie isn’t a complainer, and I’m afraid she won’t let me know how sick she really is.”

“She’s been through a lot,
amigo
. Perhaps she is just tired,
no
?” The tone in Hector’s voice implied he didn’t believe Sophie was only “tired” any more than Jack did.

“I hope that’s all it is, because we’ve got a long day of travel tomorrow.”

“Yes,” Hector said as he opened the last three packets of their dehydrated meals they had left, “but then we will be home and my Isabelle will take good care of her.” He dumped the contents of the packages into an aluminum pan and slowly added boiling water.

Home
. Just thinking about it sent an unexpected rush of anxiety through Jack that nearly stole his breath. Once they left the jungle, he would be forced to make some life-changing decisions. As much as he loved Sophie, what if she decided he wasn’t good enough for her? Jack still had no idea how to go about reconciling with his brother and parents. He had no idea if they would even want to see him.

Sophie might believe she would be happy without the extended family she’d always wanted, but that could all change once she returned to Colorado. After all, Peter was still waiting there for her, and he had all the advantages Jack sorely lacked, like a secure job, a house, and a close-knit family.

Pushing back his apprehension, Jack glanced toward the tent. “I think I’ll go see if Sophie is okay.”

Without waiting for a reply from Hector, Jack quickly made his way to her tent. The zipper to the canvas door was only partially done up. He crouched down and pulled the zipper down the rest of the way. He peered into the open door and saw Sophie was already asleep.

Renewed concern for her well-being warred with the anxiety about their future as he studied the delicate features of her face. She was so beautiful, and Jack really did love her.

Deciding to let her rest, he started to pull the zipper closed. Sophie’s eyes flew open and she sat up with a gasp. “Oh.” She drew in a deep breath. “You scared me.”

“Sorry. I just wanted to see how you’re doing.”

“I think I feel better.” She raised a hand to her head. “But I must have gotten up too fast. I feel a little lightheaded.”

“Will food help?”

“Maybe.” Her hand moved to her abdomen. “Although, I’m not sure I feel like eating right now. ”

“Dinner’s done,” Hector hollered. “Come and get it while it’s hot.”

Jack held out his hand and smiled. “You better not pass up your last backpacking meal. Tomorrow it’ll just be protein bars.”

She scooted toward him and placed her palm against his. “That sounds even less appetizing.”

Jack laughed, grateful she was acting more like herself. He tugged her close and leaned down to give her a kiss. Sophie melted against him, and her soft sigh of pleasure made Jack’s pulse surge. Being near her like this made it easy to suppress the anxious thoughts. Right now, anything seemed possible.

* * *

Sophie awoke the next morning and knew she was in trouble. Her body ached at every joint, and her head felt like it weighed two hundred pounds. It hurt to move, and she found it difficult just to sit up. Would she be able to even walk today?

A wave of nausea rolled over her as she grabbed the toiletry bag next to her sleeping bag. She took a few slow breaths until the feeling subsided and then reached inside the bag for the digital thermometer she’d brought along.

She already knew she was running a fever, she just didn’t know how high. Placing the end of the thermometer under her tongue, she waited until she heard the low-pitched beeping sound to let her know it was done.

Her hands shook as she read the numbers. No wonder she felt so bad. Her temperature was nearly a hundred and three. She put the thermometer back and found a single dose package of Extra Strength Tylenol. She hoped and prayed it would be effective enough to get her out of the jungle.

Once she swallowed the tablets, she had to lie back down again. Closing her eyes, she offered a prayer, asking for guidance about her illness. Since she was taking a broad spectrum antibiotic to prevent any infection from the knife wound to her arm, she knew she was probably dealing with a virus. And since she had just spent the past two weeks in a jungle with mosquitos, she had an idea about what virus was making her sick.

Another wave of nausea hit her, and she had to concentrate hard not to throw up the medication she’d just taken. It subsided a few minutes later, and that’s when she heard Jack and Hector breaking camp. She had hoped to have at least enough time for the Tylenol to kick in before getting up.

“Sophie?” Jack asked through the tent. “Are you awake?”

“Yes.” Her voice cracked, and she gently cleared her throat. “Yes, I’m awake.”

There was a long pause before Jack said, “Can I come in?”

She hated just lying there and knew she looked awful, but she didn’t have the energy to do anything about it, let alone sit back up.

“Sure.”

Jack opened the tent door and crouched down at the foot of her sleeping bag. “Hey,” he said, watching her with an intense gaze. Two deep creases appeared between his eyebrows. “You look terrible…er, like you don’t feel very good.”