The Unseen (14 page)

More gunfire reverberated through the forest. Rich raised his hand and motioned toward Kent. “Stay undercover here. I think that would be safer than trying to go anywhere for the time being. Don’t make any noise that will attract attention.”

He turned toward his team. “We’re going after them, so stay as low to the ground as possible,” he said in a hushed voice. “Remember, we can’t see them, but they can see us. If we’re lucky, we might see the flash from their weapons, their footprints, and if it’s raining hard enough, raindrops splashing on their bodies. Use those as targets. We can also listen for sounds.” As he broke into a run, Rich pulled on his night vision goggles.

* * * *

Rebecca pulled the vial from her pocket and held it up. “So where do you think this stuff came from?”

Kent focused his eyes on her face. “I have nothing to go on other than the acid test. It seems like some kind of altered limestone.”

“I’d like to see what happens when I swallow it.” She opened the vial and poured a couple of grams of the powder into her hand, watching her outline disappear.

Kent slapped a mosquito that landed on his cheek. It left a bloody streak on his face. “Don’t even think about it. Even though it’s not brightly colored like most poisonous substances, it could contain deadly organic material.”

Despite Kent’s warning, she felt tempted to try it. “A little taste can’t hurt that much.”

Kent waved his arm through the air trying to locate her arm, but her invisibility made it easy to maneuver away from him. “Bec, don’t. The stuff could kill you.”

“Since when has anyone died from eating limestone?”

Anger flashed in Kent’s eyes. “Never, but I’ve occasionally seen minerals growing on bat guano. Do you really want to swallow that? Why do you have to be so stubborn?”

Her lover had a way of being very persuasive. Rebecca wrinkled her nose and sniffed the powder, thinking if it smelled nasty, she’d follow his advise. But instead, it smelled faintly sweet. “I just want to know what happens, that’s all.”

She jabbed at the powder with her tongue. She’d read in geology books that bitter generally meant poisonous, but this powder tasted fruity and sweet and made the inside of her mouth tingle. She felt instantly lighter, like her feet barely touched the ground. All the muscle fatigue that had felt so pervasive before seemed to melt away.
I wonder if
 . . .

She took a running jump and leaped a few feet up into the air before making a squishy landing in the mud.

“What are you doing, Bec? I hope you’re not serious about tasting that powder.”

Maybe a little more.
She licked the rest of the powder from her palm. A faint outline of her shape reappeared.

Bright lights flashed in front of her eyes before they appeared as a series of numbers, like seconds on a stopwatch except infinitely faster. A pervasive sense of power surged through her.

She crouched and leaped again. This time she soared through the air and landed on a branch at least twenty-five feet off the ground.
That’s amazing.

Kent craned his neck to look up at her, his mouth open wide. “What the blazes are you doing?”

“Almost flying.” Rebecca called down to him from her perch. “You should try it.”

“How did you do that?”

“When I tasted the powder, I felt weightless and tingly inside. And I just knew I could jump like this. It’s weird how when I ingest it, I don’t completely disappear.”

“Yes, I see that. But those men are going to hear us if you keep shouting.”

“Wow, that’s really cool.” Amanda reached in her pocket for her vial. “I want to try it.”

Kent gazed up at her, his dimples deepening as he scowled. “You still don’t know she won’t collapse dead in a minute or two.”

“Why don’t you lighten up? Get it?” Rebecca laughed at her joke. It felt amazing to standing on a branch surrounded by rich, green leaves. She felt like a bird perched up in the trees. She opened her arms and relished the sensation of the early evening breeze and the earthy smelling raindrops splashing onto her face. She was a superheroine that had just learned she could fly. She wondered if the ability would linger or suddenly just fade away.

Kent snatched the vial from Amanda’s hand and stuffed it in his pocket. “That’ll put an end to this nonsense.” He crossed his arms over his chest and raised his chin as if daring her to argue the point.

“You’re no fun.” Amanda pouted as she gazed up at the trees, looking envious.

Tom placed his hand on her arm. “I don’t want you to taste that stuff either, Amanda. Why take the chance?”

Kent pointed an accusing finger up toward the treetops. “If there’s bat shit in that formula, she’s going to be puking her guts out in a half an hour.”

Rebecca raised her chin proudly and extended her arms.
I feel so exhilarated, so free.
“I’m perfectly fine, thank you very much.”

He craned his head up toward her. “Will you get the hell out of that tree? You’re making too much noise.”

“Fine.” She hated to leave her high perch, which made her feel so off-the-charts empowered. She took one last look at her surroundings and then leaped from the branch and floated gracefully down to the ground. “That was completely awesome.”

“Your boyfriend is a real killjoy.” Amanda frowned and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“I know, but maybe he’s right—why don’t you make sure nothing bad happens to me before you try it. It wasn’t very smart—I’m not sure what compelled me to do it in the first place.”

“Amanda, please, I really don’t want you sampling that stuff.” Tom traced a finger over one of her cheekbones.

She placed her hands on his shoulders and kissed his broad forehead. “Okay, well as much as I feel like I’m missing out here, I’ll pass if it’ll make you happy.”

Now that Amanda and Tom were absorbed with each other, Rebecca braced herself for Kent’s reprimand.

“I wish you wouldn’t take risks like that,” Kent wove his arm through Rebecca’s, and turned toward her with a wide-eyed expression. “We should have run a full analysis on it before you started swallowing that stuff.”

She mimicked his pout before angling her body away from him, still linked to his arm. She was gratified that he barely seemed angry—in a he acted almost proud of her gutsy behavior. “We didn’t exactly have time for that now, did we? Sometimes you have to listen to your instincts.”

Kent reeled her back in closer so they faced each other. “Well, even though I don’t like it, I’m still impressed. You’re braver than any woman I’ve ever met.”

“Amanda is brave, too, but you never gave her a chance.”

“Her boyfriend, who I’d like to keep for a friend, would have wrung my neck if I had. So I used my fast hands to keep myself out of trouble.” He motioned in the air like he was snatching the vial. “Although now I’m thinking I might like to use my fast hands for another purpose.” He skimmed his hands over her hips and massaged her buttocks.

A rush of heat spread from her core to the sweet spot between her thighs. Her lover’s touch set her off like lighter fluid. “You better stop.”

His fingers played over the skin above her waistband until tingles raced up her spine. “Oh, you like that, don’t you? If only an ambush wasn’t underway, I’d take you right here on this ground.”

“No you would not. It’s so dark I can barely see—there could be snakes down there.”

Kent stopped stroking her back and moved both hands to the sides of her face. “Yeah, among other things. But I meant what I said about you being brave, Bec. You’ve amazed me over and over again. Just when I think I’ve seen it all, you step up and do something else that knocks me off my feet.”

Kent’s eyes were shadowed in the fading light. Rebecca relished his loving touch, his acknowledgement of her contribution to the mission—even his concern for her safety. Every word, every touch said
I love you
.

A chorus of jungle insects and frogs reverberated through the forest, the perfect backdrop for their romantic interlude. “Thanks, Kent. It means a lot to hear you say that,” she said in a hushed tone. She no longer doubted he valued her presence or why he’d tried to send her home. She knew their romantic moment would soon end. And then they’d be back to fighting for their lives.

* * * *

Rich and his men crept through the jungle, weapons readied, eyes and fast-twitch muscles on high alert for signs of movement. His heart raced inside his chest. He thrived on the fear, the excitement of the hunt, and the imminent threat of danger.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw leaves move and heard a tree branch snap. He whipped his weapon around, aimed toward the noise and fired, crouching low to the ground so he wouldn’t make an easy target. A body crumpled to the ground with a thud.

More shots rang out, this time from a different direction. He swung his weapon toward the sound and fired. His companions fired along with him. He heard a grunt and the splash of the body hitting the mud.
Two down.

He heard the sound of running feet. “After them!” Rich shouted.

Rich and his team sprinted through the forest, following the trail of trampled leaves and muddy ground. Rich gritted his teeth as the elephant grass sliced through his pants, burning his flesh. All at once, the trail ended. Rich motioned for the men behind him to halt.

“There have to be some footprints around here someplace. Let’s split up into groups and comb the area.”

The men divided according to Rich’s orders. He punched his fist against the trunk of an enormous banyan tree, it’s girth broadened by aerial roots that had sprung downward from its branches. “Let’s meet by this tree in an hour.”

Rich led his team of two men through the forest, his eyes and ears on high alert. But the only sound he heard was leaves rustling high up in the canopy of trees.
Monkeys, perhaps?

Rich glanced at his watch, noticing the hour had nearly passed. He turned toward Seth Anderson, who crept through the forest just behind him. “Let’s go back and meet up with the others,” he said, frustration registering in his voice.

When his group reunited with the others, they heard equally dismal reports.

Rich gritted his teeth. He couldn’t understand how the smugglers had escaped without as much as a footprint or trampled leaf.
Unless they’ve got more fucked up powers . . .

“Let’s confirm those two men are dead,” he said. They retraced their steps to the site of the shoot-out. Rich flipped over the body of the fat smuggler. He’d been shot several times in the chest and enormous ants were already nibbling on his face. The pale blue powder was scattered on the muddy ground around one of his hands.

“He turned visible again once he dropped the powder. That guy didn’t stand a chance. Nice shot, men. Let’s check out the other one.” Nearby, he nodded toward body of the skinny blond man, neatly shot through the forehead.

“That was a perfect shot,” said Seth.

A sense of pride swelled in Rich’s chest as he observed the accuracy of his aim. “He won’t be causing us any more grief. Now let’s get back and check on the others.”

The sudden disappearance of the escaping smugglers bothered Rich. They’d been one step ahead of them way too often that day. Bringing two men down was a victory, but now that the remaining smugglers had disappeared, he worried Kent and the others might be in danger.

He quickened his pace. A knot released from his stomach when he spotted the two couples leaning against a tree.
They don’t look worried.
Kent had his arm around Rebecca’s waist and Amanda and Tom stood facing each other, disrobing each other with their eyes.
Fuck.
Rich cleared his throat.

Kent jerked away from Rebecca, looking surprised. “How did it go?”

“Not so great. We killed two of them, but I think at least two more are still on the loose. We were tracking them and then all of a sudden, we couldn’t see their footprints anymore.”

Amanda waved a hand and pointed up toward the sky-obscuring canopy of trees. “Maybe they ingested the powder and jumped up in the trees?”

Rich scratched his head, wondering if this was Amanda’s idea of a joke.
Why can’t these people take things seriously?
It’s like the fucking Love Boat without the boat.
“Huh? Am I missing something?”

“Don’t look so irritated.” Amanda frowned. “I know you take this mission seriously, and that’s why I’m sharing what we just learned. After Rebecca tasted some of that powder, she could jump up into the trees and even do flips. She looked semi-transparent at first, but now she looks normal again.”

“Right, of course she did.” Rich smirked, wondering if they’d been snorting some powder of the white variety.

“Rich, Amanda’s telling the truth. I warned Rebecca not to swallow the stuff, but she’s never been inclined to listen,” said Kent.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” Amanda pouted and nodded toward Rebecca. “I guess you better show him so he won’t think we’re making this all up.”

Rebecca thrust her hands on her hips and gave him a sardonic grin. “Seriously, you might want to grab onto a tree so you don’t fall over.”

Rich pursed his lips in a frown. He had no intention of letting them see how much all this weirdness was getting to him. “I’m perfectly capable of standing on my two feet,” he said gruffly.

“Okay, well don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Rebecca bent her knees and leaped up in the air, higher and higher until she landed on a tree branch more than twenty feet off the ground. She looked down at him, her hands perched on her hips. “Are you doing okay down there?”

Rich blinked several times, but her form remained high in the tree.
This is fucking nuts.
He sighed, attempting to maintain a neutral expression. “I guess I owe you people an apology. But all this weirdness is hard to swallow.”

“I can even do back flips in slow motion.” Rebecca leaped up in the air, arching her back and throwing her legs over her head. “It’s so cool,” she said, just before she lightly touched back down on the branches, shifting her weight around to re-establish her balance.

“Holy shit.” The woman could put on her own solo Cirque de Soleil show right there in those trees.