“I’ll keep that in mind. If your Margaret manages to get back here without having one of Masenak’s sentries blow her head off.” He turned away and said curtly, “In the meantime, if you need to eat, you’d better go to the supply hut I saw beneath the tarp and grab something right away. I was promised information, and I’ll give you the time it takes me to build a fire and get myself another cup of coffee for you to keep that promise.”

“I’m not hungry,” she said quietly. “I realize you’re going to be on edge until you’re satisfied that you know everything I do. Go get your coffee. I’ll make the fire.” She smiled faintly. “You’ll find I’m very good at everything to do with camping. In fact, my first meeting with Margaret took place in the wilds. If you like, I might even tell you the story.”

“Don’t bother. First, I want to see a map of Masenak’s camp and any weaknesses I can exploit. I’m not interested in anything else unless it has to do with this rain forest and Masenak.”

“It does in a way.” She turned and started to gather wood. “Since it has to do with Sasha.”

“And who is Sasha?”

“Go get your coffee.”

He turned on his heel and headed toward the hut. By the time he returned and handed her a refill on her coffee, she had a brisk fire flickering. He dropped down on the ground beside her. “Masenak’s camp,” he repeated curtly. “Numbers. Placement of troops. Vehicles.”

“Vehicles.” She opened the notebook she had laid out in readiness. She pointed to three boxes near the top of a drawing. “He always travels with three trucks when he’s here at Szarnar.” She pointed at the oblong figure to one side of the tracks. “Helicopter pad about a mile from the main camp. Masenak never takes a chance on not having an escape route. He has troops on patrol at that pad twenty-four hours a day. And the copter’s always guarded by a truck with a mounted machine gun.”

“We might still be able to reach him before he’s able to take off,” he muttered.

“Only if you make the choice to go after him while his men are butchering the prisoners,” she said. “Because that’s what would happen. He already told the CIA that any move on him would lead to the students being massacred. He meant it,” she said hoarsely. “That’s why you have to get the students out first. Don’t you see?”

“I see that there’s a problem.” His gaze was narrowed on the page. “But there’s usually more than one answer.”

“Not this time.” Her eyes flew to his face. “I know you like to experiment with solutions, but not with those girls’ lives. You can’t do that, Korgan.”