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Back Jungle Up Save as PDF
Chapters (63)
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  63. Author’s Note

She simply intended on stunning him, hoping to hit him hard enough make him relax his grip around her throat and give her a chance to escape. Or for someone from camp who’d heard her scream to reach them and convince her would-be killer that they needed her alive. But she didn’t hit him in the face. The half-inch hard rubber antenna on the top of the phone sunk into the bottom of his neck with a sickening pop.

Immediately, the fingers around Gina’s throat relaxed. Guillermo’s head tilted back, and blood squirted from the puncture in his throat. The soldier wheeled around, spraying blood all over the table and onto the tarp roof.

Even though it wasn’t a large puncture, Gina knew it was just as terminal as taking a bullet through the heart. She backed away, watching as the soldier stumbled against the blue drums with his hands at his throat.

What had she done?

25

25

temple ruins
august 16, 3:12 p.m.
expedition: day 3

“Okay,” Libby said, clipping a small black lavalier microphone to the neck of Andy’s shirt. “I’m just going to ask you a few questions about the altar.”

Andy was standing with his back to the six-foot-wide trunk of a towering tree. Vines hung down the left side of the tree in a tangled riot. “Sounds good,” Andy replied, his voice screeching as if he was back in the throngs of puberty.

After finding the altar nearly seven hours earlier, Andy had quickly erased his status as both Jungle Weenie and Jungle Idiot and had been elevated to Jungle Hero.

Within fifteen seconds of Andy telling everyone over the walkie-talkie that he’d uncovered a sacrificial altar, the entire expedition team had circled around him. He’d never been patted on the back, both literally and figuratively, so many times in his life.

“Way to go, Andy!” Buxton had said, giving him a hard slap on the back.

“¡Muy bien!” Cala had exclaimed. “¡Muy bien!”

Jonathan Roth—who’d looked physically ill after Andy crested the buried temple and delivered his infamous meatball line—had put his arm around Andy’s shoulder and said, “Great discovery, kiddo. Just great, great work. You have a real knack for this stuff.”

Andy had beamed, his cheeks turning a fiery red at the compliment.

Libby took a few steps backward to where Darnell was hovering over the video camera and tripod. She cocked her head to the side, the blond strands of her short pixie cut whipping across her forehead and said, “Okay, first thing. Who are you?”

Andy cleared his throat and said, “Andy Depree.” This time his voice came out clear and even.

“Occupation?”

“Assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago.”

“What class do you teach?”

“Ancient Inca Civilization.”

“Okay, great.” Libby turned to Darnell and said, “Play that back for me really quick.”