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

Every second I wasted was another second she was being held hostage by her Belippa captors, or another second she was closer to being eaten by this bloodthirsty tribe.

“I would go myself,” Holland said, “or I’d send Rix along. But with what happened to Roth yesterday, this whole documentary is now up in the air. I can’t risk it.” He nodded at where Goytia had disappeared into the trees and said, “And after what you told me about him taking that bribe at the airport, I’m a little dubious about him and his small army.”

I didn’t blame Holland. He was responsible for the expedition, not Gina’s rescue. And he was right to be suspicious of Goytia. Nevertheless, I could tell it was killing him not to help.

“You know what?” Holland said. “On second thought, I can handle Goytia on my own. Rix will go with you.”

Rix gave a quick nod and said, “We’ll find your girl.”

I felt better with him along, but no matter how much jungle warfare experience he had, I still needed Diego.

“What about you, Diego?” I asked. “I can’t do this without you.”

“I have family,” he said. “I need to take care of them. And if I escape, I don’t want to eat them.”

I scoffed. “You’re not going to become a cannibal.”

“I don’t know,” Andy said. “Weirder stuff has happened.”

I glared at him, and he added, “But yeah, I mean, he’s right, Diego, that whole cannibal thing is probably hocus-pocus.”

“Exactly.”

I was surprised when Darnell said, “What do you say, Andrew? You up for a little adventure?”

Andy’s face fell. I noticed that he quickly glanced over his shoulder to where Farah and the rest of the expedition team were having a meeting of their own under command central. “Oh, I don’t know. I think we need to stay here and—”

“Dude, I was kidding,” Darnell said with a smile.

“Oh, right,” Andy said with a forced laugh.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the $10,000 Vern had instructed me to stash away for an emergency.

I held it out to Diego and said, “This is yours if you come.”

43

43

ruins
august 16, 10:15 a.m.
days since abduction: 11

Gina finished off the last of her morning rice and beans, then glanced upward at the tiny blue holes in the towering canopy.

Less than fifteen hours earlier, a helicopter had flown directly overhead. Immediately, she had thought of Thomas. It had been six days since she’d left the voicemail on his phone; surely, the helicopter was looking for her.

Gina had bolted from the shadows to a small area—maybe fifteen feet in diameter—where the sun shone through a break in the canopy. She screamed and waved her arms.