Holland pulled his walkie-talkie from his belt and said, “Farah? Farah, you read?”

He waited five seconds for a reply.

None came.

“Rix?” Holland said into the walkie. “Where are you at?”

“Headed your way. ETA: one minute.”

“You with Farah?”

“Negative.”

“Check her location on the iPad.”

A moment later, Rix said, “Says that she’s three meters behind you.”

Holland glanced over his shoulder and squinted. Andy followed his gaze to a backpack tucked under a large fern.

“Bloody hell,” Holland said. “She took off her backpack.”

“I’ll find her,” Roth said.

“No, we’re heading back,” Holland said, glancing upward. “We have ten minutes before this storm hits. And those rivers can rise fast. I don’t want to mess with them.” Into the walkie, he shouted: “Farah! Get back here! Storm is coming!”

There was no response.

“You guys head back,” said Rix. “I’ll find her.”

“Roger that.” Holland turned and said, “We’re moving out. Everybody on me.”

The storm started exactly ten minutes later. It took another few minutes for the rain to work its way down through the canopy, but by the time they reached the river, it had already broadened by several feet.

“I’ll set up ropes tomorrow,” Holland said, standing in the middle of the stream and waving Jonathan Roth past. “So it will be easier to cross.”

Andy and Buxton watched hesitantly as Darnell and Sean made their way down the muddy embankment and across the river. Their equipment was waterproof, but that didn’t stop both from hustling toward the base camp shelter in the distance.

Cala slid down the embankment on his backside, then fell sideways into the stream. Holland helped him to his feet, and Andy was relieved to see the large Bolivian was smiling ear-to-ear.

Before his own descent, Andy glanced over his shoulder, looking for Rix and Farah, but he didn’t see either.

“Let’s go!” Holland called over the now pouring rain.

There was a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder.

Andy slid down the muddy embankment and hightailed it through the stream.

Just as Andy reached the shelter, his walkie-talkie crackled. “I’ve got her,” said Rix. “We’re headed back now.”

≈

Andy would describe the mood in the tent as despondent. Sure, they’d only spent forty minutes at the ruins, but everyone had expected to find evidence corroborating what showed up on the lidar scans.

Instead, they found nothing.

Roth was furious, stomping around the tent like a petulant child. Andy couldn’t blame him. Roth had most likely spent hundreds of thousands of dollars funding the expedition. To not find a single ruin must have been devastating.

Still, they had ten more days.