Rachael laughed again. “I thought we just agreed not to pry into one another’s business and you can’t let three seconds go by without asking questions. I’m beginning to think you have a double standard, Rio.”

A slow, answering smile curved his mouth. “You could be right. I never thought of it that way.”

“And all this time I thought you were a modern sensitive New Age man,” she teased.

Franz growled, coming to his feet. At the same time, Rio leapt to one side of the door in the nearly impossible way he had of covering long distances. He signaled the cat to silence, drew his gun and simply waited.

7

THE whistle came again, a soft one-two note. The gun never moved at all, remaining steady and aimed at the entrance. Rio answered, using a different combination of sounds, but he stayed motionless, simply waiting.

“Put the gun away,” Kim Pang said and pushed open the door. He stepped into the house, his clothes torn, damp and bloody, his tough features a mask of weariness. He had obviously been traveling fast and light. There was no pack and no weapon that Rachael could see.

Still, Rio remained in the shadows, to one side of the door. “I don’t think so, Kim,” Rio said softly, “you didn’t come alone. Who’s with you?”

“My brother, Tama, and Drake Donovan have come as well. You were slow in answering and Drake is scouting while Tama covers me.” Kim remained very still. His gaze shifted to take in Rachael, but he gave no acknowledgment that he recognized her.

“Tama isn’t doing a very good job, Kim,” Rio said, but Rachael could see him visibly relax, although he did not put away the gun. “Signal him to come in.” He lifted his head and coughed, a peculiar grunting cough that sounded much like that of animals Rachael had heard in the distance when she was trekking through the forest.

Kim called out loudly in another dialect, his voice raised and harsh, but when he turned back, he was smiling at Rachael. “Miss Wilson, it is good to see that you made it out of the river alive. Your apparent demise caused quite an uproar.”

Rachael glanced guiltily at Rio. She’d forgotten she had come to the rain forest as Rachael Wilson. Rio grinned at her, taunting male amusement that gave her the urge to do violence.

“How nice to meet you, Miss Rachael Los Smith-Wilson,” Rio said with a slight bow. “How fortunate that Kim remembered your name for you.”

“Oh shut up,” Rachael replied rudely. “Kim, you’re hurt. If you bring Rio’s medical kit over here, I’ll see if I can clean those lacerations.”