DeeAnn spoke to Alison without looking away. “I sense bad news coming.”
“Bad news? From me? Never.”
“You’ve never come here alone before, Steve.”
Neither woman was buying it. “Fine,” he relented. “I came here to talk to you two. And… more specifically, to Dee.”
“About what?”
Caesare dropped the act but kept a trace of the grin. “Well, we have a wee bit of a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
He crossed his arms, trying to ignore a sudden spike of pain in his side. “It’s about our old friend, Mateus Alves.”
DeeAnn raised her brow curiously. “I thought he was dead.”
“He is. And so is his head of security, Miguel Blanco.”
“You found him?”
“I did.”
DeeAnn stared at him for a moment, puzzled, then shrugged. “So he’s dead. Why should I care?”
“Normally I’d say you shouldn’t. But he was murdered yesterday morning. By someone who we think knew Alves pretty well.”
“An eye for an eye, I guess.”
Caesare glanced at Alison, who was watching DeeAnn. Blanco had nearly killed DeeAnn, and Alves had been planning to. She didn’t care what happened to either of them. But she couldn’t hide her surprise either, no matter how hard she tried.
“Blanco died after being tortured. By someone who wanted to know everything that happened up on that mountain, including who was there.”
That got both of the women’s attention.
“What does that mean?”
“He knows what Mateus Alves was after. He knows how he died, and where. He probably also knows about you and Dulce, and that monkey, Dexter. We think he knows just about everything, and we think he’s going back to find what Alves couldn’t.”
The first signs of concern appeared on DeeAnn’s face. “Dulce and I aren’t in danger, are we?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Good. So why do we even care?”
“Because if he finds that monkey, I think we all know what’s going to happen.”
DeeAnn stared at him, but said nothing. What happened to the damn monkey wasn’t her problem. She couldn’t save it — she knew that now. But her brush with death had woken her up to the ludicrousness of what she thought she could do. It also left her with a very real appreciation of the value of life. Life was precious. And she only had one shot at it. She was no longer interested in sacrificing hers for some hopeful ideology.
“I don’t care what happens.”
Caesare glanced to Alison and back. “Well, that may be. But that’s not what I meant. Alves was a fanatic, obsessed with the idea of immortality. And now that we know DNA can be passed between species, what do you think is going to happen if this new guy gets a hold of that monkey’s DNA?” Caesare took a small step closer to her. “Alves came damn close, and believe me, DeeAnn. Alves was bad. But this guy is a whole lot worse. Blanco and his girlfriend were tortured and literally beaten to death. For answers. What do you think happens if someone like that figures out how to outlive all of us?”
“That’s impossible.”
“Is it?”
“I’m not stupid, Steven. It’s not that easy to transfer DNA.”
“It can be done.”
Something on Caesare’s face made her halt her reply in mid-sentence. Her eyes narrowed and she turned to Alison. “You know something.”
She nodded.
“What?”
“Steve’s right. It can be done. We saw it, on the Bowditch.”
“The ship that sank?”
“Yes.”
DeeAnn was quiet for a moment. “It doesn’t matter. This guy will never find a single monkey on an entire mountain. Dexter’s probably already dead anyway. Even if he’s not, it would take months, maybe years, to find him.”
“Not with Dulce’s help.”
DeeAnn’s eye widened and she shook her head. “No! I can’t do that to her. I won’t. You don’t know what was happening to her up there. She may be better now, but if she melts down again… a manic gorilla who’s twice as strong as you would be the last thing you want on your hands. Believe me. We can’t risk that again.”
“Not even for an all-expense paid trip to the rainforest?”
DeeAnn was not amused.
“Then how about a fancy medal from the President?”
“The answer is no.”
Caesare’s smile faded. “Okay, look. The truth is we need your help. We need you and Dulce to help us find the monkey. To get in and out, quickly.”
“Who’s we?”
He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looked at them both and then took a few steps back to the door. He opened it, leaned outside, and motioned his head. Steve stepped back, holding the door open.
A moment later, three men appeared in the doorway and one by one stepped into Alison’s office. All three were dressed in casual clothes but sported hardened, chiseled faces.
“I’d like you to meet my friends: Officers Corso, Anderson, and Tiewater.”
She looked them over with her arms still crossed in front of her. “Well, at least you’re not dumb enough to go alone this time.” DeeAnn immediately regretted her statement the moment she said it. If Caesare hadn’t gone alone last time, she wouldn’t still be alive. It was a stupid thing to say.
Caesare let it go. She’d gone through enough trauma. Taken advantage of by both Alves and Blanco on what was supposed to be a mission of goodwill, she was literally staring down the barrel of a gun by the time Caesare got to her. She had every right not to want to go back. But they needed her and Dulce, badly.
Neither Corso, Anderson, nor Tiewater replied or even moved. What DeeAnn Draper didn’t know was that these three men were handpicked from three of the best Navy SEAL Special Warfare teams on the East Coast. And they were now tasked with safely accompanying Caesare, DeeAnn, and Dulce back into the jungle — four members, including Caesare, who could protect them and still maintain a small, nimble, and fast group. From the insertion to the extraction, the priority was to get in and back out before Otero and his men. And there wasn’t a lot of time.
Alison remained quiet and watched DeeAnn, standing strong in front of all four men. Their presence and stone like expressions exuded a feeling of strength throughout the room. She was sure it was supposed to be reassuring, not intimidating, but it was both.
“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Steven,” DeeAnn said. “And I applaud your courage. But I don’t share it. I came as close to death as I ever want to be, for a long time. I’m not a soldier. I’m a scientist. Fearlessness is not one of my strengths. Dulce may have gotten over it, but I haven’t. I don’t know if I ever will.” She glanced briefly at the other men. “I’m sorry.”
Caesare frowned. “This isn’t about fearlessness, DeeAnn. Or bravado. This is bigger than you and me. It’s bigger than all of us. This is about the world being a much more frightening place to live in tomorrow if we don’t do something today. And every generation after us will have to pay the price. The price of not stopping this while we could.”
DeeAnn stared at him, considering his words. To her, it didn’t matter what happened today. There was so much evil in the world. So much apathy. It was everywhere and the world was going to end up in a bad place regardless. Maybe this discovery would hasten it, or maybe it wouldn’t, but either way she was sure that in the end things would end up the same. She wasn’t ready to trade her life, or Dulce’s, for a bunch of egotistical men and governments who would keep fighting with each other long after she was gone. Those men didn’t care about a brighter future for everyone else. They only cared about a better today for themselves. For their secret, corrupt, elitist clubs that would do anything they could to survive. And to rule. Men like Caesare and his friends might be genuinely concerned about the future, but the men they served were not.