Victor had to admit he felt better knowing they had a way to call for help. A number of fishing boats were still out on the bay, and a flare could be seen for miles.
Antoine produced a folded tarp and handed it to Victor.
“What’s this for?” Victor took it and shoved it into his backpack.
“After we get done exploring, we’ll set up on the beach and enjoy a little refreshment.” He winked at Victor. “How does that sound?”
“I think we should just skip the exploring part.”
“You need some more tequila.” Antoine closed the compartment lid and looked at Victor. “All set?”
“I guess.”
Antoine swung his legs over the gunwale and dropped into the shallow water. Victor handed him the backpack and dropped in next to him. Even though it was nighttime in October, the water was still comfortable.
After the two waded ashore, Antoine pulled the tarp from the bag and spread it out over the sand. Once everything was situated, he pulled out the bottle of Cuervo and poured himself a glass. After downing it in one gulp, he repeated the action two more times.
“Easy now,” Victor said. “You have to drive us back.”
Antoine stared at the ocean. “Tell me this isn’t heaven.”
Victor followed his gaze. The moon hung on the horizon, its light reflecting off of the glassy surface of the bay. He was right — it was the perfect setting for a night of drinking. “That’s why we should just stay here.”
“Not a chance. We’re going to find out why that rich guy wanted to buy this place.”
Victor turned and looked behind them. About twenty yards away, the rainforest rose up, dark and foreboding. Underneath the trees was a thick and seemingly impenetrable tangle of undergrowth. The vegetation was so thick it gave Victor hope that they wouldn’t be able to enter the jungle at all. Perhaps Antoine would settle for a long walk down the beach. Probably not. Then again, Victor knew he at least had to try. “Good luck finding a way through that.”
Antoine set the bottle of Cuervo aside and stood up. “What?”
Victor nodded toward the trees. “The jungle. No way we can get in there.”
“We’ll be fine. It’s not thick everywhere. I found something interesting on Google Maps. There’s a dock about a mile from here, and it looks like there’s a dirt road that leads into the interior.”
“Getting down there and back will take up a good chunk of those two hours,” Victor pointed out.
“You really going to hold me to that?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Well, then let’s get moving. Come on.”
Victor let out a little grunt then stood. He might as well get it over with. Maybe they could explore for an hour then sit on the beach for an hour. That was what he was going to suggest, anyway. In fact, if they made it safely back to the beach then he just might be willing to stay a little longer.
After crossing the thin strip of sand, they followed the line of trees to the left. Antoine played his beam around on the vegetation, stopping on occasion to examine several openings more closely. None seemed large enough to fit through.
As they continued on, Victor noticed the jungle was much noisier than he had expected. A steady buzz of insects was broken by the occasional call of a nocturnal bird. There were also a few barks and sounds of unknown origin. It was like walking through their local zoo at night.
“Here we go.” Antoine directed his flashlight toward a large opening between two palms.
“It looks pretty tight.”
“We’ll be fine.” Antoine stepped back and directed his beam above the trees. “This island is actually the top of an old volcano. There’s a ridge of hills around the perimeter, with a valley in the center. One of the reasons I picked this spot is because the ridge is a little flatter here.”
“So we’re going uphill? Sounds like a lot of work. Doesn't sound too relaxing.”
Ignoring the comment, Antoine stepped between the trees then directed the beam at the ground. “Hey, check this out.”
Victor looked down and saw what appeared to be a large number of tracks scattered across the soft earth. “Animals.”
Antoine pointed at a place on the right side of the trail. “That one is pretty big.”
Victor bent over. He was right. One set of tracks looked larger than the others. “What do you think it is?”
Antoine crouched for a closer view. “Looks like a human foot but hard to tell.”
“Maybe the guy who owns the island has people out here guarding the place.”
Antoine shook his head. “I doubt it. If it’s a human print, then it’s probably someone who was doing the same thing we’re doing now.” He looked at Victor. “But just to be safe, let’s kill the lights.”
After they extinguished their beams, Victor followed Antoine into the trees. About ten yards in, the trail widened, making travel easier. The only problem was the assortment of knobby roots that made walking difficult on their sandaled feet.
As they traveled deeper into the jungle, they encountered several forks in the path, as well as a number of crossing trails. Antoine’s choice of which one to take didn’t always seem to adhere to any rule, but in general, he seemed to take the one that continued straight or perhaps slightly to the left. At first, Victor worried about how they were going to find their way out, then he remembered that Antoine was a man of the outdoors. He could probably get back to the beach with a blindfold on.
About a mile in, Antoine stopped in the middle of a large intersection.
“What’s wrong?” Victor asked.
Antoine cast his gaze in several directions. “I’m… it’s probably nothing.”
Victor gave him a hard stare. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“I don’t know. This clearing… it looks like one we crossed through a few minutes ago.”
“I knew this was a dumb idea.”
“Chill out. It probably just looks like the one we went through before.”
Breaking his own rule, Antoine turned on his flashlight and ran the beam around the exterior of the clearing. Light splashed across tangles of vegetation. As best Victor could tell, at least five trails ran off in various directions.
As the beam crossed one of the trails, Victor thought he saw a flash of red light. “Stop,” he said.
“What?”
“Shine it on that last trail one more time.”
Antoine moved his beam to the left, but Victor didn’t see the flash of red again.
“You see something?” Antoine asked.
“I don’t know.”
Antoine stood in silence, his flashlight pointed at the ground. For the first time ever, Victor thought he saw fear in his friend’s eyes. But instead of pity, Victor was filled with a growing sense of anger. “You got us into this mess, now get us out of it.”
Antoine held up a hand. “We’re going to be fine.”
“Then tell me where we are.”
Antoine took another look then pointed his beam at one of the trails. “The hill slopes up in that direction, which means the interior of the island is in that direction. That’s the way we need to go.”
As Antoine started to walk off, Victor grabbed his arm. “I’m giving you one more chance. If we don’t reach the valley in the next fifteen minutes, then I’m out of here. You’ll be on your own.” He shook his friend’s arm roughly. “You hear me?”
Surprisingly, Antoine didn’t argue. If anything, his lack of a response unsettled Victor even more. Antoine was always the one who stayed calm, no matter how difficult the situation. It was the main reason Victor always went along with his crazy ideas. But Antoine’s confidence was gone, and to Victor, that was an ominous sign.
Antoine turned off the light then took the path that led up the slope. They had traveled only about fifty yards when a sharp click sounded off to the right. Both of them stopped and looked in the direction of the noise.