“Did you hear that?” Antoine’s eyes narrowed.
Victor frowned. “Yes, I did.”
“What was it?”
“It sounded metallic, but that doesn’t make sense out here.” Suddenly Victor remembered the flash of red he’d seen down one of the trails. Then it hit him. He knew what had made the sound. “I think we just tripped an alarm.”
Antoine looked at him. “An alarm? What are you talking about?”
“Remember how I thought I saw something down one of the trails? It was a flash of red, and now I realize it was a laser beam of some kind.”
“Like a trip wire?”
Victor nodded. “The beam was so thin that it’s hard to see unless light hits it just right.”
Antoine was about to respond when a distant noise cut him off. It was a screech or a wail, and it sounded like it was about a half mile away.
Antoine looked in the direction of the sound. “What the hell was that?”
“I have no idea.”
“An animal?”
Victor shook his head. “I don’t think so.” He looked at Antoine. “I think it’s related to that alarm. It must have alerted someone — or something — to our presence.”
Seconds later, another wail sounded, and this time it was closer than before.
“What the…” Antoine whispered.
Victor felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
Whatever was out there was going to arrive in a matter of minutes.
CHAPTER THREE
WITHIN SECONDS, OTHER wails sounded in the distance. Clearly, more than one attacker was closing in on their position.
“Can you tell which direction they’re coming from?” Antoine asked.
Victor shook his head. At first, he thought he could pinpoint the location of the sound, but the canopy of trees caused the sound to echo in a confusing way. The only thing he knew for sure was that all of the wails came from farther inland.
A minute later, the sounds ended. Victor wasn’t sure whether that made him feel better or worse.
“Maybe they’re not coming toward us anymore,” Antoine whispered.
Victor shook his head. “Don’t count on it.”
“Then why don’t we hear them?”
“Because they don’t want us to.”
Antoine reached down and slid the scaling knife out of his belt. He was usually the courageous one, but now his face was etched with fear. It was one thing to sneak around someone’s property and risk getting caught by the police. That would get them in trouble, but it was the kind of trouble that had minimal consequences. This was different. This was the kind of predicament that could put their lives in danger.
“We need to leave… now,” Victor said.
Antoine paused before answering. “I’m not sure I know the way.”
There was no longer any bravado in his voice. If they were going to make it out alive, Victor knew he was going to have to take control of the situation. “All right, here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll go back to the clearing, then we’ll choose one of the paths that goes downhill.”
Antoine nodded but said nothing. His demeanor had changed to one of fear and uncertainty.
As they walked down the path, Victor noticed the jungle had grown strangely quiet. Even the steady buzz of insects was gone. The silence was unsettling. The only positive was that it might allow them to hear something coming.
When they arrived at the clearing, Victor considered their options. At least three of the trails seemed to run downhill, and there was no guarantee any of them would continue on a downward path. He had noticed that many of the trails looped back and forth. At that point, it was a chilling game of Russian roulette. Pick the wrong trail, and they might eventually find themselves heading toward danger.
Antoine clicked on his flashlight and shined it around the perimeter.
“Shut that thing off,” Victor snapped.
“It’s going to help us—”
“Are you crazy? It’s like a beacon. You might as well start yelling.”
Antoine extinguished the light. “So what now?”
“We split up.”
“Why? There’s strength in numbers.”
“It’s our only hope of getting out of here alive. We know that at least one of the trails leads right back here. That means if we both take the wrong one, we’ll have wasted precious time.” Victor pulled out his radio and held it up. “We’ll stay in touch using these. The minute I realize I’m on a trail that goes all the way back to the beach, I’ll let you know. You can then return to this clearing and take the path I took, and do the same for me.”
Antoine removed his radio and turned it on. “I still don’t think this is a good idea.”
Victor was about to respond when a snap sounded in the distance. Something or someone had stepped on a branch. They both turned and looked uphill. Whatever was coming toward them was only about a hundred yards out.
“We need to get moving,” Victor said.
“Which way?”
Victor pointed at the trail on the far right. “I’ll take that one. If you have to come back, remember it’s the one with the big fern.”
“Just to make it easy, I’ll take the one right next to it,” Antoine said.
Victor grabbed his arm again. “Remember, keep in touch.”
Antoine nodded.
Victor released his arm and set off down the trail. A few seconds later, a cone of light appeared through the trees on his left. Antoine was using his flashlight. Idiot. Victor thought of using the radio to tell him to knock it off, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good. His friend was in panic mode.
After rounding a sharp bend in the trail, Victor came to a stop. The path continued to slope downward, but the jungle was also thinning out. He didn’t remember ever seeing anything like that when they’d first come up. Maybe this was an alternate path to the beach. Or maybe they had crossed the ridge and were headed down into the interior of the island.
Going back didn’t seem like a good option, so he decided to continue on for a few minutes to see what developed. The trees were sparser here, so if he was getting close to the beach, he should be able to see it at some point.
Victor was about to continue down the path when a sharp scent reached his nose. It was putrid, like the smell of a dog that hadn’t been bathed in months. As he stood in place, he thought he heard a thump about twenty or thirty yards away. Was it his imagination, or was something coming toward him? He stared at the path ahead, but a bend in the trail prevented him from seeing anything that might be coming.
He looked around. He needed to take cover. Turning to his right, he saw a sturdy tree with low-lying limbs. It would leave him cornered if he was discovered, but he didn’t have much choice. Whatever was out there was traveling faster than he was, so hiding was his only option.
After tucking his radio away, Victor grabbed the lowest limb and pulled himself up. The tree was easy to climb. Hidden by the foliage, he took his time, making sure he stepped carefully each time he moved higher.
He stopped about thirty feet up. In addition to being well above the trail, he found that a cluster of vines provided some cover. After sitting on a limb, he looked down. Moonlight filtered through an opening in the canopy, allowing him to see for a short distance. He looked toward the bend in the trail and saw movement. Something was coming down the path. It was moving slowly, like it didn’t want to be seen or heard. His heart racing, Victor leaned deeper into the vines.
The figure continued up the path and was only ten yards out. It looked like a man, although something about the movement didn’t seem human. Was it some sort of ape? Victor knew little about wildlife, but he was fairly certain there weren’t any large primates in the Caribbean.