I hate the feel of it.
“Stay behind me.” She clutches her own M16.
Yep. That’s Jinx.
“I think someone’s out there,” she says in a whisper.
Toby finally gets to his feet and manages to put a look on his face that isn’t brooding lovesick vampire. Or bored. He watches Jinx as she passes. “She’s always so eager to risk her life. Even when she has no idea what she’s risking it for,” he mutters.
Oh hell’s bells.
That.
That right there was the problem. “We’re risking our lives for Charles. And Dad. And anyone else about to be exterminated by The Opposition.”
He loads his own gun. “Right. And truth, justice and the American way.”
“Toby! You need to—”
“Shh!” Jinx tells me, waving her hand at me to pipe down.
I know she’s right. Now’s not the time for this. But fighting with my brother is the only thing that keeps my pulse going. That keeps the cold fear from overtaking me.
Because.
I think someone’s out there.
The camper door has a small window. Jinx takes one finger and slowly pulls at the edge of the white curtain that hangs over it.
I can hear my heartbeat.
“You see anything?” Toby asks.
“No,” Jinx whispers.
The door creaks as she pushes it open.
Slowly.
Slowly.
Rocks crunch under her boot as she lowers herself onto the ground.
She carefully closes the door behind her with a soft click that only a supervillain would be able to hear.
Toby follows her. He’s got a bit of a jaunt to his walk, like he doesn’t give a damn who or what might be out there.
He lets the door slam behind him.
I grab my own backpack, but I’m not ready to roll around the jungle with a loaded gun, so I gingerly place it on the counter.
Then.
I dig my fingers into my palms and focus on that pain...and force myself to go outside.
And outside.
Outside, there’s...
Nothing.
And I do mean nothing.
We’re in a narrow clearing between clusters of huge trees that tower high above the truck. The area is gloomy and shaded. I can barely see the sky, and the sky might be made of tree branches. It’s like the land that time forgot. The sounds are things that creep me out. Rustling leaves. Screeching. Like maybe a monkey or something.
As far as the eye can see...trees. More trees. Tall trees. Everywhere. Deep greens. Green in every shade of green. And ground covered in tall grass that looks like it will be a major pain to walk in.
I come around to the side of the camper, where everyone else is already huddled in a small circle. Seeing them like that, it strikes me how much we’ve all changed. We’re dressed in fatigues and camo Ts and windbreakers. Dad has grown a salt-and-pepper beard, and his hair has gotten longer and grayer.
We’re, like, our own little army.
“You heard the shots,” Dad is saying.
“It could be nothing,” Navarro says, his voice filled with a tension that means it’s not nothing. “There’s lots of hunting out here. It’s illegal. But with everything going on, it’s probably not a priority for the Mexican police to be this far out.”
Jinx nods. “Most of the Federales are deployed at the border.” Somehow, she’s managing to sound calm. But her knuckles are white from gripping her gun.
“But...” She takes a deep breath. “Somebody is out there.”
I glance around in every direction. It seems like you could go a long time out here without seeing somebody. The trees are so thick. The forest so dense.
How would you find somebody?
Even if you were looking.
“We’ve got two blown out tires,” Navarro comments, squinting at the truck. “From now on, I guess we’re on foot.”
“Someone should stay here,” Toby says.
“Absolutely not,” Dad answers. “We stay together.”
Navarro open his mouth to speak.
There’s a pause.
Like he’s thinking what to say.
He starts again. “Jay. I think he might be right. We didn’t make it as far into the forest as we wanted. We don’t know how far we are from the caves. We don’t know if whoever was shooting at us is nearby. If we end up wanting to come back here, it’ll help to have someone stay here to guard the supplies. Make sure we’re not surprised when we return.”
Dad appears to be considering this.
“We have the radios,” Navarro adds. “We can stay in contact.”
“And enough guns to arm the whole National Police force,” Toby says in a low tone.
He leans against the truck.
Casual.
Off.
Wrong.
We’re silent again, the wind filling the space between us. I wish Dad would notice that something is really, really, really weird about Toby. But he’s busy being Captain Commander of our expedition.
Mom would have noticed.
“I assume you’re volunteering to stay?” Dad asks my brother.
Toby swats at a mosquito. “Oh, I long to be covered in insect bites and get malaria as much as the next man. But now that you mention it, I would prefer to stay here.”
“We have bug spray,” Navarro says through his teeth.
Jinx frowns at the trees. “I wish Charles were here.”
I know what she’s thinking.
Being city folk, it’s always handy to have someone around who can keep you from walking right into poison ivy. And she misses him.
We all miss him.
Dad has made a decision. “Okay. You stay here. Keep the radio with you at all times. If the caves are close, we’ll come back for you. If you see anything, alert me immediately.”
Oh. Hell. No.
With Toby acting so nuts, there’s no way I’m leaving him out here in the middle of nowhere all by himself.
“I’m staying too,” I say.
Toby frowns. “Like hell you are.”
Suddenly he’s more lively than he’s been in a month.
I know I’ve made the right decision. His left eye kinda twitches and he’s chewing the inside of his cheek. He’s trying hard to come up with a reason that I shouldn’t stay. Like when we were kids, and he’d try to get out of letting me walk to the store with him.