“Yeah. After we get some wheels, we’ll find showers, food, beds. Clothes.” I can’t help but stare at her soiled T-shirt and remember the amazing sight of her bra-clad tits as she rose out of the water. The fabric clung to every honeyed inch of her and had it not been for the boy soldiers, I probably would have thrown her down on the embankment and sucked all the Amazon water off of her.
She notices me noticing but only smiles in return. She apparently does not care if I stare at her tits or her ass. She also doesn’t seem to care if I touch her. In fact, I think she likes it. She’s even shown curiosity instead of fear toward Godzilla. Wet, clean Ava sounds like a personal piece of heaven.
“Let’s go,” Garcia says sourly.
Ava makes a funny face and I bark out a short laugh, which serves to make Garcia’s frown deeper. The walk from the riverside to the center of the small province is short. Campoverde consists of one central paved road serving a number of small clay offshoots and a smattering of businesses including a small grocery, a supply store, and what looks like might be a motel. There are more bicycle rickshaws in the center of town than people.
The locals look at us like we’re apparitions—pale-skinned Ava in particular. Although their stares could be chalked up to the fact that we are wearing more dirt than is on the ground.
“You have money.” It’s not really a question. Garcia wouldn’t come out here without being fully equipped.
He nods and pulls out a wad of pink-colored Nuevo Sol. “How much do you think one of these will cost?”
I spot an old VW Golf. “Maybe fifty bills?”
“That’s it?” Ava asks.
“It’s a couple of grand in U.S. dollars,” I explain.
Garcia locates the owner and engages in some rapid-fire negotiations in Spanish. From the car seller, we rent a small residence. One bedroom, one bathroom and a kitchen area. It’s modest but has running water, which is key. The family will stay with neighbors in exchange for our money, and the two families will share the payment when we leave.
“In you go, baby,” I say as I open the door to the small bathroom. She leans against me, as if all her energy has disappeared now that she’s out of the jungle. It’s the post-adrenaline crash.
“Baby?” Garcia says with raised eyebrows.
I close the door and listen to the water start up. I’m heading toward my own crash.
“Give me the rundown on the situation in Pucallpa.”
“I have Bennito and Rodrigo with eyes and ears on Duval. He’s rented a bungalow at the Manish Hotel Ecológico. His brother, Fouquet, is with him, and he has three bodyguards. Two of whom are in the bungalow with him, and the other is in the main building. I saw them bring a woman. Her face was covered, so I wasn’t able to get an ID.”
Rose. I don’t tell my plans to Garcia just yet. He’s on edge and I want to get a lay of the land before I propose a new course of action.
“Cozy. How are we situated?”
“We have the bungalows on either side,” Garcia says smugly.
“Good. Ava and I will take one and you three can be in the other.”
“When are we ditching her?” He jerks his head toward the bathroom.
“We aren’t.”
Garcia’s hands tighten around a wooden chair back. “She’s a liability. A dead-weight distraction.”
“You missed ‘demon.’ Isn’t that why Fouquet didn’t fuck her? Because her eyes are mismatched?” Maybe she is a succubus. Don’t know if I really care at this point. I’m willing to give up my soul for her.
“If saying she’s the devil’s child keeps her out of your bed, then yes, she’s a demon.”
“Get used to sleeping with Lady Lucifer then, because she’s coming to the island.”
“The fuck you say,” he blurts out.
“The fuck I say.” I close my eyes.
He sputters and drones on about how he can’t believe I lost my balls to some chick in the jungle and how I must have been bitten by a mosquito and am now suffering from malaria-induced hallucinations. Ava and I have a deal. I’m going to save Rose and she’s . . . she’s going to save me.
? ? ?
“Is he going to be okay?” Ava asks when she comes out of the shower looking pink and white and glorious.
“Yes, I’ll be fine,” I answer for Garcia. He’s working on cleaning out the wounds on my back and doesn’t want to talk to her, probably for fear he’d fall under her spell. And yeah, then I’d have to kill him because Ava’s mine now. She’s coming to my island. I don’t know how we’re going to have sex. It’s possible we won’t. But I’m going to learn how to give the best oral in the world and along with a few toys, I’ll keep her satisfied.
But I can’t see living without her. No. The truth is that I do know what living without her is like. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last thirty-five years. Existing.
Her presence lights up the dark night and makes a jungle trek seem like a too-short resort vacation. She’s brave—foolishly so—and smart. And I want her more than a starving man craves sustenance. More than a cursed man cares about his consequences.
Hell, her smiles are all I need to power through. As Garcia digs into my wounds, I don’t flinch, because I barely feel the pain. What’s pain when Ava’s here holding my hand, spreading her multicolored sunshine all over me.