She began to shake, and she hunched forward, pulling her knees to her chest and ignoring the pain the movement caused.
“Grace?”
She ignored the question in his voice and laid her forehead on the tops of her knees, sucking in breaths.
His hand slid through her hair, gentle and comforting. “Hey, what’s going on? You’re shaking like a leaf.”
She lifted her head and stared through the darkness. “I’m scared.”
He scooted closer until his leg touched her feet and she could feel his warmth wrapping around her. “Of?”
She took another breath and opened herself to him, hoping that she’d get something from him, some hint of his true intentions or at least if he was genuine or not. He’d claimed that he’d heard her, mentally, and she remembered his voice in her head but she couldn’t be sure she hadn’t imagined it.
“Of you. Them. All of this. I’m scared that I’ve traded one kind of hell for another. Same prison. Same horror. Just different jailors.”
At first she thought she’d angered him. Then she assumed he’d rush to reassure her. But he did nothing. For a long moment he was silent.
“You’re smart to be wary,” he finally said. His statement took her by surprise. She hadn’t expected this. “You’ve been through a lot. There’s nothing I can say that’s going to make you think any differently. You’re just going to have to see for yourself and make up your own mind whether you trust me.”
He wasn’t saying anything she didn’t already know, but it seemed different coming from him. And she supposed it didn’t matter to him one way or another whether she trusted him or not. She assumed he was getting paid to do this and not acting out of the goodness of his heart. For that matter, she wasn’t entirely certain what he was, who he was or what his connection to her sister was.
She opened her mouth, intending to get clarification on just that, when the van ground to a halt.
Seconds later, the back opened and Diego stood there motioning for them to get down. Rio went first and she crawled after him. When she reached the edge, he and Diego both reached to lift her down.
She landed softly on her feet.
“Can you make it?” Rio asked.
“Yeah.”
She stared at her surroundings and saw the inky black water of a river that snaked through the landscape. The moon was high overhead but covered by a thin layer of clouds, moving rapidly through the sky.
“Let’s go,” Rio murmured, taking her arm.
He led her to the water’s edge and into an aluminum boat with an outboard motor operated by a hand-held lever. She stepped down and wobbled when the boat swayed. Terrence, who was already in the boat, quickly steadied her and held on to her hand while she made her way toward the front.
Diego motioned for her to take the bench directly in the middle. Rio came to sit beside her. Diego and Terrence took the front while Alton and Browning settled in the back. Alton took position to pilot the boat and a moment later they eased away from the bank and slipped downriver.
It was eerie traveling through the dark waters. The only light was from the sliver of moon visible through the hazy cloud cover. Unease gripped her and she warily stared swarout of t from side to side but she couldn’t even see the shoreline. Only the dim shape of passing trees and what looked to be thick, junglelike terrain.
Fear knotted in her throat. Heavy silence was thick like fog. Only the gentle purr of the motor as they pushed farther down the river echoed through the still night.
Her heart thudded and adrenaline surged through her veins when she saw a burst of light to her right. She whipped around to see a flaming torch make two circles in the dark before quickly being extinguished. Rio uttered what sounded like an animal call, though she sure as hell didn’t know what kind of animal made such a sound and she wasn’t in any hurry to find out.
There was an answering call from the shore and then the sound faded as they continued on their way.
“What was that?” she whispered.
“Shhh,” Rio said. “Not now. Remain quiet.”
Chastened, she hunkered down and stared straight ahead. This whole scene was something straight out of a horror movie or some terrible remake of Anaconda or something. She half expected something to explode out of the water and rip their boat to shreds then swallow them all whole.
She hated the dark. Hated being scared shitless and hated the thought of what was in the water below them.
She only hoped that wherever the hell they were going, they’d get there soon.
Moments later, her prayers were answered when the boat turned and glided into a dark inlet off the main stretch of the river. Alton beached the boat, and Diego and Terrence quickly hopped out to pull it farther onto the shore.
“Let’s go,” Rio said shortly.
He urged her forward and Diego was waiting to lift her out of the front. Rio came next, followed by Alton and Browning.
She paused a moment to gather her bearings and stop the endless shaking of her knees and legs. Rio bumped into her then put his hand on her shoulder to steady her.
“It’s not far,” he said quietly. “Just a hike through the jungle about a quarter mile. I didn’t want to hit the inlet closest to the house. We’ll circle around back and go in through one of the escape routes.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Sounds like you’ve got a place like my parents did.”
“You could say that. I don’t much believe in paranoia. In my line of work, expecting the worst saves your ass.”