Quest (Dane Maddock Adventures) Read Free Page B

Portuguese. Nothing.
    The men continued their silent approach, their faces still devoid of emotion. Their movements were not exactly robotic, but were steady and measured, almost military in their regularity.
    “They’re like zombies,” Emily whispered.
    Thomas grew more nervous with each step they took. Maybe he too had been spooked by Victor’s suspicions, but something was very wrong. His hand itched to take hold of the machete that hung from his belt, but he dared not make any movement that insinuated violence. The results could be deadly.
    Denesh gave up his attempts at verbal communication. He dropped to one knee, slipped off his wristwatch, and held it out as a supplicant would a tribute.
    The men stopped in front of him. The one in the center gazed down at the wristwatch and then, as casually as a businessman would brush lint off of his suit, he raised his hatchet and brought it crashing down on Denesh’s head. The young man crumpled to the ground, blood pouring from his split scalp.
    Emily screamed at the sight of her friend lying dead on the ground, and she turned and fled. Derek drew his .38 revolver and emptied it in a wild spurt of gunfire. At least two bullets hit one of the warriors, punching through his chest and spraying gore on the man who strode directly behind him—yet the wounded man did not stumble, nor did he so much as blink. He kept coming.
    Derek stood like a statue for a moment that seemed frozen in eternity. With a sudden gasp, he shot a glance at Thomas, and then back to the bloody warriors who bore down upon him, their implacable gazes locked on the frightened young man. Derek shrieked, threw his pistol at the first warrior, watched it bounce harmlessly off his chest, and then fled after Emily.
    Thomas felt for his own pistol and realized he had not even bothered to carry it with him today. He didn’t own a gun in his “real life,” and still was not in the habit of keeping one at his hip. Now he was quickly altering his opinion on the necessity of firearms.
    As the silent warriors turned their attention to him, he slid the machete from his belt and raised it in what he hoped was a threatening pose, but they stalked after him, undeterred. His courage draining faster than his bladder, he turned on his heel and fled blindly into jungle.

Chapter 2
     
     
    Kaylin looked up and down Meeting Street for what must have been the tenth time. Traffic was light in the historic section of Charleston. More importantly, there was no carriage to be seen. Also for the tenth time, she re-read the text message she’d received the night before.
     
    be in front of circ church at 10 get in carriage drop you at powder mag leave your car there its about thomas – andy
     
    Andy was Thomas’s closest friend, and in the time she and Thomas had been dating, she and Andy had gotten to know one another fairly well. That was why she knew there were several things wrong about this message. Foremost was the fact that he had texted her rather than calling, which was unusual for him. Second, was the lack of capitalization and punctuation, to which the English Literature professor always paid fastidious attention, even in text messages. Finally, the text had not come from Andy’s phone, but from an unfamiliar number.
    Thomas was more than two months overdue from the field ecology trip he had taken with his graduate assistant and two other students. He had assured her something like this might happen, and told her not to worry. The Amazon, he said, was not like other places. Plans frequently got fouled up, connections were missed, or wires crossed, resulting in a giant mess. She wanted to believe him, but could not help wondering if Thomas was penning a cover story which would allow him to spend more time with Emily, the cute redhead who called, texted, and emailed Thomas far more often than Kaylin thought appropriate for a professor-student relationship. Now she regretted having entertained such ideas. Andy’s