Okay, she might be a little homesick.
Around the pond, ferns unfurled in spirals. Orchids bloomed purple and white from crevices in the rock face.
And there, growing in clusters near the water’s edge?—
Small leaves with silver undersides.
Chloe knelt beside the plants, pulling her knife from her pack. The leaves felt velvety between her fingers, releasing a bitter scent that made her nose wrinkle. She cut carefully and put them in a bag.
A twig snapped behind her.
She froze, knife halfway through a stem. The jungle had rules about sound—birds called, insects buzzed, water fell. But branches didn’t break on their own.
Myanmar patrol?
Her heart hammered against her ribs as she strained to listen. Nothing. Just the waterfall’s steady rush and the buzz of mosquitoes trying to find exposed skin on her neck.
She turned back to the plants, working faster now. Get what she needed and get out. Tobias was deteriorating by the hour, and those explosions were getting closer. The last thing Captain Wong needed was a missing American journalist complicating his evacuation plans.
Another snap.
Closer this time.
She stilled.
Chloe’s hand moved slowly toward the camera bag, where she kept her pepper spray. Not much good against armed soldiers, but better than nothing.
A hand closed around her mouth from behind.
“Don’t move.”
She froze, and only the fact that the voice spoke English with an American accent kept her from screaming.
That and—well, he sounded calm. Even professional, in a way that suggested military training.
Her knife was still in her right hand. Could she?—
“I’m not going to hurt you,” the voice said, breath warm against her ear. “But there’s a patrol heading this way. If you make noise, we’re both dead.”
Both dead.
Which meant he was hiding too.
The arm across her torso was solid muscle, positioned to control without causing injury.
Special Forces?
Don’t struggle. At least, not yet.Chloe forced herself to breathe slowly through her nose. In the distance, she caught voices speaking rapid Burmese, growing closer.
Myanmar patrol. And she was trapped between them and a stranger who might be enemy or ally.
Thehtawbyuplants lay scattered at her feet.
She was going to die out here, and Tobias would die in the village, and she’d never get to figure out who was trying to poison kids like Kamon.
“When I move my hand,” the voice whispered, “don’t talk. Just listen. Can you do that?”
Chloe nodded once.