“Well, actually, no, North found her, but yes, she conveniently left out the part about thespy.What?”
“Oh. You don’t know.” He blew out a breath. “I’ll save that story for her, but she’s safe. And she and North made up.”
“Of course they did. She’s crazy about him.”
“North isn’t exactly rational when it comes to Selah either. You called him about the train wreck, and he took off across the country.”
She smiled. Not unlike how Skeet had reacted. And for a second, she saw the easygoing guy in board shorts she’d met years ago.
He lifted a shoulder. “I’m happy for them.”
She nodded. Really. Of course she was happy.
It was a rare gift to find someone willing to share her sister’s vision for a life of humanitarian aid. And North, being on the Jones, Inc., team, had exactly that servant’s heart.
Skeet spooned beef stew into his mouth, grimacing. “Yep, still tastes like wet cardboard wishing it could be food. Anyway, Selah is fine, and she’s sort of the one who clued us in to the idea that you might be in trouble. She called your brother, and he called me.”
Oh.“That’s on me. She called me before I left, and I didn’t pick up...” She tasted the stew. “Well, it’s better than stewed goat.”
“I dunno about that. I’ve eaten some pretty tasty goat.”
She frowned at him and he smiled.
Okay, he had the hot-warrior thing going in spades. If a gal liked that sort of thing.
She noticed that Chai had disappeared into the jungle somewhere.
“To be clear,” Skeet said, “Selah said that you were probably okay, but... you know.”
She did. A beat passed. Surely Skeet knew the family lore about their kid sister, taken at the age of six. So AWOL absences made all of them a little jumpy.
“She did say that you are too brave for your own good. And”—Skeet took another bite, pointed the spoon at her—“she’s not wrong.”
“Hey.”
“She mentioned that you once interviewed a drug lord in his own compound. Alone.”
“He wasn’t that dangerous.”
He gave her a look.
“Okay, I was terrified. But someone had to tell those families what happened to their children.”
“Someone. But not necessarily you.”
The gentle challenge in his voice made her defensive. “If not me, then who? The local police who take bribes? The government officials who look the other way? Those families deserved answers.”
“And you nearly got yourself killed providing them.”
“But Ididn’t.”
He finished his meal. “Look, I get it. Really. But maybe consider that getting yourself killed doesn’t actually help the people you’re trying to save.”
The words hung between them like the smoke from their fire. Around them, the jungle hummed with night sounds—insects calling through the darkness, the distant cry of a night bird. The fire crackled, rain continuing its steady percussion against theirshelter. In the distance, something large moved through the underbrush—probably a deer or wild pig, but yes, she might be a little thankful for Skeet and Chai on duty.
“So what’s the plan?” she asked finally.
“Tomorrow we hike back to the border, drive to Chiang Mai.” Skeet banked the fire for the night, stacking up logs to fall one by one into the fire, keep it alive. “Talk to Chai’s wife about this Dr. Radic. See what she knows.”