Being familiar with the area, Javier was going to drive them there in his pickup truck. The plan was to sneak up to the prison camp, try to free the prisoners somehow, and then hightail it back to the truck. They were relying heavily on Javier’s knowledge and expertise in the jungle and his familiarity with the route they would take.
Rick knew it was a massive risk. He tried not to think about how abysmal their chances of success really were.
To mitigate the obvious risks and challenges, they tried to think of every eventuality that they might face, and what they’d need for gear. They intended to head out into the rainforest the very next day.
Early the next morning, Rick made them coffee and a simple breakfast of empanadas, toast, and fruit. His cupboards were going nearly bare after all of his impromptu guests.
They’d made a long list of supplies they would need and headed out early to gather them. Rick had gone with Sofia and Luis, while Javier went by himself, in order to split the effort and save time. They planned to meet back at Rick’s apartment as soon as they were done.
Rick, Sofia, and Luis were making one of their last stops at a local hardware store. They went inside. It was crowded and busy.
Sofia pulled Rick aside. “I want to talk to you,” she whispered.
Luis went on ahead, list in hand.
“Sure,” Rick said. “What is it?”
She had a serious look on her face. “I wanted to ask you what you thought about Javier.”
Rick was glad she was bringing this subject up. “I think he’s a noble person, principled, but...” his voice trailed off as a couple of other shoppers squeezed by them.
“But what?”
Rick looked at Sofia and lowered his voice. “I’ve been thinking that the odds are there’s a lot he’s not telling us.”
She nodded her head quickly. “I’ve been thinking the same thing.” Her journalistic instincts had been sending her all kinds of warning bells since they’d made their rescue plan. She knew there was soon going to come a point of no return and she wasn’t certain how they would ultimately fare when it did.
She looked at Rick intently. “Do you think we can trust him?”
He took a moment to answer. “To a point, yes.”
She felt relieved and validated that she wasn’t the only one thinking along these lines. “My feeling exactly.”
“I think we’d be well-served to keep our eyes wide open where he’s concerned,” Rick said. “I’m hoping we’re all on the same side, but we need to admit that this is a marriage of convenience, so to speak.”
She nodded in agreement.
“He doesn’t really want us coming with him, that much is clear,” Rick added. “But he’s been forced into a situation where he needs us to.”
“And once he doesn’t need us anymore?” she asked. “Once he’s reunited with his friends?”
Rick raised his eyebrows. “Then, the calculus of our jungle adventure changes. We’ll have to stay alert, I guess.”
She sighed. “Right. That’s what worries me. We don’t really know what we’re getting ourselves into here. This has all happened so fast. Now, we’re going to be led out into the rainforest by someone we just met.”
Rick knew she was right. He felt the same way. It was slightly mad. Well, maybe more than slightly. But he also knew they had a snowball’s chance in hell of finding her father without Javier’s help.
He touched her shoulder to offer some support. “Let’s just focus on getting your dad back and getting out of this alive. We’ll watch each other’s backs. Sound good for starters?”
She bit her lip, feeling a bit relieved just to have shared the burden of worry, but she was still worried sick about all the things that could go wrong. At least Rick was on the same page where Javier was concerned. “Si,” she answered.
As the three of them were leaving the hardware store, bags of goods in hand, Rick’s cell phone rang. He looked at the display. It was his landlord.
He stopped. “Rick here.”
Sofia and Luis stopped next to him.
“Say what?” Rick asked, his voice rising. “When did you...”
He looked at Sofia and Luis as he listened, a deep frown on his face.
“Can you tell me what you see?” he asked. “No, I can’t right now...”
Sofia mouthed the words, “¿Qué es eso?”
Rick just shook his head to indicate he couldn’t answer at the moment. He checked the time.
“Look, I don’t know if I can get back right away...”
He rubbed his forehead, listening.
He let out a heavy sigh. “Would you do me a favor and just fix the lock for now? I’ll pay you for it.”
He paced. “I’ll call you when I know when I can get there. Just fix it, por favor. Bill me whatever it costs... No, just leave it all. I’ll deal with it later... Sure, sure, I will... Ok, gracias.”
The call ended.
“What’s wrong?” Sofia asked.
“I think our timetable just got squeezed even more. My apartment was broken into. Someone must’ve been watching us, waiting for us to leave to search the place. We haven’t been gone that long.”
“I don’t suppose we can just assume it was regular thieves?” Luis asked.
Rick shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Ares?” Luis asked.
“It has to be,” Rick replied.
“Do you want to go back?” Sofia asked. “Check things over?”
Rick thought for a moment, trying to decide what their next move should be.
“We should call the policía,” Luis suggested.
Rick considered that. “No,” he said, realizing something. “That will just call even more attention to us. They’ll ask questions. I’ll have to go through everything with them, say what’s missing, if anything. And frankly, we don’t have the time.”
“Are you sure?” Sofia asked. “This is serious.”
He nodded. “Yeah,
