Disclaimer—See Chapter One

A/N:  Thank you again so much for taking the time to read and review, I am so grateful to each one of you.  I hope you continue to have fun with this story!  Thank you so much!!

Of Wind and Wood—Chapter Ten

The peaceful morning air was split with a scream.  Brennan had been ignoring Shalimar's incessant tugging on his shoulder as his groggy mind refused to grasp her words, but at the sound of the scream, he sprang to his feet, head whipping around before full awareness even hit him.  Shalimar was right behind him, and they ran out of their tent, tripping on the bedding in their haste.   

"Oomph!"   Brennan grunted as he stumbled into Shalimar, reaching out and catching her as she fell forward from the impact, slipping in the grass wet from the night rainfall.  Shalimar's quick sense picked up the direction of the scream, and she sprinted down to the riverbank. 

"Ana!"  She called as she saw their guide kneeling down by the oar boat. 

Ana turned a pale face upward, lips trembling in shock. 

"Ana?"  Shalimar dropped to her knees beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.  "What's wrong?"

Ana just shook her head, gesturing to the boat.  The smell of blood hit Shalimar as she peered over the rubber edge and into the craft.  She gasped and covered her mouth. 

"Let me, Shal," Brennan's hands were warm on her shoulders as his lips grimly fell into a flat line.  "Oh man," he blew out his breath at the grisly site.  The bottom of the raft was streaked with bright red blood, drying in splotchy pools mixed and formed with rain water.  Empty eyes stared back up at him as he leaned in over the edge.  He grimaced as he reached down and felt for a pulse, already knowing it was too late.   He swept a hand over the face, closing the eyes. 

Shalimar braced her hand on Brennan's forearm as she stared at the body.  "Ben," she whispered, appalled.  She reached down and pried a pocket knife out of his stiff fingers, shuddering as how his head was bent at an odd angle.  "He broke his neck," her fingers tightened their hold on Brennan.

"Shal, look," he reached down and ran his finger along a large gash in the side of the raft.  "It's been slashed." 

She stared at the knife in her hand.  "But why would he do that?" 

Ana stared at the slash in horror, "It—it's too deep.  I can't repair that."  She sank to her knees into the muddy bank.  "Why?" she whispered. 

"Good question," Brennan murmured, meeting Shalimar's gaze.  "It looks like he was sabotaging our boat."

"And broke his neck in the process?"  Shalimar skeptically shook her head, "That doesn't make any sense." 

"Shal," Brennan bent down and spoke quietly into her ear.  "Can you tell if all this blood belongs to just him or was anyone else here?" 

She scanned the raft.  "It's hard to tell, the rain has washed so much away.  But I believe it's all from one person."  She narrowed her eyes and bent closer to the gash in the rubber.  "There's a fingerprint here." 

Brennan's brow wrinkled.  "Where's all this blood coming from?"    

From beside them, Ana cleared her throat as she numbly shook he head.  "I've, ah, I've got to check on the others."  She stumbled to her feet and staggered back to the tents. 

Brennan gingerly searched the body.  "Well, that solves the question about the blood," he cringed as he indicated the gouge on the side of his head.

"It looks like he hit his head on the equipment box," Shalimar peered at the metal box with dried blood on the corner, "but it still doesn't explain how he broke his neck."

Brennan shrugged.  "I'll scan the fingerprint over to Jesse, see what he says."  He glanced around and then quickly scanned the area with his ring, before pulling a tarp and covering the scene.  "We'd better get back to the group, see if anyone knows why Ben would do this." 

"And how Ana plans for us to get out of here," Shalimar reminded him. 

Brennan stopped short as her words sunk in, "We're stuck out here."  He turned panicked eyes to Shalimar.  "Maybe I better have Jesse come get us." 

Shalimar shook her head at him, "No, Bren, we can't do that.  We can't abandon these people," She gestured back to their small group.  "You'll survive; I'll take care of you." 

"Very funny," he shot her a wry smile as they walked back to the group. 

Ana welcomed them with a grim nod.  "Radio's been destroyed as well."

"Guess Ben really wanted us to be stuck out here," Brennan shook his head, "But why?'

"No one seems to really know." Ana's hands flung hopelessly into the air.  "His friend just says he wouldn't do it, I can't get anything else out of him.  I think he's in shock." 

"What now?" Shalimar's eyes swept across the group of people huddled around the campfire. 

Ana frowned heavily, "We walk."

The sun shone warm and bright, and the river sparkled with tiny diamonds of light, catching the glint of the sun with blinding brilliance.  Shalimar sat on her haunches, studying the beauty before her with strange detachment as people silently bustled around her.  She felt Brennan even before he approached her, settling himself behind her and wrapping his arms around her.

"How're you doing?" He dropped a kiss into her hair, closing his eyes and breathing deep. 

She leaned back into his solid chest, "I'm fine.  How about you?"  She asked as he turned to stifle a cough into his shoulder. 

"I'm fine, Shal."  His arms tightened around her.  "But I still think we should call Jesse, maybe he could find a way to rescue us all," he chuckled into her hair. 

"Let's wait until we hear back from him," she argued, "I want to know what he finds out about Ben.  Besides, what's he going to do, land the helix in front of everyone?" 

Brennan rolled his eyes at her sarcasm, pulling her up on her feet and settling a pack on her back before picking up his own gear.

"Alright, everyone," Ana shouted to get their attention, "We're a little more than halfway through the trip.  We've got approximately 20 miles until we reach the take-out point, Meadow Creek.  We'll find help there."

"Why can't we just wait here until the next group comes along?"  Ben's friend spoke for the first time. 

Ana put her hands on her hips.  "Unfortunately, the next launch isn't scheduled until next week.  I don't have enough food for all of us until then.  If we walk, we can get to Meadow Creek in a few days." 

Groans rose up from the group as Ana hastened to reassure them.  Brennan didn't blame them; he wasn't too thrilled about the idea either.

There was no trail and the terrain was rough, so they moved slowly.  At every step, huge swarms of mosquitoes flew up, and Brennan kept swatting at them as sweat poured off his face in little rivulets. 

"Some vacation,' Shalimar grunted as she pushed up a vine and tried to crawl under it.  "And not a word from you," she warned to Brennan just as he opened his mouth to comment.  His jaw snapped shut with a grin. 

It was nearly noon by the time they stopped for lunch in a large clearing.  The sun filtered through the dense trees, and Shalimar took off her shoes with a sigh as she sank onto a rock.

"Here, Shal," Brennan brought her a sandwich and sat beside her, knees pulled up wearily, his back to a tree. 

"You ok?" he asked, taking a bite of his own sandwich. 

"Yeah," she grimaced as she flexed her toes, freed from the borrowed shoes.  Her own had been lost when she kicked them off in the river.  "Blisters," she explained, blowing her breath through chapped lips. 

Brennan finished his sandwich in two more bits, cheeks bulging as he knelt down beside her and gently lifted her feet into his lap.  She sighed in relief as he massaged first one and then the other.  He dug in deep with his thumbs, rubbing in small circles. 

Her eyes dropped shut as she slid off the rock and leaned back against it, shivering as Brennan's warm hands stroked pasts her ankle and down her calf, kneading and working tired muscles with strong fingers.  She was drowsy and content, smiling when a soft grating sound hit her ears.  She winced as the sound differentiated itself into off-key humming, and her eyes popped open.

"What?"  Brennan glanced down at her in surprise at her sudden movement.

"Don't you hear that?"  She complained, 'It's awful."

"Hear what?" Brennan gave her a confused look. 

"Never mind," she sighed, eyes falling shut again.  A moment later the humming started up again, and she cringed as a particularly bad note was drawn out. 

"Ugh," she complained, pushing herself into a sitting position.

"What?"  Brennan paused in his massage.  "Shal, are you ok?"

She cocked her head to the side, but the sound had stopped again.  She scanned the group, before shrugging and lying back down against the rock.  "Yeah," she waved a hand in dismissal, eyes falling shut.

The sound immediately started up again, and her eyes popped open.  The sound stopped.  She frowned and closed her eyes again.  Again, the humming resumed.  She flinched as the horrible singing hurt her ears. 

"Brennan!"  She shot back up into a sitting position.

"What?" he stared at her in bafflement as she studied him in suspicion, before finally giving up and leaning down against the cool rock.  The sound started up.  Her eyes opened.  The sound stopped. 

Annoyed she sat up again.  "Don't you hear that?" 

Brennan frowned at her.  "Hear what?" 

"That singing!"  She grimaced, "It's awful!" 

Brennan's brows flew up.  "I think you're hearing things, Shal."

"I am not."  She crossed her arms.

"I don't know," he shrugged, "I think maybe the heat is starting to affect you." 

"It is not," she slapped at him before lying back down.  He ducked her swat with a laugh, shaking his head and digging into her calves with his fingers again. 

Her eyes stayed open, but the sound did not resume.  She finally closed her eyes, popping them back open as the horrible humming immediately started back up. 

"Brennan!"  She pointed a finger at him.  "I know it's you, now stop it!" 

"Stop what, Shal?"  He threw his hands up in exasperation. 

She stared at his innocent look, daring him to break under her glare, but his look held firm. 

"Argh!  Never mind!"  She flopped back down again. 

He chuckled and pursed his lips into another song.   

"Ah-ha!" She shot back up in triumph, "I saw that!" 

He grinned at her as she smacked him on the chest.  "You just make it too easy, Shal."  He couldn't help but laugh at her expression as she pulled her feet free from his grasp.  She crawled over to him, leaning over and giving him a lingering kiss.  His laughter died away as she stirred up darker feelings within him.  Not caring about the others around them, his arms rose up and circled around her, pulling her down onto his chest, moaning as she pulled way with a teasing smirk.

"I can play dirty too," she waggled her eyebrows at him as he protested the loss of contact. 

"That's not fair," he groaned, trying to recapture her face in his hands. 

"Brennan," she leaned down and gave him another kiss.

"Yeah?"

"You're a terrible singer." 

His shoulders shook with laughter as he pulled her down into a tight hug.  She drew back again as her ring vibrated. 

"Yeah?" she spoke into the comlink, still laughing as she sat back up. 

"Shal?"  Jesse's voice crackled through.

"Yeah, Jess, I'm here." She tossed her hair over her shoulder, throwing a knowing smile at Brennan as he reluctantly sat up, "We have a bad connection.  What's up?"

"Shalimar, you guys need to be careful.  I don't know what's going on out there, but that scan you sent me—the fingerprint doesn't match the dead guy, Ben." 

"So what are you saying, Jess?' Brennan spoke up for the first time. 

"I'm saying that someone else's prints were on the raft and on that knife.  The computer imaging picked up the same prints on Ben's neck.  I think someone else sabotaged that boat for some reason."  He paused as the connection crackled again.  "And I think Ben was killed for it." 

Two sets of eyes swung back to the campfire in horror and to the nine people that were gathered around it.

Shalimar clenched Brennan's arm as she turned wide eyes to his, "But that means—"

"It means we're stuck out here with a killer." Brennan's lips pressed grimly together.