CHAPTER 72
Hearing the gunshots had Hector moving his team through the jungle faster. He had a growing concern that something bad had happened to Ms. Murdock and the others. The rest of his party was fanned out several yards from him and each other. To Hector's right, Juan was walking with three cigarettes held between his lips while waving the open flame of his zippo across their ends. With a snap he closed the lighter.
"Shh!" Hector hushed him.
Juan shrugged as he cut a diagonal path over to Rodrigo and handed him two of the cigarettes. Rodrigo grinned and popped one of the two between his teeth. Then he turned to pass the other one to Matteo, only he wasn't there. Rodrigo's smile turned to a frown as he scanned the foliage.
He whispered, "Matteo."
Rodrigo recalled that a moment ago Matteo had bent down to re-do his boot laces. He looked closer through the jungle greenery but still saw no trace of him.
He turned to Juan. "¿Dónde Matteo?"
Juan panned the jungle. "No say."
They were both stopped now. Each of them was searching for some kind of clue to Matteo's whereabouts, but the vegetation was thick and concealing.
By this point Hector had back tracked to them. When he realized that Matteo was missing he cursed and spat at the dirt. He snatched the cigarettes away from Rodrigo and Juan with a glare and extinguished them on the side of his gun. Holding up a stern finger Hector motioned for the two of them to wait while he retraced their steps.
He swept back ten yards before spotting anything out of the ordinary. Among a bed of ferns he found Matteo's weapon. He looked around before kneeling to pick up the shotgun. After shouldering it he proceeded another two yards. There he discovered blood all over the leaves, and on the ground ten feet of uncoiled intestine. Hector crossed himself when he saw what it was.
Behind him Juan was lighting another cigarette. When his was aglow he took out another for Rodrigo.
Rodrigo chuckled, "gracias."
Hector was still occupied. Among the gory mess something else had captured his attention. Clung to the blood soaked vegetation was a silvery white feather. He picked it off the palm fronds and examined it.
Juan now had his Zippo held up for Rodrigo. The flame enveloped the cigarette's end, but before it could light, Rodrigo's face vanished in a rush. He was gone. The cigarette was gone. All that remained was a single wisp of smoke. Juan was left holding his lighter out in empty space with the flame still dancing in the breeze. It was when he heard the screams that it all came together.
When he spun around he saw Rodrigo vanishing into the underbrush. He hadn't even seen what took him.
Juan hollered at the top of his lungs and unloaded all his bullets into the jungle. When his gun was empty he threw it at the trees. A heavy hand grabbed his shoulder. It was Hector.
Hector eyeballed the foliage for a moment and then shoved Matteo's shotgun in Juan's arms. "¡vamonos!"
They made a break for the truck. Whatever danger had befallen Ms. Murdock and the others, Hector suspected was the same thing that was after them now. He knew they couldn't do anybody any good if they were dead. They could search for the children no longer. They needed to get out of the jungle.