Traitorous Attraction by C. J. Miller Page A

happened. No one moved. No one lifted their heads. The gangs had made everyone too afraid to speak.
    Looking through the window, she felt worry swamp her. The bus was in the middle of the jungle. No other roads led this way, and she couldn’t remember the last time they had passed a town or she had seen anyone on the road. They didn’t have much with them. Where would they go? How far had the bus gone? How much farther to Mangrove?
    “Come on, Kate,” Connor said.
    He wasn’t going to argue and try to stay on the bus? Connor was already stepping down the aisle. Kate hitched her bag higher on her arm and followed Connor. When they were on the ground, the door shut forcefully behind them and the bus pulled away, kicking up dirt and debris. As the bus disappeared down the road, it stole the last of the light, leaving them in the pitch black.
    Darkness. No city lights. No streetlights. Nothing.
    “Why didn’t you argue?” Kate asked. She shivered. It was cold and they were in the middle of nowhere.
    “Wouldn’t have helped. We’re Americans. They were Snake Slayers. The driver wouldn’t have believed us, or if he did, he wouldn’t stand up to gang members.”
    “Where are we going now?” Could they hike back the way they’d come? Or were they close to another town?
    “We had to get off the bus at some point and hike through the jungle. It’s just happening a few miles sooner,” Connor said.
    He was annoyingly calm. Wasn’t he concerned about the change in their plans? Would they run out of supplies? What about finding a safe place to stay? “We don’t have shelter.”
    “We’ll make it.”
    “We don’t have enough food or water to last long.”
    “We’ll find more.”
    Kate blew out her breath. Sphere agents had a reputation for being resourceful. Their extensive training allowed them to survive in the worst circumstances. They were conditioned to remain calm. Kate’s training had taught her to do the same while she was behind a computer. What about now? She felt exposed and shaky and worried. She’d participated in training exercises to sharpen her survival skills, but she’d had the comfort of knowing help was a few hundred feet away and the exercise lasted only a few hours.
    In the jungles of Tumara, she had no such comfort. She had to rely on her book knowledge and Connor.
    “How close are we to Mangrove?” Kate asked.
    Connor reached into his pack and withdrew his flashlight, a GPS locator and the map they’d bought in Rosario. He turned on the flashlight and aimed it at the map. Their partial view of their surroundings was scarier than the pitch black. Lurking in the jungle were jaguars and other predators. Would the light draw them?
    Plants and the beaten road were all she could see in the beam of light. No landmarks and no street signs. The road the bus had taken had been paved at some point, but the blacktop was cracked and missing in many places, washed over by mud and leaves.
    “Will we follow the road?” Kate asked.
    Connor looked at his watch, which had a small compass. “It will be easiest to travel a plowed path, but it’s not a direct route and will take more time. We’ll stay as close to it as we can.”
    His words brought to mind the articles she’d read about the area following Aiden’s disappearance. Hikers went missing. Tourists were robbed at gunpoint. “Do you have a phone? We should call for help.”
    Connor walked into the brush along the road. “I have a sat phone for emergencies. Who do you want to call? Your buddies at Sphere? I think that ship has sailed.”
    It hurt that he believed she would sell them out and run back to Sphere at the first bump in the road. “Don’t blame me for this.”
    “I am not blaming you.”
    “I have friends at Sphere. I could call them for advice.” She could trust her friends to keep her location a secret, couldn’t she?
    “Not a chance. By this point, every person in that organization is looking for you and will sell you