LITMIR.BIZ

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said. ‘Either that or a Black Hawk—whatever the team have booked. Both are pretty good on the runways.’

      ‘There are runways in the rainforest?’

      ‘Well, they’re mud strips, really.’

      Ryan opened the peanuts and offered her one. She shook her head, trying her hardest to write without scribbling on the tray table instead. They were still bouncing up and down, as if the plane itself was on some sort of trampoline.

      ‘The runways were carved out by the gold miners initially,’ he told her. ‘Illegally, of course, but they help us do our jobs so I suppose the real value of that gold just keeps on increasing—wherever it is. You can write that down.’

      She realised her pen was hovering and that she was lost in thoughts of Jason again. But this time Jason was standing next to Ryan Tobias in the jungle, and being somewhat dwarfed by him.

      She blinked to get rid of them both. ‘Right, yes. Good idea.’ She started to scribble, flustered.

      ‘Whatever you do, stay close to us,’ Ryan said suddenly, in a tone that pulled her eyes to his again like a magnet. ‘People go missing out there all the time.’

      Her breath caught as she saw an emotion she didn’t recognise cross his face.

      He continued without looking at her. ‘Last time we found a burnt-out helicopter which must have crashed twenty years ago. No skeletons inside...who knows what happened to them? The jungle has a way of luring people in and keeping them.’

      Madeline tried not to shudder. For some reason she knew he was thinking of Josephine McCarthy. What had happened to her, exactly?

      ‘When were you here last?’ she asked.

      ‘Eight months ago. Five-day CAN mission. No cameras. We treated six hundred patients for minor infections, brought some ultrasound machines. We felt bad we couldn’t help the guy who got shot, though.’

      ‘Shot?’

      ‘He did it to himself—his gun got all twisted. By the time we found him his leg had more larvae in it than a dead horse. We cleaned him out, worked on him a long time, but he didn’t make it. So, like I said, don’t go wandering off on your own, please.’ He met her eyes, concern shining around his pupils. ‘And watch what you do with your gun.’

      Madeline realised she felt quite ill. ‘Ryan, I wouldn’t be comfortable with a gun, and I really don’t think...’

      She trailed off as she caught the smile creeping onto his face and felt her cheeks flush crimson. He was joking.

      ‘Don’t worry—you’re safe with us,’ he chuckled, nudging her gently with an elbow.

      But just as quickly as it had appeared his smile was retracted, as if a memory had snatched it back again. Something stopped Madeline asking any more questions, though a million were fizzing on her tongue.

      ‘I feel safe with you,’ she said instead, meaning it. ‘How could anyone not?’

      Ryan leaned back against the seat, and looked past her, out of the window again. ‘You’ll be safe with me as long as you’re smart. It’s no one’s job but your own to protect yourself out here, Maddy. Can I call you Maddy?’

      ‘Sure.’

      ‘The Brazilian military uses these trips to gather intelligence sometimes, so if we have any guests you’ll know they’re on to something and it’s a sign to be on high alert.’

      ‘What do you mean?’

      ‘Cocaine trafficking, illegal gold mining—it’s all going on in these parts. There were reports of drug runners in the area not so long ago.’

      ‘Drug runners?’ Madeline whispered quietly. ‘They wouldn’t touch you, though, those sorts of people—would they? Especially not with a TV crew... That would just be drawing attention to themselves.’

      Ryan shrugged, pouring a handful of peanuts into his big hand as the clouds fluttered past their window. ‘You never know what they’ll do, but let’s just say our carefully made runways are as good for transporting illegal drugs as they are for shifting real medicine. You wouldn’t want to see the wrong thing by mistake.’

      ‘Do you ever get scared?’

      He seemed to contemplate this for a moment, popping the nuts into his mouth, running a hand over his dark stubble. She studied his lips as he chewed. She’d bet he had a million women after him. She wondered if he’d ever asked anyone out who wasn’t some sort of celebrity...

      ‘I wouldn’t say I never get anxious,’ he replied eventually. ‘But if we don’t take these risks, Madeline... Maddy...we risk a lot worse. We risk thousands of people dying unnecessarily. Sick people take risks when they hear about us. They walk for days, even weeks, to get our help in these places. If we suddenly decide we’re too afraid we’re failing them and we’re failing ourselves. You can write that down, too.’

      Madeline put her pen back on her notepad, realising with dismay that her handwriting was worse than a child’s.

      ‘So, is there anyone you need to stay in touch with while we’re away?’ Ryan asked her. ‘You know there’s no signal in the Amazon? Rio might be your last chance to check in for a while.’

      ‘I’m single. My boyfriend and I broke up,’ she said, tucking her hair behind her ear and trying not to let the anger register in her voice.

      She’d bypassed the emotional phase a couple of weeks ago and transitioned smoothly into fury—an emotion that reared its head like a lion whenever she thought of Adeline’s face. She wished she hadn’t checked out the other woman’s Facebook page now. It was worse being able to picture her.

      ‘He started seeing someone else while I was away working on my last book. He didn’t exactly stop once I got back.’

      Ryan was silent. When she looked up he appeared to be fighting a smile.

      ‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ he said, straightening his face quickly. ‘But I actually meant for this book—do you need to send things to your editor while you’re away?’

      ‘Oh.’ Madeline’s cheeks were on fire. She kicked herself internally. ‘Not for a while,’ she managed. ‘I just have to make sure we get our interviews in—and I’ll shadow you, if that’s OK.’

      ‘However you think it would work best,’ he said, resting his arm on the armrest and brushing hers accidentally. She moved as far away from him as she could, crossing her legs away from him.

      ‘I really am sorry about your boyfriend,’ he said quietly. ‘It hurts to lose someone you’re close with, however you come to part ways.’

      Madeline closed her eyes. Something in his voice spoke volumes of his own loss.

      ‘These things happen for a reason,’ she said, as firmly as she could manage. She picked up her pen again. ‘It’ll be interesting to see your work with my own eyes. I’ve watched most of your shows—you really do amazing things for people.’

      ‘Thanks...we try.’ He nodded appreciatively. ‘You’re a trained nurse, as I recall?’

      Her heart sped up. ‘Yes, well remembered.’

      ‘Why did you quit?’

      She opened her mouth to reply, but shut it again quickly. She found it hard to vocalise exactly what had happened. She’d thrown herself into her writing instead; it was what her counsellor had told her to do.

      ‘It’s OK—you don’t have to tell me.’ Ryan put a hand on top of hers for a moment.

      Two seconds, maybe three, of skin-on-skin contact and her heart was a kangaroo. She yanked her hand back—maybe too quickly. What had happened in the hospital almost poured out of her, but she bit her tongue. He was a relative stranger. And she was in no mood to go into the details

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