Quest (Dane Maddock Adventures) by David Wood

Author:David Wood [Wood, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gryphonwood Press
Published: 2011-07-03T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

“There’s the second landmark.” Kennedy pointed straight ahead, where a large, gray object rose up out of the water. It was a dome-shaped rock at least ten feet high, and it looked to Tam like a giant tortoise cutting through the water as the river rushed past it on either side of it. Centuries, millennia of erosion had worn away a few inches of the base on either side, adding to the tortoise-shell illusion. Faint lines carved into its surface indicated that, at some point in the past, humans had also seen the resemblance and sought to augment it by carving a tortoise shell pattern into the stone. Had she been a tourist, she would have stopped to take pictures, but time was a luxury she did not have. In fact, it bothered her that these stray thoughts even entered her mind. What was wrong with her? She had a job to do.

“That’s a relief,” she said, though she hated speaking to Kennedy at all. “I was hoping the map-maker didn’t intend for us to take a right at the first turtle that came swimming up to the boat.”

The corner of Kennedy’s mouth turned up in a false half-smile, but that was the only response. He was angry about Jay’s death, but if he knew the truth, he’d kill Tam, or at least, try to. She had a feeling the two of them were headed for a reckoning sooner or later, but for now, she needed him.

“Go right at the fork,” she told the guide who piloted their boat. Now that two of the landmarks had proved to be real, her confidence was bolstered, and she was eager to press on toward their destination.

“When can we stop and eat?” Even riding in a different boat, Cy managed to get on her last nerve. Despite his recent spate of screw-ups, and the death of his partner, he seemed to believe he was only a notch below Kennedy in the pecking order, and in his mind, Kennedy was at the top of the food chain on this expedition. He bullied their guides and condescended to the three ScanoGen security agents, all of whom were ex-military men Tam had brought along for extra muscle and firepower. Add in the fact that he made no bones about his belief that Tam was in charge in name only, and she was seriously considering going ahead with Salvatore’s orders regarding Cy, no matter what her conscience might tell her.

“Later,” she snapped. “Keep a lookout on both sides of the river for something that looks like an open mouth. Once we find it, there’s a side channel somewhere around it that we’ll need to take.”

“Shut up and look,” Kennedy snapped, not looking back at Cy. Perhaps Tam should have appreciated the support, but she knew it was simply Kennedy trying to assert some authority over the only man on this trip who was clearly loyal to him.

“If you say so.” Cy made it clear that the “you” to whom he was referring was Kennedy, not Tam.

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