In the next minute, at least a dozen men and women circled around us. Savich rose and smiled at them, looking ferocious, I realized, seeing how dirty he was, with mud dried to his thighs and his growth of beard. He looked like a wild man, filthy and dangerous.
Then Sherlock laughed. She tossed the water bottles in their net to the ground and let out a big whoop. "We've been in the rain forest for over two days. Is this Club Med?"
The men and women just looked at one another. A man in a loose red-and-white-striped bathing suit said, "No, we're on a day trip here from up the coast," he said, eyeing us closely. "You got separated from your guide?"
"We didn't have a guide," Sherlock said. "Where are we?"
"You're in the Corcovado National Park."
"Anywhere near Dos Brazos?" I asked, and slapped a bug off my neck.
"Yeah, it's at the southeast end of the rain forest."
Laura opened her eyes and looked up at the man who was carefully lifting up the bandage on her shoulder. "It's all right. You just hang in there. It's not bad. But you need a hospital. What's your name?"
"I'm Laura. What's yours?"
"I'm Tom. I'm here on my honeymoon. It's a great place. Well, maybe it wasn't such a great place for you. What happened?"
"I'm a federal agent. All of us are. I got shot by some drug dealers. We've been in the rain forest for the past two days."
Tom the doctor sat back on his heels and turned to a woman who had to be close to six feet tall. "Glenis, go tell the lifeguard that we need a helicopter here fast. It's a medical emergency."
"And the police," I said.
Tom said to all of us, "The Sirena Ranger Station is just up the way a bit. It shouldn't take too long. The wound's infected, but it doesn't look too bad, considering. You guys did really well taking care of her."
"Thanks," I said.
"I want a margarita," Laura said. "With lots of lime. We'll even provide the lime."
I looked around at everyone in that circle. "I've heard of Corcovado," I said slowly. "Isn't it in Costa Rica?"
One of the women who was wearing a bright red bikini nodded. "Where did you think you were?"
"Maybe Colombia," I said. "Hey, I've always wanted to visit Costa Rica."
"No wonder the animals were bored with us," Sherlock said.
One of the men said, "Didn't you see anyone?"
"Just the bad guys," Sherlock said. "And some footprints that led off into the undergrowth. We couldn't take a chance of getting more lost than we already were. We've just been making our way west."
"You didn't see the tram overhead?" Tom asked. At our blank looks, he said, "Hey, we all took a ride through the rain forest on it yesterday. It was awesome. Well, I guess you must have missed it." He stuck out his hand to me. "Welcome to Playa Blanca."
Chapter Thirty-One
I was staring at the man when I heard Laura wheezing and choking. I was at her side in an instant, grabbing her arms, lifting her against me. She was trembling violently. "Laura," I said.
"No!"
Tom shoved me out of the way. He peeled back her eyelids, checked her pulse, then immediately yelled for beach towels. Beach towels?
Men and women came running, their arms loaded down with colorful towels with parrots and leopards and bright suns on them. Tom covered her with a good half-dozen beach towels, wet down the end of one of them and spread it over her forehead. He sat back on his heels and said, "Bring me cold drinks, not the diet ones, the ones filled with sugar."
Someone slapped a Dr Pepper into his hand. He peeled back the tab and said to me, "Hold up her head. We need to get this down her." I didn't think she'd take any, but she did. On some level she must have known she had to drink. "The sugar's really good for her," Tom said.
"And she needs the liquid badly. Let's just keep getting it down her throat. We've got to keep her hydrated."
The beach crowd gave her some room.
"Where's that helicopter?" Tom called out as he poured more Dr Pepper down Laura's throat.
"The lifeguard says another ten, fifteen minutes," someone yelled back.
The men and women seemed to have assigned themselves tasks. Some of them brought us drinks, others food, still others brought insect repellent and more beach towels. One woman wearing a thong bikini that was an eye-catcher dragged up a huge umbrella and positioned it so that Laura was well protected from the sun.