“I shouldn’t have left you alone.” His eyes searched my face. “We have to be more careful about safety.”

“It’s fine. I can take care of myself.”

“I want to make sure.” He looked over at Steve. “There is something off about him.”

“I know.” I nodded. “But I don’t think he would try to hurt me with you here. I think he’s harmless. Or at least I hope he is.”

“Everyone looks harmless in the beginning.” He dropped the branches and walked over to his pants to pull out the lighter. “Pull the leaves off the branches, and let’s get this fire started.” He walked toward me again, and I couldn’t help but stare at his legs once more, so sturdy and muscular. I wanted to feel his legs in between mine. I could remember the feel of them under me as we’d made love. I stared at his legs and then his chest longingly and tried to ignore how badly I wanted to touch him. The truth of the matter was that even though I was still angry at him I still wanted him. I just wanted to press my whole body against his and feel his warmth and comfort.

“Are you cold?” Jakob watched me as I shivered, and I nodded. “Let’s get this fire started, then.” He exclaimed and then dropped to his knees.

I didn’t want him to know the real reason why my body was trembling.

Ten

The fire added another dimension to the beach. It almost made me feel like I was out at a party on the beach somewhere. Almost, but not quite.

“I’m hungry,” Steve complained, and I nodded in agreement.

“Shall we go and get some more bananas?” I looked at Jakob, hoping he had another suggestion.

“We can.” He nodded. “Or we can see if there’s some other fruit we can pick.”

“How will we know if they’re poisonous or not?”

“We just won’t pick any fruits we aren’t sure of.”

“I saw some green berries in the jungle.” Steve spoke up. “I think they looked ripe.”

“What sort of berries were they?” Jakob looked at him, and Steve shrugged. “Berries are the worst types of fruit to just pick and eat. They can be highly poisonous. I’m going to say that we should stay away from berries. We don’t know which ones may kill us.”

“That sounds like a good idea to me.” I nodded. “I’m not a huge berry person anyway; I always get the seeds stuck in my teeth, and it’s a pain to get them out.”

“If you need any help, I’ve got a super-duper tongue.” Jakob grinned at me, and I laughed.

“I think I’ll be able to manage.”

“So are you two ready?” Jakob jumped up. “Let’s go into the jungle.”

“Should we just leave this open fire?” Steve frowned and remained seated.

“It’ll be fine.” Jakob’s face was hard. “I suggest you come with us into the jungle if you’re hungry.”

“Fine.” Steve stood up awkwardly, and we all walked into the jungle in silence. “So, Jakob,” Steve began. “Tell me more about you.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Why do you think you were kidnapped? You seem like a pretty big guy. Someone would have to be a fool to draw your wrath.”

“There are plenty of fools in the world. Trust me; I’ll have the last laugh.”

“I’d be scared to get on your bad side, that’s for sure.”

“You don’t seem very scared.” Jakob stopped and turned toward him. “In fact, it seems to me that you’re making it very clear that you aren’t scared of me.”

“I’m a good actor, I suppose.” Steve laughed weakly, and I frowned as Jakob charged toward him.

“Jakob, what are you doing?” I took a step forward and placed a hand on his arm. “Don’t hurt him.”

“I’m not going to hurt him.” Jakob’s lips were in a thin line, and he looked grim. “I just want Steve to know that he’s right to be scared of me. Not many people cross me and live.” There was silence in the air as we all stood there. I could see the vein popping in Steve’s forehead. I felt slightly bad for him, but then I noticed the expression on his face. There was a small sliver of a smile, as if he were happy that he had made Jakob crack. I looked away and frowned. Maybe Steve wasn’t as scared as he had let on. Maybe Steve was playing a game with us and we were his unwilling pawns.

“He might have a gun, Jakob.” Back off and stop playing like you’re a superhero!

“What gun?” Steve frowned and looked scared. “I don’t have a gun.”

“We heard a gun the other day.” I scratched a small ant bite on my arm and stared at him to see if he was telling the truth.

“Do you hear that?” Jakob’s eyes were alert as he whispered and pointed to his ear. “Listen carefully.” He put a finger to his lips and looked around quickly. I closed my eyes and listened carefully to see if I could hear what he was talking about. What I heard made my heart stop. Something was running. And whatever it was was running fast.

“What’s that noise?” I grabbed on to Jakob’s arm in fright, and he pulled me toward him.

“Listen,” he said after a minute grinning. “Do you hear that?”

I closed my eyes again and listened. I heard an odd grunting sound. At first I thought it was the sound of a man out of breath, but then I realized exactly what it was.