Ethan and Ford both bent over to take a closer look. “Man . . . this one is really far,” Ethan said, pointing at the location farthest north from them. “If that’s the location, we’re going to have to move the entire camp. There’s no way we can hike to that every day.”
“Well, this one isn’t far. Maybe two miles? Depending on the terrain, it could take, what, forty-five minutes to an hour?” Ford said.
“Right . . . but we won’t know until we check it out, so what are we going to do? Hike there, and then if it’s not the right one, we hike to the next and then the next? You know how Murphy’s Law works. You know it’s going to be the last one. It will take at least a couple of days if we have to hike to all three of these and back,” Ethan said.
“Well—and I don’t mean to be a party pooper—but there’s also a chance that none of these is the right spot. This might not even be the correct river. And as much as I trust this theory, Mendoza might not have come this way at all,” Corrie said.
She hated admitting it, but it was true. And she wouldn’t be doing her job if she didn’t point out the potential that the whole trip could be a bust. Even though she wanted to believe in the Mendoza option, there was a real possibility that Mendoza had been a lying deserter.
She hoped that wasn’t the case. If so, that meant her hypothesis and ancestral connection to Chimalli were false. But if she was going to try to prove her theory was correct, then she might as well do it on someone else’s dime and on someone else’s property. Thankfully, the investor’s property encompassed the vast majority of the area that best fit the Mendoza account. If Chimalli’s resting place lay beyond those borders, though, no amount of digging within them would make any difference.
Ethan and Ford glanced nervously at each other.
“Why don’t we check the closest one and maybe we’ll get lucky?” she said, not sure who exactly she was trying to reassure.
“It’s been a long time since I got lucky,” Ford said.
Corrie and Ethan both raised their eyebrows, dying to make the obvious joke.
Ford simply rolled his eyes and smiled. “Gutter brains.”
“Hey, we’ve been out here a long time,” Ethan joked.
“Yeah, then what’s her excuse?” Ford said, motioning to Corrie.
“Oh, that’s easy. I’ve got a dirty mind.” She smirked, earning a muffled laugh from Ethan.
Oh, she had a dirty mind, all right. She was already thinking of all the ways she could help Ford get lucky. Was there any real truth to that statement, though? He’d already said he wasn’t seeing anyone. Did seeing anyone only refer to dating? Because if that were the case, then Corrie wasn’t seeing anyone, either.
That didn’t mean she was unavailable for random dates and hookups, however. Not that they were a huge part of her life, but she had a solid rotation of guys she could call to . . . quench her thirst. A few of them wanted more. Every now and then one wanted . . . a relationship. Cringe. That was always her cue to cut things off. Corrie’s lifestyle didn’t really lend itself to long-term commitment. Not with moving around for jobs, or the weeks and months on end she spent out of town traveling the world.
But Ford was a tall drink of water and Corrie was getting very thirsty.
“If the two of you are done . . .” Ford said, using his I’m the boss voice, though a hint of the playfulness still rang through. Corrie and Ethan stood at full attention, pulling their mouths into tight lines. “Anyway . . . What about this? There’s a road that goes all the way here,” he said, dragging his finger across the map. “We have a raft. What if we drop into the river here and float our way down? Shouldn’t take more than a day or two tops this way, rather than the three or four it would take to hike there and back. We check out each of these locations, and if one of them looks like the spot, great. If not, then we come back and reassess.”
Corrie had to admit—it wasn’t a bad idea, though it could potentially waste a lot of time. And there was always the chance that the river had rapids or other precarious obstacles. Then again, she was always up for an adventure.
Ford, on the other hand, was famously not. Ethan must have been thinking the same thing, because he hadn’t responded, either.
“What?” he asked, noticing Corrie’s and Ethan’s blank stares. “You think it’s a ridiculous idea, don’t you?”
“No,” Ethan said. “It’s just . . . I’m a little surprised that you’d suggest something so . . . daring.”
“Yeah, well, it must be the booze. I’m more open to risk-taking when I’ve been drinking,” he said, tossing Corrie a quick glance with a half smile that sent her insides swirling again.
He really needed to stop looking at her like that or she would have to pull out that vibrator later. Though, who was she kidding? She’d be pulling it out regardless.
“Corrie, what do you think?” Ford asked.
“I mean, it would definitely save time if the closer spots aren’t it. But we won’t know that until we get out there.”
Ethan sat on the edge of the desk. “How is this going to work logistically? We’ve still got at least two days left of cleanup at the old site. Even assuming one of these sites is the right one, we won’t be able to get a solid crew together to scout until next week at the earliest.”
Practical Ethan.
“Well, we only have one raft, anyway. It holds four to six people, max,” Ford said. “I’ll take a small team. Me, Corrie, and two of the other guys.”
Ethan stood straight. Uh-oh. Corrie’s eyes shifted between the two of them. Ethan didn’t like this plan.
“I thought we were doing this together,” Ethan said.
Is it warm in here?
“We are . . . we will. But I need you at the old site,” Ford said.
“I can stay and close up the old site,” Corrie said, taking a page from Ethan’s referee book.
“No, I need you,” Ford said. And there went those warm fuzzies again. “You’re the only one who knows what we should be looking for. The only one who truly knows.” He then turned to Ethan. “Look, man, you know I want you to be there with me, but if we wait, we’re looking at next week, like you said. We can’t afford to wait that long.”
Ethan’s face twisted, but he sat back down. “All right, fine. But if I hear you guys were battling cheetahs, I’m going to be pissed.”
“Ethan, if we’re battling cheetahs in Mexico, then we’ve got much bigger problems,” Corrie said.
“Watch what you’re saying.” The corner of Ford’s mouth ticked up. “If anyone’s going to battle cheetahs in a Mexican jungle, it’s Dr. Socorro Mejía, the living legend.”
Corrie laughed and kicked her leg at Ford’s hip as he shuffled to get away with that damn sexy grin on his face.
“Okay, do we have a plan?” Ford asked. The three of them looked around the desk at each other and then nodded. “Great. Then we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“You mean, you two have a lot of work to do,” Ethan said, “seeing as you had a nice leisurely afternoon. I’m going to go take a shower.”