Project Rescue - A Shifter Novel (NaNoWriMo19)
Chapter 10 - Absolute fear

Recap

I looked at him, and with a sheepish smile answered, “Yeah, Daisy snores like a freight train. Plus, if you touch her when she’s asleep she will break your jaw or something else. I had to set the flight attendants’ jaw on the plane. She spent a day with the air marshals.”

“Okay. I would have gotten a tent also,” Manuel commented, laughing quietly.

“I’ll make sure to take care of it,” Tiny answered.

I couldn’t wait for Tiny to see the size of my pup tent. Even I was wondering how I would fit. This ought to be good for a laugh. He didn’t know what he got himself into and I was going to have some fun with it. Tiny wasn’t Tiny. He was built like a brick shit-house, meaning he was tall, very tall, and built. I guess that was why he thought he could any woman.

Not!

Manuel and I helped set the site up, sometimes fixing what was wrong. I had never seen someone not know how to put a tent up. The guys sucked at it. Daisy knew a little bit but I wondered who put their tents together before I got here.

I helped Tiny set up the, somewhat, crushed pup tent. As soon as the tent was up I was waiting for the comment I knew was coming, what everyone knew what was coming.

He crawled into the tent, trying to get his body to fit. “I didn’t know it would be this small. Why would you buy one so small?” Tiny whined.

“Uh, let me think...because I’m small and I can lay from side to side. I would have been a little cramped but not like you. Your feet didn’t even fit inside,” I commented, laughing along with everyone else.

“Here, let me see if I can fit,” Daisy said, shooing away Tiny. She crawled into the pup tent, laying sideways. “I’ll take this one and you can have mine, okay?”

“Good thing I put the tent in the back, knowing Daisy would fit,” I whispered to Manuel.

I guess he would find out why I moved the tent in the back. Even in our hammocks, we were going to hear her snoring. Manuel acted as if it wouldn’t be a big deal. I guess he had never taken the group here, or Daisy wasn’t with them.

“You ready to go to the village real quick,” Manuel whispered to me.

“Yeah, but I don’t know what to tell the group,” I replied.

“Hey, guys, I’m taking Seri to the village for a few minutes. She needs to talk to the law about the hunters, okay?” Manuel asked.

“Sure, no problem. Please be back before dark, both of you,” Greg pleaded.

Manuel nodded, turning around to me and shrugging his shoulders. “You ready, Seri?”

I nodded, not wanting to voice my concerns. As we were walking, I was thinking about the council and what they would say. I was nervous, chewing on my lip and shuddering every few steps. “Is the council nice?”

“Actually they are. Our council is made up of older shifters. They know the problems we are facing and the problems with the drug suppliers. They cut through the rainforest a lot, making a lot of noise and not caring what they do with their trash. It’s disgusting. We don’t want them here but without proof, there’s nothing we can do.”

“Are the drug runners jaguars too?”

He nodded his head. “The ones who cut on our side of the rainforest are all shifters. I can’t understand why they wouldn’t take more care of the forest.”

“Maybe I can help,” I muttered.

“How? We’ve tried everything, even interrogating a few. But, they know we wouldn’t hurt them and they were more worried about their bosses finding out.”

“I didn’t want to say anything and I’m trusting you with this knowledge that can get me dead, fast,” I explained.

“If you want to wait to tell me, go ahead. I shouldn’t have asked you,” he commented.

“Do you know the name, Paublo Barbosa?” I almost whispered. I was scared, terrified. I hadn’t spoken his name in over six-weeks, almost as if he would appear as soon as I said it. I looked around me, worried. I didn’t want anyone else to hear.

He spat on the ground. “Yes, the most awful man. He controls a lot of the drug trade here. He even has a hacienda here.”

My heart started pumping hard, my breath wheezing out of me. I was shaking uncontrollably. I didn’t know about his house here or that he was so big in the drug trade. “Will anyone from your village let them know I’m here. For money, prestige, anything,” I panted out, hoping he could understand. I felt as if I was going to pass out.

Manuel sat me down, pulling my head down between my legs and rubbing my back. “Breathe, Seri, breath. You’re having a panic attack.

I nodded my head, breathing as he told me to. I was happy he sat me down, I didn’t know if my legs would have held me much longer. I sat there for a while, getting my breath back and looking at him.

“He won’t find out. I’m going to run and have the council meet us back here, just in case. I know we are in a poor village and there are always greedy people. I understand why you are scared. Are you related to the scum of the earth?”

I was happy, I wouldn’t have to go to the village. I was so afraid someone would tell him I was here. But, I couldn’t stay here. “I’m his granddaughter, more like his slave and punching bag. I’ll wait up in the trees, okay,” was all I could get out.

He nodded his head, waiting on me to get up the tree, then he shifted and headed off to the village. I was scared to death. I had every right to be. I hoped he knew a few people who could help keep me safe but I wouldn’t be able to stay in the group, not for long. I knew there were young men trying to jump the ladder to become drug runners, for a lot of cash. And, if they were looking for me, my picture would be in every one of their pockets. What a mess.

Manuel came across a couple of drug runners on his way to the village. “Have you seen this girl?”

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