Hunter's Woman

“I wonder, could he be a virology specialist on the new South American bugs?” Maria Sanchez asked as she came over.

Snorting, Catt looked down at her. “Somehow, I doubt it. That bastard was in the Marine Corps, an Annapolis graduate, the last time I saw him. Just because he’s not wearing the uniform of the day doesn’t mean he isn’t in the military now. No, something fishy’s going on here. I don’t know what it is, but Maria, will you call OID and track Casey down? I want to talk to her.”

Maria nodded. “You bet,” she replied, digging the cell phone out of the leather knapsack that hung from her shoulder.

“What are we going to do about a tug?” Andy asked her.

“I want Maria and you two to walk down to those other docks and see if you can’t bribe one of the captains into taking us to that Juma village. As I understand it, the rate of exchange is about six hundred to one. Flash a twenty in front of them…or whatever it takes. A small amount of U.S. money will make them rich enough that they won’t have to work for a year if they’ll just get us downstream to Señor Antonio’s houseboat, near the Juma village. Get going. And good luck.”

The two men nodded and turned as Maria approached Catt and held out the cell phone to her. “Dr. Casey’s on the line.”

“Thanks,” Catt said, and took the phone. Maria, Andy and Steve walked down to the riverboats to find a willing tug captain.

“Casey?”

“Yes. Catt?”

“You got me. You’re breaking up a little.” Catt turned a bit. “Is this a better connection?”

“Much better. What’s going on? Are you in the Juma village?”

Catt grimaced. “Hell, no.” She went on to explain what had happened. “Listen, you just sent a guy down here by the name of Ty Hunter. Is that right?” Her hand became sweaty and she held the cell phone a little tighter.

“Yes, I did.”

“What for? Don’t you have confidence in me and my team to handle this situation?”

Casey laughed. “Confidence? Of course I do, Catt. That has nothing to do with this. Hunter is your assistant. I feel this situation is potentially so big that you need someone who can act like a gopher for you. Go for this, go for that. You know?”

Unhappily, Catt realized Casey did not know of their past with one another. Catt wasn’t about to mix personal business with her professional life, either. “I really don’t need him, Casey. That was decent of you to send him, but really, you can have him back. My team is all I need. There’s no way we can assess the Juma outbreak until we get in there. We’ve been delayed by an unexpected problem with the tug we originally hired. We’re in the process of rectifying it.”

“If I know Hunter, he’s probably looking for a tugboat for you this very moment. He’s a very handy person to have around, Catt. Believe me. He’s got a lot of time in grade over in Africa and South America. He’s handled a lot of dicey, dangerous outbreak situations. Hell, he almost died of Congo fever a couple of years ago during one of them. No, this guy is a jack-of-all-trades and a master of all of them. He’s the one person you want at your back if things break the wrong way.”

Catt nearly choked. Her lips parted and she almost told Casey she was dead wrong. Hunter was the last person to rely on in a tense situation. “So where did he pick up his knowledge of epidemics?”

“He’s got a minor in biology. I’ve used him from time to time on other outbreaks with other teams when the situation was dangerous and the factors were unknown. He’s an excellent go-between in many ways, Catt. He speaks Portuguese and no one on your team does. If nothing else, he can serve as your interpreter. Let him work for you. If you need something done, ask him. He’ll fill in and get it happening. He’s a can-do kind of guy, and my gut intuition on this particular mission is that you need a person with his varied experience to assist you in ways your other team members can’t.”

“I really don’t need him.”

“Sorry, Catt, but you’ll come to be glad he’s with you. Just trust me on this call, okay?”

“But you’ve never done this to me before, Casey. You’ve always trusted me to run my team in the past and get the job done.” Desperate, Catt closed her eyes. She had to get rid of Hunter. She just had to!

“Look, Dr. Alborak! Look!”

Half turning at the sound of Maria’s high-pitched, excited voice, Catt saw her lab assistant two hundred yards down the bank, pointing out toward the slow-moving, muddy river. Scowling, she muttered to Casey, “Hold on a sec….” Raising her head, she focused her gaze. Her heart dropped. And then it thudded violently. There, less than a quarter mile away, was a tugboat coming directly toward their dock. On the prow was Ty Hunter. Damn! He’d found a tug owner willing to take them downriver before her team could.

Her breath ragged, she turned her back on Maria.

“I can hear shouting in the background,” Casey said. “What’s going on?”

“It’s Hunter,” Catt said unhappily. “He’s found us a tug.”

“See?” Casey said primly. “He’s already broken the logjam on your situation down there at the dock. I tell you, Catt, he’s a very handy person to have around.”

Catt realized that no matter what she said, what fight she put up, her boss was not going to let her get rid of Hunter. Disheartened, all the fire draining out of her voice, she said, “Okay, Casey, he’s a part of my team.”

“Don’t sound so glum. You’re the boss, Catt. What you send him to do, he’ll do, no questions asked. Okay?”

“Yeah, fine. Look, I’ll call in once we get to the Juma village and make an initial assessment, all right?”

“Sure. Just be careful, Catt. You and your team are too important in all of this.”

Catt pressed the off button and glumly walked to where Maria was standing. She felt as if her life was draining out of her with each hard beat of her heart. Ty Hunter stood like a proud warrior, his arms crossed against his chest, as the tug slowly paralleled the dock. She saw the triumph in his expression. The bastard was gloating. And then Catt chided herself. What the hell was really important here? People’s lives, not her private, sordid affair with Hunter. Somehow she was going to have to put it all behind her and focus on her mission.

She watched as Hunter jumped lithely, like the fabled and rare jaguar that ruled the Amazon jungle, onto the rickety wooden dock. He took the bowline and tied it to the post. Looking up, Catt saw Andy and Steve jogging back toward them, relief written on their sweaty features.

Ty decided that staying busy was the better part of valor with Catt, who stood tensely to one side. At that moment, she looked like a lost waif. He wanted to go to her, to try and smooth things out, but he knew it was impossible. Now was not the time to try and talk about the past, either. He saw the darkness in her glorious, cobalt-blue eyes. He felt her pain. Pain he’d caused her. Guilt ate at him, mixed with his own pain. He had a lot of questions for her, too. But they would have to wait. Walking off the dock, he went over to Maria.

“You need this equipment on board in any particular order?” he asked her.

Maria brightened. “Not really. It just all has to get on the tug.” She pointed to three dark green metal chests. “These contain our drugs and antibiotics in dry ice. Let Andy or Steve help you with them.”

Ty nodded and picked up a number of smaller boxes. He’d try and make himself useful—and stay out from under Catt’s feet, if possible. However, that tug was only sixty feet long and was going to be crowded at best. There’d be very little room to give Catt relief from his unexpected presence.

His chest ached. Hell, his heart was hurting, too. Every time he walked back for another load of equipment, he saw Catt standing there so alone, so apart from everything going on around them. Her shoulders were slumped. The look on her face was one of utter devastation. It agonized him to know that he was the cause of her turmoil. And more than anything, Ty realized, as he took another box to the awaiting tug, all the old feelings he had for Catt ten years ago were not only alive, but clamoring inside him. He needed to talk to her, to understand all that had happened on that day so many years ago.

Sighing raggedly, Ty handed the tug captain, who’d introduced himself as Hernandez, the box to be placed in the center region of the boat. He knew nothing of Catt’s life since their breakup so long ago. And there was so much he needed to know. She’d wanted to be a medical doctor and go on to become a pediatrician. She had always loved children…. Wincing internally, Hunter felt pain shoot through him. He turned on his booted heel and walked back for another box.

To his surprise, Catt was standing near the last box. She was waiting for him. He could see it in the challenging blue fire of her gaze, the hard set of her jaw and the way her body tensed as he approached.

Her voice was low and snarling.

“I don’t know what strings you pulled or why, Hunter. I don’t like it. I don’t like the fact that you’re here. And there’s nothing I can do about it. This smacks too much of our past together.” She jabbed her finger into his chest. “I don’t trust you at all. From here on out, I’m the boss. You carry out my orders or else. The first time you don’t, or you give me lip, I’m making a call on my cell phone to my boss and your butt is out of here. You got that?”

He felt her fear. He saw it in her eyes, even though he knew Catt was very good at making an opponent think she was fearless. Ty couldn’t be angry with her. He understood exactly where she was coming from—her last experience with him had hurt her badly. There was no way to explain. Not now…maybe never. That hurt. He didn’t like being seen as the villain in another person’s eyes. Especially Catt’s.

“We need to talk—”

“Like hell we do!” Her nostrils quivered, and her voice shook. “Hunter, you screw up just once and you’re out of here. Got it?”

He held her gaze, which was riddled with anguish and fear. “Yeah,” he growled under his breath, “I got it.”

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