Free TRAPPED by Beverly Long - The Men from Crow Hollow 03 - TRAPPED

add more wood to the fire. Between him and Elle, they had gathered enough wood during the day to keep the fire going for days. Food would be gone within a day, but thanks to Elle’s help, there would be water. Maybe not a lot but certainly enough to sustain life. Plus there was fruit, thanks to Elle helping them identify what they could and could not eat.
    They couldn’t wait forever for someone to find the wreckage. He’d been a Boy Scout. Hell, a damn Eagle Scout. He knew how to tell directions by the sun and how to mark a trail so that he could lead someone back for the others.
    He would leave at first light.
    He heard a noise behind him. It was Elle. She came up and stood next to him at the fire. That surprised him. For most of the day, unless there was a need to communicate, they’d kept their distance from each other. Now neither of them said anything for a minute. Finally, she turned to him.
    “I’m going to go for help,” she said.
    No. That had been his line. “That’s crazy,” he said.
    Her spine straightened. “Pardon me,” she said, her tone icy.
    Was he doomed to always say the wrong thing around her? Maybe it was because she raised emotion in him that interfered with what was usually a consistent ability to moderate his comments and actions. “If anyone is going to go for help, it’s going to be me,” he said.
    “Why?”
    Because you’re a girl clearly wasn’t the right answer. It wasn’t because he considered women to be the weaker sex. He was pretty sure that the women he served with were smarter and worked harder than most of his male counterparts. And physically, Elle was clearly in good shape and could probably handle the terrain.
    But the jungle was full of danger. From all venues. Poisonous plants. Carnivorous animals. And when he’d been researching the area prior to his trip, he learned that the jungle was still home to a number of humans who might not necessarily be friendly.
    Elle could be injured, attacked, even killed.
    He would never forgive himself.
    “Because I already made the decision that I’m going,” he said, knowing it was a lame excuse.
    “You don’t know the jungle. I do.”
    “You’re needed here. You’re the voice of reason. You can keep everybody calmed down.”
    “There are injured here. You’re the only one who has the skills to treat them.”
    “I can’t do anything else for either Angus or Captain Ramano. And I’m afraid that time is not Angus’s friend. I’m confident that he’s developing an infection. Every hour he goes without an antibiotic is an hour closer to losing that leg or even his life. I have to go and I have to go soon.”
    “What’s your plan?” she asked.
    He shrugged. “Walk until I find help.”
    “Which direction?” she prodded.
    “North. We’re south of the Amazon River. If I can get there, we have a good likelihood that there will be someone who can help us.”
    “It’s too far. It would take you weeks to walk that distance.”
    She was probably right. But it had seemed like the best option. “Then I guess I’ll head south, back toward Brasília.”
    She shook her head. “We flew for about twenty minutes before we crashed. I asked Angus how fast we were flying and he said about 250 knots or roughly 300 miles per hour. Our destination was north, at about a thirty-degree angle. I think we’re roughly 130 miles north and just a little east of Brasília. If I’m right, that means we’re less than a two-day walk to Mantau. It’s a small village, due east, and I have a friend there who can help us. That’s why I’m the one who is leaving at first light.”
    Her math made sense. Her confidence was admirable.
    And her stubbornness was damn irritating. “But—”
    “Brody,” she said, her voice softer. “You have always wanted to take care of things for everybody else. I suspect that makes you a great doctor. You care. But you don’t have to shoulder this burden alone. I can do it.”
    He stared at her. So