Virgo's Vice Read online

  Lela is still wearing a T-shirt and her lace panties are sticking out at the bottom. “I’ll help gather fruit or whatever. With Trip.” She sends him a bright smile.

  “Me, too,” Sam says. I’ll go with you guys. I hope you’re gonna get dressed, though.”

  “Of course I will get dressed,” Lela glares at her.

  “I’ll walk to the creek with you guys and maybe we’ll find some cleaner water. If you could let us take a couple of your condoms,” Eve says to Lela, “we could fill them and tie them with some of the floss.”

  “What if I need the condoms?” Lela asks. “Just kidding. I have plenty.”

  Everyone turns to Maria. “Oh. I’ll stay here and do whatever is needed,” she says. “Help with the latrines or get firewood and boil water.”

  “I’ll go with Trip for a while and then I’ll come back and film you guys in camp.” Mark catches my eye. “You okay to film the fishing expedition?”

  I nod, and turn my gaze to Jared. “Yeah, I’m with them,” he says. “Fishing and hauling water.”

  “We should take something to carry the water in,” Eve says. “In the condoms.”

  “How about one of the cargo bags?” Andy doesn’t wait for an answer, just heads over to where they are on the bed and picks one up. He carefully empties the leaves out in a pile.

  “I have my fishing gear,” Billy says. “We may need a shovel.”

  “Sorry, man,” Trip says. “We’re taking one shovel and Stretch and Rodriguez will need the other one. You’ll have to make do with a machete.”

  “Before you go,” Maria says, “you should each drink at least a cup full of water.”

  I’m thankful for that. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get enough water again. I try to make it last, but it’s gone in less than a few seconds and I’m left staring at the empty mug.

  The sun is beginning to warm us as Billy, Andy, Jared, Eve, and me and Jake at the back head out toward the creek. “How far is that?” I say to anyone who’s listening.

  “I would say it’s at least three miles,” Andy says.

  “Maybe four,” Billy adds from up front.

  I watch Eve’s feet in front of me. “I hope those sandals are gonna be okay?”

  “They’re strong and comfortable,” she responds with a smirk.

  Trip Varnes was beginning to wonder about this reality show. The producer, Allan Dockery, had been around and done some pretty big shows, but it seemed a little weird the way he let the camera operators down. Whatever happens, I’m way smarter than all of these others and Africa’s been my home for a while now.

  Lexie was here of course and he had planned it that way. His old buddy, Dockery’s assistant producer, Anthony Evans, had worked at the studio for a few years now, and had been keeping him informed about Lexie. He had done well the way he had manipulated things that had resulted in Lexie being offered the chance to come out here. Anthony knew Mark would want Lexie to work with him, and all he had to do was make the suggestion. She had surprised everyone by volunteering as soon as she was offered the chance, and they hadn’t had to use the persuasive tactics they had discussed.

  She wasn’t gonna talk to anyone about their past. She was too frightened of her secret getting out to oppose him, but it was annoying the way she made that scene last night. He shouldn’t have touched her, but he couldn’t help it. Just the smell of her was enough to make his blood sizzle. He licked his lips in anticipation. It had been a long time.

  He would have to watch the Chinese girl. Had she heard anything when he and Lexie were talking? He needed to try to find out somehow. And what about the sat phone? He had been pretty sure no one had seen him pull it out of the trunk and hide it, but when he came back, the same annoying girl was staring at him. The other camera operator, Mark, may suspect something too, but if he had seen Trip slip it under his shirt, he would have said something by now.

  “So, Trip, how do you come to know so much about African plants?” Lela was walking behind him. She had poured herself back into the designer jeans amid grunts and groans. They did look good on her, but not as good as the lace panties. She was hot for him, too. He had told himself before he left that he wouldn’t get involved with any romantic liaisons. Lexie was the only one he wanted, needed, and desperately desired.

  “I lived out in the bush for a while.” He allowed his gaze to follow the curves of her body. Tempting. Maybe he would use her to relieve some of the pent up lust that was building every time he saw Lexie.

  No. He should concentrate on the game. But were they actually playing the game? Surely it would only start when they knew the rules.

  He wished he could contact Anthony, but he couldn’t risk using the sat phone. Allan Dockery had better have a good explanation when he finally got here.

  Chapter 14

  Allan Dockery sat in his high-backed leather chair and stared at the computer screen. He could hardly contain his excitement, and wished he could be a fly on the wall as he watched Google Earth soar across the screen to Zimbabwe.

  Those contestants had probably built a shelter by now. They would have had to find water. He had done his research and he knew they wouldn’t die of dehydration. A couple of them had fire-making equipment and they had two pots to boil water with. He wondered if they had found anything to eat yet. They might not like rice as their only meal but they wouldn’t starve.

  He chuckled as he scrolled through the names. They probably thought it was going to be an individual game, but when he got there in two days’ time he was going to cause as much disruption as he could by putting them into teams of two. As he checked out the names and examined their pictures, he made notes on a tablet that sat on the desk beside the computer.

  “You”—he indicated Henry—“will be teamed up with Eve Li.” He chuckled to himself. “The oldest with the youngest. Yes. I can see some conflict there.”

  “Next, Rodriguez. I’ll put him with the pretty girl, the teacher, Kelli. That should annoy the young studs. I wonder how she’s getting along with her high heels and cocktail dress.”

  He typed on the tablet, and returned his concentration to the screen. “Maria, our little nurse. I’ll team her up with the lawyer. He won’t like that. He’s a jock and he would want to be with the pretty redhead.” Allan chuckled again.

  He wondered how the camera operators were doing. He hoped Lexie hadn’t hurt herself when she landed. He shouldn’t have pushed her, he knew, and it could land him with a law suit but she was young and healthy. She would be okay. He was glad Anthony had recommended her to him. It was a good choice and she had worked with Mark before. They had the sat phone, and he knew they would call if anyone was injured, or anything.

  He missed Jake, but he imagined the dog must be having the time of his life. He didn’t often get to run and play in wide-open spaces like that. He was confident that cowboy would have landed okay with him in that harness. Cowboys liked animals. He was absolutely certain Lexie would take care of him. She loved animals and couldn’t stay away from Jake whenever they were on set.

  Once he was done figuring out the teams, he opened the sketches of the obstacle courses. It wouldn’t take them too long to build once the crew was on the ground. Ten miles in that heat would make a good elimination task. The last couple in would immediately be eliminated.

  He sat back in his chair and checked his watch. He wished the financier, Josh Grant would call him and let him know he had wired the funds.

  His Assistant Producer, Anthony, had been emailing every hour and it was starting to wear him down. He hadn’t told Anthony how much was riding on this show being a success, but as soon as the money showed up in the bank, he would tell him to get his ass onto the next flight and get the show started. The bank had extended him a lot of credit, but the cost of the flights for the crew members, and the freigh
t from here to Africa would be greater than he could afford, even with the overdraft. The air charter company in Zimbabwe hadn’t been paid for the last trip yet, either, and he knew they wouldn’t take off again without that payment.

  He checked his email. Again. Maybe Josh had wired the funds and emailed him to let him know. No there wasn’t anything. He logged onto his bank and checked the balance. It was still in the red. Badly in the red.

  His stomach churned.

  He would have to give Josh another twenty-four hours before he could call and remind him.

  Chapter 15

  I’m real happy that I snuck another mug of water before we left. It’s getting warm again and I wish we could have brought bottled water with us. I think we’re getting close to the creek now. We’ve been walking downhill for at least ten minutes.

  “Yeehaw,” Billy lets out his happy cry, and I hurry to catch up.

  The creek is about twenty feet wide and is running quite fast. The water’s clear. I manage to keep the camera rolling while I skid down the grassy bank. Billy is kneeling and scooping up a handful of water. I watch him sniff it. Then he cups both hands, dips them in and fills them with water, and raises them to his lips.

  “I wouldn’t be doing that, bro,” Andy says. “You don’t want be getting the runs out here.” He chuckles.

  “It’s clean water,” Billy says. “Anyhow, I’m used to drinking from creeks. Your stomachs might be more sensitive.”

  Jared stares, wide-eyed. “The pilot said there are some parasites that live in most of the creeks and dams in Africa. People who know about them don’t swim in the water, and they sure as hell don’t drink it without boiling it.”

  Billy shrugs. “I heard him say that, but he also said the water here gets too cold in winter for that kind of parasite to survive.”

  “I would love to drink some,” I say. “But I don’t want to take the chance.” They can all probably see me licking my lips.

  Jake pushes past me, drops his head and laps the water.

  Eve is watching Billy, who is staring into the water.

  “Need to find a pool where the water’s still,” he says. “But first we need some worms.” He breaks a stick off a bush, cleans it of leaves, squats down and starts to dig in the mud at the edge of the water.

  “Yes,” he says and pulls out a handful of mud with worms crawling around in it. Jared holds out the pot and Billy drops them into it.

  “Eeuw.” I can’t help saying it.

  Billy peers up at me and grins. “Aaw, you don’t like worms. Come on, come and touch them.” He picks up another handful of mud and holds up his hand. I can see them wriggling around in the dirt.

  I shudder. Before I realize what he’s doing he runs at me, holding the handful of mud and worms out in front of him.

  I scream and run back up the bank and back along the path we’ve just followed. Jake starts barking and I can hear him running behind me.

  “Hey, Jake, it’s okay, buddy,” Billy says. “Chicken!” Billy yells from a few feet away from me.

  I stop, breathing hard, and turn around. Jake is standing between Billy and me, still barking. Billy thrusts the worm hand forward in a feint and I scream again. Jake barks and rushes Billy, who bursts out laughing.

  The others all start laughing too. I try not to grin but I can’t stop myself. “Just don’t put those things near me,” I say. “I’m serious, Billy. I don’t like bugs and things that crawl and wriggle.”

  Jake pushes his head under my hand and I stroke him and pull his soft ears. He’s panting, with his mouth open and his tongue hanging out.

  “Come on, bro,” Andy says. “Let’s catch us some fish.”

  Billy still has that teasing grin on his face when he says, “Okay, let’s head up that way.” He faces me. “You coming?”

  “Should we get the water?” I say to Eve.

  “I need the pot,” Eve says.

  Jared pours the worms out of the pot into his hand and gives her the pot. I stay way back so the worms are nowhere near me.

  Eve, Jake, and I walk a few hundred yards back along the path until we get to a spot where the bank is not so steep. Eve dips the pot into the water and rinses it out. We use it to collect water. It takes some experimenting to figure out how to hold the condoms to get the water into them without spilling too much, but after a while we get the hang of it.

  “It could work better if we blow it up a little first,” Eve says.

  She’s right. It fills easier. Then we have to tie them tight at the top. I am so proud to have managed it. I drop the filled condom down on the grass. It pops and the water starts to squirt out.

  “Oh shit!” I pick it up and try to block the hole with my finger.

  Eve bursts out laughing. “Just as well we weren’t using it for . . . you-know-what,” she says with a grin.

  I chuckle. “Yeah. I guess we have to treat it with more respect. Funny how they can take a pounding when you use them as, well, as condoms.”

  We handle the next filled condom more carefully. I slide it into the cargo bag, making sure there is nothing sharp in there.

  “Yes. One down. How many more do we have?”

  Eve slides them out of her pocket and counts them. “Seven.”

  “How many does Lela have? I thought she said she had a couple of hundred, and all she can spare is seven.”

  “She said she might need the others.”

  This time it’s me who laughs. “She’s gonna be busy, then.”

  “This is much nicer water than that other stuff,” Eve says. “I’m almost tempted to drink it.”

  “Yeah. It’s so cool and clear. But no. We should wait and see if affects Billy first.” Could he be right, that his stomach is more able to handle bacteria here in Africa than ours because he drinks from creeks in Texas? I think he’s just making that up. I sure hope the pilot was right about the water being too cold for parasites.

  “Are you really so scared of worms?” Eve asks in a more-serious tone.

  “Sure I am. Aren’t you?”

  She shakes her head. “I’ve been fishing a few times and I put the worms on the hook myself. You have to kind of thread them onto it.”

  “Ugh. You’re making me feel creepy.” It sounds pretty cruel to me, but who knows if worms have feelings.

  “So have you ever been fishing?” Eve says.

  “No. I’ve lived in L.A. most of my life. All of my life. But I always love to get outdoors when I can.”

  “You don’t dress like a city person.” She stares at my jeans and then at my hair, which is probably flying around everywhere.

  “No. I much prefer the country to the city, even though I’ve never really had much chance to spend outside. Actually when we get back I’m moving out of the city onto a horse ranch. I’ll be living in the manager’s cottage.” Every time I think about it a little flutter of anxiety runs through me, even though I really, really want to make the change. I’m so lucky to have met that woman Sheila, in the line at the bank. I would never have known about the cottage if I hadn’t. She knows I’m on assignment in Africa and that I’ll contact her as soon as I get back.

  “So will you be working there?”

  “No. They want someone to be around on weekends when they go to shows. You know, so if a horse gets injured or anything while they’re away I can call them and they can call a veterinarian. Things like that. I’m also gonna get a dog.” I pat Jake. “I love dogs and I’ve never ever been able to have one of my own. I’ve always liked horses, too. I’m not a bad rider, and Sheila said she’ll let me ride sometimes.”

  “How do you like being a camera operator?”

  Eve is full of questions. “It’s cool.”

  We fill all six remaining condoms and drop them into the
canvas bag, then leave it in the shade of a tree.

  “Let’s go check on the guys.”

  “I’ll wait here,” Eve says, sinking down onto the grass. ‘I’m hot and tired.”

  “You okay here on your own? I don’t think we should be separated.”

  “Sure. I’ll be fine. I like being alone sometimes. Go and catch some fish. Or at least film them catching fish.” She chuckles.

  Billy, Jared, and Andy walked in silence for a while.

  “Here.” Billy stopped, extracted the machete from his belt, and started hacking at a long reed.

  “Fishing pole,” he said. “I’ll make one for you.” He stared at Jared. “And another for you, Andy. Do you think the girls will want to fish?”

  “No,” Jared said. “Lexie’s filming and I could see Eve wasn’t too excited about it.”

  “Lexie won’t come anywhere near the worms, anyhow,” Billy said with a smile. “Do you think she’s really that scared of them?”

  “You’d better believe it, bro,” Jared said. “She was shit-scared. I bet she peed in her pants she was so fucking scared.”

  “Just like you with that spider? You screamed like a girl.”

  “That dog almost bit you, dude,” Andy said. “You’re lucky he didn’t. He’s real protective of her.”

  “Dogs won’t bite me. They like me. It’s not even her dog, anyhow.”

  “He looked pretty serious to me,” Andy said.

  After a little while, Billy said, “This is a good place. The water’s still here, see?” He gazed out over the wide pool. “That line of rocks is making a natural dam. There’s a little waterfall below it. That’s what we can hear.”