Carly frowned. ‘I spent some time in the rainforest a few years back – didn’t I mention that before?’
Ben shrugged. ‘I guess so. Maybe.’
‘It wasn’t here in Costa Rica, though – it was in the Amazon. Very different kind of rainforest – wilder, more dangerous in a lot of ways,’ she said. Her eyes seemed to lose focus for a moment, as if she’d gone somewhere else. ‘It was where I met my ex too, so it’s got special memories for me, I suppose.’
Then Ben remembered something else. ‘Didn’t Hannah spend some time in the Amazon? I’m sure I heard her talking about it on a video once.’
Carly looked at him; there was something wary in her eyes. Something suspicious, even. ‘Did she? I don’t remember that.’
‘Yeah, I saw that video,’ said Naya. ‘She said she went there recently, though. Not years ago, like Carly.’
Ben swallowed down the lump that was building in his throat. ‘I must be getting it wrong then.’
His skin felt like it was crawling suddenly, as if that damn snake was gliding across his body, its rough, dry scales skimming the surface of his skin. He shuddered, despite the hot clamminess of the air.
It was the tension within the group; he could feel it, something starting to grow, to take shape in their fear and shock. Suspicions; paranoia.
He’d felt it first towards Scott when he’d bolted off, and now he felt it towards Carly – irrationally, by the sounds of it.
He tried to shake off the feeling; he was probably overreacting – and understandably, given everything they’d been through. Carly hadn’t given him any reason to believe she was lying about anything. None of them had, except Scott, but what he’d explained to them seemed to stack up.
‘Please, can we just keep going?’ said Naya. ‘With lethal snakes out here on top of everything else, we really need to find our way back to civilization... and the longer we’re wandering around in this rainforest, the longer it’s going to take the authorities to get out here and find Hannah.’
Her voice came out with a wobble – and then Ben saw it. He saw her look at him, and in her eyes was the same wariness and apprehension he’d seen in Carly’s. She couldn’t hide her distrust.
That was it. He had to say something.
‘Yes, we can keep walking,’ he said. ‘But before we set off again – don’t y’all think it would be good to clear the air?’
Naya was the first to turn to face him, a frown creasing her brow. ‘What do you mean,clear the air?’
‘Well, things just feel a little frosty between us now, right? It seems like we don’t trust each other any more. I just think we should talk about it.’
Mira shook her head, but she still looked afraid. ‘I’ve never said I don’t trust anyone – I don’t think that at all,’ she said. ‘None of us said that.’
Scott sighed, put down his backpack. ‘But we all feel it, don’t we?’ he said. ‘I know what Ben’s saying. I’ve had...thoughts about some of the people here. I can’t be the only one. Let’s at least be honest about that.’
‘All right then. Let’s get it all out in the open,’ agreed Carly. ‘Because, well – how much do we all know about each other, really? We only met a couple of days ago. We’ve got no idea who each other really is – what anyone here is really capable of.’
There it is. The truth.
They were doubting each other – and Ben had the feeling that most of those misgivings were aimed towards him.
‘Hang on a minute,’ said Mira. ‘I want to know who killed Hannah as much as anyone. But there’s no way any of us could have done it – the timings don’t add up, do they? We all got here at the same time – and we’ve all been together every minute since then.’
‘That’s true,’ said Naya. But she didn’t sound convinced.
Mira kept going: ‘And besides, there are other people who were here at the right time. People who knew Hannah, who were here when she died. There’s Paola and Luisa, even Isabel and Thiago who were all at the house. And that’s without even considering it was a complete stranger, someone we’ve never even met – like those drug gangs Ben mentioned earlier? That seems a likelier scenario to me.’
No one spoke for a moment. Carly looked thoughtful, then said: ‘You know what, it does seem more logical for it to have been someone else. It makes more sense than the idea of any of us doing this, anyway.’
‘Unless...’ said Naya. She swallowed, looked at the ground, kicked against a rock with her shoe. Then her words came out in a rush. ‘Unless one of us lied about what time they got here – and someone was here earlier.’ She looked up then.
Did she just look at me when she said that?
He needed to defend himself. ‘Is there something you want to say to me, Naya? Are you accusing me of... of what, exactly?’ demanded Ben.
‘Hang on a minute,’ said Naya. ‘I’m not accusinganyoneofanything– I’m just saying, it’s possible that one of us turned up here earlier, isn’t it?’ She was looking right at him that time as she said it, Ben was sure.
