ridiculously

small gap between the trees.

‘Not crashing, then.’ Sara gave a wobbly smile and let out the breath

she’d been holding. ‘I had a mental image of carnage.’

‘If you’re meeting with William then there’s going to be carnage.’ The

pilot flicked a switch in front of him. ‘I’ve seen grown men in tears after

five minutes with him. Take my advice and fight your corner. If there’s

one thing the boss hates, it’s wimps. Welcome to the Atlantic rainforest,

Miss Sara. One of the most endangered little ecosystems on our

planet.’

‘You’re leaving me? Here? In the middle of nowhere?’ Sara turned

her head and looked out of the window and only then did she see the

lodge—a building that seemed to consist of nothing but glass domes and

smooth, weathered wood, it blended into the forest so cleverly that it

seemed almost to have grown naturally amongst the trees. ‘Oh.’ She

looked at the walkways suspended high above the forest floor. ‘It’s

stunning. Amazing.’

The pilot was laughing to himself. ‘William —angel.’ Still chortling, he wiped a hand over his forehead and removed the beads of

sweat. ‘Out you get and keep your head down until you’re clear of the

blades. I’m flying back to Rio to pick up a package and then back to São

Paulo.’

Sara sat glued to her seat, unwilling to abandon her last link with

civilisation. ‘You’re not waiting? He said I could only have ten minutes

…’

And it was completely ridiculous to have travelled all this way just for

ten minutes, but what choice did she have? It was that or give up and

there was no way she was giving up. Her one hope was that he’d agree

to give her more time because she knew that ten minutes was never

going to be enough time to dig herself out of the hole she’d fallen into.

‘If there’s anything left of you when he’s finished, I’ll come back and

pick up the pieces. Take the walkway over there to the left and,

whatever you do, don’t stray off the path. This is the jungle, not a theme

park. Watch out for the wildlife.’

‘Wildlife?’ She’d been too busy worrying about the meeting to even

think about wildlife. She glanced dubiously into the dense forest that

surrounded them. Some parts were in total shade whereas in others the

sun penetrated the thick canopy of trees and was channelled onto the

forest floor like spotlights. Was it her imagination or was it all moving?

‘You mean insects?’

He gave a wicked smile. ‘Over two thousand different species at the

last estimation. And they’re just the ones we know about.’

Trying not to think about all those legs scurrying towards her, Sara

smoothed her skirt over her knees and wished she’d worn trousers. ‘And snakes?’

‘Oh, yes, there are snakes—’ his grin widened as he glanced towards

her thoroughly inadequate shoes ‘—and then there are the giant

anteaters, jaguars and the—’

‘OK, I think I’ve heard enough,’ she said breathlessly, interrupting him

with a shaky smile. Any moment now she’d be clinging to his arm and

begging him to fly her home. ‘I’m sure Mr William wouldn’t live here if it

were that dangerous.The pilot threw back his head and laughed. ‘You obviously don’t know

the first thing about him. He lives here because it’s that dangerous, baby

doll. He has a low boredom threshold. Likes to live life on the edge, so to

speak.