"Pedro lost his temper then, and the beating began. It did not stop until long after Jade had lost consciousness and Pedro had run out of breath..."
Alone in the world, Johnny Roberts has to face his worst fears, and overcome his greatest obstacles...
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Scott, Cheryl and Miguel looked down in mute horror.
They had continued into the jungle at first light, and had stopped at the spot where Francesco had abandoned Pedro. Miguel had noticed traces of blood, and pointed it out to them. He had also reminded them that he had heard Pedro beating the girl, and both Scott and Cheryl agreed that the signs supported this.
Miguel had then put his bush lore to use and had quickly found signs of their passing.
'It looks as if Pedro wanted to take the girl back to the village,' Miguel pointed out, 'I think I will be able to find them.'
They hadn't progressed much further when they found Pedro... all that was left of him was a head. The three of them now stood staring at it in utter shock.
'A very focused young man,' Scott murmured. Cheryl tore her eyes away from the gruesome sight and looked at him.
'Scott, we need to figure this out,' she said. 'We know that Johnny killed all the guerrillas except Francesco. It is safe to assume that he wasn't aware of Miguel, or he would also probably just be a patch of scorched grass right now.' Miguel looked decidedly uncomfortable at the thought.
'He killed everybody except Francesco, Scott,' she repeated. 'Why?'
'I think it is obvious,' he replied. 'He was looking for the girl and needed information. He only needed one survivor.'
'So he made Francesco bring him back here – or at least back to where Pedro had been abandoned, and then followed the signs – just as we have,' Cheryl surmised.
'And when he found them, he found the girl injured and bruised,' said Scott, 'and took out his frustrations on poor old Pedro here.'
They both looked back at the disembodied head. Cheryl suppressed a shiver of dread.
'So where are they now?' asked Cheryl. Scott looked at Miguel.
'Tell me a little about your friend, Pedro over here,' he invited. Miguel scratched his head and replied.
'Pedro was a very cruel and a very clever man. What do you want to know?'
'Was he known to beat his women?'
Miguel gave a toothy grin. 'Si Senor! Pedro was like a panther with his women – very cruel.'
'So is it safe to imagine that the girl was badly injured?' Scott prompted.
'Si Senor. Pedro was very angry when we left him, and I could hear him shouting at the girl when he was beating her. I heard him for a long time before we were too far away. But all that time, he was beating her.'
Scott looked at Cheryl, who had an expression of horrified dismay on her face.
'Cheryl,' he said, 'the attack on the village took place around the 8th or so, and it is the 14th today. So, the girl was severely beaten six days ago, but we must also remember that Johnny only found Francesco the following day, the 9th, and has therefore probably only had her in his care for the last five, perhaps only four days.'
