The Amazon Experiment by Deborah Abela Page B

is here.’
    Suave interrupted Steinberger’s musing with the location.
    â€˜Got it! Should be only a few hours from here.’
    â€˜Let’s go,’ said Steinberger, once again in charge of his feelings. ‘We must find Frond and gather the triatoma bug fast. Agents’ lives depend on us getting back to Spyforce as soon as we can.’
    They prepared to leave, but as Suave swung his pack onto his shoulders, a half-eaten muffin flew into the air and fell with a clump on the ground nearby.
    Steinberger, Max and Linden stared. First at the muffin, then at Suave.
    â€˜That’s one of Irene’s. I’d know it anywhere.’ Linden’s mouth hung slightly open at the sight of the golden and fluffy mango treat. Even though he knew it was dangerous to eat, possibly even fatal, it took all his self-control not to reach out and devour it in one large, delicious gulp.
    Max was immediately suspicious. ‘How did this get into your bag?’
    â€˜I … I …’ Suave tugged at the collar on his shirt. The humidity was sticking to his skin like a sheet of cling film.
    â€˜Well, Suave?’ Steinberger asked.
    â€˜During my final tour of Spyforce, I was shown Irene’s kitchen and offered one of these muffins. Normally I don’t touch sweet things, but when I was told how delicious they were I took one for later.’ He looked guiltily at the muffin as it lay at his feet.
    â€˜Have you eaten some of this?’ Steinberger knew they couldn’t afford any of them becoming sick.
    â€˜No! No. I haven’t,’ he answered all too quickly.
    The story fell into place for Max. ‘But Sleek has. That’s why he passed out.’
    Suave just stared at them.
    Max was about to let him have it, when Steinberger interrupted her. ‘Let’s keep moving.’
    â€˜But Steinberger …’
    â€˜Max. It’s time to move on,’ he said decisively.
    â€˜Max is right to be suspicious, Steinberger,’ admitted Suave. ‘That’s how it looks.’
    He was playing innocent and Max could see right through it.
    â€˜Everyone here is well and we have a mission to complete,’ Steinberger said. ‘And there’s nothing more to be said.’
    â€˜Yes, there is,’ insisted Max. ‘At the start, I caught him staring at me like he was up to something. And he did arrive at Spyforce at exactly the same time as the sleeping powder. Now we have a half-eaten muffin and a pilot in a coma!’
    Max eyed Suave, a small triumphant smile tickling the corner of her lips, but that was wiped away by what Steinberger said next.
    â€˜Show her, Suave.’
    Suave undid the buttons of his shirt to reveal a rectangular metallic device stuck to his chest. From this, three thin cords networked across his skin and ended in small white sticking plasters.
    Max stared at the set-up. ‘What’s that?’
    â€˜It’s a portable lie detector,’ Steinberger explained. ‘The moment Suave even slightly deviates from the truth, it sets off a high-pitched whistle. It is now standard procedure that all agents wear them for a specified period after beginning work at the Force. Suave was told about this and instantly agreed. And now, I suggest we get back to the mission.’
    He waited to see if Max had any otherobjections before turning on his heel and walking into the jungle.
    Max flicked away a fly and clenched her lips, desperately wanting to argue. It was obvious Suave was up to something, even if the lie detector hadn’t squealed yet, and before the mission was over she was going to find out what.
    They moved through the jungle, following Suave’s directions to Frond’s location. Because they’d left Spyforce in a hurry, there had been no time for Steinberger to find appropriate clothes, and his regular business shoes were having a hard time negotiating the ragged floor of the Amazon. The path they were on was knotted