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On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Present day

The Aht, bent over, dry heaved twice, then lost his lunch Two A as embassy military police mopped their brows in the dense hu their skin go pale The stench was so thick that it practically blurred the vision of those asse on translucent waves of heat The villagers kept their distance, and even the Brazilian police were slow to e

Four bodies lay in a led heap Three , their abdoe hunks of torn flesh - were scattered across the ground Within the heat-liquefied slurry, there was afor cover in the three-day-old flesh Disturbed buzzards waited their turn to feast again from their patient posts in the trees Twenty local farmers that had found the dead shook their heads and , "Cuidado, por favor! Diablo - Exu" The croas growing behind the police barricade

"This wasn't the dah I can see the locals' point These folks definitely died a helluva awful death"

The eain his composure

Investigators stared at the khaki safari clothing torn away at the chest down to the abdo the fabric dark,abdominal cavities had been snatched away so brutally that bits of splintered ribs littered the ground next to each victiorknives, while cameras and other equipment scattered the area Mouths were still frozen open in silent screaer beaks Only one skull still had eyes left in it, which were open and glassy and stared at the sepia-stained earth

"The buzzards lanced away toward the trees His pale face had gone ashen even under the blaring sun, and his blond hair was enerated frohtened his red-and-blue rep tie, and loosened his white button-down Oxford shirt at the collar, opening the top button, then wiped his hands on the pockets of his navy blue suit "Rebels sure have a helluva way toterritories"

"This was not rebels," the coroner finally said with conviction "This is not an international incident Don't make it one, either"

Slowly pushing himself up from his stooped position, the A his mouth with a handkerchief then with his forear not to breathe too deeply The air s flesh His eyes watered from the stench

The two CIA rilasses They looked almost identical, save one had brown hair, one was blond, but their just-the-facts facade was blown by the way their once-crisp white shirts clung to their bodies, sweat staining the them limp Heat wasn't the only culprit Their silent fear was palpable All the officials and authorities present shared the same quiet terror with the locals

"Looks like our National Geographic science tea with a knife could have dismembered these bodies like this All their expensive equipment and cameras are still here," one of the CIA h his perspiration-soaked brown hair "Even the local boys didn't disturb the site byin to fleece the bodies of valuables, which would have made for more paperwork So we can at least thank superstition" He walked around the res, there wasn't even time for them to defend themselves"

On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Present day

The Aht, bent over, dry heaved twice, then lost his lunch Two A as embassy military police mopped their brows in the dense hu their skin go pale The stench was so thick that it practically blurred the vision of those asse on translucent waves of heat The villagers kept their distance, and even the Brazilian police were slow to e

Four bodies lay in a led heap Three , their abdoe hunks of torn flesh - were scattered across the ground Within the heat-liquefied slurry, there was afor cover in the three-day-old flesh Disturbed buzzards waited their turn to feast again from their patient posts in the trees Twenty local farmers that had found the dead shook their heads and , "Cuidado, por favor! Diablo - Exu" The croas growing behind the police barricade

"This wasn't the dah I can see the locals' point These folks definitely died a helluva awful death"

The eain his composure

Investigators stared at the khaki safari clothing torn away at the chest down to the abdo the fabric dark,abdominal cavities had been snatched away so brutally that bits of splintered ribs littered the ground next to each victiorknives, while cameras and other equipment scattered the area Mouths were still frozen open in silent screaer beaks Only one skull still had eyes left in it, which were open and glassy and stared at the sepia-stained earth