“We are here,” said Nicole.  “Please stop the car.”

Cameron did as Nicole requested and stopped the Chevy in the middle of the road.  Nicole stepped out of the Chevy before Cameron had even switched off the ignition.  She walked around the front of the Chevy toward the gate.  Cameron got out and joined Nicole.  The two stood silently between the Chevy and the gate.

Pepe shifted across the backseat toward his door.  Pepe wanted to join Cameron and Nicole outside of the Chevy.  He stopped when he saw a young man in a canvas jacket come out of the trees, rifle tucked under his arm, steps ahead of where the Chevy had stopped.  The man was dressed like a hunter.  Pepe thought there was something odd about the man and decided to stay where he was.  As the hunter stepped onto the road, another young man wearing the same type of canvas jacket came out from the trees across the road from the first.  The second man had a rifle tucked under his arm as well.  The two hunters paired up in front of the Chevy and then wordlessly approached Cameron and Nicole.

Without moving his upper body, Pepe pulled the mosquito from under his shirt.

Nicole turned to the men as they closed in and lightly bowed her head, the hunters responded in kind.  Nicole said to Cameron, “These men are my friends.  They will watch over me.”

“Hello,” said Cameron.  He tapped his pant leg with the tips of his fingers.  Pepe recognized the subtle gesture.  The finger tap was a signal to lower the mosquito that Cameron knew was just out of sight.  The two hunters did not verbally respond to Cameron, choosing to offer the same slight bow they had exchanged with Nicole instead.  Cameron nodded back.  When Cameron’s head was bowed he noticed that the hunters were each wearing an emerald ring in the same style as Nicole’s pendant, except their rings also had a symbol on them that Cameron recognized.  Cameron had seen the familiar symbol for the first time only a few days before and now understood the significance.  The emerald green tiepins worn by the bodyguards in the library of Le Dragon Vert were embossed with the same small design.

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