In the morning, Heather's call arrives. She has tracked the samples moved from Dr. Gold's storage facility in Washington to Congo.

"Where in Congo?" Mason asks as the five of them listen to Heather through Mason's phone's speaker.

"I'm afraid that's as far as I could trace it. The last known place is a distribution center in Kinshasa. I highly doubt it's still there. I checked with the center. They have no record of it. I believe the sample must've been moved privately, leaving no breadcrumbs behind."

"It's alright Heather," Mason says to his father's secretary, "You've done great tracking it up to Congo. We got it from here."

"Careful," Heather says, "Nathan will never forgive me if something happens to you. Please stop at the first sign of trouble and come back home. There's nothing that matters to your uncle more than your safety."

"I understand, Heather. I promise you we'll be careful."

After the call ends Brad says, "Congo next?"

"Yes," Mason replies, "With a pit stop back in Washington to grab some supplies."

WASHINGTON DC

At the airport the group separates. Since they will leave tonight itself, Eve goes with Mason instead of to her home so she won't have to explain to her grandmother why she has to leave right away.

When she enters Hector's condo, Eve is taken aback by the view across the living room.

She can see nearly all of Washington from here.

"Wow," Eve says.

Mason puts down the luggage and goes over to her and hugs Eve from behind. He kisses her neck and says, "Like the view?"

"Like? You should see the view from the window in my house," Eve says.

Mason smirks. "Well, too bad we don't have time to look out the window," he says and slips his hand under Eve's shirt.

Eve gasps. "What? Here?"  She says.

Although they are far up in the sky, the large windows make it seem like they are in a glass box with no privacy.

Hector picks up Eve in his arms. "The bedroom then."

When they enter the bedroom, Eve sees there are windows in here too.

Hector lays down Eve on the bed, reaches for the nightstand and takes out a remote from the drawer.

Eve expects a pair of curtains swing to the center from either side of the window, but when Hector hits the button metal shutters come down in utter silence.

Hector leans down and kisses Eve. In the darkness Eve lets go of her shyness and pulls him closer to her.

Later in the evening, while Hector is still asleep, Eve settles down on the couch in the living room with her notebook open on her lap.

She had recorded every little information she had learned during their trips. 

The puzzle pieces begin to fall into their places. All the assumptions the five of them made, they came close to what could that research be about, but they missed the mark.

Now Eve has her clarity. There's only one thing that makes sense. Eve looks down at the symbol of the secret society Custer. It was staring right at her all this time, but she failed to understand it for what it was — something that can save the planet.

But there's only one way to be sure of her theory, and that's to meet Mason's uncle in person and ask him about it.

At night, the five of them regroup at the private airstrip and leave for their destination.

KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

The private jet lands on a runway in the Ndjili airport. It's the evening of the next day.

Eve watches the setting sun's light fall on the peaks of the mountains across the airport.

One of the many books she has been reading on her journey is Before the Dawn by Nicholas Wade. It's about human evolution. It covers the origin of the ancestors of modern humans in Africa.

Mankind came to be in Africa.

Perhaps that's why they hid the research here, Eve thinks.

It could also be because the dense forests can provide a good cover, and maybe, at the right price, less government intervention and more privacy.

A genetic research lab that even the FBI can't track down might have a chance to be here.

Just like in Beijing, a group of armed men in suits greet Mason. They are here to escort the five guests to their accommodation.

At the cabin, the head of the security hands over Mason a map.

"What's that?" Brad asks after the men leave.

"I'd asked Diallo to find any locations deep in the forests where there might have been any heavy vehicle tracks. There's no way my uncle could've moved the sample without at lease a van, and if the research facility is really hidden here then trucks would've been needed to bring in the lab equipments."

Eve glances at the map Mason is holding. There are three red circles across a green patch.

"We are checking out each of those places?" She says.

"We'll split in two teams. Brad and Ashton in one. You, me and Keith in the other. We'll visit the two locations on the west side first," Mason says.

An hour later, two jeeps arrive, equipped with camping gears and armed with guns.

As Mason looks into one of the rifle cases, Eve stands next to him and says, "Why do we need guns? Who could be there in the forest? Militants?"

"No," Mason says, "Poachers.

End of chapter