BITTER RETURNS

Flores corners Mark in the deep Amazon. Heroes return home. Lovers await.  And a new conflict between businessmen is born.

------

The Felicidad circles back and enters the inlet to find the antique launch. Flores stands on deck among the armed crew as they move closer. Pepe and Arrube appear on deck with their hands up as if to surrender. This temporary distraction allows Mark and Vargas to light up two sticks of dynamite. Flores is caught mid-verbal threat as the dynamite sails through the air and onto the deck of the Felicidad. An ear-splitting blast follows as the boat explodes. After the smoke clears, Mark and his crew vigilantly stand and stare at the shattered wood and body parts floating in the bloody water.

-------

Safely back in Iquitos they prepare to depart the Amazon via the Lanfranc. Mr. Baintree, the British consul in the region, assures Mark he will handle details of the investigation and any political fallout. Mark and Vargas board the ship with a surprise guest. Pepe, having accepted Vargas’s offer to place him in a school in Rio, follows them on. If Captain Wilson takes issue with the first class cabin Mark bought for Pepe, he doesn’t show it. The Captain is beginning to feel haunted by the ghost of ‘Baron’ von Stimme and the rumors circulating among his crew, so he remains silent. With Flores dead, Arrube returns comfortably to his wife and children in Iquitos.

------

Newspapers around the world headline the story of Mark Mann’s daring expose of the Putumayo atrocities perpetuated by the management of the Peruvian Amazon Company. His account along with Vargas’s sketches, now seen as works of art, are honored by both leaders and the public in all corners of the globe. Hundreds gather at the New York pier to celebrate Mark’s return, including Violette, Sir Bruce and Lady Amelia Clark, Armen Silver, and even Sam Rothman.

------

In the bar of the Waldorf where the proposal was first made, Sir Bruce presents Mark the $2.5m personal loan and $2.5m investment he promised.  Mark and Violette reaffirm their commitment to get married to which Sam Rothman emphatically states “I thought that you would want to know. If you marry, I shall rewrite my will and leave all my Mann Company stock to either a charity or to Temple Emanuel here in New York.”

To this news, Mark is left speechless. Violette nervously watches Mark’s stony face, waiting for his reaction. He stares coldly at Sam, saying nothing.