by E. M. Moore
“It’s not an option,” I growl, the flash of Mr. Blade Happy flicking through my mind. I shudder to think he’d do the same thing to Stone that he did to me.
Stone bends to seal our lips together again. He takes his time, caressing me softly. “I was worried I’d never taste you again…never feel you again.”
I clamp my jaw down, unable to mirror his words back to him. I can relate, but I don’t want to think about that.
“Are you okay?” he whispers, fingers coming up to trace over my cheekbones. “Let’s get you lying down again. You’re probably exhausted.”
He leads me toward the flimsy mattress, but it’s better than having to lie on the floor. My muscles relax as soon as I’m sprawled out. He shifts beside me, propping his head up on his elbow. When I keep peeking over at him, he traces his fingers down my arm. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise?”
“If I had it my way, I’d never leave your side again.”
His words make me breathe a little easier. “Let’s not do this again, Stone Jacobs.”
He chuckles. “It’s not on the top of my list to re-hash.” He brings my knuckles to his lips, brushing a soft kiss there. “I wouldn’t mind re-living the first time I saw you.” His lips move into a sad smile. “I wouldn’t mind experiencing our first kiss…or the first time we made love.” He brings my hand to his chest, and I feel the hard thump of his heart underneath his ribcage. “Maybe that time when we first showed up at your dorm because even though you were absolutely furious, I couldn’t get over how beautiful you were.”
I hum happily at his memories. “I’m pretty sure I’d enjoy a replay of every time I saw you shirtless.”
“Speaking of,” he says, reaching behind him to fumble with the First Aid kit. “Let’s get you some more pain reliever.”
I take the two capsules from him eagerly, but then hesitate. “Maybe I should keep them for tomorrow.”
He shakes his head. “I told his secretary to send some with the new camping gear. It’s okay.”
He nudges me, but I still hold back. “Are you okay? Do you need it?”
“If you think for one second I’d take those from you on my deathbed, you got hit too hard in the head when we were in the river.”
Business Stone is back, so I take the pills, choking them down over my raw throat.
He tangles his feet with mine again, staying close even though he doesn’t dare touch me. His warmth is all I need. “For real, though,” I manage to get out without my voice cracking, “I think I’d relive the moment when you guys busted down my door, too. I’d let everything I know now change what we did. I wouldn’t spend one moment arguing with you, I’d just—”
“Throw yourself at me?”
I turn toward him and nod. “Yeah. Basically.”
He blinks, reaching out to cup my cheek. “I wouldn’t change a single thing. I love you, Dakota.”
Emotion clogs my throat. Fighting back the terrible memories of the last day, I whisper, “I love you, too.”
I shuffle closer, and when he realizes I’m not going to let up until we’re lying together, we find a position that doesn’t hurt too much. I fall asleep with my head in the crook of his arm, his thumb trailing over a spot on my hip.
30
My good leg jumps up and down early the next morning while we make our way to the trailhead. Stone and I are seated in the back of the Range Rover. He grips my hand fiercely as we come around the corner to find the Audi already in the mixed-gravel pull-off. I nearly come undone, my heart threatening to split in every direction. Stone’s assured me a hundred times that Wyatt and Lucas are fine, but I need to see them with my own eyes, and I’m about to burst out of my skin if I don’t get to do it soon.
When the vehicle stops, I hop out with as much grace as I can considering my injuries. Wyatt swings the passenger door open just in time for me to walk into his arms. We both groan. It’s not a pleasureful sound. It’s a mixture of relief and, on my part, nursing my sore ribs. “Jesus, Tits,” Wyatt huffs.
“Sorry,” I mumble into his shoulder, gripping him like he might get washed away without me again.
“No need. It’s worth it.” He turns me around and uses the Audi to prop me up as he pulls away. His blue eyes, though sagged with shadows, are bright. He takes his cowboy hat off and leans forward, kissing me softly with eager lips.
Retreating, he nods toward Lucas, and I limp toward my stray cat-like boy. Oddly enough, we all fit with him right now. Even Stone’s hair is a mess, and I don’t want to know what unholy power has nested in my slept-in curls.
Lucas places a few wild strands around my ear. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
My throat catches. I certainly don’t feel beautiful. I feel like I’ve been run over by a semi. “Are you okay?”
I inspect him for injuries but before I can get too far, he tugs me into a hug. It’s a pleasant sort of pain, one I would gladly receive again and again if it was so I could touch him for the first time again. “I don’t care about me. Are you okay?”
Luckily, the whole night of rest has done wonders for my aching body. I’m far from one hundred percent, but I feel as if I can make it up the mountain, which is all I need. “I’m sore,” I hedge, not wanting to lie but not wanting to tell him the whole truth either. We need to focus on getting through this.
Reaching up, I feather my fingers over the scars on his neck. He probably has more now. Thankfully, scars can heal. We might always be reminded of them, but they don’t stick around. Not like grief.
“Touching,” the leader of the ex-military group muses unaffectionately. “We’re patting you guys down.”
Stone leads me away, and two of the men in bland camouflage move forward to search Wyatt and Lucas. Miraculously, Wyatt doesn’t have anything on him, and I wonder if that’s because he knew they were going to do this. Surely, they weren’t just going to let us walk into the mountains with weapons to protect ourselves.
After Wyatt and Lucas are cleared, the leader checks his watch. “He’s late.”
“Unsurprising,” Stone grinds out. “He hasn’t seen this time of day in years.”
Despite the situation we’re in, I’ve always loved the Arizona skyline early in the morning. When the first rays of daybreak shine over the peaks, it appears as if they’re just waking up too. It’s awe-inspiring.
An engine sounds in the distance, and we all turn toward the bend in the road until a white van drives into view and comes to a stop next to us. “Delivery for Stone Jacobs?”
Stone moves forward, raising his finger in the air. “That would be me.”
“Sign here, please.”
The driver hands a clipboard out the window, and Stone hastily signs the paper before returning it.
“It’s all in the back,” the man grunts, hiking his thumb over his shoulder. The driver isn’t paying attention enough to notice that some of us have guns. Either he’s been paid to keep his eyes down, or he’s just that fucking clueless about what’s going on.
The men Lance hired approach the rear of the van like it might hold an explosive device. When they’ve checked everything over, they move away so we can start grabbing the equipment. Now that we have a lot more bodies to carry things, there’s a lot here.
Lucas brushes his hand down my side, and I turn toward him with a slight frown. “How did you know we were going to be here?”
He flicks his eyes to Stone. “We didn’t. We’ve been hanging out at the trailhead because we thought you’d eventually come here no matter what.”
I eye the team with the guns. “Yeah, with company.”
“Did they hurt you?” he asks.
I shake my head because there’s no reason to go into that right now. It’ll just piss Lucas off. Stone and I changed my bandages again early this morning after he showered. The team was still watching us, but they weren’t acting as if we were prisoners like they were before. In fact, Stone had to
wait in line while the rest of them showered, too.
Wyatt and Stone give our new company a brief course on the mountains to which the men respond with derision. The leader pretty much tells them to fuck off since they’ve all been in way worse terrain than this. Wyatt shrugs at me when everyone disperses. At this point, it’s thirty minutes past when Lance was supposed to get here. I just want this over with, and it seems like everyone else does, too. I’m eager to see if my idea about the map actually works, and if it doesn’t, then hopefully Jacobs will discover that finding the treasure isn’t as easy as he thinks it’s going to be.
I sit on a boulder on the side of the road while the leader attempts to call Lance. I take the opportunity to ask my guys where Cole, Ninja, and Pete are. Wyatt takes his hat off, runs his hand through his hair, and puts it back on. “They’re staying back. We all thought it would be better, but don’t worry.”
“And the map?” I hedge, my gut twisting because I already know the answer.
“Actually,” Wyatt draws out. Stone looks up, and I know this is new information for him, too. My heart leaps in my chest. “Lucas and I found the spot where all the water drained to. Our water-logged gear was all there. Most of it was ruined, but the pack that had the map in it was still intact.” He finally meets my eyes. “It’s in rough shape, Tits.”
I can hardly believe my ears. “But...you have it?”
He nods, a smile tugging his lips. Then, he gets up and walks toward the trunk of the Audi.
Bucket Guy whirls, aiming his firearm at Wyatt. “Stand down, Cowboy.”
Wyatt lifts his hands. “I’m just getting something out of the trunk. Trust me, your boss will want this.”
“Boss?” he snarks.
“You know, the dude paying you.”
“We don’t answer to anyone, now stand back so I can get in there first.” He moves around Wyatt and checks the trunk. After a quick perusal, he makes Wyatt take the bag out, and he sets his gun aside so he can rifle through it. He takes out a satellite phone, sneering at Cowboy. “We won’t be needing this.” He drops it on the ground and crunches it under his boot.
“What the fuck?” Wyatt growls. “That’s for emergencies.”
The soldier brings his gun up to aim at Wyatt again. “Or so you can call for help.”
I stare at the broken radio, my heart squeezing. That was probably how we were going to get in touch with Cole. Fuck.
“We might need to call for help for other reasons than you shoving weapons in our faces,” Wyatt spits, batting the end of the gun away.
Before I know it, Bucket Guy has Wyatt’s face smashed into the fabric of the trunk. “Don’t touch a man’s firearm. You got that?”
Wyatt’s lip curls in a sneer.
“What’s going on over there?” the leader calls out.
He gives Wyatt’s head one last shove and then stands upright. “Nothing. Just giving these punks a lesson.” He scoops the bag up off the gravel and continues going through it. When he finishes, he drops it on the ground and returns to his team.
Wyatt flips him off as he walks away, then grabs the bag to bring over.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine,” he scowls. He takes several deep breaths, then crouches. He pulls out the map and gently unfolds it. It’s faded, some parts almost completely wiped clean, and there are new holes spotted about too. I have to breathe steadily before reaching out.
“Be careful. I don’t know how much longer it’s going to last. I didn’t know if we should bring it with us.”
My hands shake as I grasp it. I blow out a breath. “I have an idea, actually, about the treasure…and the map. Do you have any paper in the car? Something I can trace the squares and x’s with?”
Wyatt ends up finding an old homework assignment in the glove compartment, Bucket Guy at his hip the entire time. I don’t know what he thinks we’re going to do. Take on five professionally trained badasses? We’re not stupid.
While we wait for Lance, I lay the map on the inside of the trunk and place the paper over it, using it to trace over the very faded squares and x’s. I think a few of them are missing, but I can’t worry about that right now. When I’m finished, I stand back. “We should leave the map here. If we can keep it out of Lance’s hands, I’d feel better.”
I slip the traced paper into my back pocket, and Wyatt closes the trunk with the map still inside. Finally, another engine revs in the distance. Stone raises his brows. “So, what’s your idea?”
I peek behind me to where the sound is coming from. “I think that the squares and x’s might match up on the map. Like, if we were standing in the perfect position and we held the map up, the squares and x’s would align where we found them in the chasm.”
Stone blinks and tilts his head as he mulls the new information over. “Like a visual aid? Showing us right where to stand? That would be...genius.”
“But what would that mean?” Lucas questions.
I shrug. “I don’t know, but I’d think it would have to mean something. That we’re on the right track? Or we’re right where we should be?”
A black car finally comes into view, and Lucas moves his body so we’re angled away. “What are we doing guys? What’s the plan?”
I lick my lips, watching the car pull up on the side of the road. “The only plan is to stay alive. I don’t care if Lance gets the treasure. All I want is the four of us to walk out of the Superstitions together.”
“Dakota....” Stone starts.
I shake my head. “I’m not sacrificing any of you. I mean it. We play their game until we don’t have to anymore.”
“We can still do this,” Stone assures me. “We’ll figure out a way.”
“Not at the expense of any of us,” I answer. “This team of his is fucking scary.”
Stone swoops in, grabs the back of my neck, and pulls me toward him. His kiss is so forceful, I trip over my own feet and almost lose my balance. He pulls away, keeping his eyes on me. “Don’t lose faith. We’re going to do this.”
He walks across the road to greet his father who steps out of a hired car. I’ve never seen the man out of a suit and tie, but here he is, in a pair of chinos and a black shirt. He looks absolutely ridiculous. If that’s what he thinks we hike up the mountains with, he really is clueless.
Lucas takes my hand, and we all move toward the trailhead. Behind us, Stone says, “Now that you have us here willingly, Father, I think it’s time you let your hired men go. They won’t be of any use to us in the mountains.”
Well, damn. That’s worth a shot.
Lance’s sinister laugh echoes in response. “I never pegged you for a comedian, son. The men stay. They’re my backup to make sure you don’t start anything funny up there. Remember we always talked about odds when you were growing up? Four against one doesn’t make for good odds. But, four against five highly trained men at my command? That’s good enough for me.” He slaps his hands together. “Now, let’s get to it.”
My heart plummets, but of course Lance wouldn’t have taken the bait. He’s nothing if not a smart businessman.
Stone sneers at his father’s back as the elder Jacobs starts marching up the trail. Of course, he would act like he knew where he was going and decide right away that he shouldn’t have to pull his weight.
“Father,” Stone barks. “You need a pack. No one else is going to carry your food or water for you.” He grabs the bag we designated for Lance from the ground and chucks it at him.
His father catches it, nearly falling on his ass when his foot trips on a rock. He frowns, testing the weight in his hands but shoulders it anyway.
“And these,” Stone says, throwing snake guards at him.
Lance catches one, but fumbles the second, and it lands at his feet, kicking up dirt. He inspects it with curiosity, but it isn’t until Stone thrusts his foot out to show his father what they’re for that he gets it.
“Unless you want to get bitten by a poisonous snake?” Stone mocks. “One
of your men ruined our only communication off the mountain, so there won’t be any helicopter rescues if one of us gets bitten.”
Jacobs sticks his chin in the air. “I’m sure he acted in my best interest.” He takes forever to secure his snake guards as the rest of us pull our packs on. The hired men make all four of us go up the trail first.
I’d prefer to push the envelope to prove to Jacobs he’s a pussy but my battered body refuses. A sheen of sweat appears on my forehead far sooner than normal as the ache in my side pulses. Coupled with the slices on my thigh, I’m slower than slow. Wyatt, Lucas, and Stone take turns assisting me, taking on most of my weight through the rougher terrain. Even still, Lance falls behind, huffing and puffing. We pretend we don’t hear his wheezes and put off a water break for as long as we can until it’s evident I need one.
Wyatt sits me on a boulder that’s about three feet tall, locking me into place with his blue eyes. “What aren’t you telling us, Dakota?” He eyes my body as if he can see right through my clothes.
Stone pulls a First Aid kit out of his pack and kneels next to me as the hired men and Lance find their own places to relax. He turns, glaring at the guys over his shoulder. “Help block her. You’re about to see something that’s going to piss you off, but you absolutely cannot react. Okay?” His words started out as a warning then ended on a strained swallow.
Wyatt closes his eyes, preparing himself. Lucas pulls his shoulders back, and then they move into position as Stone helps lower my size-too-big hiking pants to my knees. I’ve got to give the guys credit, they don’t give in to the murder I see in their eyes. Instead, they move closer, allowing me privacy and checking out the injuries themselves as Stone changes the bandages.
The skin is red and puckered, inflamed from all the physical activity, but there isn’t any fresh blood. He wraps me back up and hands me two white capsules from a separate container that didn’t come from the kit. He gives me a worried smile. “They’re extra strength. Hopefully it’ll make the next leg of the trip easier.”
I use the canteen to take the pills, praying they kick in soon. Wyatt helps me to my feet, and he and Lucas move in, hugging me at the same time. Wyatt’s “You’re the strongest person I know,” is overridden by Lucas’ dark promise, “They’re going to pay for that.”