by Helen Brenna
“A raft and motor were missing off the Mañana,” Ronny said. “Who was on that raft, Annie?”
“I’m not telling you anything.” She stepped back. Could she outrun four men, with two guns? Right.
“I told you, Manny,” Westburne yelled above the wind, “Jake would’ve sent Claire and D.W. to Morgan’s Bluff looking for a phone. He never would’ve left his boat voluntarily. Where’s Jake, Annie?”
“You’d better tell us,” Ronny said.
“Screw you.”
“I don’t think she likes you, Ronny.” Carrera laughed, his eyes unsmiling. He flicked his hand, and the men split up and surrounded her. “Start talking.”
She might be mad at Jake, but she didn’t want him dead. She couldn’t tell them where he was. Think, Annie. Think. “Jake went to Red Bays,” she blurted out.
“That’s a village down the west coastline,” Ronny explained.
Carrera narrowed his eyes at her. “Why?”
“To get help.”
“And he didn’t take you with him?”
“I was slowing him down. He told me to stay in a cave and he’d come back for me. I got scared. Couldn’t wait anymore.”
Carrera glanced first at Westburne and then Ronny.
“Possible.” Ronny ran his hands across his cheek.
“It’s also possible she’s lying,” Westburne said.
Carrera’s arm shot out. Before Annie registered what was happening, the gun pressed against her forehead. “Where’s Jake?” he asked, his voice quiet.
She couldn’t breathe. She didn’t dare step away. “I told you. Red Bays.”
“Annie? Don’t lie to me.”
“Red Bays.” She closed her eyes, and her legs almost gave out from under her. “I swear.”
The gun fell away and she heard Carrera take a deep, clearly frustrated breath before opening her eyes. “How long has he been gone?” he asked.
“Half an hour.”
“One more thing. And then you can go.”
One more thing and then she was dead. Jake. Oh, Jake.
Carrera stared at her, his brown eyes piercing through her with purpose. “Ronny says you got something we’re looking for. Some million-dollar cross.”
“How—?”
She glanced at Ronny, and he shrugged. “Shouldn’t have left your cabin door open for the whole boat to hear your conversation with Jake. Where is it, Annie?”
“I don’t have it anymore.” The wind whipped by, splattering stinging droplets of rain against her cheek.
“What did you do with it?”
Carrera swung his gun toward her. “You going to make me do this again?”
“I buried it under some rocks at the Concha site.”
Now Westburne laughed. “You expect us to believe you left a million-dollar antiquity under the water?”
“I don’t care what you believe,” she yelled back.
“Now, why would you do that?” Carrera cocked his head, studying her. “Put the cross back in the water?”
“Because it’s cursed.”
“Cursed, huh?” He searched her face and then glanced at Ronny and Westburne. “These two would have found it diving.”
“It’s not down there,” Ronny said. “We looked everywhere.”
“Everywhere?” she asked. “Are you sure?”
Carrera looked to Ronny and Westburne. “Could you have missed it?”
Westburne shrugged and Ronny muttered, “Again, it’s possible.”
Carrera pulled another gun from his coat pocket and tossed it to Westburne. “You two.” He pointed to Westburne and Ronny. “Nail Jake Rawlings before he gets to Red Bays. Go.”
They stared back at him.
“Now!”
They spun around and ran down the road. Within seconds they’d disappeared around the bend, and Carrera turned back to Annie. “Now we go back to the Wild Rose, and you’re going to get that cross back for us.”
She had to get out of this. Think. Quickly. She was the only person who knew the cross’s exact location. They weren’t stupid enough to kill her. If she tried losing them in the woods, they wouldn’t shoot. At least, she hoped they wouldn’t. Enrique remained a good five feet from her. Only Carrera was close enough to stop her, and he looked too short and stocky to outrun her. This was as good as it was going to get.
“Tie her hands, Enrique.”
“Right, boss.” Enrique moved to get some rope out of a backpack.
Now! She bolted to her left, crashing through the bushes.
“Cut her off!” Carrera yelled. He chased behind her. “There’s nowhere to go, Annie! Two of us. One of you.”
Branches tore at her face and arms. She pushed them away. Enrique gained on her. That meant Carrera was closing in, too. She ran faster. Faster. A small clearing. She hesitated a second and dashed to the right. She might have a chance that way—
The tackle came from behind. The force of it threw her to the ground. Carrera whipped her arms behind her back and held her still with the weight of his body. She thrashed beneath him. “Let me go!” she screamed, scared and angry.
“I’ll let you go.” He pushed against her head, plastering the side of her face into the rocky soil. “After you find that cross.”
“She doesn’t have it!” an angry voice yelled from deeper in the woods.
Annie recognized it immediately. “Jake, get away—”
Carrera slapped his hand over her mouth. “Red Bays, huh?” he hissed in her ear. “Shut up, or you’re dead.”
“I’ve got the cross,” Jake shouted above the wind as he moved through the bush. “If you want it, you’ll have to let her go first.”
“Uh. Uh. Uh,” Carrera yelled back and jabbed the gun into the side of her head. “Not the way it works. You want her alive. You bring me that cross.”
Where was Enrique? Annie could see little beyond the sand and rocks by her face. Frantic, she tried thinking of some way to keep them from hurting Jake. Bucking wildly against the weight of Carrera’s body on her back, she shifted his hand off her mouth. “There are two of them,” she screamed as loudly as she could through the slight opening.
He rammed the gun harder into her skull.
“Here’s your cross.” Jake’s feet appeared at the clearing’s edge. That’s all she could see of him. Between the gun jammed into the side of her head and Carrera’s weight on her body, she couldn’t move. “Let her go.” Jake sounded calm, determined, as though he held the gun in his hand.
The wind howled through the forest as Carrera levered himself off Annie’s back to a standing position.
She hopped up. Enrique was moving in. “Behind you!” she screamed at Jake, but it was too late.
Enrique aimed a gun at Jake’s head. He pushed him into the clearing. Dangling the cross from his hand, Jake didn’t take his eyes from Carrera. “Are you all right?” he asked Annie.
“I’m okay.”
“That’s quite a cross.” Carrera ignored him, humming appreciatively. “Toss it here.”
“First, let her go. Or I’ll throw this cross so far into the jungle, you may never find it.”
Carrera chuckled. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. “If Enrique doesn’t blow your head off first.”
“Let her go.”
Before she had a chance to jump out of the way, Carrera bent her arm and yanked it behind her back. She winced in pain. He held the gun to her temple.
“You aren’t holding any cards, Treasure Hunter. Toss me the cross, and to show my appreciation for how cooperative you’ve been I’ll make the rest quick and painless.”
Annie could barely think, everything was moving so fast. She had to do something. She hauled off and kicked his shin. He yelped and grabbed his leg. She wrenched her arm away and headed toward Enrique. He was a big man and moved slow. If she could— A blow to her back, and she was facedown on the dirt again, the wind knocked out of her. Carrera’s foot ground into her back, making it hard to breathe.
“Let her go!” Ja
ke started to move, but Enrique jabbed the gun at the base of Jake’s neck.
“Enough of this!” Carrera yelled. “I’m counting to three. If you don’t throw me the cross, she’s dead. One…”
Jake tossed it to Carrera. It landed in the dirt by her legs.
“Very good.” His weight dug unbearably into her back. “Now for the painless part.” The gun jabbed at the base of her skull.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Jake said softly.
“No?” Carrera sounded curious in an amused sort of way.
“Kill her, and I’ll never take you to the Concha treasure.”
“He’s bluffing,” Enrique broke in. “Trying to get you to let the girl go.”
Carrera ignored the comment, straightened and moved the gun away from her neck. “You expect me to believe you found the treasure? On the island?”
“She doesn’t know where it is. Let her go, and I’ll take you there.”
“No, Jake!” Annie yelled. “Don’t go with them.”
“Shut up!” Carrera thwacked her on the back of her head with the gun before returning his attention to Jake. “Why should I believe you found the treasure?”
“Kill them, Manny.” Enrique shifted his substantial weight from one foot to the other. “I hate this island. We got the cross. Let’s go home.”
“Shut up, Enrique.” Carrera leaned into his leg that rested on top of Annie, pushing painfully into her back. “Convince me, Treasure Hunter, or she’s dead.”
Annie felt the gun back at the base of her skull.
Jake said, “Westburne didn’t find any treasure diving at the Concha wreck site, did he?”
“Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t.”
“He didn’t. Neither did my crew. Because the Concha’s captain was either stealing the treasure himself, or he was afraid of what the treasure’s weight would do to his ship in a hurricane. Either way, it’s all in a cave back that way.”
“That it? That’s all you got?”
“That’s all you need, Carrera. You’ve got the cross. What have you got to lose by believing me?”
The brief silence that followed was punctuated only by the wind howling in the treetops high above their heads. For a second, Annie thought he might to do it. He was going to kill her.
She nearly screamed for the waste of her life. What had been the point of it all, year after year of agony and finally setting things right only to die. She didn’t want to die. Not yet. Not now. In that instant, she knew. If she ever got a second chance, she’d stay with Jake, and she’d make it work. Seaman, or land lover. Treasure hunter, or not. Somehow, they’d make it work.
“Watch him, Enrique.” Carrera stuffed his gun into the waistband of his pants and slipped off his belt.
“I’m the only one who knows how to get there,” Jake said. “Let her go, and I’ll take you there.”
“I don’t think so.” Carrera pulled her wrists behind her back and cinched the leather belt around them. Yanking her to her feet, he said, “Take us there, or I’ll kill her.” Carrera bent and snatched up the Santidad Cross.
Gusts of wind gathered around them and an eerie creaking of tree branches hummed through the jungle. The curse. Of course! She should have thought of it before. She glanced at Jake. He was looking into the trees. They all studied the branches, wondering at the sound. She inched away from Carrera.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Carrera jerked her back to his side.
A loud crack sounded overhead.
“Annie!” Jake shoved her away, and she tumbled into Carrera. They fell backward as a thick tree limb crashed to the ground. The limb settled with a deafening thump at the exact spot Carrera had been standing.
Carrera stood and brushed himself off as he glanced up at the tree. “I don’t believe in curses. Never have. Never will. But—” he stuffed the cross into the back waistband of Annie’s shorts “—better you than me.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN no boats to rent?” Claire nearly jumped down the man’s throat. With a full stomach and some sleep under her belt, she was ready to rumba. “We’ve got an emergency.”
D.W. rested his hand on her shoulder, holding her back.
“Call the Bahamian police,” the innkeeper said. “Let them deal with it.” His was the only business in Morgan’s Bluff that rented boats. They were completely at his mercy.
“We already did that, sir,” D.W. explained. “Seems they have more urgent situations on their hands due to the storm.”
“I cannot help you. Our boats are dry-docked until the storm passes. You wouldn’t last five minutes in those waves.”
As much as she hated him for it, he was right. They’d studied the most recent weather fax. The storm was at its worst, causing up to twenty-foot waves. “What about a car?” she asked.
“Mmmm, a car’s not good, either. The wind uproots trees, making the roads impassable.”
“So you do have cars?”
“Yes,” he agreed hesitantly. “But my insurance doesn’t cover damage in this weather.”
“We’ll buy a car from you,” Claire argued.
“With what?”
“We have some cash and a credit card.” She tossed a few hundred dollars and a charge card onto the counter.
D.W. emptied his pockets. “How much do you need?”
“More than you have.” He sighed.
“You have to help us!” Claire slammed her fist onto the countertop. “My brother-in-law’s in trouble. I know it!”
D.W. put his hand gently over her fist. “Claire, sweetheart, you’ll catch more flies with honey than vinegar.” He leaned into the counter. “Now,” he said softly. “I understand you’re worried about your property, sir, and I appreciate that. Lord knows running a business is difficult in times like these. If you don’t look out for your own interests, who will?”
The other man nodded solemnly. Claire wanted to shout at the infernal innkeeper, screech in his ears.
“So we got a minor problem, here,” D.W. continued, his tone as pleasant as could be, frustrating the heck out of her. “We need to get to the northwest side of this island. You’re the only one who can help us.” D.W. smiled and pointed the gun Jake had given him at the man. “So you either figure out a way to get us there with the money and credit cards we got laying here, or I’ll blow your head off. How’s that for honey?”
Ha! Claire smiled inside, immensely satisfied.
Two minutes later, they emerged from the building with a set of car keys. Now they could get to Red Bays, where the villagers would have a boat, or take the road to the northwest shoreline.
“Thank you.” Claire hung around D.W.’s neck. D.W. grinned. “You can thank me properly when this is all over.”
“I think I’m ready for my own ship again.”
“That’s my girl.”
“I don’t know what I did to deserve you.” She touched his cheeks. “Some women don’t find love even once in a lifetime. I found it twice.”
He closed his eyes, as if he couldn’t bear to see her reaction to what he had to say next. “Could you ever…love me…I mean really love me…the way you loved Sam?”
“No, D.W.,” Claire whispered, shaking her head. “You don’t want me to love you the same way I loved Sam. He was my first love, a childhood sweetheart. You’re different. You fill me with fire and passion, make me laugh deep down inside.”
His stillness outdid the power of the storm brewing around them. “I don’t think it’s enough, Claire.”
“It’s not enough to tell you that when I’m with you I feel so bone-deep happy, so complete? Something I never felt with Sam? I loved Sam, don’t get me wrong, but he was comfortable and our marriage expected. You? You’re unexpected. Honestly, D.W., what I feel for you is so strong, it scares me.” She touched her fingertip to his lips. “That enough?”
“You’re getting close.”
She heard a sound. Was it the surrounding tree branches swishing on the wind or was it Sam, his carefree
laughter letting her know she was finally getting this right?
“How ’bout this?” she said. “What I feel for you may not be the young, sweet love I had with Sam. But it is all grown-up. Complete. A little messy. And it’s gonna last forever.”
For once, D.W. appeared speechless.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
THE PATH WAS GONE.
Jake’s heart raced as he tried making out Annie’s trail back to the cave. It’d been easy enough for him to follow several hours earlier, but it was now virtually destroyed by the high winds and rain. He was beginning to think that if Carrera didn’t get them the storm would. Trees and bushes were uprooted in every direction. He could no more tell which branches had been broken by natural forces from those he and Annie had cut through the woods than he could scratch his nose with his hands tied tightly behind his back.
At this point, the only thing going for him was that the constant rain had gotten the leather belt completely soaked, allowing it to give. A little more working at it, and he might manage to slip out one hand. He strained as hard as he could, stretching the wet leather. Come on. A little more!
A heavy, wet rhododendron branch whipped at his face. He could only close his eyes against it and take another step in their seemingly ceaseless trek through the jungle. Annie. He hoped the Andros bush wasn’t tearing at her face and arms. With the gun-toting loan shark directly behind him, there wasn’t much he could do to find out.
Then again, forget the asshole.
He stopped and turned, his heart wrenching at the sight of her trudging behind Carrera. The other thug pushed her on. A thin line of blood trickled from a scrape on her left cheek, her drenched hair was matted with leaves and sticks, and a pale purple bruise promising much more depth of color ran along the length of her left arm.
Only the look in her eyes told of deeper, much more painful injuries. The ones he’d caused. He’d chosen the Santidad Cross and the Concha’s treasure over her. Broken her trust and her heart. When Carrera had pointed the gun at her sweet head and smacked her with it, Jake had understood what a fool he’d been.
His heart raced again, unable to erase the image from his mind. He would have given anything in that moment—the cross, the Concha treasure, every treasure he’d ever found—to whisk her away from them, to have her look at him the way she had before she’d found the cross in his pack. If only he could find some way to prove it to her.