As for humanity—she couldn’t control that, either. This wasn’t her doing or her undoing. Besides, Simon was right. One discovery was not going to stop all the wars or the famine or suddenly give every person on this planet a new lease on life. Nothing could do that.
Besides, there was no guarantee the kidnappers would go for the plan, anyway. In which case, she’d get her chance, find her answers, and die.
Wow. Some choice. Maybe she should be glad Simon came up with a plan, after all.
Jillian reached into her bag and removed her cell phone. She pressed the second speed dial after her father’s. The phone rang twice before Raven came on the line.
“Where have you been, Jill?”
Jillian lay back on the bed, more exhausted than she could ever remember. Maybe it was the altitude. “Oh, you know. Just busy with the museum.” Liar. “How was the diving?”
“A bust. Can’t get rich off all of them.”
Jillian laughed a little. “You don’t do it for the money, honey.”
Raven laughed with her. “This is true. Plus Dax got some great photos, and no one was eaten by sharks. It’s all good.”
A great sadness settled over her. “Speaking of feeding the sharks, how’s the bonding with Dad going?”
Raven gave a sigh. “Let me tell you, bonding is a hell of a lot more stressful than stealing. Give me an impossible heist over this any day.”
Jillian said, “He loves you, and he’s trying very hard to make up for everything.”
“I know. In fact, he’s trying too hard and driving me a little crazy. So how about you come out here to save me from bonding hell?”
Jillian closed her eyes. “I’ll have to see when I can get away. Summer’s our busiest time . . .” Her lies trailed off as the burning in her eyes grew.
There was a long pause. “Jill, is something wrong?”
She opened her eyes and noticed a water stain on the ceiling. “I just wanted to tell you that I love you.”
Raven’s tone turned serious in a flash. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“Please tell Dad and Dax that I love them, too. Promise me you’ll take care of each other.”
“Jillian, tell me what is going on. Where are you? Don’t go anywhere. Don’t do anything. I can be there in twenty-four hours.”
Tears streamed down her face and into her wet hair. “Sorry, sweetie. We can’t do it your way this time.”
She heard Raven screaming her name as she disconnected.
Donovan was in bed when the phone rang. He fumbled for the phone and checked the incoming number before sitting straight up in bed. “Hello?”
“Pluma Hidalgo,” Celina said.
“You’re certain?”
“We just got the call. They are heading into the mountains. We need to move fast. When can you be here?”
He mentally calculated the distance and the time it would take to get there. “Six hours.”
“Good. Call me for more details when you get close. I won’t answer, but I’ll contact you as soon as I’m alone.”
Donovan stood up and cradled the phone under his chin as he turned on the light and began packing. “You sound stressed, Celina. Having second thoughts?”
She gave a laugh. “Never. This is nothing I can’t handle.”
He tossed clothes into a suitcase. Everything would go. He wasn’t coming back here again. “You think you can handle Kurt Kesel, too?”
As he expected, that question gave her pause. “You are a man of many surprises,” she finally said.
You have no idea, lady. “Is he one of the messes I’ll need to clean up?”
“Among others. In fact, everyone else except you and me.”
He checked his gun. “You just make sure you keep an eye on the sparrow, Celina. Because if I don’t get that treasure, I’m not cleaning anything up except the trail that leads back to me.”
He left out “which means you,” knowing he didn’t have to say it.
“I’ve got everything and everyone under control. You just stick to the agreement.”
Donovan put the gun on top of the clothes. “You, too.” He hung up and dialed Walsh, who answered immediately.
“We’re moving in. Our targets are at Pluma Hidalgo. You need to be in position in the next two hours. Can you do it?”
Walsh paused for a few moments, and Donovan heard keys clicking in the background. “Not a problem.”
“Stealth is crucial,” Donovan added. “I just want all parties on the radar. No one gets near them. Whatever that takes.”
“Also not a problem. I’ll split my men up to cover everyone.”
Donovan closed his suitcase. “Once you get into position, I’ll meet up with you.”
Simon eased the bathroom door open. It was still dark and quiet, just as it had been when he’d gotten back an hour ago. Jillian had been sound asleep, and he was careful not to make any noise. Then he’d stayed in the shower until he ran out of hot water. He’d shaved and picked up. Hell, he’d even hung up the towels.
Now he stood in the darkness waiting for his eyes to adjust so he wouldn’t thump around the room like an idiot. If he did, she’d wake up and he’d have to tell her that the kidnappers hadn’t gone for it. In fact, they’d been pissed as hell and given him a drop-dead date—literally. Two days. That was it. That’s all they had before Celina started going to pieces.
“Simon? Is that you?”
Damn. “It’s me. Didn’t mean to wake you.”
He felt around in the dark for the bed, found it, and slid in next to her. Jillian turned to face him and pressed her long body against his, making him whole. She was warm and nude, and any thoughts of sleep vanished.
She slid her leg up his thigh and her hands across his chest. How was he going to tell her? How could he explain that their chances of walking away from this were just about nil? The kidnappers couldn’t be trusted.
He kissed her, trying to push the miserable phone conversation out of his mind. She felt relaxed and safe in his arms. He’d tell her tomorrow. Tonight, he’d make love to her with every ounce of passion and strength he possessed. Because there might not be many more tomorrows. He had tonight, and that had to be enough.
Jillian wrapped her arms around his neck and made the little moaning sound that he yearned for more than air.
There and then, he decided that he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t allow his world, his problem, to kill her. And he wouldn’t. It wasn’t her fault that he had no one he could trust to help them. If he did, they might actually have a chance. But he didn’t, which left him with only one choice.
They’d go find the location and the treasure. Jillian would get to see it, maybe find some peace along the way. After that, they’d come back here, and he’d take the lens from her and finish the deal himself. As far as she’d know, the original plan to swap the location for Celina would seem to have worked. At least until he was gone, and by that time, it’d be too late for her to stop him.
Then she’d hate him.
First thing tomorrow, he’d call Paulie and tell him to come and get her.
She kissed his face gently, putting all the amazing compassion she possessed into it. He felt her soul and her essence in each kiss. He inhaled her warmth, caressed her supple skin, reveled in the small sounds he drew from her.
He’d give anything to spend every day for the rest of his life with her. Anything. His heart, his soul, his life. The truth was, even if he survived this, she’d never forgive him for lying to her. For shutting her out. And if he told her his plan, she’d never let him go through with it alone.
I’m sorry, he thought, and then he made love to her.
CHAPTER
24
Morning broke hot and humid in Cielo Pasado, a small village just east of Pluma Hidalgo. Jillian leaned out the window of the Jeep for a better look. It had been a short but terrifying drive along treacherous mountain roads. Roads barely wide enough for one car, let alone the trucks whose drivers
seemed oblivious to the physical limits of sheer rock faces on one side and sheer drops on the other.
Simon had been very careful this morning to make sure they weren’t being followed. He’d told her it would be difficult to track the cell phone signal in the mountains, but in all honesty, she still felt like a sitting duck.
Cielo Pasado hugged the lower half of the jungle mountainside with fierce determination and grace, not unlike the people who lived here. The main road ran between two tightly packed rows of wooden buildings and shanties before snaking its way into the distance. Side roads were squeezed into the hillside, where they disappeared in the dense forest. Women in brightly colored dresses walked down the road with children running behind them. Men stood on porches and smoked cigarettes.
A nearby sawmill filled the air with a nonstop buzzing. Roosters and other livestock carried on in between the lulls. The air was thick with the smell of drying coffee beans and moist vegetation.
But it was the view that stole the show. Morning fog had finally relented, leaving behind an impossibly blue sky and scattered clouds that looked down over the jagged peaks. The mountains were steep, deeply creviced, and covered with green trees. They stretched north, blue and hazy to the horizon.
The mountain in front of her was the one. Finally, after traveling across most of Mexico, she’d found it. She could feel its ancient pull from here, but she held on to the present. This was no time to lose focus. She wouldn’t think about tomorrow. Just today. Just get through today.
On a narrow dirt path on the outskirts of town, Jillian fashioned her hair into one long braid while Simon checked the burro and supplies. She popped the straw hat on her head. It was already hot in her tank top, light camp shirt, zip-off pants, and hiking shoes. She realized that she looked like a real-life tomb raider. For some reason, that didn’t bother her as much as it should.
Simon led the mule toward her. “It’s all uphill from here.”
“I noticed. You sure know how to show a girl a good time, Bonner.”
He focused on her with unnerving, sensual singularity, and she felt the heat rise in her face. Would that ever go away? She hoped not.
“I aim to please, ma’am,” he said low and tipped his felt Indiana Jones fedora.
“And you do,” she said, surprised by her own nerve.
Simon laughed. “Always nice to get a good performance review. We have enough supplies for a few days.”
He handed her the reins to the burro, and she scratched the animal’s head. “What if it takes longer than that?”
“It won’t,” Simon replied, sounding supremely confident as he set his GPS.
“So . . . ever been this way before?” she asked, gazing into the deep forest.
“Nope,” he said.
“No guide?”
“I’m a tomb raider, babe. That would be embarrassing.”
“Ah. As opposed to getting lost in the mountains forever.”
He grinned.
She took a deep breath. “Adventure time, then?”
“Yup.”
“Good thing you’re good,” she said.
His lifted his gaze to hers. “So are you. Better than you think.”
The unexpected compliment warmed her, which was pretty impressive considering how hot she felt inside and out.
He shoved the GPS in his pocket and eased a long machete from a hip holster as he scanned the vicinity. She eyed the gleaming edge with dread.
“For the undergrowth?” she hedged.
He turned grim. “And anything else that gets in our way.”
As he led them into the jungle, she towed the burro behind him. Within minutes, all sounds from the town faded away and they were engulfed in a green world. Birds chirped and flew overhead. Sunlight speckled the forest floor as she walked single file behind Simon.
Jillian noted that some of the forest on either side had been clear-cut. Stumps littered the landscape, ugly and stark.
People have to eat, she thought to herself. Especially these people.
“I talked to the kidnappers last night.”
Jillian turned her attention to Simon up ahead. “You did? What did they say?”
He slashed at some vines. “It’s a go. We trade the location for Celina. The only caveat is that we have to tell them how to get inside.”
Relief poured through her. “Thank God. You could have told me this sooner, Simon. It would have made me a very happy woman.”
“There’s bad news, too.”
The moment of relief passed. “Of course there is.”
Simon continued, “If we screw them, they’ll be back for us. But if it all goes well, we’re free and clear.”
Except for the part where she was an accomplice to giving man’s salvation to a bunch of thugs. Jillian sighed. Give it up. Nothing you can do to change it. Just be grateful you might live through this.
“And you believe them?” she asked.
“I have to.”
Jillian gave silent thanks and ventured, “So we’re going in?”
“I think it’s the best way to ensure our continued survival.”
She couldn’t help but smile. Inside. It was almost more than she had hoped. “Glad I brought my camera.”
“Right,” he said. But he didn’t sound right. His mind was elsewhere. Maybe on tomorrow. Maybe on next week. Maybe far away from her. The realization brought a new fear.
“So,” she said, gathering her nerve. “After this you head home to New York?”
Simon shot her a curious glance over his shoulder, then shrugged. “Probably. I’m retiring. What about you? Back to the museum?”
What about her? She hadn’t dared entertain any thoughts of the future. The museum was still there. Her work. Her life. But somehow, it all seemed rather . . . boring. Painfully boring, in fact. Except that Simon would be there, too. Which led to a whole other emotional time bomb that she wasn’t willing to think about just yet.
“I don’t know,” she replied honestly.
“Thought you loved your work.”
“I do.” And she did. But now she wasn’t so sure that’s what she wanted to do forever. “I just need a vacation, I think.”
He turned and grinned. “This isn’t a vacation?”
She smiled. “Not quite. I want a vacation where I don’t have to worry about any dead bodies showing up in my car.”
Simon sliced a low branch. “Doesn’t everyone.”
That was it. No “Hey, how about we get together after this?” No “I’d like to see you again after I don’t need you to find treasure for me anymore.”
Jillian concentrated on her footing. It was a lot less depressing than her future.
“God, I hate the fucking jungle,” Carlos said and slapped at his neck.
Kesel was tempted to kill him right then and there, sitting in the forest. But he needed another man on his side. At least until he didn’t need him anymore.
From his vantage point above the town, Kesel could see the road and the side road where Bonner and Jillian had disappeared into the jungle. He lowered the binoculars. Celina should have no trouble tracking them.
“So now what?” Carlos asked.
“We wait.”
Carlos swatted a bug off his arm. “Until when?”
Kesel turned his binoculars to the dirt road that wound through the jungle. “Until Celina shows up.”
“You really think she’ll show?”
Kesel smiled for the first time today. “I’m positive.”
“They’re all on the move now,” a man said over the two-way radio in Walsh’s Land Rover. “You want us to follow each group as they go in?”
Donovan shook his head and told Walsh, “Tell him no. Just follow the last group. They’ll all end up in the same place.”
Walsh nodded and relayed the message to his men before signing off. He started the Land Rover and pulled it out onto the dirt road for the short drive to the insertion point. “All set. We can go in now.”
&
nbsp; Six feet, solid in his camouflage outfit, and sporting a short crew cut, Walsh looked like a dangerous man to be up against. And he was. Donovan was glad he sat on his side of the game.
Even with the A/C cranked, Donovan wiped the sweat from his brow. He should be wearing shorts in this heat, but the jungle could be a nasty place. Pants were hotter, but safer.
Walsh stared at Donovan, his blue eyes missing nothing. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”
“Are you calling me old?” Donovan asked him, only half-serious.
Walsh grinned, which turned his normally stoic expression boyish for a split second. “No, sir.”
“Nice to know the training is still there,” Donovan said with a huff.
“Yes, sir.”
Donovan laughed. “Now you’re just sucking up.”
“Wouldn’t think of it, sir.”
Donovan tried to turn up the A/C. “I don’t have to tell you what an important and expensive mission this is. We’ll only get one chance. If we blow it, there will be a lot of unhappy people asking why.”
Walsh didn’t even look at him. “Don’t worry. I have no intention of anything going wrong. Out here in the jungle, we rule.”
Lance stumbled over a root for the fifth time in the last twenty minutes, and Celina gritted her teeth. Ignoring him, she concentrated instead on her prey’s trail. She had had decent footprints in the dirt for the first part of the trek but had to be more diligent in the undergrowth. Luckily, Simon had done a good job with the machete. Fresh gashes made for easy tracking.
She moved silently through the dense forest. Lance made enough noise to wake the dead.
“Yuck,” Lance said from behind her. “That mule of theirs is a crap machine.”
Celina glanced back and smiled. “It certainly appears that way. We need to move a little faster, honey.”
“Yeah, well, this backpack weighs a ton.” Lance stopped, looking winded and downright laughable in his jungle gear. With the ivory safari hat and matching shirt and shorts, he’d be perfect in a made-for-TV movie. Unfortunately, he also stood out in the surrounding greenery like a big, stupid bull’s-eye. Although, she didn’t care as long as someone shot him instead of her.
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