“I apologize, William. Good night.”
William was left staring at the wall as he listened for the door to shut behind the chief. There was no way his son was involved with this. Why would he be?
Still, a knot settled in his gut and grinded in a churning motion. First, Matthew hadn’t been planning to leave for weeks, but then he’d made a sudden departure. No, there had to be another explanation.
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Chapter 37
IAN STARED AT THE CEILING of the tent, his eyes searching the darkness, darting across the canvas in search of anything that didn’t belong. His mind conjured up scurrying critters parading overhead and tried not to shudder. It was bad enough that he was in a sleeping bag and anything that wanted to could find its way through an opening and cozy up next to him, like creepy, poisonous insects. There was no chance he’d be closing his eyes tonight. The only way he’d get any sleep was if his body simply gave out on him. Really, the tent wasn’t much of an upgrade from outside, only now Ian couldn’t see what was going on around him.
Despite the constant drone of insects, he heard the crackling and popping of the fire. One of the three friends would be watching over it, but he knew their real interest was him and Kevin. They didn’t trust them, and with good reason. But Kevin was the only one they really needed to worry about. Until Ian was back safely on Canadian soil, the three twentysomethings were his ticket out of this place.
Ian still didn’t understand why Kevin had offered his tent to him, but he was certain it had to fit into the man’s agenda somehow. It certainly wasn’t out of the goodness of his heart or concern for Ian’s welfare. It was what he was up to that remained a mystery. Maybe Ian should just go outside and see for himself what was going on.
He had crawled out of the sleeping bag and made it to the flap of the tent when Kevin pulled it back.
Kevin seemed surprised to see him up and paused in the opening. “You’re awake?”
“I’m not sure how the hell I’m supposed to sleep.”
Kevin laughed, and Ian recognized it for what it was—mockery.
“I’m just not tired.”
“Yeah, sure, that’s what it is.”
“Listen, asshole, I don’t care if you believe me.” Ian brushed past Kevin. Assuming his full height, he breathed in deeply, appreciating the space around him. He hadn’t realized how the confines of the tent had been suffocating him.
Ian turned to look at Kevin, and he had a smirk on his face.
“What?” Ian snapped.
“You. You’re apparently this big bad killer but a little jungle scares the living shit out of you.”
“It’s called respect for my surroundings.”
“Bullshit.”
There was no point in carrying on with this meaningless banter. Suddenly, Ian’s heart started pounding. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his gut, the one that foretold bad news. Kevin was deflecting.
“What have you done?” Ian asked.
Kevin continued smirking like some sort of satanic doll.
“Did you…?” This couldn’t be happening. Kevin wouldn’t have killed them before they delivered on the City of Gold, would he? What benefit would there be in that?
Ian raced toward the fire, spotting the silhouette lying out on a blanket next to it. The form wasn’t moving. Shouldn’t it be poking the fire or sitting up or something?
Kevin pulled back on his shoulder, slowing Ian’s forward momentum.
Ian stopped and faced him. “Let the fuck go of me.”
“Or what?” Kevin did let go and shook his hands in mimicry as if he were trembling in fear.
As Ian got closer, he heard the snores. “You didn’t kill him.”
“And why would I do that?”
Ian studied Kevin’s eyes in the limited light. “What were you doing out here?”
“You’re on a need-to-know. And you don’t need to know.”
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Chapter 38
THEY BROKE DOWN CAMP AT DAWN. Robyn’s coffee was a tease at civilization in the jungle setting. At least she was generous enough to share with Matthew and Cal. Even Juan and Lewis were given some. Vincent’s men, on the other hand, had forced her at gunpoint. Even then she’d hesitated, only conceding when Matthew intervened and convinced her the situation wasn’t worth bloodshed.
But all this had been hours and at least five miles ago. They were pretty much on top of the mountains that had taunted them at the start of their journey. They were taking a break at the base of one of them.
“Cal? Update?” Matthew asked.
“According to this…” Cal studied the screen. “Well, it says we’re here.”
Matthew’s eyes widened. “Here, as in where the tunnel appears to start?”
“Yeah. I mean, like, right here.”
“All right, everyone, branch out. See if you spot an opening.”
Cal and Robyn spread out, as did Juan and Lewis. Kevin paced around uselessly, and Ian stood still.
Matthew brushed past Ian. “Be careful of your steps,” he warned the group. “We don’t want the ground disappearing beneath our feet.” He noticed the look Cal shot him and remembered his friend’s dream. Maybe he shouldn’t have phrased it that way.
Matthew moved some of the leaves around on the ground, brushing them to the side with his feet as he kept an eye out for any blood-sucking insects. He wasn’t finding anything noteworthy.
He glanced around at the others, who seemed to be meeting with the same result.
After twenty minutes or so of investigating the area, Cal pulled out his camera and started taking shots.
“ARE YOU SERIOUS?” Ian didn’t regret his words even when everyone stopped moving and the dark eyes of the black man fixed on him. He took him on at the airport and was more than willing to do so again.
“What is your problem?”
“What is my—” Ian paced two feet and stopped. Matthew’s warning about being sucked into a sinkhole or some such thing stalled his movements. Of all the hazards that came with this place, now he imagined being swallowed by the earth.
“Yeah, that’s what I said. What’s. Your. Problem?” Cal was staring him down.
Ian narrowed his eyes in return. He was a damn killer, and before all this crap, he had been a damn good one. He used to be highly sought after. One bad employment decision and he’d been relegated to babysitting Indiana Jones. “What’s my issue? My problem?” Ian elongated the word problem. “My issue is you.” He pressed a fingertip into Cal’s chest.
“Well, mine is you.” Cal reciprocated by poking his finger at Ian’s chest.
“You go around taking pictures like you’re a damned tourist,” Ian spat. “We’re not here to take in the scenery.”
“You’re one to talk. You’re such a chickenshit, you’re not even moving. Are you afraid?”
Ian’s fist connected with the sweet spot of Cal’s jaw socket.
Cal’s retaliating jab struck Ian in the gut, doubling him over. Cal grabbed his head, and Ian swore the guy was trying to tear it off. Through the lightheadedness, he heard Cal’s friends telling him to stop, that it wasn’t worth it.
Ian let his resistance fall a trace, just enough to deceive the black guy into thinking he was surrendering. When Cal’s grip loosened and he straightened up, Ian charged him, slamming into his torso. Both men barreled across the landscape.
Hands pulled him back and more shouting made it through, but nothing was stopping Ian short of this guy’s death.
As they jostled and fought for dominance, Ian twisted his ankle, and it proved to be just enough for his opponent to gain the upper hand.
The black guy, supercharged, his grip on him stronger, shoved Ian back in the direction of the mountain.
He anticipated meeting the rock with a wrenching blow. Instead, Ian watched helplessly as the di
stance grew between him and Cal. Ian was falling backward, through the mountain, into it. When he reached the ground, the wind gushed out of him.
What the hell just happened?
His mind tried to process it all. Their struggle and the final ram into the side of the mountain. A mountain that wasn’t solid?
It was then that he felt movement. On his neck. On his face. Following it was an intense pain and then a burning sensation. He didn’t dare move and was too paralyzed with fear to scream.
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Chapter 39
EVERYTHING HAD HAPPENED SO QUICKLY Matthew hadn’t had time to get involved, let alone intervene. He saw the agitation building in his friend, and when Ian had started pressing, he’d figured the physical confrontation was inevitable.
Matthew stood behind Cal now, both hands on his shoulders. Somehow he had managed to prevent him from going down with Ian.
Now they all stood there, looking at where Ian had fallen.
The briar patch of greenery and vines had broken to reveal an opening in the side of the mountain. There was darkness beyond the immediate couple of feet where the sun’s light shone in.
Careful not to cut himself on a thistle vine, Matthew ducked down and aimed his flashlight into the hole.
Juan hustled forward, coming up beside him, while Robyn and the others hung back.
Ian was sprawled out on the floor not too far inside the cave. When the beam of light first caught him, Matthew thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but there was movement all over the man. As he fixed the shaft of light on Ian, he realized it wasn’t an illusion.
Furry caterpillars were wriggling all over him. A quick sweep of the light revealed that the cave was full of them.
“Smile.” Cal must’ve snuck up behind Matthew. The shutter of his camera sounded as he took a photograph of Ian.
The scowl on Ian’s face deepened, but Matthew sensed it was in response to more than having his picture taken. His eyes were open wide, and his jaw was rigid. The man seemed frozen by fear and in great pain.
“Burros.” Juan made the sign of a cross on his chest and stood to his full height.
Lewis shimmied his body, moving like one of the caterpillars. “Jungle donkeys.”
“What are jungle donkeys?” Robyn asked.
Juan stepped inside the cave, treading carefully, and swept the bugs off Ian with a handkerchief. “Come out. Now. Be careful.”
Ian got up and hunched over, lower than necessary to clear the entrance, came into the light of day.
“Holy shit! Holy shit!” Ian was stomping his feet like a madman, and Matthew didn’t blame him.
It seemed wherever the crawlies had made contact, his skin had turned a glowing red.
Lewis dumped some water onto the ground and scooped up some of the mud. He smeared it on the affected areas of Ian’s flesh while Juan repeatedly made the sign of a cross.
“This will help with the sting,” Lewis explained.
Ian managed to keep still long enough to be plastered with mud.
“You were lucky,” Lewis said.
“Lucky?” Ian scoffed.
“Yes. It could have been much, much worse.”
“Am I going to die?”
“What are jungle donkeys?” Robyn repeated her question.
Juan glanced at Robyn but spoke to Ian. “They are a type of caterpillar, as you can see, but they have poison sacs at the ends of their long hairs. They cause a burning sensation that—”
“It makes death feel like a welcome release.” Ian attempted to massage his shoulder, an injury likely incurred from the fall, but he winced every time he made contact with his flesh.
“Yes, like that.” Juan bobbed his head wildly, like one of those dolls people put in their cars.
“Aw, it looks like you’re going to live after all.” Cal smiled smugly and raised his camera again. “Say cheese.”
“I’m going to kill you, you son of a bitch, I swear.”
The two Bolivians held Ian back from throwing another punch.
Cal continued to add insult to injury. “At least you’re good for something. I think you just found the road that leads to the City of Gold.”
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Chapter 40
THE PRINTS HAD COME BACK from Sophie’s Accent. They weren’t in the system, but when compared to personal items in her apartment, it was determined that they were hers. There was one lead, though, that needed to be followed up immediately.
Sophie Jones’s employer, Edwin Briggs, had said that she was an exceptional real estate agent and one of his best up until recently. Her fixation on selling one particular property apparently had led to the neglect of all else. He’d said that he hated to say it given the fact she was missing, but if she didn’t pull in a sale soon, he’d have to let her go.
Edwin said that the homeowners were vacationing for months in the Maldives so if any evidence was left in the house to support that Sophie was taken against her will, no one would have noticed as of yet.
Brody arranged to meet Edwin at the estate and when he pulled up, his mouth literally gaped open. To think that some people lived in such opulent luxury while the majority struggled paycheck to paycheck just reconfirmed for Detective Fuller that life wasn’t fair.
The gated entrance and stone driveway of the Gracens’ property set the tone for what awaited beyond. A gray brick, two-story structure stood regally on a professionally manicured lawn. The large boulders used in the landscaping design were aesthetically pleasing, but they must have cost a fortune. Brody never understood why people spent such exorbitant amounts. He summed it up as some people having more money than common sense.
Brody’s requested backup sat in a squad car at the curve of the circular drive. Both it and Brody’s department-issued sedan stuck out here. Such a residence begged for a Lamborghini or Porsche as an accent. For now, Edwin’s Mercedes would have to suffice.
Before going in, Brody observed the shrubbery around the front of the house. Small trees that may have bloomed during the summer months were now wrapped in burlap cocoons. As his gaze went beyond the gardens and up the side of the brick, he spotted it right away. There was a security camera positioned beside a window shutter. For an untrained eye, it may have been hard to spot, but not for Brody.
“I got you, you bastard.”
He’d call in for the footage from the security company, but first, he’d check out the interior of the house. He motioned for Edwin to punch in the security access code for the front door.
The stench of burned coffee assaulted him the moment the door opened and he stepped into the entry. With it, there was a faint sweet aroma—a baked good of some sort.
He followed his nose to a large chef’s kitchen. On the counter was a cooling rack full of chocolate chip cookies. He lifted one and tapped it against the marble. It knocked back. Stale as hell. He let go of it, brushed his gloved hands together to rid them of the crumbs, and went to the coffee machine, which was the kind designed to turn off after a certain amount of time.
And there on the floor next to the counter was a red satchel and a cloth grocery bag. He went for the purse first, pulled out the wallet and confirmed it belonged to Sophie Jones. Inside the bag, he found a wrapper for premade cookie dough.
So what he knew for sure was that Sophie Jones had shown up, baked the cookies, and made coffee, probably all while waiting for her buyer. She’d had no idea she’d really been waiting for her abductor.
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Chapter 41
NIGHT WOULD BE FALLING SOON, not that it mattered once they’d entered the cave. Darkness there wasn’t dependent on the time of day. And it wasn’t as if resting was an option now anyhow. The City of Paititi could be just steps away. How could any of them sleep?
Robyn ducked inside to get a clear picture for herself. Anything to serve as a reprieve from the
level of testosterone suffocating her in the jungle. She wished Cal would drop the matter with Ian and focus on their mission. She understood why he hated the man. She did, too—for what he did to Sophie, for what he was putting them through, and for robbing the pure zeal and adventure from this expedition.
She let her eyes skim over the caterpillars. They were slithering away from the light and receding farther into the cave. If she didn’t know better, she’d have described them as beautiful. The tunnel itself appeared to be manmade and ancient, with hewn stones lining the walls. The space where Ian had fallen was about ten feet by five feet.
She moved her flashlight to the right, and the beam of light revealed an opening. “There’s another tunnel feeding out from here.” It made complete sense that this would lead somewhere.
Matthew shuffled in beside her. “She’s right.”
She straightened up, her hands going to her hips. “You had to see it with your own eyes to believe it?”
“It’s not that I didn’t believe you.”
“Uh-huh. Why is it that a man can never take a woman’s word for it?”
“No way in hell am I going back in there,” Ian said from the cave opening. He was rubbing his neck, and the welts from where the caterpillars had burned his skin appeared to be tender. Shivers of pain ran through Robyn simply from looking at them.
Cal stood beside him. “The choice is yours. You come with us, or you spend the night out here alone.”
“Yes, and if you stay out here, all by yourself, you’ll be jaguar poop.” Juan laughed.
Ian scowled. “This sucks.”
Kevin brushed past him. “Well, whine all you want, Ian, but it’s time to find the City of Gold.”
As all the men advanced on her position, Robyn had two choices—go first or move to the side. After seeing what had happened to Ian, she wasn’t eager to take the lead.
She gestured for Matthew to go ahead of her. “By all means, after you.”
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