“Slow down?” She took a step toward him. “You’re not out of breath. In fact, you don’t sound strained at all despite the heat.” She backtracked another few steps. “You must work out.”
“I do.” He hesitated. “When I have the chance.”
“I suppose that explains it.” But there was doubt in her voice as she wiped the sheen of sweat from her forehead.
He shrugged. “I’ve started running.” Actually, he trained in heat—ran marathons in weather almost as hot as this. And hours at the gym made the mile they’d gone in ninety-degree heat nothing. He should have dabbed a bit of water from his water bottle on his forehead, given the illusion of sweat. It was a glaring error.
Damn, he thought. He’d been distracted. She’d distracted him. That had never happened before, and it couldn’t happen now. But the line between feigning interest and having an interest seemed to be thinning despite his efforts.
They took their time for the next stretch of the walkway. It was an easy walk, the earlier power walking unnecessary considering how much time she’d allowed. She had been pushing his limits, testing him, he suspected. And again, that had surprised him. There was more to her, more layers than he had expected.
And as he thought that she turned around, fixing him with those blue eyes of hers that made him think of other things, things that had no place between them.
“I don’t think it’s that much farther.”
In fact, it wasn’t. It was fifty yards straight ahead. It had been dark last night, but that and past experience told him everything he needed to know. There was a path in and out, but they could go farther if necessary, to another cave where their options of getting out increased in the form of the underground cavern he’d explored only last night. Not the best option but an exit strategy should it be needed.
“You’re sure?” he asked as if none of those thoughts ran through his mind.
She waved a map, the typical over-glossed, underdetailed resort pamphlet.
“Erin.”
“What?” She swung around to look at him.
She smiled in a way that in another life would have drawn him. He would have been all over getting to know her. But here the game they played was much more complicated.
His fingers brushed her shoulder and for a moment it felt as though the world stopped as electricity seemed to dance between them. She shivered beneath his touch, turning to face him, almost in slow motion. He ached to hold her, but a movement just over her left shoulder took that ache away. For a moment his breath stopped and his whole being stilled.
Silence beat between them as the plush rise of her breast pressed against his arm. He was aware of it like he was so many other details, but his full attention was focused on labeling the movement as danger or...
He drew in a quiet breath and pointed to his left, in the direction where the flattened grass in the shape of an S indicated the predator was nonhuman. It was a lizard.
They continued along the wooden walk. His senses were now in overdrive. The dense foliage was problematic, but he’d known that going in. The air was humid, thick like the plant-choked jungle that seemed to reach and tantalize and even tease. Anything could hide in there as the lizard had already proven.
Beneath the walkway was a land mine of natural threats. The giant lizards that weaved easily through the long grass, the insects that were oversized and loud and screeched from their green sanctuary while humans were confined to the resort’s boardwalks for their own safety, he suspected, more than for the protection of the environment. He felt rather like an animal in a cage, except he was free to escape the boundaries of the wooden railing at any time and at his own peril.
He peered over the railing. The ground was more than ten feet down and lush with tall grass. When he tilted his head and looked up, vines wound around the trees, a green labyrinth of plant life. The jungle provided a screen, a screen that he didn’t like.
He hurried to close the distance between them as she made her way determinedly along the path. And he thought again of how easily she became a tourist rather than a woman on the run. There had been only amateur acting in the background he’d been briefed on, yet she appeared to be acting very well.
As if to dispute that thought, she turned around and there was a look of panic in her eyes. “I’ve got to go back.”
“Back?” He was puzzled. “But we’re almost there.”
“Claustrophobia,” she said as she pushed past him. “I... The thought of a tight, enclosed space...” Her hands clenched, and he could see her knuckles were white. “I thought I could do this. It was so long ago when I planned this trip.”
Claustrophobia? He questioned that immediately. Her voice sounded strained but not panicked, not the terror of a phobia. There had been no mention of that in any of the comprehensive research he’d received.
“Claustrophobia?” he repeated. “You’re sure?”
“I... I just can’t do it, Josh.”
It didn’t fit her profile, not the textbook version or the real. For the space of a few seconds he was stumped, and then realized what it was: loss of control—an environment that she couldn’t choreograph.
“Excuse, excuse.” A small man came up to them, his companion a few feet away. They’d been walking at a leisurely pace but now they were walking fast; he’d been monitoring their progress since he’d first become aware of them more than ten minutes ago. It had taken them that long to catch up.
He gritted his teeth. “Yes?” he asked with forced politeness.
“Can you read this, please?” The man held out a brochure similar to the one Erin carried.
No threat. He’d determined that hours ago, since their arrival. They’d arrived on the flight after theirs. They were a couple, five years married, celebrating an anniversary before returning to corporate jobs in Tokyo. The only issue was that they were tourists whose first language was Japanese. It had been Tenuk who had gotten that bit of information. Between the two of them they were cobbling together a profile on each of the guests.
He looked at the pamphlet they were holding.
“I speak English,” the man explained. “Reading, not as well.”
“What do you need?”
“When does Deer Cave close?”
Josh glanced through the pamphlet and immediately saw the problem. Despite a long and drawn out history and current facts, there were no times of viewing. It was obviously a printing screwup that the resort had failed to catch.
“The tours have stopped for today. We’re on our own.” He smiled at them. “The best show is still to come. The bats will emerge just before dusk.” He glanced at the sky, saw that the sun had shifted and settled lower. “You can follow us if you’d like.”
“Thank you,” the man said solemnly. The woman again said nothing. Instead, she nervously bit her nails and stood in the shadows just behind the man’s right shoulder. She seemed rather timid as if...
He watched the man put a hand on the nervous woman’s arm, giving her a silent message, a warning maybe. Josh felt his whole body tense, prepared to defend, to interject. He watched for the woman’s reaction.
Any sign of fear in her demeanor and he was prepared to jump in. His eyes met the woman’s. Here was the moment of truth. Her gaze was soulful, her eyes a deep rich brown that held no fear and no hurt. Instead, she smiled, one that was tentative but not trembling.
She put her hand in the crook of the man’s arm.
Josh blew out a breath. If there was one thing that could send him off the straight trajectory of a mission, it was a woman who wasn’t being treated well. He had been raised by a mother who had fled that kind of abuse. At the time he’d been too young to do anything. But when he was older, he’d paid his father a visit and let him know exactly what he thought of him. While there’d been nothing physical, the last wo
rds he’d left his father had, in a way, been like blows.
His hand slipped into his pocket. He fingered the worn beads, a single earring, not even a pair. That was all he had left to remind him of the fragility of life.
“Josh?”
He swung around to find Erin beside him. He’d taken his eyes off her—lost track of her position. He blinked to clear his mind.
There was still panic in her eyes but it was muted by a look of determination that was accented in the thin line of her usually full lips. “I’m sorry. That was silly of me. I do want to see the bats. And the cave, too, but I suppose that will be tomorrow as tours are done for the day.” The tremor in her voice wasn’t put on.
He put a hand on her waist, half expecting her to brush it off. She didn’t, and something felt right about his hand being there. They barely knew each other, were little more than strangers, yet they needed to be so much more. His touch moved from a light brushing of his fingers to something more solid. He could feel her firm, warm flesh beneath the thin blouse, the well-toned and slim lines that held not an inch of extra flesh, evidence of the physical toning she had done in these months of flight.
“Let’s do this,” she said. She moved a few inches away, and he was forced to drop his hand.
Behind them the couple spoke in excited undertones as they hurried behind them, and they all walked at a fast pace. They had ten minutes to make the final quarter mile hike to the observatory.
He adjusted his ball cap and took the rear.
Chapter Thirteen
This wasn’t a good idea, Erin thought. Dusk was approaching and they were heading deeper into the jungle. It didn’t matter that it was a quite civilized, wide wooden plank walkway that kept them away from the jungle’s depths. It was still a place that was foreign, unknown. If anyone was following her, if someone had landed at the resort, then she was here, trapped.
Trapped.
What had compelled her to take this hike knowing the possibilities of what might happen? Whoever was after her would know by now that she hadn’t died in the car explosion in Georgetown. Whoever was following her more than likely knew who had died and who she was.
How soon would they come after her?
It came to her as she fought off the tendrils of panic, that the jungle and the approaching dark provided cover both for the hunter and the hunted.
Where had she read that?
It didn’t matter.
She glanced at Josh. She liked him. In another time or place he would be a friend. But that wasn’t what surprised her. What surprised her was that she found herself attracted to him. That was an emotion that in her current circumstance she had no time for and one she had to ignore.
Despite feelings of friendship or the desire to get close, if the worst happened, she reminded herself she needed to run and not consider the rest, the others on this trail. She had to remember Sarah and what would happen if they knew what her sister had seen.
But there were others and she would endanger them.
She’d run. That thought played over and over in her mind.
But in Georgetown there’d been no choice, no survivors, no one to save.
Tears threatened, and she struggled to hold them off.
Daniel.
He wouldn’t leave her mind and that was right. It had been her fault. If she hadn’t befriended him, hadn’t gotten the car or loaned it to him...
If.
She took a deep breath. She had to remain focused. She folded her arms as, despite the heat, a chill seemed to drift through her.
“Are you okay?”
Josh was right beside her. She wasn’t sure how he had gotten there, and that thought was disconcerting.
“Yes.” But the word was drawn out, not said with any confidence. And there was something odd in the way he looked at her. As if he understood...
“It’ll be fine,” he said without hesitation. “No matter what else is going on in your life, this is the chance of a lifetime.”
Something had changed. There was an innuendo in his voice, as if he knew what she was afraid of. Of course, that was ridiculous. No one knew, no one except those who wanted her dead and a few others.
He steadied her with one hand on her arm. His grip was gentle, yet she suspected she wouldn’t be able to break it. This wasn’t the geek Josh she was comfortable with. This man was different. He made her heart race and her palms sweat.
“The heat,” she murmured. What was wrong with her? It wasn’t the heat and it wasn’t claustrophobia. But she couldn’t seem to quell her reluctance to move forward, to go anywhere near this cave. But it wasn’t just the cave that was giving her jitters. It was her inability to control her racing heart every time he came near.
She could feel him behind her now, hear the sound of his feet on the wood, smell the faint scent of soap and something tangy, unlike earlier, it was something she couldn’t identify it was so subtle. It toyed with her senses and sent odd tingles down her spine. She looked out over the railing where trees and vines seemed to twist, mesh and weave together into one writhing mass, where the animals—mammals, reptiles and birds alike—weaved through the tangled world of plants. The jungle was never ending, bracketed only by the distant limestone spears that punctured all that green and offered more treasures to the adventurous hiker. They also offered another way in.
Something tight twisted in her gut.
A bang sounded to her left, and she jumped and bit back a scream.
Behind her the woman screamed and then silence abruptly followed. Erin realized they hadn’t exchanged names. It seemed wrong and haunting, and they were strange thoughts to flit through her mind in the few seconds it took before Josh had a grip on her arm and pushed her behind him.
“What...?” She wanted to break free, wanted to run.
“Quiet,” he commanded in a voice that again didn’t mesh with the man she had come to know. As he stayed her with one hand, she suspected he would restrain her if she moved at all.
He scanned the area, his hand on his side, the other continuing to hold her back. She looked down and saw the hint of dull black metal, a gun. His shirt shifted and then there was nothing.
Ridiculous. She had imagined the whole thing, not the bang, but the gun. There was no reason for him to be armed. He was an administrator and a reluctant tourist. It was ludicrous to think anything else. Still, her mind went back to that moment even as she stayed behind him and felt oddly safe.
It was a full minute before he released her, turning around at the same time. “Another damn lizard and a snapped-off branch.” He pointed to the swaying grass and a tree branch that was lying half against the tree and half on the forest floor. Beyond that was the S-shaped trail of trampled foliage left behind by a reptile that was deceptively fast for its size.
“Monitor most likely.”
She swallowed heavily as she thought of the lizard that could grow to six feet or more and was common in the area.
“Erin?”
“I’m all right, really,” she snapped and immediately regretted the edge to her voice. “Maybe I... I just need some water.”
“Here.” He handed her an unopened bottle.
“No, that’s yours.” She reached into her pack. Nothing. She’d forgotten to pack water. That was inexcusable; she couldn’t afford to forget any more than she could afford to be unobservant.
“I have two. Just in case,” he said with a smile, breaking into her thoughts.
She looked at him with a combination of surprise and gratitude. “You must have been a Boy Scout as a kid.” She’d obviously imagined the gun. She needed to take a step back. His earring caught her eye—ace of spades. She was seeing danger everywhere.
“Something like that,” he said easily.
She looked into his eyes a
nd for an odd moment she felt a little less alone. She wanted to get out of here, but instead she took a step closer to him, as if he could protect her.
Ridiculous, she told herself. There was no knight in shining armor. It was just her. She was alone.
* * *
TWO DAYS.
That was the amount of time he had to hold this position. Keep her here and keep her safe before a plane arrived to get them out.
The resort plane was unfeasible. Public transport, especially by plane, was just that, public and not the option he wanted. They needed to go back the way they had come, and transferring flights to do it was not wise. His thoughts backtracked to the previous night.
“What the hell happened to our ride out?” Josh asked, the cheap cell small and slippery in his hand.
“Too chancy. They’ve infiltrated Kuala Lumpur. One man for sure who could take your transport out at the knees,” Vern replied.
“Good to know,” Josh said drily.
“Bad news, pal. I know. Here’s what you need to know. Sid Mylo is in Bangkok and with his lead out of the picture, it’s slowed him down. And taking the man in Kuala Lumpur is only a matter of time.”
“Meantime, there’s intelligence in Bangkok. He’ll get answers,” Josh replied, his grip tight on the cell.
“Maybe. But we’ve been feeding him some bad leads, too. Hopefully he’s picking those up.”
“Hopefully. And if he isn’t?”
“Then you do what you’re paid to do. Get her the hell out of there,” Vern replied.
“Reassuring,” Josh muttered and disconnected. There wasn’t much else to say. Bangkok was too close and their ride out feeling too far away. Right now there weren’t any other options.
That had all been last night and a million miles away, or so he wished.
“Josh. You’re not listening.” There was a note of condemnation in her voice.
“Beautiful, aren’t they?” he said, his attention again on her as the first stream of bats began their early evening exit for feeding. The sky soon darkened with more and more bats as they emerged from the enormous cave that he knew could easily hold a 747.
Suspect Witness Page 9