Gone to Dust

by Liliana Hart

  If she hadn’t been so tired she would’ve laughed. Not exactly a romance novel response. But she rolled to the side and got to her feet, the bandages wrapped around them completely worthless. She reached down to take the socks off and unwrap them, but he knelt down in front of her so she could catch her balance on his shoulders, and he did the task for her.

  “Be careful where you step,” he said. But she wasn’t paying attention to him. Her eyes were glued to a strand of silver hanging from a tree branch, not ten yards from where they stood.

  She stepped down off the boulder and headed toward the chain as if hypnotized as it swayed gently back and forth.

  “Miller?” Elias asked, following behind her.

  She stared at the necklace with a lump in her throat. She was afraid to touch it. Afraid it would disappear if she did. She hadn’t seen it in more than twenty years, but she remembered it like it was yesterday. The way the long silver chain hung around her mother’s neck, and the way she’d keep the small compass tucked beneath her shirt.

  Elias reached up and unhooked it gently from the branch, and then turned it over in his hand.

  “There’s an inscription on the back,” he said.

  “ ‘So you can always find your way back to me,’ ” she said before he could read it. “It was my mother’s. My father gave it to her when they got married.”

  “Your brother’s next clue?” he asked.

  “It must be,” she said. “She was wearing it when they left for their last trip.” The sob caught her by surprise. It had been almost two decades since she’d cried for her parents. But all it took was a simple reminder to keep the grief fresh. “He really found their crash site. She’d have been wearing this.”

  The enormity of that sunk in and he pulled her into his arms and let her grieve anew. He felt safe and solid, and she realized she’d never had that feeling of security from another person in her whole life.

  She wiped her eyes with her hands, though it didn’t do much good because she was soaking wet.

  “It’s a locket,” she told him. “There’s a hidden switch on the side and it opens up.” She showed him where it was and used her thumbnail to open it. Inside was a folded piece of paper, and she took it with shaking hands and opened it.

  “What does it say?” Elias asked, moving her farther into the trees as another shot rang out from somewhere above.

  “It’s a riddle,” she said.

  “I hate riddles,” he told her.

  “I recognize it. We used to do them when we were kids. Had a whole book of them and spent one summer trying to trip each other up. I was always a lot better at them than Justin was. He hated that. He didn’t like to lose at anything.”

  “That didn’t change as he got older,” Elias said.

  “ ‘This old one runs forever, but never moves at all. He has not lungs or throat, but still a mighty roar.’ ”

  “And that pretty much sums up the reason I hate riddles.”

  “It’s a waterfall,” she told him. And then she took a good look at the one they’d just jumped down, and wondered how the hell they were still alive.

  She closed the locket and put it around her neck, tucking it beneath her shirt, and then she climbed back up on the rocks to see how close she could get to the falls without tumbling back into the water. Elias didn’t say anything and didn’t ask her what she was doing. He knew. And when the boulders got too big for her to climb, he did it and then pulled her up until they could reach out and touch the falls.

  Elias sat down on the rock instead of trying to slide behind the falls and risking slipping. He was already wet, so it didn’t matter that he got soaked again as he searched for a ledge. One moment, he was right in front of her eyes. And in the next moment, he was gone.

  She scooted close, and then his arm reached out and grabbed her, and she stifled a yelp of surprise. Then he pulled her behind the falls and her feet touched solid ground.

  She heard him swear as he tried to unbutton the thigh pocket of his pants, but because it was damp it made it difficult. He finally managed it and the high-powered beam of the flashlight came on, illuminating the cave behind the falls.

  “This should keep them busy looking for us for a little while,” he said.

  “I thought the goal was to find an extraction point.”

  “It is, but we’ll let them do a little cleanup first. You’d be surprised how often sheer dumb luck plays a role.”

  “That’s not a comforting thought,” she said.

  “Not for us, most of the time,” he said. “We’re skilled enough to adapt to any situation. But for a good majority of ops, there’s a lot of improvisation and a whole lot of praying. For instance, even as advanced as our technology is, a cell phone isn’t going to survive a dive from a waterfall.”

  He held up the device that had been their lifesaver during this mess, and she felt her heart sink at the sight of the shattered screen.

  “We can’t communicate with Elaine,” he said, “but they’ll still be able to pinpoint our location with the tracking device in me. And there’s another backup on my watch.” He shone the flashlight onto the floor, noting the sharp rocks. “Hop up on my back,” he told her.

  “You can’t keep carrying me everywhere,” she said. “What happens if you get a hernia or blow out a disc? What the hell am I supposed to do then?”

  “Put me out of my misery like an old dog,” he said dryly. “Do you have to argue about every damned thing? I’ve pulled in fish heavier than you.”

  “Fine, but I’m going to be really angry with you if I have to take you out to pasture and shoot you.”

  He turned around and squatted down some so she could hop on his back, and then he hoisted her up like she was nothing and started walking.

  “Just so you know,” he said, “if I need to reach for my weapon I’m going to drop you.”

  “I’ll understand completely,” she told him, and they made their way through the narrowing cave, her holding the flashlight so he could hold on to her legs.

  “I’ve got to put you down,” he said. “It’s getting too narrow for us to go through like this.”

  The walls had been steadily shrinking, and the sound of the waterfall was a good distance behind them, though she could still hear it. The walls were black rock and slightly wet, and the air was damp and cool. There were places where the walls came close to touching, and she didn’t think Elias would be able to get his broad shoulders through, but he somehow managed.

  “This is not my favorite thing,” she said. “It feels like the walls are moving. I’m having visions of Luke, Leia, and Han Solo being stuck in the compactor in Star Wars.”

  “I was wondering when you’d find a movie reference for this,” he said.

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “Uh-huh.” He got down on his knees and then his belly and Miller followed suit.

  The stone was cold and wet beneath her and her body trembled uncontrollably, out of either fear or the cold, she wasn’t sure. Her lungs seized and her breath came in shallow pants as the walls pressed in on her, scraping at her shoulders, rocks digging into her knees as she crawled.

  She couldn’t focus on Elias. She could only focus on one small movement at a time, and not think about the fact that they could get wedged inside and might not be found until it was too late. She could hear Elias’s labored breathing in front of her, and she didn’t know how he was doing it. He’d shifted onto his side to make it easier for his shoulders to get through, but it seemed like an impossible fit.

  And then when she reached the point where she wasn’t sure she could keep going, the cave opened back up again, and she sprawled onto her stomach with relief. There wasn’t a waterfall at this end of the cavern, but instead it was covered with thick vines that hung down like snaky ropes.

  “Thank you, Jesus,” she muttered, crawling on hands and knees toward the opening.

  The exit was only as high as her waist, but she could see the litt
le peeks of sunlight through the vines, and she’d never wanted to see daylight so bad in her life. Elias crawled through first and stood up and then reached back to help her through.

  A shot rang out and Elias crumpled in front of her, and all she saw was the blood on his face.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “Stop where you are,” a deep voice called out.

  Elias pressed his fingers to the cut at his temple and swore. The bullet had hit the stone behind him and shattered, sending shards into his face. He was lucky he hadn’t lost an eye.

  “Justin?” he called out, recognizing the voice. “You asshole. You could’ve shot your sister.” Miller was still on the ground, but he felt her scramble up to a standing position and gasp in surprise. He kept his arm out and held her behind him until he could completely assess the situation.

  They were in a huge clearing, overgrown with green and ancient ruins. An Incan civilization had once called it home.

  “Ohmigod,” Miller said behind him, peeking over his shoulder. “It’s the fallen column,” she said. “We found it.”

  Sure enough, there was a large column of pitted stone that had fallen haphazardly across the center of the clearing. The other column still stood perfectly erect, and they had obviously once been the entrance to the city.

  “Who is that?” Justin called out.

  Elias saw a flash of a hand or arm from behind one of the ruins.

  “Who the hell do you think it is?” Elias asked back.

  “No fucking way,” he said. “You’re dead.” And he finally came out from around the ruins to face him. “Miller,” he said. “You need to come here now.”

  “Umm, how about a hello or a nice to see you too, you big jerk? You scared the hell out of me. I thought you were dead.”

  Justin looked worse for the wear. His eye was a combination of interesting shades of purple, yellow, and black and almost swollen shut, and his lip and jaw were swollen too beneath several days of beard. His right hand was wrapped tightly, but blood seeped through the bandages.

  “Miller, I don’t know what the hell you’ve gotten yourself mixed up in with this guy, but you need to get over here now. I’m not going to tell you again.”

  “I’m not twelve years old,” she said. “Don’t talk to me like a child. I can promise you that Elias isn’t what you think he is. You need to give him a chance and listen.”

  “For fuck’s sake, Miller. Please tell me you aren’t with this guy. For once in your life would you stop being so stubborn and get your ass over here? And what the hell did you do to your hair? You look like Tinker Bell. It’s absurd.”

  “You listen here, Justin Darling,” she yelled. Elias couldn’t help the smile. He’d been on the receiving end of that tongue and was looking forward to the fireworks. “I’m in love with him. What are you going to do about that? Oh, right. Nothing. Because I’m a grown-ass adult and you can’t tell me what to do. Just because you bother to flit in and out of my life once or twice a year doesn’t mean you get a say in my love life. And who the hell are you to make comments about who I’m sleeping with? I had to put up with that moron Hannah James at Thanksgiving that year. She laughed at every possible inappropriate time and she kept putting dinner rolls in her purse.”

  “Miller,” Justin warned. “You’re overreacting. I have a damned good reason for not wanting you anywhere near that bastard.”

  “He was your friend,” she said, furious.

  “Yes, he was. But he’s a traitor,” Justin called out. “And he’s supposed to be dead.”

  “It’s pointless, Miller,” Elias said, touching her gently on the arm. “He’ll believe the truth when he wants to believe it. My path is set. I don’t need to prove my worth to anyone but you.”

  “You killed an innocent man in cold blood,” Justin yelled. “And get your hand off my sister.”

  “Would a traitor be here to save your sorry ass?”

  “That still doesn’t explain how he’s alive when he was given the death penalty. He died. We all saw it. We were there.”

  “Maybe there are things bigger than the both of us that you just don’t understand,” Elias said. “But your sister has been through hell to get you back home safe.”

  Justin looked back and forth between them and came a little closer. His clothes were torn and filthy and she could see the fatigue beginning to take its toll on him once he let his guard down and realized she wasn’t moving from Elias’s side.

  “The important thing is Solomon’s treasure,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure Cordova doesn’t get his hands on it.”

  “Fuck the treasure,” Miller said, her voice breaking. “I am so damned sick of hearing about Solomon’s treasure. I don’t care if it ever existed or if it still exists. It’s done nothing but tear our family apart. Look at you,” she said. “You’ve sold your soul to a legend. You don’t care about anything else. We’re here to save you, putting our own lives in danger, and still that’s all you can talk about. I came here for you. If you don’t want to come home, then we’re leaving.”

  “You don’t understand, Miller,” he said, the frustration evident in his voice. “I don’t have a choice. Just like Dad never had a choice. It’s the greatest honor and the biggest curse to be chosen.”

  “How do we get out of here?” Miller asked, turning to Elias and ignoring Justin’s pleas. “I’m not going through that cave again. There’s got to be another way out.”

  “I can show you the way out,” Justin said, coming closer. “But please, just listen to me.”

  “Like you just listened to me when I told you Elias was innocent?” she asked.

  Justin looked at Elias again and then back at her. “Maybe he is,” he said. “I don’t know. I only know what I saw with my own eyes. But I also know that before all the shit hit the fan, I would’ve died for him. None of us ever believed it when the charges were brought against him, but it was hard to dispute the evidence. I can give him a chance if it means getting you out of here safely.”

  “I’d never let anything happen to her,” Elias told him. “I love her.”

  Justin snorted and shook his head, but there was sadness on his face. “God help you. She’s got a temper like a banshee.”

  “So I’ve learned.”

  “I’m actually right here,” Miller said. “You don’t have to talk around me. But I’m so glad you two are having this emotional moment. Maybe we can go now. I’ve decided I don’t need to be a world traveler, and I’d like to go home.”

  “I found the wreckage of the plane,” Justin told her. His gaze was steady on hers—serious, searching. He had their father’s eyes, a rich brown that could go from dreamy to determined in a split second.

  Elias heard her indrawn sob, and he moved so he could touch her. He hated to think of the pain she was feeling. She laid her head against his back and took a couple of shaky breaths and said, “I saw the compass, so I figured you did.”

  “I buried them,” he said gently. “It seemed like the right thing to do. We never got the chance to have that finality of a true burial. I can take you to see them.”

  “Maybe,” she said. “But honestly, I don’t know if I can deal with it right now. I’m a little overwhelmed at the moment. This hasn’t been the easiest week.”

  “At least you have all your fingers,” Justin said.

  “I’m about to tell you what to do with that finger,” Miller shot back angrily, and Elias had to stifle a laugh. Lord, he loved that woman.

  Elias looked around, trying to find an escape route where they could be extracted from, and he noticed the two streams on each side of the clearing. It would’ve been easy access to fresh water for the Incans, and he could see why they’d settled in this particular area.

  “Look at the water,” he told Miller, ignoring Justin.

  “What about it?” she said.

  “It’s not flowing toward the falls at the opposite side of the cave. It’s flowing in a different direction.”

&nbs
p; “Which means it has to eventually lead to somewhere,” she finished for him.

  “You can’t go out there,” Justin told them. “Ever since I escaped from Cordova, he’s sent teams of his men to search for me. This place is completely secluded and protected. Those two streams lead into the Aguas Mortales. No one can enter from that direction. The water is too treacherous. And by equal measures, no one can escape from that way either. You and I could probably swim it if we had our dive gear, but there’s no way Miller could. The chances of us making it are iffy at best. How embarrassing would it be for two SEALs to die by drowning?”

  “Doesn’t matter to me,” Elias said. “I’m already dead. You’re the one who will look like an idiot. We’ve got an extraction team ready to pick us up as soon as we give the signal. They should’ve had plenty of time to take care of Cordova’s men.”

  “An extraction team?” Justin asked. “Why the hell is an extraction team here? Who are you? Why’d they fake your death?”

  “That’s a lot of questions that I really don’t feel like answering right now,” he said. “My biggest priority at the moment is getting Miller off the island safely. I told her I’d help you find her and that I’d help her find your parents’ wreckage. Both of those things have been accomplished. The treasure can go to the devil for all I care.”

  “Don’t say that,” Justin said. And then he reached down and picked up his pack and pulled out a cloth-wrapped cylinder. “Do you know what this is?”

  “I’m guessing it’s the leg from the table of Solomon,” Miller said.

  “I hear the resentment in your voice,” he said. “But you’ve never understood.”

  “Understood what, Justin?” she asked.

  “You have my ring?” he asked her.

  “It’s back in Last Stop with your finger,” she said.

  “There are only twelve of them in existence,” he said. “It’s incredible to see them all together, each exactly the same and forged by one of the greatest kings in history.”

  “You’ve seen all twelve?” she asked, eyes narrowed. “Those rings are a couple thousand years old. How could they have possibly survived?”