Uncharted (Treasure Hunter Security Book 2) (12 page)

Cal burst forward, his arms pumping as he sprinted toward them. “Stop!”

But the woman stayed focused on her target.

Heart hammering, Cal lifted his SIG, the movement slow, feeling as though he were moving through honey.

The woman fired.

Cal saw Dani’s body jerk, heard her cry out.

No!

Chapter Eight

God, it hurt. Dani pressed down hard on her left bicep, biting her lip to stop from crying out. She’d been shot.

But her frantic gaze went to Jean-Luc. He was slumped on the ground, blood covering his chest.

She’d gone from dreaming of Cal and the hot, heady moments in the temple to the middle of a war zone. And where the hell was Cal? Was he okay?

She glanced frantically around the clearing, and, as though she’d summoned him, she spotted him charging across the camp. The breath rushed out of her. He was okay. He threw something, just as a Silk Road attacker came out of nowhere, and tackled him to the ground.

Dani struggled to her feet. She had to help him. Then she heard something hit the ground in front of her. It glinted metallically in the faint light and rolled across the dirt.

Her gut went hard. A
grenade
.

Before she could do anything else, it exploded.

Gemma screamed, and someone else shouted. Smoke poured into the air and then Dani couldn’t see anything. All that was visible were a few flashlight beams, illuminating the smoke.

She felt her way over to Jean-Luc and bumped into someone.

“Dani?”

“Dr. Oakley? Are you okay?”

“I…I think so.”

“Jean-Luc’s been shot in the chest. We need to stop the bleeding.” She turned to the injured man. “Jean-Luc, you hanging in there?”

The man groaned. “Hurts.”

“I know. Let us have a look.”

She had to lean close to him, the smoke still thick in the air. Her stomach rolled. God, there was so much blood. Dani shrugged out of her long-sleeved shirt. She had a dark blue tank on underneath. She balled up her shirt and pressed it to the wound.

Jean-Luc groaned again.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Suddenly, gunfire sounded loudly nearby. Dani fell forward over Jean-Luc, felt Dr. Oakley crouch close beside them.

Then Cal appeared out of the smoke.

“Cal.”

She saw relief flash in his eyes and he took a second to touch her cheek. “I need you all to get out of here. There are still four of these guys out there, plus their leader.” With expert hands, he lifted the wadded shirt off Jean-Luc, his face hardening. “He needs medical help. As soon as possible.” He slipped the fabric under the man’s shirt to hold it in place. “Keep the pressure on.” Then Cal pulled out Sam’s tablet. “I managed to grab this. Take it and head that way.” He handed it to Dr. Oakley and pointed. “Keep moving, and get back to the village and the bikes. Sam, Gemma, and Sakada are waiting for you in the trees.”

Fear lodged in Dani’s throat. “What are you going to do?”

His blue eyes were like chips of ice. “I’m going to take the rest of these assholes out so they don’t follow us.” He yanked her forward for a brief kiss. “I’ll find you. Now go.”

She watched him disappear into the smoke and she quelled the urge to go after him.

“Come on,” she said to Dr. Oakley. Together, they managed to get Jean-Luc on his feet, and the three of them hobbled toward the trees.

Behind her, she heard more gunshots. Each one made her flinch.

Stay safe, Cal.

They found the others waiting.

“Quick.” Sakada waved them into the dark jungle.

Sam took Dani’s place beside Jean-Luc, and with a nod, Dani took the lead. “We need to get to the closest village and the bikes.”

Dani pushed vines and branches out of her way. Unseen things scratched her skin, and her arm was still throbbing. They hadn’t gone far when a man stepped out in front of them. There was no emotion on his face as he aimed his weapon at them.

She didn’t stop to think. “Go!” she yelled at the others. She launched herself at the man.

He wasn’t expecting her attack. Dani slammed into him and they fell in a tangle of arms and legs, his gun flying out of his hand.

She fought him. Hard. But he was strong and well-trained. When he shoved his hand against her gunshot wound, she screamed. Pain slashed through her with vicious claws. She went limp.

He punched her in the face and everything went blurry. With a grunt, he stood, sank a hand into her hair, and started dragging her back toward camp.

Dani felt tears stream down her face. Tears of pain and failure.

But as long as the others got away, that was all that mattered.

As the pain ebbed a little, she tried to think about what she could do. She could trip him, then go for his eyes and throat, and hit him between the legs.

She could hear the voices of the other Silk Road people getting louder. She heard the woman’s angry tone.

Dani exploded into action. She twisted, ignoring the sharp sting to her scalp. She punched the man between his legs, felt soft things smash against her knuckles.

He let her go instantly, doubling over with a strangled groan. She stood and slammed a knee into his face. As he fell, she turned and ran.

She had no idea where she was going, she just ran blindly. It was pitch black, but she just kept moving. She needed as much distance between her and Silk Road as possible.

The branches slapped at her face and a few times she slipped, but she didn’t stop.

Suddenly, she slammed into something hard. Hands grabbed at her.

She tried to jerk herself backward, twisting sharply.

“Dani. It’s me.”

She went still, air heaving in and out of her lungs. She couldn’t see a damn thing. “Cal?”

“Yes.” He yanked her close and she found herself pressed against a firm, warm chest.

Thank God.
With a small sound, she pressed herself as close as she could get. She needed skin. She needed the reassurance they were both okay. She tore at the top buttons of his shirt, and pressed her face to the base of his throat. His skin was warm against her cheek, and she breathed him in. She smelled the blood, smoke and sweat, but beneath it was the scent of Cal.

It calmed something inside her, and she felt the crazy edge of fear ease a little.

“Shh.” He stroked her hair. “You’re okay.” Then he pulled back, and she could just see the flash of his face in the darkness. “We have to go. Those guys are still out there, and they’re after us.”

She nodded and realized he couldn’t see her. “Okay.”

As though his words had summoned them, a shout echoed nearby.

Cal took her hand and broke into a run.

Dani had no idea how he could see where he was going. She followed him, trying not to stumble, and kept a tight hold on his hand.

Her boot hit something large, and she tripped. She expected to hit the ground, but Cal caught her, dragging her against his chest.

But if she expected sympathy from him she was wrong. He didn’t talk, just made sure she was upright again, grabbed her wrist and kept moving.

Seconds turned to minutes. Dani lost track of any sense of time. She thought of Dr. Oakley and the others, and prayed they’d gotten away safely. Poor Jean-Luc. Her stomach did a slow, sickening roll. They’d shot him without blinking an eye. How could a single artifact, no matter its value, be worth somebody’s life?

Suddenly, Cal stopped. Dani slammed into the back of him. He spun, pressing a finger to her lips.

Dread was like a rock in her belly. She strained to hear whatever it was that had caught his attention.

Nothing
. Just the wind in the trees, and not even any of the regular jungle sounds. It seemed like even the animals were being quiet.

Then she heard it…voices.

She swallowed and looked up at Cal. He took her hand, changed direction, and pulled her back into the dense vegetation.

They were lost. She knew it. They had no map, no GPS. They were running deep into the middle of the jungle on a mountain in a remote corner of Cambodia. There was no Search and Rescue team to find them. What the hell were they going to do?

Cal stopped again. They were both breathing heavily, and now Dani could just make out a dirt path twisting off into the trees. She glanced up and realized the sky was starting to lighten. That, and the path, would make it easier going for them.

Then Cal turned away from the path and pulled her into the vegetation again.

“The path will be faster,” she whispered. A vine slapped her in the face and she batted it away.

“They’ll expect us to go that way. It’ll be easier for them to track us.”

Right
. She concentrated on following close behind him and staying on her feet. Large tree roots protruded from the ground, but she managed to avoid them all. They hurried on and rounded a tree with a huge trunk.

Suddenly, Cal pitched forward. Dani felt the ground turn soggy beneath her feet. She sank up to her knees in mud and swallowed a small shriek.

Cal was letting out a stream of curses. He pulled one boot free of the mud.

Damn
. Dani fought to pull her boots out of the sticky stuff, but it tried to suck her back down.

“Don’t fight it,” he warned. “We’ll just end up sinking farther. Just go slowly.”

She copied Cal’s steady movements and slowly worked a foot free. By the time she was working to free her second leg, Cal was already free of the mud. He stood beside her, keeping a hold of her arm.

Dani tugged and tugged her leg, then hissed out a short breath. “I’m stuck. My boot won’t move.”

“I’ve got you.” Cal wrapped his arms around her chest, and gave a hard yank.

Her foot came free with a squelch and the momentum slammed her against Cal. They both toppled to the leafy ground.

He kept his arms around her, his face pressed to her hair. “Okay?”

She let her forehead drop against his chest for a minute. “I will be.”

He slid a hand up and down her back. “Hell of a night.”

She managed to mostly stifle a hysterical laugh. “You could say that.”

He sat up, bringing her with him. “We haven’t put enough distance between them and us. We need to keep moving.”

Dani stood, grimacing at the mud coating her trousers and boots. There were several streaks on her shirt, but luckily none on her camera. She’d gotten pretty good at making sure her camera was protected whenever she fell or got mucky. It was second nature to her now.

“I don’t understand any of this,” she said. “We told them what we know. Nobody on Earth knows where the cintamani is.”

“Silk Road are well-funded criminals…they don’t care about lives. It was exactly the same when my brother came up against them in Egypt.” Cal’s tone was hard and grim. “They’ve been working behind the scenes for a long time, but it looks like they’re stepping up their game. These guys that attacked us…they’ll take whatever risk they need to on the small chance that they might stumble onto priceless treasure.”

As they pushed through the undergrowth, Dani decided the jungle was even denser here. Vines, leaves, branches—everything seemed to have thorns that snagged on her clothes.

When they came out into a small clearing, it was almost a shock. The light was still murky, but it was enough to see a fallen tree on the ground. The large trunk was hollowed out and clearly used by the jungle animals for shelter.

Abruptly, Cal cursed. “I can hear them coming.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. “We could hide.” She eyed the trunk again.

Cal was scowling. “It’s not a bad idea.”

“The fallen tree—”

“Not there.” He scanned around. “Over there.” He moved over to a tree that looked like all the other trees around them. He pointed upward. “Get climbing.”

“We’re going to climb a tree?”

“Hurry. No questions.”

Dragging in a deep breath, Dani eyed the tree. Then she gripped the trunk, and with a boost from Cal, started climbing. When she reached the lowest branches, she grabbed on and pulled herself up.

It was tricky, and a few times her boots slid off the branches. She added a few new scratches to her injuries, and the wound on her arm was burning, but finally she pulled herself up onto a thicker branch.

Cal moved up beside her. “Higher.”

Dani rolled her eyes but didn’t protest. Finally, they settled onto a larger, higher branch. The foliage closed in around them. She shivered, more conscious now of the cooler morning air on her bare skin. An arm wrapped around her, pulling her into the warmth of Cal’s body.

“What now?” she whispered.

“We wait.”

Dani had never minded waiting before. Waiting for the perfect shot, the perfect light, or the perfect expression on someone’s face was easy for her. But sitting damp, scared, and tired—not to mention in pain—in the top of a tree in the middle of the jungle, was definitely much more difficult.

She shifted, and pain shot through her arm. She tried to stay quiet but Cal picked up on it instantly.

“What’s wrong? You’ve been outstanding, Dani. Just hang in there a bit longer.”

She nodded. “But I got shot, though. It really hurts.”

“Let me take a look.” He pulled her hand away from her arm, probing at her wound. The breath hissed out of him.

Her stomach clenched. “Oh, God. How bad is it?”

“Well…it’ll need a Band-Aid.”

Dani heard the amusement in his tone and stiffened. “A Band-Aid? It hurts more than a damn Band-Aid.”

“Dani, the bullet only grazed you.” He brushed her hair off her face. “You’re fine.”

Her hair was hopelessly tangled. “I look like crap and I’ve been shot…that’s not fine.”

The tiniest smile tweaked his lips. “Well, crap looks good on you.”

“Liar.”

“And you weren’t shot, you were grazed. You’ve got a small graze there, that’s it.”

“Quit rubbing it in,” she grumbled.

He cupped her jaw and suddenly his face turned serious. “When I saw you get hit…I was…” His voice broke off.

Something softened inside her and she pressed a hand over his on her cheek. “I’m fine, Cal. I was far more worried about you, afraid they’d kill you.”