Pearls

by Mills, Lisa

  Their eyes locked across the distance.

  Recognition rolled across his features, and his lips curled into a sneer. He raised one hand and pointed at her, a simple but thoroughly threatening gesture.

  A chill of fear rippled down her spine. It appeared as if he’d been waiting for her. But how could he know she’d be driving this road … unless someone had told him of their plans? She glanced at Manuel’s jeep just ahead of them on the road, then to Raúl beside her. Would one of the men do such a thing? Both claimed to care for her on some level, and yet, she didn’t know either one of them very well.

  Her vulnerability assailed her, and she questioned her wisdom in embarking on this trip. Once out in the wilderness, help would be far away and there would be nowhere to hide from danger. What had she gotten herself into?

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  His hands gripped the steering wheel of the jeep until his knuckles turned white from the strain. What’s he doing, sitting by the side of the road like he’s been waiting for me? Panic seized him at the sight of the man, eerily pointing at their caravan. He’d told them he was leaving town. Was this their form of a sendoff, a reminder, or an overt threat?

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  After six hours muscling the jeep over rugged roads, Manuel led their mini-caravan inside the boundaries of the Parque Nacional and followed the directions sent by the park rangers to a site not far from the mouth of the cave. He had called ahead and received permission from the park board to do some exploration in and around the cave. His references from Central University garnered him the respect he needed to obtain unrestricted access.

  When he found the clearing the park employees had suggested as a campsite, he pulled his jeep off the rough access road that served workers in the wild, beautiful area. Tall trees surrounding the clearing would provide them with shade most of the day, while dewy ferns and flowering plants offered a palette of colors and smells to please the senses.

  The location was not perfect, lacking amenities such as electricity, water, and restrooms, but they could make themselves comfortable and accomplish their goals. Besides, this would provide a good trial run before they moved to the other locations, remote enough to make this one seem luxurious. He had some reservations about his partners’ abilities to endure the conditions they would encounter in the field. Isabel and Raúl were still close enough to civilization to make a quick return if the going was too rough for them.

  The other jeep rolled to a stop behind his, and Isabel climbed from the vehicle with slow, stiff movements. Placing her hands on her lower back, she leaned side to side, stretching out the kinks inflicted by the rough ride. “I would kill for an iced tea and a recliner chair right now.”

  Manuel chuckled, reached into the back of his jeep, and pulled out a few items. “I can offer you a canvas chair and a bottled water. Will that do?”

  “My hero!” she quipped, flashing him a mega-watt smile as she accepted the proffered items.

  Manuel watched her walk to the clearing and set up her chair. She looked beautiful in a campy sort of way. Though wrinkled from the long drive, her khaki shorts and a pale-blue sleeveless shirt complemented her slender figure. She’d pulled her hair into a ponytail, accentuating the fine lines of her features. Even without makeup, her skin emanated a healthy glow. Thick, dark lashes framed her eyes.

  Snapping off the bottle cap, she tipped her head back and took a long drink, unwittingly displaying the curve of her neck. He could stand and watch her all day, yet she seemed oblivious to the effect she had on him.

  “What are you staring at?”

  Raúl’s angry words hissed into Manuel’s ear and rankled his nerves. If they hoped to attain any peace in the camp, he and Raúl would need to settle some issues.

  “I’m enjoying the view, Raúl. Do you have a problem with that?”

  Raúl didn’t flinch at Manuel’s threatening tone. “You will stay away from her, or I will make you sorry.”

  “Isabel is her own woman. She’ll associate with and date whom she chooses. If she doesn’t choose you, that’s your problem. I have no pity or patience for a man who mistreats a woman the way you did Isabel. She deserves better than you.”

  Raúl jabbed a finger into Manuel’s chest. “What do you know of it?”

  Taking a step closer, Manuel glared at Raúl. “Who do you think comforted her when she discovered your unfaithfulness?” The murderous look on Raúl’s face brought Manuel a measure of satisfaction.

  “I’m funding this little camping trip, and I won’t hesitate to send you home.”

  Manuel snorted. “Only a fool would do that. You’d be lost without my expertise.”

  “I can hire another expert.”

  “Not one that has Isabel’s allegiance.”

  Raúl gritted his teeth. “You will show me the respect I deserve, or I will make you sorry.”

  Manuel snickered at the threat. “If you try, you’ll find yourself with a fight on your hands, and I think you’re too much of a coward to risk it. I suggest you direct your energy toward getting these jeeps unloaded.” Pulling one of the heavier boxes from the pile of supplies, he thrust it into Raúl’s chest.

  Raúl staggered under the weight for a moment before recovering his balance and shoving the box back at Manuel. “I am not a slave. I will not carry your supplies like some kind of pack mule.”

  “They’re your supplies, too, and you’re not going to sit around and fan yourself like a prissy prima donna while we work. Now, get moving.”

  Manuel forced the box into Raúl’s hands again, and this time Raúl seemed to concede defeat. He stomped away, leaving Manuel to gloat over the minor victory.

  After Raúl stalked past Isabel, she rose and joined Manuel by the jeep. “A prissy prima donna?” she asked, laughing under her breath.

  “You heard that, did you?” Their fingers brushed together as he handed her a lightweight bundle. She made no move to pull away, so he allowed the touch to linger, enjoying the softness of her skin against his.

  “Thanks for defending me, Manuel. I don’t think he understands or accepts that I’ve cut him out of my life in a romantic sense. He’s using this project to try to get me back.”

  “Any chance of that happening?” Manuel tried to sound casual, but the answer to her question held incredible importance for him.

  She searched his face. “I don’t think so. I hope not.”

  He grabbed a box and followed her toward the clearing. Only a mild unease over Raúl’s threat interrupted the pleasant warmth in Manuel’s breast. Despite his earlier bravado, he still harbored concerns. While his heart told him to defend and protect Isabel, his head reminded him of his financial problems. As much as he wanted to plant his fist in Raúl’s smug and egotistical face, he needed the funding Raúl offered. He’d simply have to find a way to deal with them both.

  Eleven

  Excitement coursed through Manuel’s body as his paddle cut into the dark, swift water, urging the canoe further into the limestone tunnels and caverns of La Cueva. A battery-powered light attached to the front of the boat cast a glowing orb before them to guide their way. The high ceilings of the cavern lay obscured in inky blackness, hiding the Guácharo birds from sight, though the cave echoed with the haunting whisper of their wings.

  A park ranger had escorted them past the tourist sections of the cave, allowing them to bypass the guide ropes and turnstiles that forced the cave’s visitors to maintain orderly processions. When they’d passed the gawking tourists, Manuel couldn’t help but feel sorry for those confined to walking the designated path. The euphoria of exploration and discovery would be squelched as the bored park ranger, who had led countless tours in his years of service, spouted information about the cave in his sleepy monotone.

  For Manuel, the urge to explore never ebbed. Today he could satisfy the relentless hunger for adventure that gnawed at him when he found himself trapped in a classroom or buried in research. He couldn’t have tolerated a guided tour and was glad
for the freedom to explore on his own.

  Once beyond the boundaries and barriers of the tourists’ domain, the park ranger left them to their own devices. Manuel, Isabel, and Raúl, set out on the water in a canoe on loan from the park. After half an hour, they approached the place where they’d left off searching the day before.

  In addition to a river, the cave housed two giant reservoirs in miles of underground terrain. Manuel intended to explore every nook and cranny possible. For three days they had searched for a rocky shelf Rodrigo mentioned in his writings. Manuel’s intuition told him they would find it today. He dug his paddle into the water one more time before laying it beside his feet in the bottom of the canoe. “Anybody want a pair of night-vision goggles?” he asked. He delivered a pair into Isabel’s outstretched hands before snapping off the light at the front of the canoe. With the aid of the goggles, they could search the dark caverns without the bother of hauling in bulky searchlights.

  She slid the eyewear into position on her face and adjusted the strap behind her head. “At first these things creeped me out, but now I think I like them.”

  “Creeped me out?” Manuel and Raúl asked in unison.

  Despite Manuel’s years of English classes, Isabel frequently stumped him with her odd phrases. Looking at her through his goggles, Isabel glowed a phosphorescent green. She smiled and stuck out her tongue.

  “I saw that.” He laughed.

  Raúl leaned forward, squinting. “Saw what? How can you see anything in this place?”

  “You need to wear a pair of goggles, Raúl.” Isabel offered him a pair. “It’s almost as bright as day with the goggles on.”

  He pushed them back at her. “I wore them the first day. They made my face itch.”

  Through his goggles, Manuel had a clear view of Raúl’s petulant expression. He couldn’t decide what Raúl hoped to accomplish in coming along on their daily journeys. He had no experience, no knowledge of the journal, and no desire to help. He’d been whiny, disagreeable, and uncooperative, and Manuel wanted nothing more than to toss him overboard.

  Isabel, on the other hand, seemed unaffected by Raúl’s attitude. Manuel wasn’t sure if she was unflappable or a great pretender. Maybe she still loved him and couldn’t see Raúl’s hideous faults for the stars in her eyes. The idea perturbed him, and he compensated by barking orders.

  “Everybody remember what to look for? We want to find a rocky shelf shaped like the bow of a ship. If we see any rock formations that look like they might be candidates, we’ll stop and explore to see if we can find the other identifying markers. Since we finished covering the left side yesterday, we’ll start on the right today.”

  Raúl sighed with boredom, and Manuel wondered why he bothered trying to include the man. Maybe he did it for Isabel’s sake.

  Oblivious to Manuel’s inward battle, Isabel scanned the cave walls and rock formations to the right of the canoe. He decided to follow her strategy and concentrate on work, not Raúl. The sooner they found what they were looking for, the sooner they could go.

  A few minutes later, Isabel pointed. “Look, Manuel. What is that?”

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Isabel nearly tipped the boat in her excitement. The outcropping emerged from the darkness, exactly as Rodrigo had described in his journal. Grabbing a paddle, she helped Manuel steer the canoe alongside the ledge.

  He hopped out, and holding the mooring line firmly in his hand, he glanced around. “Amazing.”

  “What? What do you see?” Raúl’s impatient questions echoed off the stony walls of the cave, magnifying his obnoxious behavior in Isabel’s mind. If only he would try to cooperate.

  A surge of frustration dampened Isabel’s enthusiasm. “Would you like your goggles now?” she asked.

  “No. Didn’t we bring battery-powered lamps?” Isabel heard him fumbling through the supplies near his feet, followed by the click of a switch. Her goggles flooded with blinding light that seared her retinas. With a disgusted huff, she yanked them off and sat waiting for the halos to fade from her vision before she moved again.

  Manuel came and knelt in front of her, one strong hand holding the boat steady, the other extended to her. “Let me help you out.”

  His firm grip filled her with a sense of security, and she let her hand linger in his after she stepped onto the ledge beside him.

  “Careful, the rocks are slippery.” Manuel squeezed her hand, seeming to enjoy the contact as much as she. Their gazes met and held, shared enthusiasm passing between them.

  Raúl plunked the lamps at Isabel’s feet and hoisted himself up beside them, disrupting the moment. “This is it? It doesn’t look any different than the other ledges we looked at the first few days. How can you be sure this is the right place?”

  Manuel heaved a sigh and spoke as if addressing a child. “The small opening in the wall back there, and the natural pool right here. The journal explained it all. Plus, Rodrigo described the shape of the ledge.” Manuel glanced around. “It really does look like the bow of a ship. I can see why a sailor would feel comfortable here.”

  Raúl snorted in disgust. “How could anyone be comfortable in this damp, dark place? And what is that smell?”

  Digging his fingers into his hair, Manuel turned away mumbling to himself. Isabel thought she heard him mutter an insult, but she couldn’t be certain. Sensing Manuel had reached the limit of his patience, she answered Raúl’s question. “I think it’s the Guácharos.”

  “The what?” Raúl stared at her, his nose wrinkled in disgust.

  “The oil birds that live in the cave. Remember? We talked about this on our first day of exploration.”

  “I don’t recall anything about birds.”

  “Well, you were a little busy checking your cell phone for a signal and combing your hair, so maybe you didn’t hear that information.” Her voice was rising now too, but by the look on Raúl’s face, he had no idea why everyone was acting so testy toward him.

  He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could get a word out, Manuel intervened, turning the conversation to matters of business. “I don’t see any place to tie the boat, so I think we need to pull it up onto the ledge. Raúl, grab that end. I’ll take this one, and Isabel, you get the middle.”

  For once Raúl showed a modicum of cooperation, and together they lifted the lightweight canoe out of the water.

  “Let’s have a look around and see what we can find,” Manuel suggested, grabbing a lamp.

  “What’s there to look for?” Raúl asked.

  Manuel appeared ready to explode with impatience, so Isabel fielded the question. “We’ll see if we can find any nooks or crannies big enough to hold a small chest. Rodrigo said he buried the treasure in his home, and this was where they lived for the first year of their marriage.”

  “How could anyone live here?” Raúl argued.

  “They were hiding from slavers. The cave supplied Rodrigo and Karwa with water and shelter, and they carried supplies and firewood in on their boat. People can be very resourceful under difficult circumstances. Now are you going to look around with us or not, Raúl?”

  Raúl crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll stay here.”

  “Fine.” Isabel grabbed Manuel’s sleeve with her free hand and pulled him toward the opening of a small chamber at the back of the ledge. The journal recorded that Isabel’s ancestors had used the chamber as a bedroom, pounding pegs into the rocky walls and hanging hammocks from them. Isabel wondered if the cave walls still bore the scars of Rodrigo’s handiwork.

  “Raúl is driving me crazy,” she whispered as they ducked under the low opening of the chamber. “I’ve never been a violent person, but he’s really testing my patience. If he was a child, I’d spank him.”

  “If he keeps acting like a child, I will spank him.” Manuel’s mustache twitched, and a smile appeared below it. “Don’t think about him for the next few minutes. I need a break.”

  “Agreed.” Isabel examined the new surroundings, not
ing the ample size of the room. Approximately twelve by fifteen feet, the chamber would have made a nice-sized bedroom. Markings caught her attention. She crossed to the far side and held her light close to the wall. “Look, Manuel, there are some pictures carved into the rock. I wonder if they mean anything.”

  “I found some over here too. Mine looks like a calendar, probably Rodrigo’s way of keeping track of the date. We’ll study them in further detail to see if they lend us any clues about the pearls.”

  Smiling, Isabel ran her fingers over the cave walls, feeling an overwhelming sense of connection with her long-dead ancestors. Five-hundred years earlier, they’d stood on the exact spot she now occupied, driven from their people and all that was familiar, yet the journal told how they were completely at home in their love for one another. Would she ever find that sense of belonging in her own life?

  After studying that spot for a few minutes, she continued her search of the chamber, inching slowly around the room, careful to take in every detail. Manuel seemed equally absorbed in the exploration, spending most of his time studying the pictures and markings on the walls.

  “What’s taking so long back there?”

  Isabel startled at the sound of Raúl’s voice. She’d forgotten all about him in the blessed peace created by his absence. She stepped to the opening. “It’s a good-sized chamber, and there are interesting markings on the walls. Would you like to have a look?”

  “No. I’m ready to go back to the camp.”

  Isabel sighed. We should have sneaked away from camp without him this morning. “Just give us a few more minutes.”

  She moved back inside the chamber. “Why don’t we quit for the day and come back tomorrow without him. That way we can spend the whole day looking around. This is too interesting to hurry.”

  Manuel nodded. “Our job will be easier if we’re not babysitting.”

  A startled shout came from the main chamber, and Manuel and Isabel rushed to the opening.