by Anna Hackett
She munched on her granola bar and turned on her camera. She started flicking through her images. When she saw one of Jean-Luc and Sakada smiling for the camera, her throat tightened. “God, I hope the others made it out.”
“Me too.”
Another image showed the intricate details of one of the temple walls. “Do you think the cintamani is really out here somewhere?”
Cal shrugged. “Maybe. Pretty sure Silk Road will leave no stone unturned to try and find it.”
And hurt a lot of people in the process.
She looked at the image of the temple wall again. She saw the people who had made the temple had captured its design on the wall. She could clearly make out the pyramid shape, and the image of the cintamani stone was etched above it. Two carved grooves ran from the temple—one up and one to the right.
She leaned down, bringing up the next wall of the temple. This one showed a single tower, with the cintamani again etched above it. Dancing women, gods and goddesses, were carved into the wall around it. Again, she saw those interesting grooves radiating out from the cintamani—this time heading down and to the right.
She set her half-eaten granola bar down and flicked to the next image.
“You ever just stop and enjoy the moment?”
She looked up. Cal was drinking some water from his bottle. She snagged it and took a long sip. “Uh huh.” She took her time, dragging her lips slowly off the end of the bottle.
He shook his head with a grin. “Tease.”
She closed her eyes for a second, moaning a little.
“Knock it off, Navarro. How are your photos looking?”
She straightened with a smile. “I’m pretty happy with them. Once we make it back to civilization…” Hell, if they made it out of here. No, she couldn’t think like that. Cal said his team would come, and she trusted him. Funny, that she trusted this man—a man who’d been a stranger and one she’d initially disliked—more than anyone else. “Once I can get my laptop, I’ll do a little bit of editing to them. Make them shine.”
She turned the camera so he could see the screen.
“Wow. Amazing.”
His praise made her glow inside. It was of the elephant at Srah Damrei. She’d captured the jungle light and shadow just right, and it looked like the giant elephant was alive, and about to walk away. She pressed the button. Her next shot showed Dr. Oakley inside the linga temple, a hand touching the engraved wall, his face focused. The next was a haunting image of the linga temple from the outside, nestled in the jungle, the green vegetation topping it like icing on a cake.
“You are damn good at your work, Dani.”
She grinned at him. “Thank you.” She kept the slideshow going.
Cal spotted a picture of himself and frowned. “That’s not how I look.”
“Heroic? Adventurous? It’s exactly how you look.”
He made an annoyed sound that made her hide her smile. The next shots showed the temple wall images she’d been looking at before.
“Your images from inside the temple are awesome.” He dropped down beside her. “I’ll remember that place fondly.”
She slapped his arm. “Surely you can’t be thinking of sex after what we did this morning.”
“I can always think about sex.” He reached out and toyed with the neckline of her tank, his fingers brushing at the skin between her breasts. “Especially if you’re sitting half-naked beside me.”
“Well, you’re completely naked. Maybe you should put some clothes on?”
He grinned at her. “My naked body too distracting for you?”
She shot him a look. “I’m not deigning to answer that. Your ego is healthy enough as it is.” But her gaze drifted downward and she rolled her eyes. “Oh, all right, you’re gorgeous. Now get some clothes on.”
He did pull his cargo trousers on, wincing a little. “Still damp.” He didn’t bother buttoning them.
“Damp but no longer coated in mud and blood.”
“True.”
She looked at her photos again. “I’m really happy I could capture the best moments of this trip…before everything went horribly wrong.” The next image of the temple wall appeared. The center of this one showed some sort of small shrine, the oval cintamani above it. And those strange lines again, these ones heading up and to the left. “I think they really tell a story…”
Dani’s mind whirled and she frowned. She tapped the camera buttons, looked at the fourth and final wall of the temple. She saw those grooves again. She pulled up the four images all at once. Damn, they were small on this screen, and she wished she had her laptop.
“What is it, Navarro?”
“I’m not sure…but the pictures on each of the four walls, when you arrange them like this—” She held the camera up. “They kind of fit together.”
Cal’s brow furrowed as he studied the images. “I see what you mean. Those grooves make a square with a temple or tower at each corner.” He stiffened. “Shit. It isn’t a square, it’s a quincunx!”
Her eyes widened. “The design they used for all their temples. The square with—”
“Another point in the center. What was in the center of the temple, Dani?”
“This.” She found the image. “A statue of a naga holding the linga, the cintamani.”
Cal sat back on his heels. “The linga temple makes one corner of the quincunx…”
Excitement was a dizzying fizz in her blood. “And that tower we passed on the way must be this corner.” She pointed at the image of the four walls again.
Cal moved his finger over her screen. “So the cintamani should be in the center.”
Dani’s head snapped up. “God, that Silk Road woman was right…there is a map to the stone.”
***
Cal stared down at Dani’s photos. Damn, it all fit together. A map to the cintamani stone.
“My sense of direction is pretty good and I memorized a map of the area before we came to Phnom Kulen. I don’t think we’re too far from the center of the quincunx.”
She scrambled to her knees. “We have to find the cintamani before Silk Road does, Cal.”
“No.”
She threw her hands out. “We’re lost out here. Waiting for your team. We may as well follow these clues to the stone.”
Cal stayed silent, a muscle in his jaw working. He didn’t want Dani in this jungle, anywhere near Silk Road. “I want you safe.”
She pressed her hands to his chest. “I’m safe with you. Come on, you want to find it.” Her voice lowered. “Let’s do it. For the team. For Jean-Luc.”
Cal scowled.
“It was you who told me I needed to experience life. To truly live.”
His scowl deepened. “I am aware of the fact that you are using your feminine wiles to wrap me around your little finger like a pretzel.”
“Is it working?”
“Maybe.” Heaven help him if she ever realized how much he’d do for her. He let out a breath. “Okay. We can look. But if we spot any evidence of Silk Road, we’re going to hide and wait for my team.”
“Deal.” She was grinning at him. “For all your sexy, tough-guy looks, you’re pretty easy.”
He pulled her close and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “I’ll show you just how easy, if you’re not careful.”
Soon, they were dressed, and Cal had packed up their meager possessions. As they headed off into the jungle, the sound of the waterfall faded.
It wasn’t long before they were both hot and sweaty again, their private dip a distant dream.
Cal wasn’t convinced they were going to find anything. Rubble and ruins at best. Hell, he wasn’t even sure he wanted to find this damn stone.
As they pushed through a particularly thick patch of jungle, Dani came to a stop with a huff. “Damn. We haven’t seen a single stone or statue. Nothing to indicate humans were ever here.”
“You didn’t think it was going to be easy, did you?”
“No. But what if my the
ory isn’t right? What if those lines on the wall were just that—lines?”
Cal opened his backpack and handed her the bottle of water. “What’s your gut tell you?”
“I don’t listen to my gut. I trust facts.”
“Bullshit. Every time you lift that camera, you’re using your instincts. What do they tell you?”
She lifted her chin. “I’m not wrong.”
“You didn’t imagine what you saw on the walls. I didn’t notice until you pointed it out. You found the pattern. The map is real.”
Her gaze traced his face, and then she lifted her camera and snapped a shot of him. “You should stop saying and doing things that make me like you more, Cal Ward.” She glanced away. “I might not want to let you go after this.”
Cal felt a tangle of emotions rise in him. Desire, satisfaction, and if he was honest, a tiny thread of fear. He knew he’d never wanted a woman like he wanted Dani, and it scared the hell out of him. What if he messed up? What if he hurt her?
“Dani?”
She lifted her face, and there was a soft look in her eyes. He lifted a hand—
But then her face changed. Her gaze moved past his shoulder and the soft look turned to horror.
Cal was already turning, but it was too late.
Something slammed into his head. Cal sprawled forward on the ground. He was reaching for his SIG, fighting to stay conscious. He saw Dani scramble to her feet and launch herself forward.
Something smashed into his head again, and this time, everything went black.
***
Cal groaned, blinking his eyes. He could taste dirt in his mouth. What the hell?
His head was throbbing and he was trying to work out where the hell he was.
Cal raised his head and saw jungle.
He pushed himself up to a sitting position, groaning as his head gave another vicious throb. He touched the back of his head and felt a lump and the damp stickiness of blood. Then fear shot through him.
Dani.
He scrambled to his feet and turned. He ignored his headache, ignored everything, searching for a sign of her.
Nothing. Then he spotted something on the ground.
Her camera.
His heart clenched. He picked it up and slipped the strap over his head. He crouched and looked at the scuff marks on the ground. Someone with a size thirteen boot had been here. Whoever it was that had hit Cal hard.
And whoever it was now had Dani.
Cal’s jaw locked. He knew it had to be Silk Road. He touched his side and realized his gun was gone. He didn’t care. Weapon or no weapon, he was going after his woman. Hold on, beautiful.
Chapter Eleven
Dani tried her hardest to drag her feet and trip over something, anything to slow them down.
Her captor gave her another hard prod in the back. “Keep moving.”
Cal would come.
If Cal was okay.
She tasted bile in her mouth. The Silk Road bastard had hit Cal hard. Seeing him unconscious, sprawled on the ground… God.
Ahead, she heard people talking. Her captor shoved her again, and she stumbled forward into a small clearing. People turned to look at her.
She scanned them and let out a breath. She didn’t see Dr. Oakley, or any of the others on their team. They must have gotten away safely.
“Welcome back.” The Silk Road woman stepped forward, her gaze frosty. “I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself. I’m Raven.”
Dani stayed silent. All she could think about was Cal lying motionless in the dirt, blood running from the back of his head.
“Where is the cintamani?” Raven asked.
Dani purposely looked to the woman’s left and into the trees.
Raven circled Dani. “In my…previous employment, my job was getting people to talk.” The woman’s smile looked pleasant, like she was chatting to a friend. “Particularly when they didn’t want to.”
“I’ve got nothing to tell you. I’m not an archeologist, I’m a photographer. I was on this expedition to capture the journey. I don’t know anything about Cambodian history or this fucking stupid stone.”
Raven tilted her head. “A photographer?”
“That’s right.”
“That makes you Daniela Navarro.” The woman looked at the men gathered nearby. “Confirm her identity.” She looked back at Dani. “And you know nothing of the stone, Ms. Navarro?”
“Yes.”
Raven reached out, her fingers brushing over Dani’s cheek. Dani fought not to jerk away.
“I’m very good at reading the minutest of body language.” She slapped Dani on the cheek, hard. The blow was enough to knock Dani onto her hands and knees.
Dani shook her head, trying to ignore the sting.
“Where is the cintamani stone?” the woman asked again.
“Fuck you.”
This time Dani felt the cool brush of metal at her temple. Her muscles locked, and her stomach felt like a rock.
“I would prefer not to have to shoot you,” Raven said.
Dani closed her eyes. Her thoughts turned to Cal. For the first time in her life, she wanted to be with someone. She wanted to share her life with somebody else. She wanted to let the scary, bright feelings in her loose and love Cal Ward.
“Last time. Where is the cintamani stone?”
Dani held onto those thoughts of Cal.
Raven sighed. “Okay, Ms. Navarro. Brock and Casper, find Callum Ward…and kill him.”
Dani’s head snapped up.
Satisfaction crossed Raven’s face. “Ah, now I have your attention. I’ll tell them to stop, if you tell me what you know.”
Dani gnawed on her lip.
“Last I heard, Ward was facedown and out cold. It’ll be simple for my men to put a bullet in his brain.”
No one else was going to die for this damn stone. Dani closed her eyes in defeat. “There is a map. It’s on the walls of the Temple of the Sacred Linga. I took pictures of it and worked out how it fit them together.”
“I knew it.” Raven smiled. “I need the images.”
Dani felt the urge to smile. “They’re on my camera.”
The woman raised a brow then looked at the man who’d captured Dani. “You left her camera behind?”
If the situation wasn’t so dire, Dani would’ve laughed. The man looked supremely uncomfortable. “Sorry. Didn’t think it was important—”
“Idiot.” Raven glanced at another man. “Khan, you took shots inside the linga temple, right?”
The man nodded. “Yeah.”
“Bring me the camera.” The woman held out her hand.
The man brought a camera over. It wasn’t as large or as good quality as Dani’s, but it was decent. The woman turned it over and started flicking through the photos.
The man shifted. “I didn’t get everything. There wasn’t time.”
Dani arched her head to catch a glimpse of the images. They weren’t as good as hers, but dammit. It looked like there were enough.
“I think we have most of the images.” The woman’s dark eyes bored into Dani. “Tell me how they go together.”
Something inside Dani trembled for a second. She didn’t want these bastards to have the cintamani…but it wasn’t worth Cal’s life. And hell, the damn thing might not even be there.
“The images on the four walls go together to form a quincunx.” Dani picked up a stick off the ground and started drawing the shape in the dirt. Then she pointed at one corner. “I believe the linga temple is this corner.”
The woman nodded. “And where is the cintamani?”
“I’m not really sure. I can’t translate the text and…”
“Speculate, Ms. Navarro. I’m guessing that’s what you and Mr. Ward were doing.”
Dani hedged a little. “Maybe one of the other corners…”
Raven made a sound. “Nice try.” She turned to her men. “The cintamani would be in the center of the square. We still need to know one of the other
corners.” She looked back at Dani.
Dani schooled her face to be blank. They didn’t know the tower was one of the other corners. “I can’t help you there. That’s as far as we’d gotten.”
Raven’s gaze was intense, like a spotlight. She scrutinized every inch of Dani’s face before turning away. “Kahn, you’re the archeologist. Work it out.”
The man swallowed. “I’ll do my—”
“Just do it, Kahn.”
The man spent some time hunched over a tablet. Suddenly, he sat up straight. “Raven…this tower…it looks like the one we passed on our way to the linga temple.”
Dani felt her heart drop.
Then she realized Raven was watching her. The woman’s mouth moved into an icy smile. “That’s it, Khan. Ms. Navarro’s dismay just confirmed it.”
Soon she found herself trudging through the jungle again, flanked by two of the Silk Road men.
They walked for what felt like hours. It was hot and steamy, and Dani was parched, but no one had given her any water.
“We’re getting closer,” Khan called out.
“Good.” Raven’s smile was back.
“Why do you work for Silk Road?” Dani suddenly asked the woman. “How can all this be worth it?”
One dark eyebrow rose. “I get to travel the world, put my unique talents to work, and make a lot of money doing it.”
Dani’s gut tightened. God, that sounded like Dani’s life. Except, she wasn’t a murdering psychopath.
“I’m not the white-picket-fence kind of woman.” Raven’s gaze dropped down Dani’s body. “You don’t seem to be, either. Traveling, doing as I please, suits me, and it allows me to avoid the messy entanglements that life always seems to thrust upon us.”
“You mean connecting with another human being.”
“You aren’t married, are you, Ms. Navarro? No significant other, no dating, and from what my men showed me of your background, you aren’t close to your family.” Raven paused in front of Dani. “So, it seems you don’t like messy entanglements, either. We really are alike.”
