by Robyn Nyx
Chase peeled off her pack and removed her machete, hat, and sunglasses. Pablo watched her and then followed suit. His eyes darted here and there, and he seemed fidgety and restless. Chase caught his attention. “Are you up to this?”
He licked his lips then pulled at his bottom lip with his teeth and sighed. “I guess I will have to be.”
Chase looked to Tonyck and saw she’d witnessed Pablo’s growing anxiety. “Tonyck, maybe Pablo could stay to protect Rayne. Effi could come with us instead.”
Tonyck nodded. “Makes sense. Effi’s probably lighter on her feet. We don’t want you cracking any twigs with your size thirteens, do we?”
Tonyck handled it well, and Chase saw Rayne’s puzzled expression change to understanding as she realized what had happened. It hadn’t been that long since Pablo had lost his whole family and village at the business end of machine guns and machetes.
“Yes, yes. I stay and protect Ms. Rayne.”
Tonyck offered a quick nod toward Chase. She took it as a small sign of approval at noticing Pablo’s discomfort and probably saving them from his freezing at go time. Effi’s raised eyebrow suggested she wasn’t quite as impressed. Unexpected. Chase thought she would have jumped at the chance to prove herself to Tonyck. They seemed to have gotten quite cozy over the last couple of days.
As Chase went to follow the tanks twins, Rayne caught her wrist.
“Be careful, Stinsen.”
Chase smiled at the small show of concern for her well-being but didn’t milk it. Instead she took Rayne’s hand and squeezed it gently. “I’ll be back.”
“You better be.”
Chase couldn’t see Rayne’s eyes behind her glasses, but she heard the sentiment in her words.
Chase joined the twins and Effi as they began a slow descent toward the Jeep and its armed occupants. She became aware of her heart thudding at the wall of her chest. It seemed louder than any one of the bird calls or monkey conversations bouncing between the trees that dwarfed them. She knew she was being stupid. No one could hear the mix of adrenaline and mild panic thump-thumping in her veins. But it was something to concentrate on and calm her.
They got to about a hundred and fifty feet away, when Tonyck motioned to halt their progress. From this angle, all four of the guys were visible. The twins divided up their targets and took aim.
“When they’re down,” Tonyck whispered, “run like hell at the ones on the hood. We’ll take the two in the car.”
“Get their guns as far away from them as possible first.” Chase looked at Effi to ensure she’d heard her. She nodded, but she was wringing her hands. Chase resolved to deal with her guy quick then assist Effi with hers. She and the twins had all assumed Effi had the ability to fight. Given Pablo’s reaction, there was little other choice. Rayne needed to keep the map safe in case there were others in the forest they hadn’t seen. No doubt Tonyck had registered Effi’s lack of enthusiasm and planned to pick up the slack too.
“Ready.”
Tonyck waited until everyone had nodded before she and Ginn began firing. The loggers fell back or to the ground, and they broke cover. Chase overtook the tank twins and launched herself at one of the guys on the hood who was already getting to his knees. She kicked him in the gut, and the force sent him into the grill of the Jeep. She picked up both rifles and caber-tossed them back the way they’d come, before she turned, grabbed the guy’s head, and knocked it onto the bumper twice. She released her grip, put her knee in the center of his back, and yanked each of his arms behind him.
She was about to pull out zip ties to secure his wrists when she was grabbed from behind and tossed at the Jeep, knocking the breath from her. She turned in time to see Effi on the ground holding her face. Chase ducked the second guy’s punch and brought her fist up under his chin. As he rocked back, she kicked out at his chest. Ginn came around at speed and threw herself on him. Chase took the window of opportunity to stamp on the back of her own guy to stop him from rising. She pulled a zip tie around each wrist and one through both ties to fashion them into plastic cuffs. When she looked up, Tonyck had brought the other two guys out of the Jeep and thrown them to the ground.
Effi rose from the dirt and rubbed the back of her head. “I’m not much of a fighter.”
Pablo and Rayne emerged from the forest. Chase straightened her back and stood a little taller. She didn’t quell the slightly barbaric hope that Rayne was impressed by the way Chase had handled herself. Rayne threw a smile her way and raised her eyebrows. Yep, she’d seen Chase in action, and she’d liked it.
Rayne set the map case and her pack down by the front wheel of the Jeep. “Good work.” She winked at Chase. “Pablo, would you translate our questions for me, please?”
“Of course, Ms. Rayne.”
“Thank you.” Rayne looked at the four roughed up guys on their knees. “Who do you work for?”
Pablo repeated the question and relayed their response, confirming their employer was Turner.
“What are you doing here, and why are you armed?” Rayne asked, one hand on her hip and the other on the handle of her machete.
Chase’s baser instincts fluttered, and she hopped onto the hood of the Jeep to watch the show. Rayne in interrogator mode was quite the spectacle.
“They said Turner ordered them to stay with the origin tree until he gets here. They’re armed only to protect themselves because Turner said dangerous people would be coming and would hurt them to get to the tree.” Pablo shrugged and gestured to their captives. “They are local people, not mercenaries.”
“You believe them?” Rayne smoothed some loose hair from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear.
Pablo tilted his head to the side. “I think that mercenaries might not have been so easy to capture and subdue.”
Pablo’s observation was rich considering he hadn’t been involved and had watched from a safe distance. But he was probably right. Once their guns were gone, they hadn’t drawn the knives hanging from their belts. They’d tried to defend themselves with their fists even though they’d been shot at.
“Ask if they know when Turner will get here.”
Tonyck’s question cut through any fading hope that Turner might not be coming at all because he no longer had the map.
Pablo did as requested. “They say they have no way of knowing that.”
Chase frowned. When she’d studied the scene from above, hadn’t she seen something on the dash? She shook her head when she spotted the satellite phone, stood on the hood, and reached over the windshield to retrieve it from the dash. “No way of knowing?” She tossed the phone in front of the kneeling locals.
Rayne glanced back. “Nicely done, Chase.” She unsheathed her machete and used its tip to lift the chin of the guy who’d been doing all the talking. She motioned to the tank twins with her other hand. “They’re trained to ask questions in a very different way to how nicely I’m asking them.” She waited while Pablo translated her words. “They’ll use their fists, and they’ll use their knives…and their guns if they have to. Is that what you want? Is your loyalty to Turner worth spilling your blood?” She returned her machete to her hip when all of them shook their heads. “When will Turner get here?”
Pablo paled and his eyes widened when he heard their answer. “He is due in a couple of hours. He is coming by helicopter.”
Chase ran her hand over the back of her head and whistled. “We need to get out of here.” The map led them west from the origin tree. They needed to establish as much ground between them and Turner as possible. They had little hope of any leftover downpours covering their tracks. “Turner won’t need the map. His plan will be to track us and take it back.”
“And use you to find the Trinity.”
When Rayne looked at Chase this time, the playfulness in her eyes had disappeared and had been replaced by fear. Chase knew it wasn’t Turner that scared her. Rayne’s distress set off Chase’s fight response. She jumped off the hood, scrambled across the ruined gro
und between her and the loggers, and grabbed the talkative one by the front of his dusty white tank. “Is Owen with them? How many of them are there?” She shook him when he didn’t answer quickly enough following Pablo’s speedy repeat of her questions. “Answer me.”
“Yes, Senhor Owen is with Turner. He thinks they have at least six people with them and these four had been told they would be going with them.”
Pablo rested his hands on Chase’s forearms, and she looked down at them. Her arms were as tense as the rest of her had become at the news Turner was so close.
He patted her arms softly. “We do not beat the people we fear by becoming them.”
Chase relaxed her grip, released the man’s shirt, and backed away. She felt Rayne’s presence but didn’t turn to look at her. Rayne’s terrified expression had stirred something deeply dormant in Chase’s psyche, and despite letting go of the kneeling guy, her mind had already gone to a darker place. Her instinct to protect had played a pre-vision of Chase snapping the guy’s neck. She hadn’t acted on it, but the power that surged through her in that moment had begun to wash away any reluctance she had against doing whatever might be necessary to keep Rayne safe.
She tried to blink it away and reclaim a calm objectivity. When she refocused, she met Tonyck’s eyes and recognized understanding in them. Tonyck gave one short nod. There was no need for words. It was clear that Rayne was the priority for both of them.
Would there be anything Chase wouldn’t do for Rayne?
Chapter Twenty-four
Tonyck motioned to their four temporary prisoners. “What are we doing with these guys?”
Each of them now had identical purple-blue lumps on their foreheads, evidence of G&T’s exemplary shooting skills. They’d cooperated to a degree, but they were set to join Turner and Owen’s team when they landed. Having six people on their backs was six more than Rayne wanted. She didn’t want to gift them another four.
“Pablo, ask them if they have families.” Rayne considered the best course of action while he conversed with the captives.
“They do not, Ms. Rayne. They’ve only recently moved to Tabatinga to find work.”
“Okay.” Rayne closed her eyes to think for a moment. How much would it take? “Tell them I’ll give each of them ten thousand US dollars to get in this Jeep, head back to Tabatinga, pack up their lives, and move to another town.” She looked at Pablo. “Is that enough?”
He chuckled. “That is a king’s ransom to people like them, Ms. Rayne.”
“And you don’t think Turner will be paying them more than that?”
Pablo shook his head. “White businessmen have exploited local workers for centuries. It will be a miracle if Turner is paying them anything at all. I will give them your offer.”
The resulting expressions on their faces told Rayne what she need to know. Forty thousand dollars bought these men a whole new life, free from slave labor under men like Turner. Disbelief, relief, and gratitude. The emotions were easy to identify.
“Are you sure about this, lady boss?” Ginn hitched forward from her seat on the roof of the Jeep. “How do you know they won’t come back?”
Rayne turned and patted Ginn’s thigh. “I am.” She addressed Tonyck. “Give them some money now to get going, and I’ll pay the rest when we return from this expedition. Look at them.” The kneeling men were all but vibrating with the possibilities of the new life her money would mean for them. “They’re desperate to escape this life. Would you get the rest of our packs, Tonyck? Ginn and Pablo can handle these guys.” After Tonyck nodded, Rayne wandered over to Pablo and asked him to gather details so she could transfer their money to them. She explained her plan then left Pablo and Ginn to execute it while she went to see how Chase was getting on with the origin tree.
Chase was on her knees alternating between quick glances at the map and longer inspections of the hole in the tree where the map had been removed. Effi stood over her with her hands on Chase’s shoulders. Rayne bit back the desire to use a rubber bullet on her. There was nothing in Effi’s motivations to worry about. Tonyck seemed to be the focus of her intimate intentions. And the attraction between Rayne and Chase was obvious to everyone. Still, Effi was touching Chase, and Rayne didn’t like it.
“Are we ready to go?” Rayne knelt beside Chase. She looked up and nodded, the delight of discovery obvious.
“We’re heading west until we come across another lone lupuna tree in the midst of a whole load of aguaje palm trees and scarlet macaws.” Chase pointed to a series of symbols in the first circle on the map and tapped three. “These means red, yellow, and blue, like the colors of the macaw. They nest in the holes of trees, and this collection of symbols indicates there’s a particular place where they congregate in their thousands instead of the usual small family group or pairs.”
“And we’re hoping that hasn’t changed in nearly one thousand years?” Rayne couldn’t keep the mild disbelief out of her words.
“People have been farming in the Amazon for nearly ten thousand years, and we’re talking about areas of forestation that remain untouched by the industrial revolution. It won’t have changed because people haven’t been anywhere near it.”
Chase’s excitement made Rayne smile and reminded her again how much she enjoyed working with her. She’d missed out on so many joint adventures through her own greed and blind ambition. When they managed to get out of this, preferably unscathed, she hoped they’d be able to work together on future projects…if they could agree on what to do when they found this prize.
Chase jumped up and pulled Rayne with her. “Plus, I think the next tree will be scarred in much the same way as this one was.”
Rayne didn’t let go of Chase’s hands and was pleased to see Chase’s sudden movement had dislodged Effi’s grip on her shoulders. “You think there might be another map?”
Chase wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think so.” She waved the map in her hand before rolling it up. “After we’ve been to all the trees, this map should lead us to a cave if I’ve read it correctly. But there could be something else in the tree that might help us gain access to the treasure…not keys as such, obviously, but you never know.”
Rayne smiled widely at Chase’s rapid-fire way of delivering information. She always spoke at three times her regular speed when she was mid-discovery, like her mouth had to keep up with how fast her brain was processing the puzzle pieces. “Enjoying yourself?” Somehow Chase’s unbounded pleasure made the expedition even more fun and pushed away the imminent threat of Turner and his dog, Owen.
Chase pulled Rayne close. “I’m having the time of my life.”
Rayne waited. Would it come, even with Effi as an audience? Chase had never been a public display of affection person, not that Rayne had seen her with that many women. Chase didn’t seem interested enough to pursue a medium-term relationship, let alone a long-term one.
Chase moved an escapee hair from Rayne’s face and gently pushed it around her ear. She wrapped her hand around Rayne’s neck, her thumb rested on Rayne’s cheek, and Chase gazed into her eyes. For the first time, Rayne relaxed at being looked into, not looked at. Chase didn’t make her feel like a sex object, a conquest, or an ambition. When Chase looked into her eyes, Rayne’s heart wavered at the possibilities of being loved simply for who she was, not what she could offer someone, not what she could do for them or their reputation, and not for what she could buy them.
Chase’s lips were warm on her own, and Rayne closed her eyes. She couldn’t let Chase see what this kiss was doing to her, what it might mean…not yet. Chase was gone too soon. Rayne opened her eyes to a smile she wanted to keep on seeing.
“Let’s go find the Golden Trinity.” Chase traced her fingers over Rayne’s mouth as she withdrew her hand.
Effi coughed and pointed into the rain forest to the left of where they’d come from. “That’s west.” She smirked and fanned herself with a free hand. “Hot. Very hot.”
And all for me.
Chase picked up her packs and slung them over and across her body, and Rayne lost herself for a moment imagining finally being able to see Chase fully naked, being able to touch her super hard body. Rayne let out a theatrical sigh. She had to wait a little while longer, and that was okay. They’d started this journey with Chase a begrudging traveler, still burning hot and angry at Rayne’s treatment of her. This was definitely movement in the right direction.
Tonyck emerged from the trees with half of the rest of their gear and dumped it on the ground at Rayne’s feet. “One more trip should do it. Care to help?”
The question was directed at Effi, who grinned and immediately followed Tonyck back into the forest. Rayne looked over in the direction of the Jeep to see the four men climbing in to leave. They gunned the vehicle into the distance, dark dust spiraling toward the sky. Ginn and Pablo retrieved the loggers’ rifles and rejoined Rayne and Chase as Tonyck and Effi brought down the last of their luggage.
“Anyone want one of these…in case things get a little rough?” Ginn asked, offering the rifles she had stacked across her arms.
Rayne shook her head. “I’m happy with what I have.”
“I will take one.” Pablo lifted one from Ginn’s arms. “I will not shoot a man, but I can shoot the ground just fine.”
Ginn laughed. “Sometimes that can be all you need, Pablo.”
“For me too.” Effi raised her hand and Ginn passed her one.
“I’ll take one.” Chase stepped up and grabbed a rifle. “Is there any extra ammunition?”
“Unfortunately not. Whatever’s in the clip is all you have, so no practice rounds,” Tonyck said. “You have shot something like this, haven’t you? All of you?”
Chase nodded, but Pablo and Effi said they hadn’t. Ginn ran them through a quick guide to the rifles, paying plenty of attention to the safety catch. She took the clip from the unused one before throwing it as far as she could into the forest.
Rayne checked the time. Almost a half hour had passed since they’d been told that Turner might only be a few hours away. “We need to move.”
