Hustle

by Claire Chilton

  It was strange. Her encounters with Jacob had never been romantic, not really, but there had been a connection that in the end, even she couldn’t deny.

  Like an audible snap, she’d felt that connection break the second he found out his father was dead. He was a stranger to her now. Just like my father is.

  She’d never felt so alone in her whole life.

  She stared at the craggy slope, not really seeing it. It all felt so empty and hopeless.

  It is hopeless. When he gives me to Meyer, I won’t be alive for long anyway.

  She shook her head, trying to shake off the numbness that had settled over her brain. I can’t just let him hand me to Meyer. Irrational guilt clouded any ability she might have had to get away. Why not? What makes you worth saving?

  That was the question that haunted her. Was she any better than her father? She’d grown up idolising the man. She’d wanted to be just like him. What if I am just like him?

  During the shock of finding out her father had killed a man, Ellie had suffered some kind of automated survival instinct. When Jacob found her, she’d pulled a gun on him. If he hadn’t taken the gun, would I have shot him?

  She didn’t want to think she would have, but the calculated coldness that had settled over her mind had torn her apart inside. She didn’t even know who she was anymore. Was it a reaction to the shock, or was it her inbuilt nature?

  The idea that one day she, too, would become a killer was too much to bear. There was nothing worth fighting for if it meant becoming someone she hated.

  She slowly inhaled, trying to clear her mind as she reached to the top of the slope. Jacob nudged the gun into her back, guiding her into the narrow passage that led out of the cave.

  She glanced back at him to try to talk about this, but one look into the stormy clouds in his dark eyes was enough to silence her. His thunderous stare sent a shiver down her spine. His nostrils flared as he breathed, and his expression was one of barely contained rage. He isn’t going to talk to me. He’ll probably shoot me again if I try.

  She faced forward and rubbed her bare arms, shivering as they walked towards the large entrance chamber. She needed to run. That was the only option here.

  She tried to ignore the guilt over what her father had done and convince herself that she was doing the right thing, but she was scared by what she was capable of. Am I so cold that I’d have left Jacob to rot in a cave?

  She shook her head, refusing to believe it. Get your head together. Now is not the time for this! Remember how you felt when he shot you. He’s no angel.

  The ache in her shoulder and the memory of the pain from being shot was good incentive to not experience anything like that again.

  The torchlight ahead wavered for a moment. She glanced back to see Jacob looking back while he adjusted the falling bag strap on his shoulder.

  Using the hand he held the gun in, he was reaching across his chest to pull up the falling strap. In his other hand, he held the torch, which was shaking as he moved.

  She didn’t pause to think. She stepped away from him and spun around, kicking out at the torch and knocking it from his hands. It flew across the cave and smashed against the wall, plunging the cave into total darkness as she dived to the ground.

  ‘What the hell?’ She heard Jacob’s feet move across the floor. She rolled sideways into a crouching position to the left of him.

  ‘Stop or I’ll shoot.’ His voice echoed through the cave, but there were no gunshots.

  She held her breath, silently moving along the wall towards the bend in the cavern. If she could get to the exit of the cave and out of it before he found her, she could lose him in the jungle.

  ‘Ellie, I’m not joking. Get your ass back here, or you’ll regret it.’ She heard him stumble in her direction, so she scurried along the wall, feeling her way to the exit. Most people were disorientated in the dark, but one thing about her upbringing was the ability to think clearly in any situation.

  She hurried around the bend, hoping she’d left Jacob behind her. Seeing the cave entrance ahead, she hurried towards the light.

  Keep going, just keep going. She could almost feel the gun levelling at her back, but refused to waste time looking behind her. If he caught her, she was dead anyway. Running was her only option.

  She ran out of the cave entrance and into the hot sunshine, breathing a sigh as she paused to look for a place to hide in the thick jungle.

  Something heavy hit her in the back, and she fell to the ground. For a second, she thought she’d been shot. Oh God, not again. But when a heavy weight landed on her, she realised that Jacob had thrown himself at her, pinning her face down on the forest floor.

  She struggled and kicked back, trying to wriggle out of his iron grip, but he was too strong. Anger flared in her belly. Why can’t he just let me go?

  She flipped over, trying to take him with her, but he pushed himself off her, bracing himself on his arms above her.

  ‘Let me go!’ She lashed out at him with her fist, but he caught it and pinned it behind her head.

  ‘Not a chance in hell, sweetheart.’ He glared down at her. ‘You’re getting exactly what you deserve.’

  ‘I didn’t fucking do anything!’ she snapped at him, trying to push him off her with one hand.

  ‘Oh? You didn’t come into my house and steal from me? You didn’t just lead me straight to my father’s corpse?’ His grip around her right wrist tightened, pushing it down further into the soil.

  ‘I didn’t know it was your father! If you stopped being such a fucking psycho for three seconds, you’d realise that.’ She tried to kick him, but her legs were trapped beneath his.

  He lowered his face to hers, his hot breath warming her cheek. ‘This is me being nice. You really don’t want me to be nasty to you.’

  She scowled and raised her face to his, her heart beating fast and her blood boiling. ‘I think you need to look up the definition of “nice.”’ She snarled at him. ‘Get the fuck off me before I—’

  She froze when there was a loud crack and something whizzed past them both. Was that a fucking bullet?

  He rolled sideways, taking her with him as a spray of bullets shot towards them. Cradled in his arms, she couldn’t get away as he jumped to his feet, pulling her with him.

  ‘What the hell?’ She glanced back at the trees, seeing several men with guns.

  ‘Meyer.’ Jacob ground out before he boosted her up and threw her over his shoulder. Then he set off running.

  ‘Put me down!’ she shouted as he burst through the jungle at high speed, and she bounced against his back, a helpless sack on his shoulder.

  ‘Shut up and stay still,’ he growled as he tightened his grip on her legs, and then ran off the trail and into the thick jungle.

  She heard gunshots in the distance, which was the only reason she kept quiet.

  She stared down and found herself staring at Jacob’s upside down ass. Great.

  She frowned. Why didn’t he just give me to those men if it was Meyer? That’s what he said he was going to do.

  She tried to turn and peer back at him, but could only make out the back of his head. Does he even know what he’s doing?

  She winced as tree fronds slapped against her skin, and her body jerked up and down on his hard shoulder. I’m gonna puke if he doesn’t put me down soon.

  After what felt like an eternity, he swung sideways and knelt down, lowering her onto the ground beside him. She rolled over and sat up, about to say something, but his large hand covered her mouth as he hauled her against him. He held her tightly, his hot body crushed against hers. She peered back at him, and he gestured for her to remain silent. Then he released her waist and pointed through the trees ahead of them.

  She glanced through the large leaves to see two men sneaking through the jungle with guns. Her pulse raced, and she shivered.

  She peered around. They were hidden behind a large boulder, surrounded by a group of thick trees. She glanced back at the me
rcenaries to see them moving swiftly past them.

  She could feel Jacob breathing softly beside her. She glanced at him, feeling confused. He frowned at her and shook his head, indicating for her not to make a sound as he removed his hand from her mouth.

  Why is he hiding me if he’s giving me to Meyer?

  She stared through the fronds again. The men with guns had moved on, and all she could see were trees.

  Jacob got to his feet, silently crouching beside her. He held his finger to his lips, indicating that it wasn’t safe to make any noise yet.

  She nodded to show she understood.

  He tugged her arm, pulling her back. She scrambled to her feet, bending low behind the boulder and backed up with him. They turned together and scurried into the bushes behind them, winding their way through the trees away from the men with guns.

  After a few minutes, he straightened up. Ellie stood up straight, too, and glanced at him. He pointed ahead. She nodded.

  His hand gripped hers as he set off running, and she ran with him through the dense jungle.

  Whatever his plan was, following him seemed the best option right now. It was clear that he didn’t intend to give her to Meyer after all. But why?

  * * *

  ‘Wait,’ Ellie gasped, pulling Jacob to a standstill. ‘I need a second to catch my breath.’ She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. They had been running for what felt like hours.

  ‘We can’t stop. We need to find somewhere to hide before the sun sets.’ He pointed to the sun, which was now low in the sky. ‘This is no time for you to flake out on me.’

  ‘Do you even know where you’re going?’

  He spun around and glared at her, obviously still angry with her. ‘Just because I didn’t give you to Meyer, it doesn’t mean I don’t have a plan for getting out of here and bringing you to justice.’

  She shook her head. Forgiveness was a long way off by the looks of it, but running blindly through the jungle wasn’t the answer. ‘Oh, and what is your great plan? Keep running until we’re too knackered to defend ourselves?’

  ‘Just shut up and keep moving.’ He reached for her hand again, but she pulled back.

  ‘That’s your answer? Are you kidding me? What about stopping and coming up with a realistic solution?’

  ‘I don’t need to stop running for my brain to continue functioning.’ He scowled at her.

  ‘Well, maybe if your brain wasn’t in your ass…’ she muttered.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Nothing.’ She rolled her eyes and tried to think of a solution. She smiled when one came to her. ‘We do have a map of this island you know.’

  She pulled the map and compass out of her pocket and waved them at him. ‘Let’s try using our brains while we stand and read it, shall we?’

  He snatched the compass out of her hand and peered at it. He flipped it over and frowned.

  She sighed and offered him the map.

  He glanced at it, and his frown deepened. ‘Oh, very useful, a compass that doesn’t work and an undecipherable map, that’ll be great help.’ He handed them back to her, shaking his head.

  She rolled her eyes and flipped the lever on the compass, opening it up into flower-shaped looking-glass. Then she spread the map out across her hand and stared at the new reflection on the map. ‘We just need to work out where we are now,’ she muttered.

  She felt Jacob’s breath on her skin as he stood behind her, peering over her shoulder.

  She heard him gasp. ‘What the hell is that?’

  She shrugged. ‘A decoder key.’

  ‘Where did you find the key? Was it hidden in some innocent guy’s bed?’ Jacob asked dryly.

  ‘No! Shut up,’ she snapped.

  ‘Was it in his pants?’

  She turned and glared at him. ‘You know, if you can’t say anything useful, there really isn’t any reason for you to speak at all. I need to find out where we are on this map and save your lame ass.’

  He narrowed his eyes and pointed to the centre of the map. ‘You. Are. Here.’ He slowly ground out each word.

  ‘You can’t know that.’ She stared at where he was pointing. It was near a rough drawing of a house.

  ‘Sure you can. Anyone with the basic ability to read a compass can know that. Idiot city girls that require road signs and street names however…’

  She folded up the map and compass and shoved them into her back pocket before turning the face him. ‘There’s a house in that direction.’ She pointed through the trees. ‘And there’s a slap in that direction.’ She pointed to the left side of his face.

  He turned left and she slapped him across the cheek.

  ‘What the hell was that for?’ He rubbed his reddening cheek.

  ‘For being a total prick.’ She turned on her heel and stomped in the direction of the house on the map. What’s a house doing all the way out here anyway? ‘First person to find the house gets to sleep on the bed,’ she called back.

  ‘You know that symbol doesn’t mean a house, right?’ She heard him reply.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Ellie pushed back the bright green fronds of a fern and widened her eyes at the scene before her. She stared in awe at the broken old village that was home to several wooden cabins with thatched roofs. Made up of broken shingles and weathered wood, the structures looked as if they’d fall over in a soft breeze.

  She stepped into the clearing, frowning at the abandoned village. People lived here once?

  She heard Jacob’s footsteps behind her as he followed her into the clearing. She turned to face him. His eyes were wide with surprise.

  ‘Did people used to live here?’ he asked as he walked towards the first structure.

  ‘There weren’t any records of inhabitants in the books I read about the island.’ She followed him, stopping at the first cabin and peering through its broken window.

  ‘These cabins aren’t very stable. They must have been built quickly by people working here.’ He pointed to the pickaxes resting near the door.

  ‘Working on what?’ She pushed open the door and entered the cabin. The door wobbled on its hinges before expelling a loud creak. ‘And what made them leave so quickly?’

  She stared at the table in the centre of the room. Food bowls were laid out on the table top, covered in dust and fading with age. The centrepiece was a rotten carcass of some kind of animal, which was now reduced to bone.

  She turned to see Jacob follow her into the cabin. He frowned at the table, and then scanned the room. ‘I don’t know, and I don’t like it.’

  She wandered over to the unmade bed, taking a seat on it. It was hard and lumpy, but it was still a bed. ‘It’s better than the jungle at night.’

  Jacob peered out of the open doorway at the darkening sky, and he nodded. ‘It’ll do for tonight.’ He glanced back at her. ‘Do I need to tell you that running off would be stupid, or can I assume you’ve learnt that lesson?’

  She scowled at him.

  ‘I’ll take that as a yes. I’m going to go catch us some dinner. You can start a fire and get us some water out of that well.’ He pointed to the wide well at the centre of the village.

  She rolled her eyes at him. He was right, of course, but that didn’t make taking orders from him any easier.

  He dropped the bag on the cabin floor and pulled out a knife and some Para cord. ‘Don’t make too much noise, and make the fire in the fireplace. We don’t want to attract the whole jungle over here. Hopefully, they won’t see the smoke at night.’

  ‘I was going to use the fireplace. I’m not stupid, you know.’

  He smirked at her, saying nothing before he turned and walked back towards the jungle.

  She glanced at the bag. I hope my lighter is in there or starting a fire is going to suck.

  * * *

  By the time Jacob returned, Ellie had filled two water bottles from the well, but she was still having problems trying to light a fire. The lighter was empty, and her plan to use the flint in
it for a spark wasn’t wielding any results.

  ‘What the hell are you doing?’ he asked as he strode into the cabin with several fish slung over his shoulder, bound together with cord.

  She held up the lighter and scowled at him. She’d tried really hard to light the fire. She’d fetched dry wood and kindling for it. It wasn’t her fault that the bloody thing wouldn’t light. ‘Well, I tried singing Prodigy’s “Firestarter” at it, but it didn’t like it, so I thought I’d try a lighter,’ she said, offering him a dry smile.

  A smile crinkled around his eyes for a moment before it faded away.

  She sighed and put down the lighter. She missed his smiles.

  ‘Why didn’t you use the flint in the bag?’ he asked.

  What flint in the bag? ‘I searched the bag. There isn’t a flint in it.’

  ‘Yes, there is.’

  ‘No, there isn’t!’ She stood up and folded her arms.

  He shook his head and crouched beside the bag. He dropped the fish on the floor before glancing up at her. ‘I don’t suppose you know how to clean and gut fish either, do you?’ He reached into the bag and pulled out the funny looking key she had found when she first looked into his bag.

  ‘I can order a mean pizza,’ she muttered as she watched him use the metal bottle-opener-looking-thing to scratch the key. After a couple of tries, he had a lit fire blazing in the fireplace. It lit the room with a warm glow, instantly giving the desolate cabin a cosy feel.

  ‘How was I supposed to know that was a flint? It looks like a badly formed key.’ She sat on one of the chairs around the table and slouched in it.

  ‘At least you cleaned the table,’ he muttered as he picked up the fish and began cutting them open with the knife.

  ‘Oh, gross.’ She jumped out of the chair and turned away from the now headless fish.