Page 155 of In the Pursuit of Haven
The last thing he’d want was for anyone to follow them.Too bad, jerk!
Silently, we pulled out of the water. I noticed Jessie’s red buffalo plaid coat next to Abby’s blue hoody… the leather jacket to the side must be Divine’s.Poor woman.Had she known what she was getting into or had she been seduced by the promise of diamonds? I might’ve felt some grim satisfaction at her present troubles.
Puddles from dripping shoes guided our way until we heard the arguing voices in the distance. Brecker shut off his flashlight.
“Well, now what?” That was Hunter in the distance. I recognized his annoyingly smarmy voice.
“We open this door,” Luther replied stonily. The guy’d never had a sense of humor, but I had no idea that it reflected his complete absence of humanity. My former boss knew what had happened before, and he wasn’t warning any of his crew.
Hunter let out a testy huff. “How? We pry this stone door open?”
“You figure it out. You have the map; the Relics. You’re theexpert. Get us through the right way. Whatever it takes.”
Peering past a massive pillar of calcite, I saw the door ahead dripped with water. Remembering what Brecker had told me about possible chemical reactions, I watched in horror as Hunter gestured for one of his men to lumber forward with his crowbar.
“No, no, don’t open it like that!” I shouted. I tripped over myself to reach them. They were going to set off one of Crabb’s traps.
“Roxy!” Immediately, I recognized Jessie’s profile as he turned from the shadows and dashed towards me. “Why didn’t you stay where it’s safe?”
“Oh no you don’t, lover boy.” Hunter snapped at the men who’d been seconds away from blowing us all to smithereens. “Gideon! Caleb, keep him back.”
Abby made a sound of dismay as the menacing figures left the door to go after Jessie. They dipped into the gloomy darkness and appeared on either side of him to keep him back from me. Jessie fought them.
I rushed for him instead. Brecker’s hand went to my arm. He stepped from the shadows and stopped me from propelling into them.
“Brecker?” Hunter let out a laugh at seeing him. “Are you kidding me right now?”
Apparently, they were far from strangers, and though Hunter seemed taken aback, he wasn’t as shocked about his party getting crashed as I’d expected.
I tore my attention away from this unexpected reunion, doing my best to talk some sense into these people. “That door is going to explode,” I said. “It’s happened before, back in the fire of 1926 that took down this resort, and Luther knows! He knows because his grandfather was there. A man died. How many other deaths have they covered up?”
Luther scoffed. “It won’t blow this time.”
Hunter jerked around at that. “What?” His voice broke. “She’s actually telling the truth?”
“It’ll be a chemical reaction that sets the water on fire…” Brecker began.
“Crabb never meant for anyone to force open this door,” I said. “We can’t play around with this.”
“You’re right.” Luther lifted a gun. With a start, I found myself staring down the metal barrel. “That’s why we need your help. Thank you for volunteering to offer your services.”
“Get that gun off of her,” Jessie snarled. “Did you not hear a thing she said? This booby trap will kill us all.”
Divine shifted beside him. I didn’t notice where she’d been standing until now, but even under such dire circumstances, she couldn’t keep away from my husband—little homewrecker.Her usual smirk was gone.
Luther shrugged. “I told you this was risky… but we have the Relics this time.”
“Join or die,” I said. “Is that what this is? Luther, we all joinanddie?”
“What is this?” He laughed at my play on words like we were still in a clinical setting at the museum. “All shall be well. You’ll see. No one has gotten as close to this treasure as we have.”
The ones who tried it last time had paid dearly for their audacity.
“Anything can go wrong,” I began, not sure what would sway Luther to see reason, though maybe Hunter might listen. I turned to him. He didn’t seem the type to have a death wish. “Even if we get past this door—and I’m not saying we can—what other deadly thing could be waiting for us?”
Hunter’s slow smile made me realize that he was intrigued by the challenge. “There’s only one way to find out,” he said.
I’d read him completely wrong—the guy was an adrenaline junky. I’d have to work another angle, at least convince them to do what it took to survive. “Then we have to work together,” I said. Only greed moved them—not self-preservation, kindness or love, and so I’d need to put that spin into my argument. “If we’re putting our lives on the line, you have to make us true partners,” I said. “You won’t get to that treasure without us.”
