Page 172 of In the Pursuit of Haven
Everyone moved in the right order; knowing I shouldn’t be in the back with Jessie when we turned the pieces of this Frankenstein key, I wedged in between Hunter and my grandfather. Hunter glanced back at me. “You had my back; I’ve got yours. If anything goes south, I’m here for you.”
Nice to know. The keys went on top of each other, and miraculously, they fit smoothly into the keyhole like a knife going into soft butter. Counting in sync to three, everyone turned their key.
A loud whooshing sound traveled through the walls in response, similar to what we’d heard before. The flame against the exit grew brighter.
Was that bad?
Behind us, a loud groan filled the air behind us. An explosion shook the ground, followed by a grinding noise that belonged to a horror movie.
Glancing behind my shoulder, I screamed. The galleon had escaped its moors like a ghost ship—the masts had popped into place, springing up like an accordion as the vessel came full speed our direction. Cringing, I fell against my grandfather.
“No one move!” Brecker shouted. “I’ve seen this before. It’s designed this way.”
Jessie’s hand found my back. He leaned over the others to get to me. “I love you,” he said. “I’ve always loved you.”
Bracing myself, I closed my eyes moments before the ship crashed through the flames, blocking our way out. It hurtled through half the wall, too. Dirt and rock sprayed against us. The surface cracked open, letting in true rays of sunlight—peaceful ones that were quickly mottled into a dull ashy gray as the clean air met the smoke.
The exit was smashed open—and the treasure had come along with us.
Good, clean air found my lungs, the closer I came to the opening. I sucked it in, feeling Jessie’s hand at my back and hearing the shouts of shock.
Hunter wasn’t keeping back his loud exclamations. “Whoo! Those pirates sure love to make a grand entrance.”
Or exit. Whatever!
Fallen boulders from behind blocked the fire from us. Yeah, those pirates had made a believer out of me—all those circulating rumors about them recruiting Newton to their side were true. We stood out in the open. It was bright outside. From where I stood, I could see the crumble of stairs leading up to the burnt remains of the former resort’s casino. We’d made it pretty far across the island going underground.
The sounds of explosions eventually got lost in the buzz of helicopters. Had the plumes of smoke brought them or had Bette Ann called in help earlier? Either way, it would be difficult to explain what had happened.
Hunter rolled his eyes. “Uh oh…guess my ride’s here.”
“Your ride?” I turned to him.
“My uncle sent a few people to come pick up the… uh, treasure for us.” His face reddened, which was probably the most shame we’d be getting out of him.
Brecker let out a disdainful bark of laughter. “Typical, Hunter… and you wonder why none of us wanted to send you on ahead to save us all?”
Hunter’s forehead wrinkled at him. “Really, Brecker? You still doubt me?” Predictably, his shame had morphed into his mouthy humor. “I would’ve come back for you. The cavern was filled with gems.”
Jessie’s arms went around me from behind. He rested his chin on my head. “Huh? So your plan was to turn on Luther all along?”
Hunter broke into his usual grin. “Yeah, but… the thing is, I don’t have much time before my friends catch up to us—oh, these guys are armed by the way—but you treated me pretty fair in there, so how about I let you all divide that treasure amongst yourselves. Just give me the Shepherds’ Relics and… uh, that treasure box… and I’ll be on my way.”
“That’s real good of you,” Brecker said dryly. No one believed for a second that Hunter had turned soft, so what was the catch? Brecker glanced over at us with a snicker. “You see all those pretty Relics you’re all holding? They lead to their own treasures hidden throughout the world.”
I was stunned. What a time to realize what we had. Those treasures must be worth a thousand times more than what we had on that ship for Hunter to want them more.
Hunter held his hand out to Abby first. “The locket, please.”
Her hand tightened on the chain. “This belongs to our family.”
“Well, now it’s going to belong tomyfamily,” Hunter said. “Thank you. I think it’ll bring us closer together… unless you just want to come with me?”
“Abby.” Jessie reacted quickly to the threat. “Give it to him. It’ll make the trainwreck go away.”
Hunter’s shoulders stiffened at the insult.
His sister took a deep breath and dropped the family heirloom into his hands. I felt sick. That had been in Haven’s possession too. He collected the blue glass from Bette Ann next, Dimond’s rattle from Caitlyn. I winced at losing the thing Jessie and I had found the night we met, but Jessie was more important; all of our friends were.
