Unexplored (Treasure Hunter Security Book 3) (13 page)

“Any movement?” Declan asked.

“Nothing,” Hale responded.

Sydney sat down near the row of skulls, looking out at their fabulous view. “I’m sorry your rest has been disturbed,” she said quietly. She noticed one skull was turned, looking back at the chullpa. It reminded her of the time Drew had scared her at Halloween with a plastic skull. He’d left it beside her bed.

Her gaze narrowed on the skull. She rose, moving closer. The skull was looking at a crack in the stone.

And there was something wedged in the crack.

Her heart started thumping. It wasn’t big, but whatever it was, didn’t belong in a Cloud Warrior ruin. She reached in and pulled it out.

Sydney held up the memory card. “I think I found what my brother left me.”

***

Logan felt the excitement and hope radiating off Sydney. She handed the memory card over to Dec with a shaking hand.

But Logan’s gaze was snagged on her face. He’d watched every flicker of emotion cross over her elegant features throughout the night.

It was the wildest, hottest night of his life. She’d not only kept up with him and his sexual demands, she’d not been afraid to demand her own pleasure. Under the classy, elegant exterior was a woman who knew what she liked and took what she wanted.

Whatever happened on this job, he’d decided he was keeping her.

Sydney was his.

Hell, he’d even drink her fancy wine and mushy cheese if he had to.

Dec slipped the memory card into his tablet and handed it to Sydney. She tapped the screen, and smiled. “There’s a video recording.”

A second later, Drew Granger’s face filled the screen. “Sydney. God, I hope it’s you watching this and that you’re okay.” Her brother released a long breath.

“He looks tired,” she murmured, gripping the edges of the tablet.

Logan didn’t know Drew Granger, but the young man did look exhausted.

“I never meant for this to happen,” Drew continued. “I was having a blast researching the Chachapoyas. They are
such
a fascinating people. I believe they were even more advanced than history remembers. Their advanced surgeries, the advanced training of their warriors, their building techniques…and, Sydney, they were metalsmiths. They had gold, silver, and other metals.” The man smiled. “I found reference to them hiding their treasure in a temple. They were fighting the Inca and they knew they couldn’t hold out against the Incas’ superior numbers. Like the Inca, the Cloud Warriors used knotted quipus to record their information. No one has ever decoded a quipu, they remain a complete puzzle.” He grinned wildly. “But I did, Sydney! I decoded a Cloud Warrior quipu and discovered they moved their valuables deep into the forest. Gold, silver, jewelry, and best of all, records of their knowledge.” He threw his hands out. “It’ll be the biggest find of the century.” Then he frowned. “But I messed up. I was celebrating in a bar in Lima and a beautiful woman…she seemed so interested in me and my work. I told her everything.” He shook his head. “I’m such an idiot. I should’ve known a woman like her wouldn’t really be interested in a geek like me.”

Logan could guess what happened next. He felt for the man. Logan knew exactly what a betrayal like that felt like.

“They came after me the next day. I managed to get away.” Drew sighed. “They call themselves Silk Road and they’re dangerous. Really dangerous. Sydney, I know they’re coming after you to get to me. You have to be careful. I’m sorry, sis.” A weak smile. “At least I know you can look after yourself.”

Logan flexed his fingers. So Drew was happy to throw his sister to the wolves? Logan felt a muscle tick in his jaw. He’d have a few things to say to the man when they found him.

“I’m going after the treasure, Sydney.” Now the man’s smile was rueful. “This time I’ll make it a little easier for you. No more games. My research shows they moved their treasure to one of their most remote cities. A place called Lapoc. I’m going there now. See you when you find me.” The recording cut off.

“He’s okay.” Sydney smiled, then she muttered a curse. “I wish he’d just come home. Screw the treasure. It isn’t worth his life. I just want him safe.”

“Don’t worry.” Logan pressed a hand to the back of her neck and squeezed. “We’re going to find him.”

***

“All right, I’m going to try and contact Darcy,” Declan said.

Nodding, Sydney handed back the tablet.

Declan used his satellite connection. “If anyone can work out the location of this city of Lapoc, it’s Darcy.” He shot a look at Hale. “Any sign of our friends?”

Hale lowered his binoculars. “Still nothing. Doesn’t feel right.”

Sydney watched Logan and the others scan the far side of the lake. They were all tense, Logan most of all, and she could tell that he didn’t like it either.

“Where the hell are they?” Logan said.

“Maybe Piero lied?” Sydney suggested.

Logan’s scowl said he wasn’t buying it.

“Connection’s going through.” Declan held up the tablet.

Darcy’s face filled the screen, but the connection was bad and her image flickered.

“Hey, Darce, we made it to the lake,” Declan said. “We had a little trouble along the way.”

Darcy leaned forward. “Let me guess. First word starts with S and second word starts with R.”

“We took care of it, but we know more Silk Road members are on the way here. We found another clue from Drew Granger. What can you find out about the location of a place called Lapoc?”

Darcy tapped the keyboard. “What is it?”

“A remote jungle city of the Cloud Warriors, according to Granger.”

Darcy shook her head, her hair brushing her jaw. “There’s no record of a Lapoc in connection with the Cloud People.” She frowned. “No mention of it at all.”

They all fell silent. Sydney felt her stomach fall to her feet. “That can’t be. My brother definitely said Lapoc, and he said no more games—” Sydney broke off.

“What?” Logan asked.

“Another silly game from when we were kids. He’d always say ‘no more games’ to lull me into a false sense of security, then fool me one more time.”

Logan stroked his stubbled cheeks. “So Lapoc isn’t really the location?”

Sydney ran a hand through her hair. “I’m not sure. Darcy, can you run combinations of the letters in the name. See if something pops up? It was another thing Drew always liked to do. Anagrams of letters.”

Darcy nodded. “It might take a little while—” A beep came through the connection “—or not. Not much is known about the Chachapoya language, but it is theorized that
lap
means fortress. It’s added to the end of place names.”

“Like the Kuelap ruins,” Sydney said.

“Right.
Oc
isn’t so clear cut. It is speculated it means puma or bear, or maybe jaguar.”

Sydney straightened. “So not
Lapoc
, it should be
Oclap
. Fortress of the Jaguar.”

“I’ve found a very vague reference to the ruins of a remote city that was found in dense, overgrown forest not too far from your location. It showed characteristics of Chachapoya cities—large defensive walls, ruins of circular buildings. But that was years ago, and no one’s been back to investigate it. It’s about a five-hour trek from Laguna de los Condores.”

“That must be it. Thanks, Darcy,” Declan said. “Can you send the info through to me?”

“Already done. Declan, you guys stay safe.”

“Always try to,” Declan answered. “Tell Layne I said hi.”

“Will do.” Darcy blinked off.

“Plan?” Logan asked.

A map flashed on the screen. The lake was clear, as was the glowing yellow dot to the south-east of the lake.

“We trek to the location.” Declan touched the dot. “We’re looking for any sign of Drew Granger.”

“And the treasure?” Morgan asked.

“Not our priority. If we find it, we’ll note the location, and I’ll ensure the Peruvian government knows about it.”

Sydney wasn’t so sure Drew would give the treasure up so easily. But Declan was right, finding Drew was the only thing that mattered.

“Dec!” Hale’s urgent voice. The big man spun to face them. “I’m sure I saw movement in the trees. Very stealthy.”

“Jaguar?”

“I don’t think so.”

Declan was frowning. “By the huts?”

“No.
This
side of the lake. Just south of our location.”

Declan and Logan cursed. Sydney felt them all stiffen. She turned and scanned the trees.

She didn’t see anything.

Then she smelled something. With a frown, she took a deep breath.
Oh, no.

“I smell smoke.” Her gaze met Logan’s. “Fire!”

Chapter Eleven

Down the hill, Logan saw the flames licking up the trees.

Declan spun and shoved the tablet into Logan’s hand. “Logan, take Sydney and get to the ruins.”

“This is a trap, Dec. They want us to run—”

“That’s why Hale, Morgan, and I will hold them off and give you a chance to get away.”

The flames were growing, the crackling sound of it becoming louder. Then he heard a very familiar sound. Gunfire.

Bullets slammed into the trees behind them.

Fuck
. He ducked for cover, wrapping one arm around Sydney and taking her with him.

Dec crouched beside them. “Keep going up. We can’t go back down the ladder.”

Logan felt torn. He hated to leave his friends to face these bastards alone. But a part of him wanted to get Sydney to safety. Hell of a choice. His friends or his woman.

Dec made the decision for him. “Go.” Dec clasped Logan’s hand. “We’ll catch up. I promise.”

And his friend had never broken a promise to Logan. He’d been stupid to trust Annika, but his trust in Dec had never been wrong. Nor his trust in the woman pressed to his side, watching him with faith on her face.

“Don’t get shot,” Logan growled. “Layne will be pissed if you do. She wasn’t that pleased the last time it happened.”

A faint smile from Dec. “You got it. Now
go
.”

Logan tossed Hale and Morgan a quick salute and grabbed Sydney’s hand. He pulled her along the ledge and into the trees. Shifting his grip on his machete, he started hacking a way up the steep slope.

Smoke thickened around them. Sydney started coughing. Logan pulled his outer shirt off and tore strips off the bottom. “Here.” He tied it over her mouth and then did the same for himself. “Now, we need to move fast—” his words were muffled by the cloth “—and put as much distance between them and us as we can.” He pulled the tablet up to check the map again, looked up at the sun, and then he set off.

They pushed as hard as they could through the thick trees. At times, it was really hard going, and they slipped on the steep, muddy ground. Finally, they crested the hill…and moved into even thicker forest.

Here, there were no tracks to follow. Logan had to hack away vines and undergrowth to make a way through.

Soon, the smoke cleared, and the noises from the lake were gone—no gunfire or shouting. Dec and the others would be okay. Logan knew they were all tough and they never gave up. They could take care of the Silk Road mercenaries with their hands tied behind their backs. Hell, he was sure Morgan could take care of them all on her own.

Logan focused on getting Sydney to Oclap.

They’d been going hard for an hour, when Sydney stumbled to a stop. “Need to…rest.” She was breathing hard.

He nodded, lowering the machete. “Here.” He handed her a water bottle. “You doing okay?”

She nodded. “Just give me a minute and I’ll be fine.” She lifted the bottle and chugged some water back. She was sweating, her hair sticking to her temples. “I can’t believe what Silk Road are willing to do for this treasure. Kill, burn down the forest, possibly destroy those burial chullpas back there…”

“Money. Power. Greed. It’s the same story over and over again.”

Sydney tilted her head. “You’re thinking about that female agent again.”

“Yeah.” But funnily enough, the acid burn in his gut didn’t feel quite so bad anymore.

Sydney screwed the lid back on the bottle, and handed it back to him. “Let’s go find my brother, and make sure Silk Road does
not
get its hands on a single piece of the Cloud Warrior treasure.”

Logan smiled at her. “I like it when you get all forceful and bossy.”

She slapped a hand against his chest. “That was nothing. Later, I’ll show you forceful and bossy.”

They started moving again.

Logan pushed her hard. She kept moving and she didn’t complain, keeping up with his pace.

After two more hours, he pulled up. “Let’s take a break.”

She nodded, leaning against a tree. He couldn’t ask for a better partner to trek with. She was smart and tough. Beautiful and sexy. And his. Logan felt something unfamiliar shift inside him. Shit.
Shit
.

She looked up and smiled at him. Those boiling emotions inside him morphed into something else. They’d once again escaped a dangerous situation, could have been killed. There were several hours between them and danger…but he wouldn’t be happy until she was one hundred percent safe and far away from Silk Road.

He felt a primitive need to claim her, to mark this woman as his.

He took a step toward her. Her eyes widened. He wanted her. Now. He yanked her to him, and slammed his mouth over hers. The kiss was wild and out-of-control. Soon, she was making tiny noises, trying to climb up his body. Without stopping to think, he tore her trousers open and pushed them down.

“Logan,” she gasped.

He had her pinned up against the trunk of the tree. He opened his own trousers, and freed his cock. He curled his hand around her ass, cupping her buttocks, and pushed her up. She wrapped her legs around his hips.

A second later, he shoved inside her. She made a choked sound, her nails digging into his shoulders.

“You’re so thick.”

And she was so tight and wet. He started moving, pistoning inside her, trembling with the fury of his need. Her mouth found his ear, nipping and sucking, and she made hungry little sounds. Logan felt like a wild animal, driven only by the single need to claim her, mate with her.