“He embraced being the bad guy and discovered he enjoyed the power that came with killing. So when Matt and Georgie messed up his smuggling ring, he decided they needed to pay.”
“How did you get involved?”
“He called me and told me to meet him. I thought he wanted to gloat about howgoodhe was, but he said his father wasn’t sure about my loyalty and I had to prove it by killing Matt and Georgie.” It hadn’t been a difficult choice. Matt and Georgie had been kind to him from the day he’d met them, whereas Clark had been the bully of his childhood. “Georgie turned up with a rifle. I retrieved it from her, shot Clark and asked her to take the blame until I could finish building a case against Stonefish.”
“That was over two months ago.”
His failure ate at him, but he was so much closer now. “I know.”
Nhiari was silent for a long moment. “Thank you for saving them.”
“I care for them too.”
Her eyes shuttered and she crossed her arms, leaning away from him. Right, too much touchy-feely. He moved over to his larger pack and took out another water flask and a couple of ration bars. “Catch.” He tossed her one, forcing her to move, and let him in.
She caught it, watched him for a moment and then ripped open the packet, taking a bite. Yeah, it was going to take a lot more to get her to open up to him.
He’d made a mistake bringing her here. He should have taken her to his main site, where he could share all his information if he wanted her to work with him. But letting her in also exposed her to danger and showed her just how much of himself he’d compromised in the past year.
Then there would be no hope for them.
He wasn’t ready to admit he had lost her yet.
Chapter Three
Nhiarichewedonthesurprisingly tasty ration bar. She wasn’t a patient person, but she dug up some patience from deep within her and settled in for the long game. Lee wanted to pretend they were friends, that there wassomethingbetween them, but he’d shattered that opportunity months ago. She was here to discover what he knew and then to arrest his arse and everyone involved in Stonefish.
She hunched over, peering out the cave mouth. This was smaller than the cave the boys had been in and she had no distractions. Above her was hundreds of tonnes of earth. Her muscles tensed. The urge to flee was strong—not only because of the enclosed space, but also because she was being held against her will by a man who triggered so many mixed emotions in her.
She wouldn’t get far while he was awake. Focusing on her breathing she tried to calm her anxiety.
Lee had been living in these caves for months and nothing had happened.
She could wait this out.
Lee’s phone beeped and he checked the message. “The boys have been found.”
She raised her eyebrows, glad for the distraction. “Who told you?”
He shoved his phone in his back pocket. “Someone who knows.”
She rolled her eyes. Still not willing to share his sources. He was tempting her to stay by promises of information he wasn’t delivering.
Darkness fell and Lee handed her an MRE—meal ready to eat—or army ration, which was some kind of curry. Edible and considering her circumstances, better than nothing. She didn’t like the idea of hunting for her dinner. Besides, Matt had learned more about hunting when her parents had taught them about the land and their heritage, and she’d been expected to learn about the women’s work—gathering things to eat. Not that she would show Lee what around them he could eat. He seemed to be doing fine on his own.
“We’ll sleep here tonight.” Lee dug through his larger hiking pack and pulled out a thin mattress and a cover. “You can sleep on this.”
“Where will you sleep?”
“I’ll manage.”
No. This fake gentleman shit would not work on her. He was trying to lull her, make her believe in him, but even her claustrophobia hadn’t swayed him. He didn’t care for her wellbeing. “I’ll be fine on the ground.”
“Nhiari, don’t be stubborn. You’ll be more comfortable on my mattress.”
“I’d be more comfortable in my own bed, but since you denied me that option, I’ll make do with what I’ve got.”
He didn’t wince, didn’t show any kind of emotion in response to her words. Where had the expressive, open, sweet photographer she’d dated gone?
