“My name. It’s Leo.”
“That’s a start. What’re you doing here?”
“Look.” Her attention shifted from him to the door and back. “Maybe we want the same thing, you and I.”
A cold beer? A warm bath?His eyes flicked over her body before returning to meet hers. “Doubt that.” Bo stood, the hair on the ridge of her spine tufted straight up. Elias swallowed back a curse. He couldn’t leave the woman behind to die, but he couldn’t take her with him until he knew more—namely whether she’d been sent by Amka to help him, or whether she’d stolen the plane after all and was here to stab him in the back the minute he turned around. There were too many people who wanted him dead to give anyone the benefit of the doubt. “Who sent you?” Elias demanded. Bo growled in warning. This was cutting it close. Too damned close. “What do you want with me?”
“Withyou?Nothing.”
“Lady, you don’t give me something worthwhile, I’ll throw you out there.”
She looked at him for five seconds—which was four seconds too long—and appeared to come to some sort of decision. “Will you? Then open the door.” She folded her arms over her chest, her expression clearly sayingI dare you.
If he opened that door, all three of them were dead, with at least one of them being tortured first. Bo’s growl turned urgent. She backed away from the door, hackles raised higher than he’d ever seen them. “Dammit.”
The woman half smiled.
In that moment, three things happened: a foot landed carefully on his booby-trapped porch step, setting off literal alarm bells; someone yelled; and Bo started barking, out of control.
There wasn’t time for more questions. He’d have to take her or leave her here. To die.
Elias grabbed a gas can and uncapped it. Bo went wild. Heavy footsteps shook the floor beneath their feet. The people out there weren’t even trying to be stealthy. Bad news. Very bad news.
He slung his pack on his shoulder and soaked everything with gas. “Let’s go!”
As if she’d done her own quick math and decided she liked her odds better with him than with the operatives who’d shot down her plane, Leo grabbed her bag and followed him to the back of the cabin.
“Campbell Turner!” a voice yelled from out front. The name barely threw a hitch in Elias’s stride, though something broke inside him every time he heard it. His gaze connected with the woman’s, whose eyes narrowed on him. Whatever her role here today, this woman was well aware that Elias was not Campbell Turner. “We’re here to discuss a peaceful surrender. We know you’re in there.”
Yeah?he thought, though he kept his mouth firmly shut.You don’t know the first damn thing.
With that, he squatted, pulled the rug back, and pried out the panel he’d created for just such an occasion.
“Hop in, Leo.”Whoever the hell you are. When she appeared to balk, he bared his teeth—half snarl, half smile. “Sorry, lady. But this is it. Do or die.”
Chapter 6
The dog jumped into the hole and the man shoved his pack inside, followed by Leo’s.
More aggressive pounding on the door made her jump and, though it hurt to bend and crawl, that was exactly what she did, cursing under her breath as she went.
“Go.Go.” There was no arguing with the urgency in his voice. “The passage is flat, then it dips. Push the bags ahead, if you can. Be right behind you.”
As fast as she could, she slithered through the stone crawlspace, shoving at the packs. She wouldn’t let herself imagine what kinds of creatures lived in the cave beneath the cabin.
After what felt like an eternity of crawling, one of the packs tipped over the edge ahead of her and fell to land somewhere below. She pushed the other down, almost entirely blind now. One outstretched hand encountered nothing but cold air.
A glance back showed only the smallest hint of light seeping down from above. What was he up to? Was he coming or had this been some creepy ruse to get her under his house? Crap. She could be trapped here.
“Hey! Are you—”
“Go!”
He doesn’t want to kill me. He doesn’t want to wear my skin.Bolder now, she waved her arm out and down, expecting a sharp drop. Instead, she slapped canvas a foot or so down—his backpack. She shimmied to the edge. Impossible to tell how big the space was, but it felt cramped and damp.
Sounds came from behind—banging, more fuel splashing. It stank even this far. The place would go up in seconds.
“Keep going! Don’t stop!” He didn’t bother whispering now, as if the urgency had amped up. As if he were barely holding the enemy back, waiting for her to advance before he could leave.
