“I’ve got point,” Oakley said.
“Go,” Ghost said. “I’ve got your six.”
Shane grabbed Kinley’s hand in his and glanced out the door to the left in the direction of Kinley’s room, then followed Oakley to the right. The door to the stairwell was cracked and he eased it open, glancing up the stairs in case Oakley had run into any issues. A low whistle indicated the all clear and he led Kinley up the concrete steps to the roof.
Very few lights illuminated the street below them, making it difficult to find Oakley in the dark. Shane finally spotted him crouched close to the low wall at the side of the building.
“All the buildings are roughly the same height with only a foot or two gap between them,” he said. “If we travel across a few, it should get us far enough away from the tangos before we hit the ground.”
“We’re going to jump across the buildings?” Kinley asked.
Shane could see the whites of her eyes in the dim light. “Hey. It’ll be okay. I’ve got you. We all do. We’ll get you across. Trust us.”
She hesitated, but nodded and whispered, “Okay.”
He shifted his duffel bag around to his chest so the strap crossed his back. “Give me your backpack.”
She slid it off her shoulders and he loosened the straps before slinging it over his back. “That’ll make it easier.”
“We good?” Ghost asked.
Kinley nodded, much more confident than the first time.
“We’re good,” Shane said.
He was able to straddle the space between most of the buildings and help Kinley step from one low wall to the next. Only twice did they need to find something to span the gap to walk across. The second time, Oakley backtracked to get the wide plank of wood they’d used the first time.
Kinley crossed without complaint or balking, even when the plank had shifted under her weight. He wanted to give her anattagirl, but his boss would probably fire him if she ever got wind of it, so he simply smiled his encouragement.
They’d crossed seven buildings before they reached the cross street and had to descend to the ground. They hunkered between the last two buildings on the street.
“Now what?” Oakley asked.
“We should go back to Flores,” Kinley said. “I’ll contact the Foundation and let them know what’s going on.”
Shane exchanged a look with Oakley and Ghost. She wasn’t certain about the idea. “I hear abut,” he said.
She remained silent, chewing on the edge of her thumb, and glanced toward the street.
“Do you want us to talk you into that plan or out of it?” Oakley asked.
“If we do that, I’ll probably be taken off the excavation. I’ll have to turn my notes over to someone else.” She paused and chewed on her nail again. “Dr. Banks could be in serious trouble. The sensible thing to do is alert the authorities.”
Oakley huffed out a laugh. “No one ever accused any of us of being sensible.”
Shane didn’t think she was leaning toward going to Flores and contacting the authorities, but if he told her it was the right thing to do, she’d do it.
Maybe it was wishful thinking. Maybe he was jonesing for his old life so bad, he was looking for a chance to do something “operational.” Maybe it was selfish, but he wanted Kinley to choose option B. “If you want to find out if the burial chamber is real, we’ll help you do it.”
“I want to find out if it’s real,” Kinley whispered.
“I’d rather go treasure hunting than follow a fucking hiking trail,” Ghost added.
Option B it was. A sliver of remorse wormed through his conscience. Her eyes shone with so much excitement and trust, he almost took his offer back. Almost.
“Let’s go find your dead guy’s treasure.”
CHAPTER7
