“Yeah. Which is why you don’t need to get injured, killed, or worse—court-martialed—if shit goes south.”
Kinley had to wonder about guys who considered getting court-martialed worse than dying. She watched the silent exchange between Ghost and Oakley.
“Fine,” Ghost said. “But if I’m hanging out in Belize to finish my leave, you better tell your guy to make reservations at a beach-side resort.”
* * *
“You sure this is the place?”
Shane didn’t fault Ghost for asking. “This is where the coordinates are.”
The small village was more like a group of huts than anything else, although in the early morning light he might have described it as picturesque. Pulling the beat-up car off the road, he stared at the small building through the rearview mirror.
“Are we here?” Kinley asked from the back. She’d passed out almost as soon as they’d loaded up in the car.
“Looks like it,” Oakley said.
“Take your bags,” Shane said. No sense in coming back for them if this was the place and better to have them than have to leave them if it wasn’t.
They approached the house slowly, taking note of the surroundings and keeping Kinley between them. Two wire-haired dogs slept under a rough-hewn bench by the door. Shane knocked softly on the wooden door and it swung open, revealing a dimly lit interior. Stepping over the threshold, he scanned the sparsely furnished open room. A table and three chairs stood against one wall, with a cold firepit to the left, and a door leading to another room on the right.
“This better not be the resort,” Oakley said.
“It’s not,” a woman said.
Shane pushed Kinley behind him and faced the threat. It took a second to register the woman stepping out of the doorway to the other room wasn’t a threat, at least not to him. Maybe. It was always kind of hard to tell and depended on her mood at the moment.
“Jesus, Paige. Give a guy a heart attack, why don’t you? What are you doing here?”
She leaned against the door frame, crossing her arms. “I was the closest.”
“I didn’t know we had a job down here,” he said.
“We didn’t.” Her voice was the audible definition of disgruntled. “I was on vacation.”
“Anywhere good?” Ghost asked.
“Turks and Caicos.”
“Nice,” Ghost said. “We should go there.”
“You’re already booked at an all-inclusive in Belize. I’ll be dropping you off at the Guatemala City airport on my way back to my vacation.” She straightened from the doorway and looked at Shane. “We need to talk.”
He ran his hand down Kinley’s arm. “I’ll be right back.”
Following Paige into the room, which had a small platform bed and not much else, he closed the door behind him. “What’s up?”
She raised one perfectly arched eyebrow and crossed her arms. “What are you doing, Shane?”
He really didn’t like this side of Paige. She gave a stare down worse than anyone he’d ever met. Even his mom when he’d gotten caught trying to sneak out of the house in high school to go meet up with Kiki White.
“What? I’m helping Kinley.”
“And when did you meet Kinley?”
“Yesterday.”
“So we’re expending funds and favors because you want to impress a girl?”
