The structure Kinley wanted to explore was on the far side of the pyramid, away from the camp. They could circle around and approach from the north without being seen. He had no way of knowing whether the people in the camp were friendlies, so it was best to avoid them.
* * *
Shane stood on the edge of the deep ravine with his hands on his hips, cursing to himself. Damn it. They were going to have to backtrack and edge around the campsite in order to access the far side of the pyramid.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” Kinley said. “What’s a few more hours of walking?”
He gave her a tight smile. He hadn’t told her about finding the camp so she didn’t know that it was a little bit of a big deal.
They walked another fifteen minutes before he paused to take another bearing to get them around the pyramid.
“Oh my god,” she whispered.
“What?” He looked up in time to see her pushing through a fall of vines. Shit, they’d gotten closer to the pyramid than he’d thought. “Kinley, stop.”
“Look! It’s right here!” She glanced back at him just as a shot rang out, echoing through the jungle.
Kinley let out a short scream. Grabbing the back of her shirt, Shane yanked her to the ground, praying they didn’t land on a fer-de-lance. He’d rather be shot than be bitten by a viper.
“Stop shooting! Who’s there?” a voice called out, then repeated the question in Spanish.
“That’s Christine,” Kinley whispered.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded.
“Call out,” he said.
“Christine?” she shouted. “Dr. Banks?”
“Kin…Kinley? Is that you?”
“Yes! It’s me!” She tried to push up, but he held her down. He didn’t want someone taking another shot at her.
“Oh my god! What are you doing here? I thought…never mind. Come down!”
Kinley looked at him with wide, questioning eyes.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” he said in a low voice.
“What else are we going to do?”
He could evade without her, but there was no way he would risk it with her. “Hang on.” He pulled out the satellite phone he’d shoved in his pocket before they left the campsite, leaving everything else there with the intention of returning. Sending their position to the team in Flores, he zeroed the device, deleting all the information on it, and shoved it into a tangle of brush next to them.
“Okay. Stay behind me.” Standing up, he held his hands in the air and picked his way to the edge of the clearing.
An older blond woman stood between two men. “No. No need for that. Come on.” She said something to the two men with guns. They lowered them and slung them over their shoulders and walked back toward the tents.
She waved at Shane and Kinley to join her.
He still had a bad feeling in his gut—something was off.
Once they cleared the edge of the jungle, Christine jogged to Kinley, pulling her into a hug. “I’ve been so worried about you. The driver came back and said you weren’t at the hotel and your room had been ransacked.”
“Someone attacked me and I had to run,” Kinley said.
Christine gasped and held Kinley away from her by the shoulders, scanning her from head to toe. “What? Are you all right? What happened? How did you get here?”
