Oakley opened the front passenger door with a low chuckle while Shane climbed into the middle seat. He glanced over his shoulder at Ghost, sitting in the center of the back row with his arms spread out across the back of the seat.
“You good?” he asked.
Ghost gave him a chin tilt, but didn’t say anything. Shane smiled, glad to see not much had changed.
The driver got in and turned to face them. “Hola. I’m Jorge. There is water in the cooler here if you get thirsty.” He pointed to the small Styrofoam cooler between the driver and passenger seats. “It is one hour and a half to Carmelita. If you need anything on the drive, please let me know.” He faced front and started the van, pulling out into the heavy airport traffic.
“Thank you, again, for letting me tag along with you guys,” Kinley said next to him. She pulled out her wallet and opened it. “I only have two hundred dollars in cash on me. I can write you a check if it’s more than that or I can PayPal you the money.”
“It’s really no problem. And we’re not taking your money,” Shane said. “We’re headed in that direction anyway.”
“Are you sure?”
“Put your wallet away,” Oakley said. “Your money’s no good with us.”
“Thank you.” She returned her wallet to her small purse. “What happened to the other guy that was supposed to be with you?”
“What other guy?” Ghost asked from behind them.
“Shane said there was a fourth person who was supposed to be on the trip, but couldn’t make it.”
“Oh. I lied.” He shifted so he partially faced Kinley. “It was pissing me off that he was giving you grief. It wasn’t costing him anything to let you ride with us.”
“Oh. Well, thank…you. Again.” A pretty blush stained the tops of her cheeks.
He grinned. “You’re welcome. Again.”
She smiled and pulled a notebook and pen out of the small backpack at her feet and flipped to the middle. Taking her cue, he glanced out the window at the passing scenery.
Shane felt Oakley’s gaze and looked at him. Oakley made a gesture with his hands like a plane crashing and exploding upon impact. He flipped Oakley the bird.
Sneaking peeks at her during the drive, he noticed the way she pinched her bottom lip between her fingers and furrowed her brow or twirled a lock of hair around her fingers. Occasionally she jotted notes down in the margin of her notebook or flipped back and forth between pages. What was she reading? He tried to read a page out of the corner of his eye, but had a hard time figuring out what the script and block pictures meant.
About an hour into the drive, she stretched her neck side to side, closed her notebook, and returned it to her backpack. “Why…um, what tour are you guys taking?” she asked.
“We’re going on a freaking hike,” Ghost said.
Shane rolled his eyes. Not this again. Oakley’s uneasiness with enclosed spaces had nixed Ghost’s caving suggestion and all he’d done since was complain about their “walk in the woods.”
“Huh?” Kinley asked.
“What Ghost means to say is that we’re taking a nice leisurely stroll toEl Mirador,” Oakley said. “It’s more sedate than we’re used to, but the whole purpose of the trip is torelax.” He leaned around his seat to glare at Ghost.
“I’m not sure most people would describe a six-day trek through the Guatemalan jungle as relaxing,” Kinley said.
“We aren’t most people,” Ghost said.
“Who are you then?” Kinley asked.
“We’re SEALs,” Oakley said.
A pang of regret hit Shane deep in the gut. He heard the pride, and yeah, a little bit of conceit, in Oakley’s voice.
“So you’re all in the military?”
“They’re still active duty,” Shane said. “I separated about three years ago and work in private security now.”
He hated he had to add “former” in front of SEAL when he told people about himself. His civilian job was great, but it would never compare to being a SEAL.
