Fighting to control the fury pumping through him, Gage strained to read the license plate, but it had been purposely obscured. It was too dark to tell the model of the car, except that it was an SUV. He headed for Abby, saw her bent over, hands on her knees, braid loose, fiery hair hanging over her face. She looked up at his approach, and Gage pulled her into his arms.
“It’s okay,” he said, the adrenaline beginning to wear off but not the anger. “They’re gone. You’re okay.”
Abby clung to him. He could feel her trembling, breathing way too fast. “They were trying . . . trying to kidnap me.”
His hold tightened around her.Not on my watch. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He hadn’t been that frightened since—he broke off the thought. “That map of yours must be pretty special. Or at least someone believes it is.”
“How did they . . . how did they know where I was?”
“They’ve been watching you from the start. Once they saw us together, it was easy to figure out where you were.”
“Should we call the police?”
He eased his hold, took a calming breath. “There’s no hurry. They’re long gone by now. We can call the police when we get back upstairs.”
Abby swallowed. “King said the treasure was real. He told a lot of people that.”
“True, and after his attorney mentioned the map at the reading, a lot of people know you have it. Come on. Let’s go home.” She subtly straightened as she pulled herself together. The woman had guts, he had to give her that.
Still, Gage’s arm remained around her shoulders, keeping her close. “Next time I tell you to run, you do it, okay?”
She stopped and turned to look up at him. “You expected me to run while two men were attacking you?”
“I’m twice your size, and I’ve got training you don’t have. So yes, if I tell you to run, I expect you to run from the danger and get yourself somewhere safe.”
Her spine stiffened. “You’re my partner, Gage. If you’re in trouble, I’m not leaving. You might as well resign yourself.”
He clenched his jaw, fighting not to lose his temper. The simple truth was he hadn’t wanted her to go on this trip in the first place. He liked the idea less every day. As out of vogue as it was, he didn’t take women into dangerous situations.
Not anymore.
He thought of Cassandra and guilt swept over him. Beautiful, intelligent Cassandra. She’d be alive today if it hadn’t been for him. But Cassie had begged him to take her on the expedition, and he had agreed. He’d been younger back then, cocky after his first few successes. He had naïvely believed he could protect her. Because of him, Cassie was dead.
“We need to talk,” he said a little gruffly as they reached the office and went inside, continued through the building to the atrium and upstairs to his apartment.
Abby said nothing until he closed the apartment door and set the alarm.
“So talk,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I have a feeling I already know what you’re going to say, and you can forget it. I’m going after the Devil’s Gold. If you want to back out of our deal, that’s fine. But I’m going. With or without you.”
Gage felt his temper climbing again. Abby was going after the gold. He could see by the determined look in her eyes that nothing he said was going to dissuade her.
Gage was torn. The no-longer naïve side of him wanted her to stay home, where she would be safe. His selfish side wanted her to go with him. Hell, he wanted her in his bed.
“You don’t have any idea what can happen on a trip like this.”
“I’ve read everything I can find on the Superstition Mountains. I know how many people have died, how many die every year. Three men went missing in the summer a few years back. The sheriff finally had to call off the search and didn’t find their bodies until two years later. Most of the fatalities are people who go in without being prepared. That’s not going to happen to us—assuming there still is an us.”
She was right about that. He wouldn’t go in unprepared. He was good at what he did. Damn good. If anyone could keep her safe, he was the one.
His chest clamped down. Exactly what he had believed when he’d agreed to take Cassandra along.
He felt Abby’s hand on his forearm, saw his tendons straining. Her touch gently smoothed over the muscles, easing some of his tension.
“I know you lost someone, Gage, a woman you cared about, a woman named Cassandra Dutton.”
Gage said nothing.
“Did you love her?” She was looking at him with so much pity, he knew he had to tell her the truth.
