What a joke. He was more than a little afraid he would never grow tired of Abby.
Since he had no idea what to do with the thought, Gage shoved it back where it belonged and escorted her across the granite floor to the counter, the echo of their footsteps rattling around them. A few minutes later, a woman in her forties with buzz-cut blond hair walked up.
“May I help you?”
“I’d like to get into my safe deposit box,” Abby said, holding up the key.
“Certainly. Right this way.”
Gage followed Abby through a swinging gate into a small private room. For the first time that morning, she seemed nervous, clenching her hand around the key hard enough for it to make an imprint in her palm.
True, King had left another chunk of gold in the desert, one he claimed was part of the treasure. But if the Peralta mine existed, it had vanished over a hundred and seventy years ago. The gold—if any real quantity had survived through the ages—could be anywhere.
The woman returned with the box, and she and Abby used their keys together to unlock it. The woman left, closing the door behind her to give them privacy.
Abby held his gaze for several seconds, then looked back down at the box. Her fingers stroked the metal surface, then she took a deep breath and lifted the lid. Two gold bars glittered at the bottom of the metal box.
“I knew it,” Abby said softly. “King found it. I remember the last time I heard from him. We spoke on the phone. Just a brief conversation, then he was gone. He must have made the arrangements with Silas to take the box into the Superstitions, spoken to his attorney, then headed back to Mexico to bring out the rest of the treasure.”
And never returned, Gage thought but made no comment. His gaze remained on the ingots. There was something hypnotic about the gleam of pure gold, something even a hardened treasure hunter couldn’t resist.
“There’s a letter,” he said, torn between hoping King had actually found the Devil’s Gold and revealed its location, and the knowledge that, in searching for it, Abby would once more be putting herself in danger.
She scanned the letter, carefully read every line, then looked up at Gage. “King says most of the gold was moved out of the Superstitions years before the last Apache attack. He says the Peraltas smelted the ore and transported the ingots to the family’s sisal plantation in the Yucatán Peninsula. They did it for years, stashing it in Mexico for future generations.”
She stared down at the letter, re-read a few lines, then looked back up at him. “King says the old family estate, Hacienda del Oro Verde, fell into ruins over the centuries, but the treasure is still there. The gold he left in the safe deposit box was part of the booty, but he wasn’t able to bring the rest out. He gives specific instructions on where to find it beneath the ruined hacienda, which is located deep in the tropical forest.”
She tapped the letter. “He says we’ll need to cut a deal with the government, offer them a percentage of what we find before we go in. That’s the only way we’ll be able to bring out the gold.”
She gazed down at the letter. “King wishes me luck. He warns me not to go in alone. He says to find someone I can trust to go with me.” Tears welled in her eyes, and a single drop spilled onto her cheek. “He says I should take the information to you, Gage. He says Gage Logan is a man I can trust, one of the best treasure hunters in the world.”
“Well, fuck.”
Abby looked up at him and wiped the tear from her cheek. “I told you he talked about you. He admired you, Gage.” Her voice trembled. “So do I.”
Gage shook his head. “Don’t ask this of me, Abby. It’s too much. If something happened to you—”
“I’m going, Gage. There’s nothing you can do to stop me. I need your help. Say you’ll go with me.”
His chest clamped down so hard he could barely drag in a breath of air. He’d stupidly believed if he took Abby into the Superstitions, she would get her fill of treasure hunting. Instead, the lure of gold had her firmly in its grip. She would go to Mexico. Nothing he could do or say would stop her.
He thought of his nightmares. They’d returned after Ray Peters held a gun to Abby’s head. She could have been killed. It would have been another death on his conscience.
“We’re partners,” Abby pressed. “I need you, Gage.”
She did need him. Hunting treasure was what he did, and he was one of the very best.
And the hard truth was he wanted to go. He wanted to be there when she found the gold, be there when her face lit up with the rush of excitement and satisfaction that only a true treasure hunter knew. He wanted to be there because he finally believed the Devil’s Gold was real.
“King was right,” he said. “I’m the man for the job.”The only man, he thought. The man who cared enough about her to protect her at any cost, even his life—because no way would he let another woman die because of him. “We started this together. We’ll finish it together—beginning to end.”
Abby threw her arms around his neck, and he pulled her close, buried his face in her shiny copper hair.
“You won’t be sorry,” she said. “We’re going to find it this time. I know we are.”
His hold tightened around her. If the gold was still there, they would find it. But sooner or later, word of a venture like this would get out. Mexico was a dangerous place, even without the lure of gold.
The real question was could they stay alive long enough to bring it home?
