Abby’s heart began to pound. “What are you doing? I don’t need anything else. Please leave.”
The two men rapidly closed the distance, and Abby bolted, dodging, trying to get past them to the door. She managed to dart past the first waiter, but the bigger man with the straight black hair grabbed her around the waist, jerked her back into the room, and slammed the door.
Abby tried to scream, but the mustached waiter shoved a white rag in her face. The first breath she took left her woozy. She managed to turn her head away and start fighting the waiter who held her, kicking and scratching, raking her short nails down the side of his face, drawing blood.
“Puta!” Doubling up his fist, he punched her in the jaw so hard her head spun and her knees buckled. Abby grabbed onto a side table and managed to pull herself up, but a long-fingered hand pressed the cloth over her mouth again.
Abby swayed, her muscles going limp as she was lifted off the floor and carried toward the food trolley, which was actually a laundry cart, and dumped inside.
Her head was still spinning. Vaguely, she heard the rattle of the lock turning, the door opening, then Gage’s foul curse.
The sound of breaking glass followed, and the solid thud of fists pounding into flesh. She shook her head to rouse herself, managed to shove up from the bottom of the cart in time to see Gage’s muscled shoulder barrel into the midsection of the mustached waiter, carrying him across the room and slamming him into a wall.
As the man staggered to his feet, Gage spun toward the bigger, straight-haired man and threw a hard punch that knocked him several feet back before the guy swung a blow that Gage managed to duck.
Still dizzy, Abby climbed out of the cart. A painted vase sat on the side table. Grabbing the vase, she crashed it over the mustached waiter’s head.
“Mierda!” he swore, stumbling backward into the wall again. He looked over at his friend, who was still going fist to fist with Gage. “Vamos, hombre! Ahora!”
He opened the door and raced out, quickly followed by the bigger man, whose nose was bleeding, leaving a trail of red down the front of his short white waiter’s jacket.
Shaking all over, Abby leaned against the table for support. Then Gage was there, pulling her into his arms, holding her tight against him.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his muscles still vibrating with tension. “Did they hurt you?”
Abby swallowed. “I-I’m okay. You got here just in time.”
Gage nodded with relief, but a muscle knotted in his jaw.
The warmth of his body erased the last of her fear. Her eyes were still a little glassy, and her jaw ached, a dark bruise forming where the man had hit her.
She looked up at Gage. “You know, this treasure hunting business can be a real pain.”
Gage’s worried blue eyes shot to her battered face. Abby blew out a breath that fluttered the fringe of bangs on her forehead. She grinned.
Gage laughed and finally let her go. His humor slowly faded. When he looked at her again, a slow-burning anger darkened his features. “This is exactly the reason I didn’t want you coming down here. God knows what would have happened if I’d gotten here a few minutes later.”
Abby’s own temper surfaced. “Well, you didn’t, and I’m okay. We knew something like this could happen. We’ll just have to be more careful.”
Gage’s jaw tightened. “You can count on that,” he said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
THE TWO-HOUR FLIGHT TOMÉRIDA GOT THEM THERE AT FIVE P.M.Mateo was waiting for them in front of the terminal in an olive drab Humvee that looked like something out of a war zone.
Gage walked over and shook his friend’s hand, then gripped his shoulder. “Good to see you, my friend.”
“You, too,amigo.” Strands of Mateo’s black hair, loose from the rawhide thong at the back of his neck, blew across his face. He smiled warmly at Abby. “Welcome to Meh-he-co,” he said, using the soft Spanish pronunciation as he reached over to grab the handle of her carry-on.
Abby went up on her toes and kissed his lean cheek. “It’s good to see you again, Mateo. Thank you so much for coming.”
He just smiled and returned his attention to Gage. “Everything is set. Your brother waits at the hacienda.”
Gage nodded. “Good. We’ve already had some trouble.” He tried not to think what might have happened to Abby if he hadn’t gone straight back to the hotel. Clearly, their pursuers knew about the treasure and believed she had the information they needed to find it.
Truth was, she did. Which put her in grave danger. Abby and everyone else involved in the search. Until the gold was found and brought out—or they gave up and left Mexico—they needed to be on constant alert.
“Two men posing as waiters came into the room while I was away from the hotel,” Gage explained as he and Mateo loaded the luggage into the back of the Hummer. “They were after Abby.” Turning, he caught her chin and moved her face to display the dark bruise on her jaw.
