His chest felt tight. His heart was thundering like a freight train. Time dragged. He wanted to say something, make sure she was okay, but he didn’t want to distract her. He had to trust Abby as she trusted him.
Gage saw the tug on Carlos’s rope, signaling Abby had the line around her, and it was time to haul the boy up. Edge and Mateo made a quick and efficient extraction, pulling Carlos out of the hole and back across the floor to solid ground.
“I did it!” The boy jumped up and down as he ran toward Edge.
“Good job.” Edge smiled and ruffled the kid’s dark hair.
“Hang on, Abby! We’re bringing you up.” Gage took a turn with the rope around the trunk of a tree, then got a firm grip on the line and braced his legs apart. Edge and Mateo joined him, and they slowly hauled Abby out of the hole. Timbers creaked, debris rained down through the opening, but the dangerous portion of the floor remained anchored in place.
Abby’s head emerged, then the rest of her body. As they pulled her onto solid ground, Gage dropped the rope and ran toward her. “Are you hurt? How do you feel? Is anything broken?”
“I’m okay. I hit the ground pretty hard, but nothing’s broken.”
Gage pulled her into his arms. “You’re okay,” he repeated. “You’re all right.”
Abby hugged him. “I’m okay, I promise.” She eased back and grinned. “I found the way in!” She punched a fist into the air. “Yes!” Abby was grinning while his insides were still quaking.
“All we have to do is clear the floor out of the way,” she said with a triumphant smile.
Gage brushed the dirt off her forehead and cheeks. “You’re insane, you know that?” He captured her face between his hands, bent, and very thoroughly kissed her.
Abby kissed him back, making a little sound of pleasure in her throat. She broke away and flashed another grin. “It’s down there, and now we have a way to go in and get it.”
Gage drew in a steadying breath. “All right, fine.” His gaze scanned the three people around him: Mateo, Edge, and Carlos. “The lady says we’re going to find what we’re looking for down in that hole. Let’s take a break, hydrate, and get to work.”
Everybody smiled and nodded. They were ready for this and so was he. He just hoped like hell there wouldn’t be any more accidents.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
AHOT SUN SPILLED THROUGH THE WINDOWS.OVERHEAD, THE CEILINGfan whipped the air. Arturo leaned back in the chair behind his ornately carved desk as the door opened and Paulo led Zuma into the room.
His gaze swept over the woman’s familiar face. Even with the fine silver strands in her heavy black hair and the few extra pounds she carried, Zuma Delgado was a beautiful woman.
Years ago, for a time, they had been together, but Arturo’s tastes had always run to younger women. A pretty serving maid had caught his eye, and Zuma had found them together. Their parting had been amiable. She had always known he would stray.
Zuma had taken a job as a server in the Cantina el Gato Rojo, which included rooms upstairs, where she still lived. It was there, in the Red Cat Cantina, she had met King Farrell, older, but still a handsome man, and apparently quite virile.
He stayed with Zuma whenever he came to the Yucatán, and Farrell had gone to her when he had fallen ill.
“You look exhausted,” Arturo said, rising. “Why don’t you sit down?”
Zuma walked toward him, head held high, loathing clear in a beautiful face now lined with age. Her bright, full skirts swirled around her ankles as she took the seat across from him, adjusting the white peasant blouse that covered her voluptuous breasts.
Arturo sat back down. “Tell me again what the old man said when he came to you,” he demanded.
“He was delirious, barely clinging to life. There is no way to know if what he said is true.”
“Tell me!” he demanded.
“He said he had found it—the Devil’s Gold. He said he had come back to retrieve it. Then he fell ill and came to me for help.”
“Anything else?”
“He mentioned his granddaughter. He said she would be coming for the gold. After that, his ramblings made no sense.”
“But you believe what he told you is true.”
“He was feverish, but still lucid at the time. He grew worse after suffering your ill treatment.”
