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“I’m never going to hear the end of that, am I?”

“Not a chance.”

I liked being able to get a rise out of her.

I gave her hand a tug and led her into the forest.

“No more running ahead,” I said.

“I believe I’ve demonstrated that I can walk without supervision.”

“You’ve demonstrated several things today. That one remains under review.”

Her fingers tightened around mine. “You’re very bossy.”

“Aye.”

“You say that as though you’re proud of it.”

“I’m holding your hand, and you’re still on the mountain. So far, I’m pleased with the results.”

I got the eye roll again.

Worth it.

We left the cliff behind and continued downhill together.

Chapter twenty-three

Loose gravel shifted under a careful step somewhere higher up on the slope.

Brush rustled, and a radio crackled softly through the trees.

Isabella and I stopped at the same time. Her fingers tightened around mine as mine closed around hers.

A man spoke quietly in Spanish. I caught our names, the southern fence, and an order to stop us. He answered once, then silenced the radio.

At least he wasn’t stupid enough to keep broadcasting his position.

Isabella leaned closer. “He’s one of Marcela’s men.”

“I gathered that.”

“They know we crossed the fence. She wants us found before dark.”

Of course she did.

I could kill one man without much trouble, but the shot would tell every other searcher exactly where to find us, and I had no way of knowing how many were close enough to hear it.

I searched the slope for somewhere to hide. In the near darkness, a hollow caught my eye beneath a shelf of black volcanic rock that jutted from the slope about waist-high.

I motioned for Isabella to follow me, and we crept farther along the slope toward the rock face. Years of rain had washed away the earth beneath the overhang, leaving a shallow, cave-like pocket in the side of the mountain. Dense shrubbery and trailing growth concealed most of the opening.

I tugged Isabella toward it.

The entrance was narrower than it had appeared. I ducked beneath the rock first, then reached back and guided Isabella past me into the hollow.

The ground sloped sharply once we were inside. As I stepped toward her, my boot slipped in the loose soil.