The Treasure (20 page)

A sensual shudder worked its way down her spine. She wondered if she could talk him into one last swim in the pond, then quashed her idea because of his wound. Getting it wet probably wasn’t the safest thing for him to do.

Tossing the lewd thoughts aside, she followed behind him, taking one last look at
Paraíso
. Her fondest memories would always be of this place. And she would never forget the time she had spent with Brody.

• • •

“Brody, why aren’t we going to your place? Isn’t it closer?” Amelia asked wearily as she trudged behind him. He set a brutal pace and it was catching up to her. Her legs ached and there was a stitch in her side. Why he was in such a hurry to get to the city was beyond her. They could have taken a cab from his place. But he insisted on hiking straight to the city.

“We’re almost there.”

With a sigh, she picked up her pace. She would get no more out of him. Trying not to let her mind wander, she stepped over an upraised root, the jungle thinning as the sounds of the city drifted past. The promise of a warm meal, soft bed and a shower got her moving.

When they broke through the trees into a crowded street, she grabbed Brody’s arm, not wanting to lose him. People and vendors filled the narrow cobblestone street, cars honked, wanting to get through. Shops were open, inviting tourists in to buy their goods. Heavenly scents filled the air with the promise of a good meal.

“Hotel?” she asked, anxious for a shower.

Brody nodded and guided her down the street and around the corner to a whitewashed Spanish villa. Its charm wasn’t lost on her as they walked through the front doors into the dimly lit reception area. Within minutes, they were in the elevator moving up to the third floor. In silence, they walked to their room.

Brody pushed the door open and waited for her to go in, then followed behind. Pale yellow walls and hardwood floors greeted her in the small, quaint room.

Amelia set her bags on the bed and turned to Brody. “I’m calling first shower. Want to order us some food?”

Upon his nod, she grabbed a change of clothes and disappeared into the bathroom. She tried not to let Brody’s somber mood bother her as she stripped out of her dirty clothes and stepped into the shower. Hot water hit her with blessed force. With a groan of pure pleasure, she closed her eyes and let it pound away her unease.

Taking time to wash her hair and body until no remnants of the jungle remained, she turned off the water and wrapped in a towel. By the time she dried her hair and changed into clean clothes, a half-hour had passed. When she opened the door, wonderful scents of chicken and rice and vegetables drew her to the small, round table in front of the windows. Or at least it had been by the windows. Brody had moved it to the opposite wall, away from the windows. Protecting her. Warmth spread over her. With him, she was safe.

Taking a seat, she eyed him over a plate of tender chicken. “Shower’s free.”

Seeming distracted, he grabbed his bag and strode into the bathroom. A few minutes later, the shower turned on and Amelia ate alone with a heavy heart. She knew this was coming; she just hadn’t expected it to hurt so much. With each step they traveled, he had grown more distant. She didn’t ask him about it, because it would do her no good. He would only clam up more.

With a sigh, she realized that deep in her heart she knew why he was doing it. Their adventure had come to an end and he was preparing for it. Preparing for when he walked away.

Sadness filled her heart. She didn’t want him to walk away. Didn’t want to go their separate ways. But she knew it was inevitable. Expecting a man like Brody to commit and uproot his life for her was a foolish notion.

One she may as well accept now before her heart broke completely.

When he emerged fifteen minutes later, wearing a pair of faded jeans and T-shirt, she swallowed hard. His feet were bare, his hair damp, his jaw shaved. He looked less disreputable than before, but still rugged and dangerous.

Ducking her head so he didn’t see how much it hurt seeing him like this and not being able to touch, she said, “So, I guess I’ll call the airport and find out when the next flight to the states leaves.”

“In two hours.”

Two hours. Only one hundred and twenty minutes until she left him forever. An ache welled in her chest and she dropped her fork, appetite gone. The food churned in her stomach. She thought they would have at least one more night together. More than a couple hours.

What hurt even more was that he had already made that call. He was anxious to get rid of her and that made her want to cry. But she didn’t. Instead, she took a sip of water to wash the bitter truth down. She was a fool for thinking they shared something more than sex. He never promised her anything. Had been honest from the beginning that she wasn’t his type.

Irritation replaced hurt and she pushed back from the table. “I think I’ll lie down for a few minutes before my flight,” she said. “I have a headache.”
To match her heartache.

Lying down on the bed, she turned her back to Brody who sat down to eat, and blinked tears from her eyes.

She was going home in two hours and he didn’t seem to care.

A hand landed on her shoulder and Amelia jumped, let out a shriek of surprise as another clamped over her mouth. Her eyes flew open, expecting to see Brody, but instead stared into the face of a man she had never seen before with cold blue eyes.

“Shh,” he said. “I’m not here to hurt you. If I lift my hand, will you scream?”

Terrified, she shook her head.

“Good girl.” Slowly, the man lifted his hand.

Amelia tried to scoot away, but he held her still. “Who are you?” she asked, looking around the room to see Brody sitting in one of the wooden chairs, arms trussed behind his back, and ankles tied with ropes. Blood seeped down the side of his face. Two men stood sentry at the door, guns in hand, and another stood behind Brody, weapon trained on his head.

Her terror multiplied. “Brody?” She reached for him.

“Uh-uh,” the man said. “He’s fine. He would have been better than fine if he hadn’t decided to put up a fight.” He rubbed his jaw. “Still pack a punch, don’t you, old friend?” His tone wasn’t angry, but amused.

“Leave her alone, Jeremy,” Brody said. “She has nothing to do with this.”

“With what?” she interrupted.

The man named Jeremy — whom Brody obviously knew — looked from Brody to her, and then back again. “She doesn’t know?”

Brody’s look turned dark as her heart sank to her feet. What was he hiding from her? More questions flowed through her head, but she didn’t dare ask them. Not with a gun aimed at Brody’s head.

“Maybe it’s better you don’t know,” Jeremy said. “Answer my questions correctly and I’ll be out of your hair, leave you two to this love nest.”

“What do you want?”

“The gold.”

Amelia let out a sigh. The gold.
Of course.
Everyone wanted her treasure. But, damn it, she wasn’t willing to give it up. “No.”

Jeremy raised a brow. “No?”

“No. It’s mine. I found it. It belongs to me.”

Suddenly Jeremy reached out and wrapped a hand in her hair, jerking her head close to his. “Look, I need that gold. If I don’t get it, those men holding a gun on Brody are going to shoot him and then shoot me. I don’t want to tell you what they will do to you after we’re dead.”

Nausea rose up in her throat. Wincing in pain, she looked him in the eye. No amount of gold or jewels were worth rape or Brody’s life. Or her own.

“It’s in my bag. Over there by the table.”

One of the men standing by the door moved to where her bags sat and ripped them open. He dumped the contents on the floor. Sifted through them. Tossed them aside without care. Her personal things. Her underwear.
Ugh.
She was never wearing those again.

“It’s not here,” the man said, sending Jeremy a warning look.

Jeremy twisted his hand harder in her hair, drawing a cry of pain out of her. “Where is it?” he growled.

“I … I don’t know. I put it there myself. I carried it out of the jungle.” The weight bore on her shoulders during the trek back.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not. It was there. I swear.”

Jeremy bared his teeth at her. “This is a matter of life and death. Where did you hide it?”

“I — ”

“She doesn’t have it.”

All eyes turned to Brody.

“I have it,” he said. “In my pack.”

The man who searched her bag moved to his and dumped it on the floor. The treasure box tumbled onto the floor along with the contents. Amelia gasped and looked at Brody.

She didn’t have to wonder what it was doing in his pack. She knew.

An awful ache started in her chest and filled her heart. Brody hadn’t gone after the treasure because he wanted to bring it back to her. He risked his life so he could steal it from her.

It explained everything. His distance. The way he withdrew from her. Not because their adventure was over, but because he was going to betray her. The truth was there in his eyes. And she was the fool that had believed him. Believed he felt something for her. Made love to him and let her feelings bloom. All for what? For a man who had lied to her all along. Signed on to be her bodyguard and then used her trust in him to steal what was rightly hers.

The worst part of it was he knew how important Aunt Pan was to her. How important finding the treasure was. He knew her plans for it. Of her dreams to open her own shop. And he had still deceived her.

The man picked up the chest and nodded to the other men as he walked out of the room. It wasn’t until she saw the gun rise that she remembered where she’d seen these three men. The bar she had first found Brody in. The ones who followed them outside as they raced away in Brody’s truck. The ones he had denied knowing.

He lied to her all along.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Jeremy asked when one of the men pointed a gun at his chest. “That gold more than pays my debt.”

“This is for the trouble you caused the boss,” the man said and squeezed the trigger. A soft
pop
filled her ears. Blood bloomed across Jeremy’s chest and he slumped across Amelia’s lap, eyes staring blankly into space.

With a scream, she scrambled for the edge of the bed. The gun went off again. She rolled to the floor as a loud crash sounded across the room. Huddled on the floor, she tried to come up with a plan. Brody’s weapons were gone.

Sounds of a scuffle filled the room. Crawling around the edge of the bed, Brody lay sideways on the floor, struggling to free himself from his bonds. One man stood by the door, holding the treasure, the other two advanced on Brody, weapons trained on him.

They were going to kill them all, she thought dimly. There was no time to come up with a plan. One of the men lifted his gun at Brody’s head.

Without thought, Amelia jumped up, cried, “No!” and threw herself in front of him. Pain exploded in her chest and slammed her backwards. She landed on Brody, vaguely hearing him speak to her.

“What?” she heard herself ask, but it didn’t sound like her voice. Why was she suddenly having trouble breathing?

Dimly, she was aware of another
pop
and through her narrowing sight, she saw the men leave the room with her treasure. She smiled. They may have gotten her gold, but they hadn’t gotten to Brody. She could feel him moving behind her. He was alive and that was all that mattered. This numbness overtaking her was annoying though.

She tried to turn her head to look at Brody, but her body wouldn’t respond. It felt heavy. Slow.

Touching her chest, she felt something warm and sticky and held her hand out in front of her face. Blinking to focus, she frowned. “Oh,” she murmured. “I think I’ve hurt myself.”

And wasn’t it ironic that this adventure ended the same as every other one of her mishaps.

With her bleeding, she thought dimly, as blackness took her.

• • •

Brody tore the ropes from his hands, attacking the ones on his ankles next. Tossing them aside, he lunged to Amelia’s side. Blood soaked her shirt, her body limp when he lifted her into his lap.

“Amelia? Damn it, open your eyes.” When she didn’t respond, he let out a howl of anguish and picked her up off the floor, her blood staining his hands.

With long strides, he carried her into the hallway and down the stairs, ignoring the stares of the people he passed. In the lobby, he barked to the receptionist, “Hospital?”

The harried woman gave him directions. “Call the police. There’s a dead man in my room.” He pushed through the front door onto the street.

At a dead run, he headed for the hospital. People jumped out of his way when they saw the bleeding woman in his arms. He crossed the busy street, hearing car horns blaring warnings. But he continued at the same pace until he burst through the emergency room doors of the medical center.

“I need a doctor now,” he bellowed.

The nurse that had been pushing a discharged patient through the doors looked up to see what the commotion was, took one look at Amelia, and sprang into action. Brody was suddenly surrounded by hospital staff.

Someone tried to take Amelia from him and he snarled at them, clutching her to his chest.

“Sir,” a pretty young nurse said, “you have to let us take care of her. I promise we’ll keep her safe.”

Wanting to never let her go, Brody shook his head. It was his fault she was hurt. He had gotten her shot.

The nurse put a hand on his arm, her tone reassuring. “Sir, please. She needs medical care. Let us take care of her.”

His insides twisted, but he nodded in acquiescence and let them take her. She was put on a gurney someone wheeled out, and the medical team descended on her like flies, working on her even as they carried her away.

Brody was left standing in the middle of the waiting room, covered in blood, staring blankly at the swinging doors that housed the woman who had stared at him with such betrayal he was certain she would never forgive him.

He didn’t know how long he stood there, wanting to be behind those doors, but finally a nurse touched his arm and said, “Sir, I need you to fill out some paperwork. Do you have insurance cards?”