Page 142 of Risky Obsession

“Yes, I do, so I can get rid of you.”

“Exactly.” She grinned way too wide. “So, let’s start with finding those steps.”

“The access to the stairs must be up here somewhere. You look that way. I’ll go this way.”

I strode away from her.

The jagged cliff face seemed endless, the bushes clinging to the rocks were thick and damn hard to push through, and the land dropped away so sharply, I had no idea how they could have built steps along this section.

Each time I peered over the edge, I studied the water. Maybe they had driven cars over this cliff, gold bars, too. But who made the two maps we carried?Whyhad they made them? More importantly, had the person who made the maps returned for this gold?

The questions crashed through my mind like a pileup on the M1.

“Kane, over here!” Lacey’s urgent tone yanked me from my impossible questions, and I raced over the rugged terrain to her.

She knelt beside a patch of overgrown bushes, leaning way too far over the edge. “I found it.” She beamed.

I crouched at her side. About ten feet down a set of weathered stone steps were barely visible.

“Damn it. How the hell do we get down there?” I said.

CHAPTER 29

Kane

Ileaned over the cliff face, trying to find a way down to the stairway. Easing back, I frowned at Lacey. “How did you find them?”

She wriggled her eyebrows. “Told you I was good at this treasure-hunting business.”

“Okay, genius, how did they get supplies down to those steps?”

“My guess is they had a steel ladder that was connected to these.” She pulled back a shrub to reveal a rusted metal anchor attached to the rock. “I guess they sabotaged it, at the end of the war.”

“Huh. That makes sense.”

“So,” she said, “you can easily lowermedown to those steps. But I’m not sure how you’ll reach them.”

“I can get down there, but once we do this, we won’t be able to get back up.”

She shrugged. “We’ll figure it out.”

She stood and repositioned the beanie on her head.

Shit. She’s serious.

“If the ladder was sabotaged,” I said, “then the entire area could be compromised.”

Her eyes sparkled as she faced me. “I signed up for danger when I agreed to work with you. So, are you ready?”

I huffed. “Sure.”

“I know we’re onto something. I can feel it. Just don’t drop me, okay?”

“I’m not an asshole, Lacey.”

Her smile vanished. “I know you’re not, Kane.” She lowered to her hands and knees and guided her legs over the edge so her torso was on the ground.

“Careful,” I said as I lay on the rocks, ready to take her weight.

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