Page 97 of Uncharted

Dante takes off the backpack he brought—it’s stuffed. “What’s in there?”

“You know, some more things.” Dante pushes some palm fronds around.

From the edge of the forest comes a loud meowing. Pepper runs straight to Haley. “There you are, our little girl.” Haley scoops her up. But Pepper’s not done with her scolding. “I’m going to go get her some food.” They take off.

Dante follows them, but I’m not letting him get away that fast. I put my hand on his shoulder. He stops. His eyes flick back to Haley trailing up the path. “Sam sent the gun with me.”

“The flare gun?”

“No, the pistol from on board. We’re going to keep it with whoever’s with Haley. You know how to fire a gun?”

“I’ve shot but never at a person or even an animal. I’ve gone to the range with friends before.”

“Right, then I’ll be keeping the gun with me.”

Haley has her towel on her lap when Zane and I get back to camp—Pepper sits on top of it. “I thought I was going to go for a dip at the waterfall. Pepper seems to have other ideas.”

Zane sweeps in. “I’ve got you. Hey there Pepper, how about a snack?” Pepper jumps with enough force that the towel flies off Haley’s lap in the other direction. “Problem solved. She didn’t get you?”

“No,” Haley says.

“Give me a minute and I’ll come with you,” I say.

She smiles. “I’ll wait.”

I toss my pack up on the living room platform and grab a towel. Having my own towel will always be a luxury from now on. “Ready.”

We sit on the big rock and take off our shoes. Shoes also aren’t something I’ll always think of as a luxury. Having them for our walks in the forest has been a game changer. I strip my shirt off, and soon as I do, Haley puts her head on my shoulder. Peeking down at her, I see her eyes are closed. Her chest heaves in a light sigh.

I put my arm around her and squeeze.

She looks up at me, and her blue eyes shine in the dappled early evening sunlight. “What do you want from life?”

I run my fingers over her hair. “That’s a big question. For most of my existence, it was to win a gold medal. Then it was to win more gold medals. Now? After this? I think it’s to be normal. Or as ordinary as I can be. Maybe get a dog like Penny.”

“A cat like Pepper,” she adds, and her blue eyes flick up to mine.

“Just like Pepper. What do you want?”

A tear hits my chest. “A family.”

“Haley,” I growl, pulling her up into my lap. “You have us.”

She nods. “Right.”

“You have me.” I lift her chin to mine.

She smiles, but this girl... she doesn’t believe me. I want to tear the men in her past apart, every single one of them who has let her down. Her ex, her father—damn them both.

Chapter42

Shore Leave

Sam

“How’s your foot?” I’m on the back deck with Calvin. We’ve got what I hope are most of the cut wires spliced back together. Getting the major systems from the portside helm reconnected would be a win, as none of those wires were sliced. But we need to get the generator and the engines up and running. Calvin’s eating breakfast, and Dante’s taken the VHF into the galley to listen while he finishes cleaning up the dishes from last night.

“It’s good. Easton took the stitches out last night before he went back to camp.”

---