Page 78 of These Reckless Hearts

I lick my lips and try to keep my own temper under control. If not for my sake, then for the sake of Stone, Wyatt, and Lucas. Lance looks like a man who’s losing control—his face is an angry red; he’s sweating; he’s guzzling water like it’s candy…. He’s acting as if he’s two steps away from losing it.

“There’s some shade back there,” I offer. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

“I don’t need shade!” he rages. “What I need is for the millions of dollars I’ve invested in this to finally pay off. Get it fucking done!”

I take a step back. His arrogance is completely insane. He’s been up here for not even a day and he thinks it’s going to fall into his lap. Like the rest of us haven’t been searching and putting in all the hard work for fucking years. It makes me want to stop what we’re doing right now, and I would if I wasn’t scared for our lives.

I take back what I thought about Lance not being scary up in the mountains. If anything, he’s turning crazier up here. He’s losing his sanity.

“Dad....” Stone starts. The look on his face has morphed from irritation to concern. I don’t think it’s as much for his father’s well-being as it is for what his mental state means for our well-being. He has five ex-military personnel at his disposal. If he tells them to kill one of us right now, they will. No questions asked—except for maybe how much he’s willing to pay to get the job done.

The soft tone Stone uses on him starts to work. Lance lets him get closer, and they talk in hushed tones. He’s approached him like a tiger in a cage, and I wonder if it was a horrible idea to insist the elder Jacobs come up here with us. I thought he would see how difficult it is, but I’m not sure he realizes that at all. Powerful men don’t understand how the real world works. They say something, it gets done, but they don’t know the steps it took to make it happen. Like yesterday, when he had his assistant prepare all the equipment we needed for today. All he did was make one phone call, but I bet that girl was up all hours of the night arranging, maybe even shopping herself for the equipment we needed.

Lance doesn’t know a hard day’s work. This might be his first time in years—in fucking decades.

I try to re-focus on searching the area in the same pattern, but Lance and Stone’s voices rise. “No!” Lance shouts as their conversation comes to a head.

I turn in time to find Stone falling to the ground. I move toward him, but the soldiers raise their guns, at least one barrel pointed at each of us, keeping us at bay.

“She needs a reminder,” Lance announces.

“Tahoe,” the leader says.

A gun goes off—the sound so loud it echoes and echoes—and I scream as terror rips through me. For a moment, time doesn’t compute. Sound doesn’t compute. I stare at the scene, blinking and blinking until everything becomes clear again.

Lucas is on the ground. He’s clenching his hip as blood dampens his clothes. I start forward, but a hand yanks me back, and throws me to the rocky ground.

“If you don’t finish this, Lucas dies,” Lance threatens.

I push myself to my elbows to find Lucas digging his heels into the dirt, writhing. I shake my head. Lance has just done the unthinkable.

I rush to my feet, grabbing the knife out of my pocket, and storm Lance. “You bastard!” His eyes widen right before I get tackled.

Another gun goes off, and I nudge the body on top of me. Shouts rise up. Lance screams, “Not the girl!”

“Shh,” Stone urges in my ear. “It’s me. He was going to shoot you.” He pecks me on the cheek, grabs the knife from my hand, and stands. He faces his father, staring him down with the contempt that I know has been building for a long time. “You shot Lucas.”

“I didn’t shoot Lucas.”

“Take responsibility for your actions!” Stone growls. “Isn’t that what you’ve been telling me this whole time?” He points to Lucas’ bleeding form. “He’s looked up to you for most of his life, you selfish fuck.”

Lance holds his hand out. They’re spitting images of one another right now. If ever I was looking for their similarities, I can find it when they both lose their tempers.

“Give the word,” the leader grins, gun aimed right at Stone’s chest. I glance at Lucas to find that Wyatt has taken his shirt off and is holding it over the wound. Lucas is pale as fuck.

This can’t be happening. He won’t survive a wound that severe up here. Helplessness consumes my thoughts, threatening to pull me into its deep shadows. I can’t lose him.

“You’ve killed him,” Stone states simply, and my heart breaks at his words, tears threatening my eyes.

I pull myself up, my body feeling like it’s weighed down by the truth of what’s happening right now. I’m sucking in air around choked sobs because it’s too painful to breath. All I wanted was for us to get out of this alive. I close my eyes. I never wanted the treasure this much. Not enough to sacrifice the people I love. But Lance doesn’t have that type of mentality. Fueled by greed, he knows no other way.

“It isn’t worth this,” Stone chokes out, his hand shaking. He keeps stealing glances of his two friends.

“It has to be.”

Stone shakes his head. “You were a father to him.”

The look on Lance’s face never changes. He’s still incredulous, using strategy to answer his son’s allegations—as if he’s just talking about taking over businesses.

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