Page 56 of Wicked Intention

He stared at her for a long moment. “When Archer hiredme,” Finn said conversationally, “I wondered if he’d done it to make you happy. Then we went on an assignment together, and I saw firsthand how fucking reckless you could be.”

Oh, yeah, he was beyond enraged. He had to be to sayfuckin front of her for a second time in minutes. “I’m not reckless,” Zo disagreed. “I would never risk your life by doing something stupid.” She reached up with her free hand and ran her fingers down his jaw. The muscles there were tense.

“My life, no, but you’d risk your own.” He shook his head. “We’ll argue about this later. We need to move.” Finn paused. “Are you hurt? I saw you slip a few times going down the tree.”

His concern let her take a deep breath. “Maybe a scrape or two, nothing more.”

He frowned. “We’ll get some antiseptic on any cuts the next time we stop. We can’t chance anything becoming infected.”

When Finn tugged on her hand, she fell into step with him. They walked quietly for a while before Zo asked, “What happened to your hair?”

“You don’t like it?”

It was her turn to scowl. “The only time I’ve seen it this short was when you first showed up in LA. Why’d you cut it?”

For a few moments, he remained silent. “It’s my disguise.”

Zo mulled it over. It was glib, but there was truth beneath it. “Disguise so the police and Puerto Jardinese military wouldn’t immediately recognize you, am I right?”

“Yeah. You’ve got them on your tail, too, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” she said, mimicking his easy response. “Al must have bribed someone to flag us in the government computer system.”

“He went higher than that.” Finn looked down at her, his green eyes intense. “The presidential brigade was waiting for me at customs.”

She considered it for a moment, and then the ramificationssank in. Ramos had gone high up the ladder, maybe even to the president himself. “How’d you avoid getting arrested?”

“I didn’t.”

Her gaze sharpened, but she couldn’t read his face. Finn wouldn’t have been able to bribe his way out, not from the presidential brigade. That left one option. He’d escaped. “So we have three groups after us—the police, Al’s men, and Puerto Jardinese Special Forces, most of whom have trained in the US.”

Finn nodded. “I’m most concerned about Ramos. Why does he want the disk so badly?”

“Al and I spent three summers searching the ruins looking for it when he was my babysitter. Our plan was to give it to his grandfather. Señor Ramos always spoke of the disk with reverence.”

“Isn’t his grandfather dead?”

“Yes, he passed away years ago. Al was close to him and might want to continue his legacy.”

“Might?” Finn asked.

“There could be another explanation.” The hair on her nape prickled. Zo glanced around, trying to pick up what made her uneasy.

“And that is?” Finn prompted when she didn’t continue.

“According to legend, the disk is the key to the world of the gods.” Reluctantly, she expanded the explanation, telling Finn about the rectangle carved in the side of the mountain at the second Huarona site, and about the circular cutout inside the rectangle. “As the tale goes, placing this disk in that circle will open a portal, stargate, wormhole, whatever you want to call it to another dimension.”

Finn didn’t say anything.

“It’s ridiculous, of course,” Zo said quickly, not wanting him to give her the same disappointed look she always got from her parents, “but there are some drug lords heavily intooccult practices. As far as I know, Al isn’t one of them, but if his men believe, he might think possessing the disk would convey some kind of power to him in their eyes.”

A sense of being watched filled Zo, and she edged closer to Finn. When she felt his tension, she realized it wasn’t only her imagination. Something was going on. She looked around, trying to see what he was picking up, but nothing seemed out of place, and Ramos’ men weren’t visible or audible to her. “Finn?” she whispered.

“Hush, loquita.” His voice was as quiet as hers had been.

Zo dug deep, trying to find a well of energy she could use if Finn needed her to run. Instead of going faster, though, he slowed, moving soundlessly. She tried to emulate him, but she didn’t have years of training, and no matter how careful she tried to be, she wasn’t silent.

A squeeze of her hand was the only warning Finn gave her before abruptly changing direction. Her stomach knotted up when he released her. There was a threat close by.

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