Page 152 of Her Reluctant Hero
Chapter Twelve
After more than an hour of searching and finding no sign of anyone, not even the sat phone, Adrian called a halt to the search. The uncertainty of not knowing about the rest of their crew weighed heavily in Mallory’s stomach. They wouldn’t have left the professor. She was certain of that. So where were they?
They stopped outside of Dr. Vigil’s tent. Adrian stared at the opening, his jaw working. “We need to bury him.”
Resistance tightened her body. “Here? In the middle of nowhere? No, we have to take him home.”
“We can’t do that. We can’t even get out of here ourselves, with no boat and the roads turned to mush. Leaving him just wrapped in a blanket—it’s not right.”
She took a step back, hugging herself as if that would steady her stomach. “He’ll be alone.”
“He doesn’t have any family to visit him, not anymore. We’re all he had. Besides, he liked it here. And he won’t know the difference. Don’t make this harder than it is, Mal.”
She gathered herself with a deep shuddering breath, looking out over the dunes, tears running down her face. She turned and nodded. “Let me help you.”
They managed to get the professor buried by the cliffs, the physical difficulty allowing them to mask their grief. When they were done, aching and sweaty and sad, Adrian went for a swim, to get the smell of death off his skin. He wasn’t supposed to get his stitches wet, but after burying the professor in the rain and hiking through the jungle, well, it no longer mattered. Mallory, sweaty from digging in the packed sand, considered joining him, went as far as following him to the beach but Adrian apparently wanted to be alone.
So she sat in the sand and watched him, sifting the grains through her fingers. He had to be hurting as much as she was. Of course he couldn’t share that with her. Not only was Adrian mourning the loss of his best friend, his brother was missing, his boat was gone, along with his way to get to the ship.
Adrian emerged from the ocean, his clothes plastered to him. He scooped up his boots and socks from the edge of the water and walked over, then plopped down on the sand beside her, his gaze on the ocean.
“Aren’t you going in?”
She shook her head. “Adrian, we have to find the others.”
“I know.” A muscle in his jaw jumped as he laced his shoes. He scrubbed a hand over his hair and looked at her. “But frankly, I don’t think I can stand to smell you if you don’t.” He lifted his own drenched T-shirt to his nose and grimaced. “For all the good it does. I need my pack.” He pushed to his feet. “I’ll bring yours too.”
Mallory dropped her head to her arms after he disappeared over the dunes. Why would she have thought he’d change, that he’d open up to her? Emotionally unavailable as always.
And she was emotionally involved again.
He returned and tossed her pack onto the sand beside her. He stripped off his wet shirt and let it fall to the ground. For the first time since she’d returned to the peninsula, the sight of his bare skin didn’t affect her. She was too numb. She stood and walked into the water herself, hoping the water would wash away her sorrow.
She dove under the water, floated on the waves, let them carry her under the overcast sky, timeless. Only instead of washing the memories away, it opened her up so they all to come crashing back. Dr. Vigil had been part of her family as long as she could remember, her father’s best friend. He’d gone on every dig with her family, all through the Andes, indulging her curiosity, enduring her jokes. She had chosen symbology at his encouragement, and he’d helped her study to get into the University of Texas.
Then Adrian had joined their team one summer. With his own rocky relationship with his father fresh in his mind, he’d latched on to Dr. Vigil as well. Dr. Vigil had loved it, loved how the young people had included him in their lives. After her parents died, he’d joined their crew and helped them buy their first boat since he didn’t have kids of his own.
When she’d walked away from Adrian, Dr. Vigil had stayed, and she’d lost him as well as her husband.
Now Adrian was back in her life and Dr. Vigil was gone forever.
Eating a dinner of Spam in the rear of the truck, cross-legged on top of the sleeping bags in close confines, brought back memories of other digs and almost let Mallory forget that they’d buried the professor next to the cliff a few hours ago, that they didn’t know where their friends were.
She set aside her sandwich and sighed. “Have you got a bottle of Scotch under the front seat?” Anything to kill the taste of the meat.
Adrian shook his head mournfully. “I didn’t think to replenish my stock after the storm. I wish to hell I had.” His hand went to his breast pocket. “Didn’t bring any more beef jerky, either.” He pulled out the pack of Toney’s cigarettes, bounced it in his hand but didn’t take one out.
She watched the familiar motions. “When did you give up smoking?” Maybe if she didn’t think about the texture of the meat product, she could swallow it better.
He set the pack on the wheel well and stared at it. “A few months ago.”
“Why?”
He jerked his thumb toward the cliff. “The prof was diagnosed with throat cancer, and he’d given up smoking years ago. I thought maybe I’m too late, but why risk it?”
“Dr. Vigil had cancer?” The food stuck in her throat, which convulsed as she tried to breathe. That explained why he might kill himself. Mallory wondered at the relief that rushed through her. He’d had a compelling reason, but why now, why here? If his illness had been that bad, she would have seen signs of it. “What was he doing out here?”
He slanted a look at her. “Looking for a ship.” Like it was obvious.
