Chapter Twelve
Hale woke, holding a naked Elin in his arms. His internal alarm clock had woken him. As a SEAL, he’d learned to fall asleep fast and anywhere, and to ‘set’ himself to wake in a few hours. It was a skill that still proved useful.
The sun would just be rising, so Dec and the others would be getting ready to head their way. Just a couple more hours and their rescue would arrive.
He breathed deep, holding her tight. Once again, he’d slept soundly with Elin wrapped around him. She was his shield against the nightmares.
She could be hard and tough, and so damn smart, but under his hands, she could be soft, as well. He couldn’t believe that her idiot ex had let her go. His hold tightened. The guy’s loss was Hale’s gain.
Mine now. He stroked his hand down her smooth skin. Mine.
Damn. For the first time ever, Hale wanted to keep a woman. He waited to see if he’d break out in his usual sweat, or for his pulse to start racing. Nope, nothing. Just a warm glow inside him, and a knowledge that he wanted Elin in his life. He realized he’d been letting the horrors of his past keep him from letting people too close. He’d been using his pain as a barrier between him and the world.
He knew it hurt to lose the people you loved, so he’d not let anyone close. Now, his next challenge was convincing the woman herself to give them a chance.
He was a smart guy. He was up for the challenge. But first, they had a treasure to find and a mission to finish.
Noises. Hale tensed and turned his head. Faint echoes.
Fuck. It was voices.
“Elin,” he murmured, shaking her.
“Hmm.” She stretched against him, turning her head to press a kiss to his chest.
“Someone’s coming,” he said.
She snapped awake, her eyes clearing of sleep. She cocked her head, and he watched her stiffen as she heard the sounds.
She leaped to her feet and searched for her clothes. “Do you think it’s our team?”
Hale had learned to listen to his instincts. “It’s too early. They’ll be here in another hour or two. Besides, we wouldn’t hear Dec coming. My guess is its Drift and his buddies.”
“Silk Road never gives up.” She buttoned her trousers. “Damn, I can’t find my T-shirt.”
Hale quickly pulled on his trousers. “Grab one of mine. Quick.”
She pulled one of his T-shirts out of his bag, and yanked it on. It was too big, but she knotted the bottom and then pulled her loose khaki top over the top and buttoned it. As he shoved the rest of their things back into their packs and rolled up their sleeping bags, he watched her tuck her shirt into her trousers.
He was sorry to see all Elin’s sexy curves covered, and her FBI agent demeanor back in place. Once this was over, he promised he’d take his time with her. Explore every inch of her—touch her with his hands, his tongue, everything.
He handed her a backpack. “Come on, we need to get into the tunnel before they block our only exit out of here.”
As they moved out of the cave house, he realized he could see a golden light ahead.
“What the hell?” Elin breathed.
They reached the doorway. The entire cavern was lit with golden light.
“How is there light?” She arched her head, looking toward the soaring ceiling above.
Hale looked up at the arched roof. “I’m not sure. I can see some gold panels up there. My guess is they have some sort of lighting system.” Excitement rushed through him. He’d kill to know what ingenious methods the ancient miners had developed. “Maybe using reflected light from the surface? I’d need to see it up close to know for sure.”
She flashed him a quick smile. “I like when your geek side shows.”
Another echo of voices and they both stiffened. “Come on. Let’s get back to the tunnel.”
They crept through the cavern. As they neared the tunnel, the voices got louder. Shit. They were close.
Hale heard a distinctive, deep voice. Drift.
“Find them.” The man’s voice echoed off the walls. “I want the Seal of Solomon, and I want the spies dead. Kill them.”
Hale grabbed Elin’s arm and pulled her back into the cavern. He skirted the water. “We need to find another way out of here.”
“There’s no other way out. We looked.”
“There must be something.” He looked around the underground paradise. “We need to find the Seal of Solomon before Drift. And no way am I planning to die today.”
They moved along the walls, searching. Suddenly, Elin paused. “I feel airflow.”
He moved up beside her, and felt the faint brush of air on his skin. “I feel it, too.” He pushed aside some of the mossy vines. Solid rock lay behind them.
On the other side of the cavern, he heard the Silk Road team enter from the tunnel.
Adrenaline charged through him. Any second now, they’d spot Hale and Elin.
“No joints or openings,” she murmured, running her hands over the rock.
Dammit. He pressed his hands against the rock. That air had to be coming from somewhere.
Suddenly, rock moved beneath his hands. A small square of rock depressed inward, and Hale stepped back.
“Elin?”
“I see it. Maybe it’s a—”
A second later, the floor beneath them fell away. Hale fell down a small set of steps, Elin tumbling right behind him and ramming into his back.
He looked up…just in time to see the rock trap door above sliding closed, locking them in impenetrable darkness.
***
Elin fumbled around in her backpack and found the flashlight Hale had given her. She flicked it on.
They were in a narrow tunnel. The walls had more carvings on them, and in this tunnel, the beautiful, multicolored paint had been preserved. The vibrant colors were stunning.
They both stood, and Elin dusted off her trousers. She walked over to the closest wall, her gaze on the images.
“Okay, Layne would give her firstborn child to see this,” Hale said.
Elin shone the light around. “Hopefully, she’ll get the chance, without giving away any of her children.”
“We have to get out of here, first.”
She heard the word he didn’t say. Alive. They had to get out of there alive.
Well, she sure wasn’t letting Silk Road kill them. Her gaze skated across the images, then moved back and zeroed in on one. “Hale, what does that look like to you?”
He moved up beside her. “Hell. A ring.”
The image showed a man in golden robes with a long beard holding a small object above his head. It was a bulky ring with a large stone in the center. The stone was set in the middle of a star.
They walked down the tunnel, Elin staring at each image.
A ship braving a wild sea.
A convoy crossing desert sands.
A long mountain rising up out of the desert.
Another man holding the ring and standing in a circular room.
A statue of a king, with a pedestal at his feet. Resting on it was the ring.
Elin couldn’t help but feel like it was almost a hallway in some grand palace, instead of a tunnel in the bowels of an ancient mine.
They reached the archway at the end, and stepped into a large room.
It was circular. There were more carvings along these walls, along with several statues, as well. She sucked in a breath. It was just like the room inscribed on the tunnel wall.
There were five statues, each one made of gold. Kings and gods, if she had to guess. One looked Egyptian, a few weren’t familiar, and one was a bearded, robed king.
God, these statues alone would be invaluable.
“This looks like Solomon,” Hale said.
She strode across the room, stopping at the foot of the statue. It was Solomon. Even carved in gold, he looked regal and wise. Flanking him, beautiful images were etched into the walls.
“That’s his famous temple,” Hale said, pointing to the picture on the left. “And that looks like the Ark of the Covenant sitting on the steps leading in.”
Elin traced her fingers over another set of images on the right of the statue. “This is the well-known scene with the Queen of Sheba.” A woman in a flowing dress had just swept into Solomon’s court.
“His supposed lover?” Hale said.
“So the legends say.”
But it was the stone pedestal in front of the statue that drew her attention.
She drew in a breath. Resting on the center of the pedestal was a chunky gold ring, with a golden star in the center, set with a large, uncut diamond.
It wasn’t pretty. Elin circled the pedestal, taking in the ring from all angles. “Too big for a female’s hand.”
“But perfect for a king’s,” Hale said. “You think it really holds incredible knowledge?”
“No.” Her hand hovered over the ring for a second, remembering the booby traps back in the shaft.
Taking a bracing breath, she gently picked the ring up.
No boulders rolled out of the wall, and no vats of molten lava poured over them. She shook her head at her fanciful thinking, and looked at the ring. It was surprisingly heavy, and she wondered if King Solomon had been the last person to wear it.
Suddenly, they heard noises. The scrape of stone, thumping, and the muffled sound of voices.
“Fuck,” Hale snapped. “How did they find us?”
Elin stared back at the tunnel. It was the only way out. “We’re cornered.” Her gaze met his.
“We fight,” he said.
She nodded. “Here.” She shoved the ring at Hale. “Protect it.” She then pulled out her stolen Beretta. There wasn’t much ammunition left.
She saw the first Silk Road man enter the treasure room. She shifted to use one of the statues as cover, braced herself, and lifted the weapon. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hale step behind the statue of King Solomon, his big body tensed and waiting.
Elin took a shot and one man went down with a cry.
Others rushed in, and gunfire lit up the space.
Dammit, Elin wanted more time with Hale. She fired again, catching another man in the shoulder. More of Hale and his warmth, charm, and sexy body.
But as the Silk Road people rushed forward, Drift’s shouts egging them on, she realized that they were trapped deep underground, with no way out. Their rescue would arrive soon…but they were going to be too late.
Her handgun clicked on empty. A big Silk Road man rushed at her and she threw the gun at him. The butt hit him in the face and he roared.
Another came at her, and she raised her hands. She swung to the side, landed a punch to the woman’s gut, and spun away, bouncing on her feet.
Elin kept fighting, landing a solid kick to one man and a chop to another. She saw Hale charge forward. With several hard, mean moves, he took down two men. He had a tough, unforgiving style of hand-to-hand fighting.
More gunfire, and Elin ducked.
She saw Hale dive and roll across the floor. Damn, was he hit?
She landed a vicious front kick to a woman in front of her, fighting her way toward Hale. A punch slammed into her side, and she staggered back, half spinning.
Hale’s startled shout reached her ears. No. She ducked low, and landed a hard, uppercut punch into a man’s nose. Blood sprayed, and he rocked backward.
She spun. Was Hale okay?
Elin froze. Hale was…gone.
She searched the room. He wasn’t where he’d been standing by the statue. He wasn’t anywhere.
Another shot whizzed past her, and she dived to the floor. She crawled across the ground, heading toward where she’d last seen Hale. Where the hell had he gone?
Suddenly, two guards rushed at her. She kicked out at one and watched him tumble. She rolled up, getting ready to run.
A blow slammed into the back of her head.
Seeing stars, she staggered, landing on her hands and knees. Someone grabbed her arms, wrenching them behind her back hard enough to hurt. She cried out.
John Drift stepped in front of her, his face set like stone. “Hello again, Agent Alexander.”