Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Near San Isidro, Puerto Jardin

Present Day

ZO STAGGERED, the underbrush of the rainforest throwing her off balance. Finn's hand was immediately there to steady her, and she took a second to smile at him before refocusing on the terrain. He was working with his old team again because it was safer to approach Al with backup. Because Finn wanted to protect her and prevent three old men from getting killed. If she hadn't been so exhausted, maybe she could have come up with a plan, one that didn't put her lover at risk. But she was worn out, so tired she could barely function.

She had to keep moving. She had to find the spot where she'd hidden the disk because it might be the leverage Finn needed to get away from Ramos safely.

"Duck," Finn ordered.

Without hesitation, Zo obeyed, dropping into a crouch and freezing in place. "What?" she whispered .

"You nearly walked into that vine." He pointed above her head.

She looked up. The woody vine was as thick as her arm, and it arced across their path, seeming to swoop from one tree to another. Zo hadn't seen it. As she stood, she grabbed the vine to stay on her feet. Trying for nonchalance, she shrugged. "I don't know how I missed it."

Finn closed the distance, standing as near to her as he could get. His hand clasped hers, removing it from the vine. Even with her bleary gaze, she could see him studying her much more intently than he had previously, and he'd been pretty damn thorough when he'd found her. Her eyes nearly crossed as she tried to meet his scrutiny. His scowl told her the tactic hadn't worked. "Did you get any sleep since things went to hell?"

Zo shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Circumstances didn't allow it," she said.

"You shouldn't be out here tramping around the rainforest without getting some rest."

"I know it's dangerous, but there isn't time to sleep. I'll curl up after I find the disk, and you bring me back to camp."

Finn frowned down at her. "There was time for you to catch a nap before we set out."

"No, there wasn't. You know as well as I do that Tio Luis will only be patient so long, and we don't know how Al will react to you showing up instead of me."

"I could bluff about the location of the disk if I needed to."

Zo leaned forward, her nose nearly hitting Finn's chin as she misjudged glaring distance. "And risk pissing off Al if he figures it out? I don't want you in any more danger than you'll already be in. Damn it, Finn, I don't want you to go at all, but it's Tia Izel." She had to blink rapidly to dispel the tears that suddenly welled in her eyes. It didn't matter, Finn saw it and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'll be okay, and I'll make sure Tia Izel is safe, too. Trust me to know what I'm doing."

"I do trust you." She rested her hands on his shoulders. "I want to go with you." She shook her head, cutting him off. "No, I know I can't. I told you I don't want you in danger, and I'm aware Ramos can use me against you the same way he's using Tia Izel against me, but I hate that you're going alone."

"I won't be alone. My team will have my back."

She wanted to tell him that she was his team now, but she didn't. Zo had worried for the past two years that he would miss the excitement of working covert ops, that he'd get bored with her and the Paladin League, and now he was back with his unit, back playing Tom Finley again. They were both going to find out how much he missed the old days. "And to pay BD back for the assist with Tia Izel, you're going to be down here for months helping them."

"It might not take months."

"Don't hedge the truth. I know too much to buy it."

One side of Finn's mouth quirked up in a half-smile. "Yeah. I'll do the best I can to make it quick."

Zo shook her head again. "No, don't take any additional risks by pushing things faster than they want to go. Your priority is staying alive and healthy, understood?"

"I hear you loud and clear, loquita." He brushed his lips over hers but didn't linger. Instead of setting off, though, Finn kept studying her.

"What?"

He shrugged, grimaced, then said, "Once you get back home, stay there. Even after Archer gets this mess in Puerto Jardin cleaned up, I need you to avoid the country. No Paladin League assignments, no coming down to visit San Isidro, no flying in to make sure I'm okay— because you're right. Ramos can use you against me, and I'm sure this op is going to pivot to Torres, too."

"Who's already used me as a pawn."

Finn nodded. "If there's a way you can avoid South America completely until this is done, it would help. Ramos and Torres—especially Torres—have tentacles everywhere. They could grab you in Argentina or Brazil as easily as here."

"They both have connections in the States, too," Zo reminded him. "They could have someone pick me up in Los Angeles."

"They could, but for either of them to make a move like that on US soil, the situation would have to be a hell of a lot hotter than I'll allow it to get."

Zo swallowed a sigh. "You've overplayed your hand before."

"I have a better idea now what will set him off."

It wouldn't matter. Finn would test the line, and sometimes find it wasn't where he expected it to be. The damn thing was that there was nothing Zo could do about it, not without being by his side and putting him in more danger. She swayed, tightened her hold on his shoulders, and said, "I won't go farther south than Panama until you're finished." She perked up. "That should irritate Archer."

Finn smirked. "He'll find a way to turn it to his advantage. He always does. And Panama is closer to Puerto Jardin than I'm comfortable with. How about we say Guatemala?"

"Let's compromise and make it Nicaragua."

Finn scowled for a moment before he nodded. "Deal. Are you up to taking me to the disk?"

With a nod, Zo stepped back. She didn't want to move. What she wanted to do was wrap her arms around Finn and hold him while she slept, but that would take time they didn't have. "Sure, get me back to the tree where you found me, and I'll navigate from there."

As they slogged through the mud, Zo mentally retraced her steps. Even as tired as she'd been, she'd known the only way she'd find the disk again was to memorize everything she could about the location and her path. But she hadn't paid attention after Finn had found her, so it was a damn good thing he remembered where the tree was.

The Disk of the Gods. It made her sick when she thought about turning it over to Al, but she would never let anyone die for an artifact, especially not Finn or Tia Izel.

She couldn't be sure why Ramos wanted the disk, but Zo was reasonably confident that he wouldn't melt it down or sell it. He'd spent three summers shoulder to shoulder with her, searching for it. If it had meant that much to him as a teenager, there was no reason to believe it meant less to him now.

If she could accompany Finn, maybe she could talk to Al and remind him how significant the history of Puerto Jardin had been to his grandfather. Maybe she could convince him not to lock the disk away in a vault, but to donate it to a museum.

Sure, because he's always been an altruist.

Zo slipped going down an incline but caught her balance before Finn's hands curled around her shoulders. He pulled up the rear, softly giving her directions when they needed to shift course. She assumed it meant he was more concerned about someone coming up behind them than what lay in front.

As tempting as it was to ask Finn to do what he could to save the disk, Zo wouldn't do that. She wanted him solely focused on keeping himself and Tia Izel safe—nothing else. God, if anything happened to either one of them, she'd die inside.

Zo tried to concentrate on the rainforest, but her lack of sleep was making it difficult to focus for more than a moment or two. She didn't want to think about how much trouble she'd be in right now if Finn hadn't located her .

"Whoa!" Finn's hands caught her shoulders, stopping her in her tracks. "We're at the tree where I found you."

Blinking hard, Zo tried to clear the bleariness from her eyes. It didn't help. This place looked the same as the rest of the rainforest. Taking a deep breath, she turned around, trying to get her bearings. It took two revolutions before she spotted the fallen tree off in the distance. "That way," she said, pointing toward it.

They hopscotched through the rainforest, moving landmark to landmark. Despite her exhaustion, they only had to backtrack once, and Zo was feeling pretty damn good even though the rain had resumed.

"Slow down, loquita," Finn said, catching her hand.

She stopped and turned to him. "You heard something?"

Finn shook his head. "No, but we're getting closer to the Huarona city than I like, especially since you told me Ramos already had it staked out."

Biting her lower lip, she nodded. "I didn't think I was near the ruins when I hid the disk."

"We're not on top of the city," he explained quietly, "but we're within a perimeter that Ramos' men might be patrolling. We'll have to be more cautious."

They weren't exactly moving at a lightning pace already because her brain took extra time to remember the next landmark and because her eyes took a while to pick it out, but she nodded. She'd reached a point where she didn't care if they ever found the disk as long as she could sleep. Blinking hard a few times to clear her vision, she identified where they needed to go, and Zo crept forward.

And promptly swayed, barely catching her balance.

"We can take ten minutes to rest, you know."

Zo shook her head. "If I sit down, I'll be out for ten hours, not ten minutes. Let's just get through this. Then I'll collapse."

Finn didn't like that answer, but he didn't argue with her.

They reached the tree roots that looked like a scorpion. The trunk had been taken down at some point, and a ribbon-like twisted thing had come out, curling up behind the roots like a scorpion's stinger. Zo paused, trying to recall which way to go from here.

Her brain refused to give up the answer, and she shook her head, trying to wake up.

"It's okay," Finn said quietly. "Don't put pressure on yourself. Take your time and run through your steps in your mind."

She smiled at him—no wonder she'd fallen so hard for his man. Taking a deep breath, Zo tried to relax. She'd come upon the scorpion-like roots from the side, which was why she'd noticed its appearance. The tail had been on her left. She shifted, moving until the wavy ribbon was in the position she remembered before turning 180 degrees. "This way," she said.

He followed without questioning her.

There were so many things that were special about Finn, but this was one of the big ones. He trusted her.

Damn, she didn't want to leave him behind in Puerto Jardin. She'd promised to have his back, and even with his former teammates at hand, it didn't feel right. Zo had given him her word.

She didn't see the sapling lying across her path until she fell over it. There was zero time to catch her balance, and she went down hard, landing on a fallen tree branch. It knocked the wind out of her, and Zo struggled to get a breath.

"Are you okay?" Finn demanded, crouching beside her.

Zo tried to assure him, but she didn't have enough oxygen. She raised her hand and gave him a thumbs up. He didn't look convinced.

"What hurts? Can you move?"

Of course, she could move. Zo struggled to reach her hands and knees, wheezing all the way. Finn stood abruptly and pulled her to her feet, hoisting her on his shoulder. The world spun wildly, and she lost what little breath she'd managed to capture. He didn't give her time to acclimate, and she grabbed his waist to steady herself.

"Going somewhere, se?or?" the man asked in heavily accented English.

Finn froze, and Zo raised her head. She had a glimpse of two big guns before her lover slowly turned to face the men. "My wife needs medical attention," he said in Spanish.

"You can inform Se?or Ramos when you speak to him."