Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One

Near San Isidro, Puerto Jardin

Present Day

FINN DIDN'T LIKE the setup. He and Zo were back in the rainforest with six of Ramos' men, and unlike the duo who'd found them earlier, these guys were pros. Probably ex-military. The one who worried him most was Vargas. His demeanor suggested he'd done more than a few hits in his time, and there was nothing to prevent him from performing two more assassinations after Zo brought them to the disk.

They had her separated from him. When he'd been leading the way, he'd been in front with Zo trailing him by a good twenty feet. Now that she'd taken over as guide, he was held back, and Vargas was behind him, a position that had Finn feeling twitchy as fuck.

That was the tip of the iceberg. The ground was sloppy, and drops of rain continued to drip from the tree leaves high above them, remnants of an earlier shower. It was late afternoon, and the sun was low in the sky. Then there was Zo. Before they'd left the estate, she'd had nearly an entire pot of coffee, but the effects hadn't lasted long, and she was flagging. He wasn't sure how much longer she could push herself.

For a while, he'd hoped they'd get lucky and pick up his team since they were patrolling. There'd been no way, though, to get close enough to their camp to guarantee that. Not when it would look suspicious as hell when they reached the tree, and its location didn't justify the path he'd taken. Luck hadn't been on his side.

Without backup, he had two options—let Zo find the disk or escape.

He wasn't sure which choice he hated more.

Their guards were already tense. Zo's hesitancy on which way to go was keying them up. Their demeanors gave nothing away, but every time his loquita paused to figure out the next direction to head, their agitation increased.

He no sooner had the thought when Zo stopped and looked around, confusion obvious on her face. She might have memorized a series of landmarks to find the disk again, but her fatigue was affecting her recall ability, and she wasn't used to any kind of wilderness, let alone the rainforest.

Vargas sidled next to him. "If this is some game," he warned softly, "it will not go well for either of you."

"Dude," Finn said, maintaining Tom Finley's swagger, "she's a city girl. Give her a chance to figure out her signposts."

Vargas grunted, but he did drop back into position behind Finn.

They'd spoken quietly, and Zo was far enough ahead that she was unaware of the exchange. It was a good thing. She didn't need additional pressure. It took her another moment to angle to the left, and their group resumed moving.

Attempting an escape was like a fifteen on the risk scale. There was no scenario he'd come up with that gave them even a ten percent chance of success. He'd never reach Zo before someone grabbed her. Or shot him. And taking off on his own and hoping she'd follow was a non-starter. She was too exhausted.

Then there was Ramos' ace in the hole. Tia Izel remained on his compound.

He watched Zo move through the rainforest. Her usual grace was gone, but it was a miracle she was upright at this point. Her braid hung down her back, caked with mud, and on the occasions when she turned enough, Finn could see she had a thinner coat of dirt on her face. Damn, she was a mess. His mess.

How did he protect her? How the fucking hell did he keep her safe?

Finding the disk—if she could locate it again—might be a death sentence. Vargas was along on this jaunt, and Finn didn't trust him for a second. The man took orders from Ramos and obeyed them.

Ramos, yeah. He was the wildcard that made risk calculation doubly difficult.

As they went around a curve, Zo tripped and started to fall. Finn took a step forward, but one of their escorts caught her before she hit the ground. At the same moment, Vargas pressed the barrel of his weapon into Finn's back. The message was clear. Stay put.

Finn stayed.

Ramos was known for his violence compared to other drug lords, and that said a lot. The odds were he had ordered them to be killed once his men had the disk. But…

But the history he shared with Zo and their mutual love of his grandfather made the drug lord more unpredictable than usual. For all their antagonism, they definitely had a relationship of a sort. Yeah, she was leery of Ramos and claimed he terrified her, but she didn't act as if she were that frightened. While she never openly challenged him, there was a level of trust that came from him taking care of her when she'd been a kid.

As for Ramos, he had warmth in his eyes when he looked at Zo. Not romantic. Finn would have identified that immediately if it had been there, but there was an affection he'd label brotherly. So had Ramos ordered their deaths, or did he care enough about her to keep them alive once she led his men to the disk?

Finn didn't know and couldn't guess.

Which brought him back around to trying to escape. He'd been watching the team escorting them, and they hadn't made any mistakes. Even if he could come up with some kind of scenario that gave them a fifty-fifty chance of success, it was unlikely there'd be an opportunity to implement it.

Without warning, Zo stopped short. The feeling of agitation skyrocketed, and Finn tensed, ready to leap to her defense.

"We need to go back to the previous landmark," she said.

"What?" the man nearest her asked coldly. "Why?"

Zo's smile was weak. "I went the wrong way at the boulder. We should have headed to the right."

No one responded for a moment. Then Vargas said, "Se?ora Finley, if you think stalling until it's dark will stop us from retrieving the item, you are wrong. Even if we have to use flashlights, we will continue the search. Understand?"

"Sí," Zo said, nodding her head. "Everything looks so much the same out here."

Finn felt the man's anger. "City girl," he said under his breath, but he knew Vargas heard. It was enough to defuse the situation for now, but Zo could make another error, and things might go to shit fast.

His brain ran scenarios again, but the answers didn't change. Dread settled low in his belly. They couldn't escape. The best he could hope for was that if— when —Zo found the disk, he'd be close enough to her to prevent Ramos' men from putting a bullet in her head.

He didn't like those odds either.

In his years in the military, he'd never faced a no-win situation before, but he was square in the middle of one now. With Zo. Nothing and no one was more important to him than Zofia Parker. She was as necessary to him as the air he breathed, and Finn couldn't envision his life without her in it. Watching them kill her—

He cut the thought off. Going down this road was a good way to miss an opportunity…if one presented itself. Maybe they'd be distracted by the gold disk.

What had he told Griff? That going undercover was about improvisation? Now he wanted a solid plan that would get Zo out of here with minimal danger. A plan that would get Tia Izel off Ramos' compound and back to her home.

But he wasn't going to get that. His actions would depend on what the men with them did, on the terrain, on the way the vegetation grew, or even an animal or bird providing a distraction beyond the artifact. Fuck, everything had been easier before he'd met Zo. Before she'd taken him down for the count.

Easier, but also emptier.

Yeah.

When they reached the disk, he'd find a way to get to Zo. He'd find a way to run with her into the rainforest. They'd reach his team, and there'd be backup.

Finn's brain continued to spin options when he noticed that Zo's pace had slackened. The men around him were growing impatient with her, and while that could lead to an error, it could also lead to trouble. He tensed, ready to intercede if they made a move toward her.

It took a moment for him to realize his loquita wasn't confused; she was carefully examining the area. They were close, and time was running out.

The terrain here wasn't going to give him an edge. There wasn't much ground vegetation to offer cover, and the wet leaves covering the forest floor would make it harder to get traction on the soft soil. Zo had probably picked it because it was open, and there were two small trees with their trunks growing in an X that worked as a landmark for her, but for what Finn needed, it sucked.

Sure enough, she slowed even more.

The man nearest to her ordered, "Move faster!"

Zo stopped. "If I do, I'll miss the spot. It's here. Somewhere."

Great . Finn fought off a grimace. Now, these assholes knew to be ready, too. And sure enough, Ramos' men repositioned themselves, another dropping back to join Vargas behind him.

She resumed the snail's pace, her head turning this way and that as she searched for whatever. He knew when she found it. Zo lunged forward before being stopped abruptly by the man closest to her.

The two men grabbed his arms, twisting them up behind his back to prevent Finn from moving. He tested the hold, but they twisted harder, stopping him.

"Where are you going, Se?ora Finley?" Vargas called from behind him.

"There." She pointed to a fallen tree that partially hung above a rock the size of a large grapefruit. It was the perfect weight to bash heads.

Or the right size to hide a golden artifact.

"Carlos," Vargas ordered.

The man kicked the rock aside and smiled. He bent down.

It was twilight, not far from dusk, but the Disk of the Gods seemed to catch the light, and the face in the center glowed eerily. Then it winked out. Finn tensed, preparing to free himself from his captors even if it hurt like a son of a bitch, but a pistol against his temple made him freeze.

"Do not move, Se?or Finley," Vargas said. "My orders are to keep you and your wife alive, but I can hurt her without killing her. If you cause trouble, that is exactly what I'll do."