Page 69 of Dangerous Mission
Soft never got me anywhere in fucking life.
I would scrub my hand over my face if it weren’t for all the dive gear. Before I do something else that my brain isn’tonboard with, I motion toward the cave and sign to her:five minutes to go.
She nods and starts swimming.
I stay as close as humanly possible without affecting her kicks.
It’s the longest damn five minutes of my life. Probably hers too.
We break the surface of the water at the mouth of the cave to find the clouds darkening and a dozen people waiting on us. Rory, Justice, and Agent Torres step forward to help us out of the water.
Aria goes ahead of me, and quickly walks to the tent without looking at the other group of men. Her avoidance makes me even more concerned.
Rory offers to take our tanks, but I turn him down. “No thanks.”
Instead, I move to corner Justice so we can speak alone.
“What’s going on with those guys?”
“Agent Torres is trying to get to the bottom of it. I guess you encountered the one that came into the cave.”
“Yeah, we did. Keith is his first name, apparently he worked with Aria.” As I pull one arm of my wetsuit off, I drop my voice. “Idiot. But that’s only part of the problem. I need you to go up onto the mountain. Take one of Torres’s agents with you. There’s a natural opening at the top of the cavern. It might be hard to find, but you need to see if there are any signs of a struggle or anything weird there. We saw a harness and rope that were dropped into the cave.”
Justice’s brows go up, he pulls out his phone. “On it.”
I brush water out of my hair. “By the way, the cavern walls are covered with ancient art. I need to speak with the professor about this cave system to get some additional details.”
Justice scans the hillside. “So it fits that MZ would be interested in this place given that she’s in the country to research archeological sites.”
“It adds up. But I’m not sure what to make with the harness and rope. I’d help you look, but I’m getting Aria out of here. There’s nothing else for her to do here, we’re not diving any more today, and I’ve got a bad feeling about the asshole who came in there. He’s got a fucked up attitude. Do you know anything about him?”
“Yeah, he works for a guy named Adam Hill who owns the other dive company.” Justice narrows his eyes on the group of men standing by the cave entrance. “I can dig if you want.”
“I want you to turn every stone. Also, find out if Marshall or Beast contacted them. I want to know how the other company knew to come here. And look…” I turn my back so no one can see my face, or more specifically so they can’t read my lips. “I need you to find out what you can about Rory.”
Forehead tensing, his next question is immediate. “Something happen?”
“Aria had an issue with her gear during the dive. Rory handled the equipment. When it comes to her safety, I’m not trusting anyone.”
“Fuck, right,” he grumbles under his breath. Then his face goes hard as he watches Rory across the opening. “Rory and all of Vik’s teams are probably ghosts, but you know that. I’ll do what I can. What about that guy Brundage, didn’t he handle her gear?”
I swivel my head to look at Justice as I push my wetsuit down to my waist with my mind spinning up. “Shit, I forgot about Brundage.”
“He was all over their gear.”
“You’re right.” Nerves crackling, I curse the fact that Aria’s having such an effect on me. I can’t even keep all the moving pieces together.
That’s dangerous.
“I’m taking the equipment with me and keeping it under lock and key. I want to get her away from this shitshow before Keith-whoever-the-fuck he is gets back on dry land. You and Rory will need to get another ride, I don't want anyone near her.”
“Copy that.” He tilts his head, even more concern etching his usually relaxed face. “You good?”
No. I haven’t been good since that plane crashed last night. But that’s my fucking problem. I’ve got a job to do.
And now my job includes keeping Aria safe on top of fulfilling our team’s mission to find the missing woman.
“Good ‘nough.” I grab the gear off the ground and turn to walk away.
