“Well, we’re far from domestic. Grandchildren of pirates and treasure hunters that we are.” She took his hand, and as always, Stephen had the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless. Instead, he squeezed her hand, and after a moment, released it.
“You’re dressed like a young boy,” he said, when she gave him an inquisitive glance. “I don’t want to elicit comment.”
They continued down the beach, by unspoken consent heading for the more remote, craggy areas. “I thought perhaps you’d tired of me,” she finally said, her voice barely audible in the breeze.
“Hardly.” His tone was world-weary, urbane. “I give you at least another week. Perhaps two.”
She made a sound like a small cry, and when he looked at her, he saw the quick flash of pain. And then she caught him looking, and her demeanor changed. He saw the veil descend, saw the icy expression settle into place.
He hid a smile. Soon, she’d be asking—no, begging—him to marry her.
“Let’s climb up a bit,” she suggested after another quarter mile. She pointed to a crop of granite rocks rising out of the shoreline a few yards away. “It will be dark in a few minutes. Let’s use the last of the light to climb up and decide where to search tomorrow.”
The rocks were worn smooth by wind and water, but that did not make the climb any easier. Josie had good balance and a lithe step, but he still had to assist her at some of the more treacherous spots. Finally, they reached the top and, panting, looked out over the violet water.
The first stars sprinkled the sky, and the sun was an orange paper lantern. “It’s beautiful,” Josie said. “Just beautiful.”
Westman was looking at her, her skin bathed in the vibrant light, and thinking the same thing.
And then he heard a crack, and there was a flash of pain in his calf.
He stared down, saw the trickle of blood seeping through his ripped trousers, and his gaze met Josie’s wide-eyed green eyes.
“Get down!”
They fell in a tangle of arms and legs. But even flat on the ground, there was nowhere to hide. They were on the highest point for miles, and around them was nothing but hard, unyielding granite. The sea was on one side and the perilous climb down on the other. No trees, no bushes, just rocks and sparse grass.
They were the perfect targets.
Chapter Nineteen
Josie landed on a rock and her shoulder exploded with pain. But she hadn’t been shot. That was the most important thing.
“Stephen,” she croaked when she could force air back into her lungs. “Are you badly hurt? You’re bleeding.”
“A nick, that’s all,” he answered. He was practically on top of her, shielding her with his body. He was always trying to protect her—an annoying habit until right now, when she really needed it.
She heard another crash from the area of the beach where they had come from, and a shot whizzed over their heads. “That was close!” she screamed, and Stephen pulled her against him.
“We have to get down from here. We’re sitting targets.”
Of course, they were, she thought. She knew this treasure was bad luck. Being shot at was probably only one of the trials they’d endure.
Josie glanced around. All about them was smooth granite and soft grass. Then she spotted the opening. “There.” She pointed to the fissure in the rock. “We can climb down there.”
“And if they climb up after us?” Westman shot back, but he was already moving toward the slice in the rock.
“One problem at a time,” Josie told him. “I solved this one. You take the next.”
“So nice of you to share.”
His body disappeared over the wall of rock. Another shot whizzed by, this one closer. “Josie, get down here!”
She pulled herself along the ground until she was at the edge of the rock, and then she looked down. Her head swam and spun so violently she thought she would be ill. The drop was twenty feet or more, straight down into the churning water and jagged rocks below.
Oh, no. She was not going that way. Anything but that. She’d face pistols before diving over the cliffs into the water.
She began to inch back, feeling the imaginary bite of the bullet in the small of her back. It would be a piercing pain, she knew, and then she’d lie here, her blood draining away until the men found her and finished her off.