"Did you two fight again?" he barks.
"Nope."
He scowls, shakes his head, and leaves.
"What happened?" Vanessa asks.
"Nothing. I apologized. She's not very forgiving though."
Vanessa's lips twitch. "Yep. Zoe got her wrath from what I could tell."
"You'd be correct and incorrect about that. Zoe did a lot of crazy stuff and liked to do things she knew would upset Julieta," Penelope chimes in.
"Oh. Guess I missed all the fun since I was only there a week." Vanessa admits with sarcasm.
"That you did," Penelope states.
"You leaving?" I ask Axel.
"Yep. See you on the other side."
"Will do." We fist bump and they leave the tent.
"Anything else you want to take from our luxury suite?" I tease Vanessa.
She laughs. "Gee, where should I start? There are so many items to choose from!"
I pick up a blanket no one took and fold it. "You're going to love me for grabbing this."
Vanessa's face falls.
An uncomfortable silence fills the air. I concentrate on rolling the blanket up so it'll fit in my backpack. It won't, so I pull out one of my waterproof bags and stick it in that, then latch it to the main bag with a strap.
I look around the room and don't see anything else of importance to our survival. "Should we go wait outside?"
"Sure."
We step outside and Kalim is questioning Ryker.
Oh, great.
"I was just at the river. No one is there," Kalim insists.
"Maybe they went for a hike."
"Everyone is to stay in the camp area unless they go to the river and Andre is informed. You know that."
"What's going on?" I ask.
"Where is everyone?" Kalim scans the camp again.
I knew it wasn't a good idea not to tell him.
"I thought swimming," I lie and follow Ryker's lead.
"You two are shitty liars. And why do you have your survival packs?"
Ryker and I exchange an uneasy glance.
"What's with the blanket?" Kalim points to the see-through bag.
Silence.
"What is going on?" Kalim barks out, and Vanessa jumps next to me.
I put my arm around her. "Easy, Kalim."
"Sorry, ma'am."
Vanessa stays silent. Her body shakes.
"Where's Andre?"
"Wasn't my turn to watch him," Ryker replies.
"Funny. Where is he?"
"I don't know. Maybe you should try calling him," I suggest.
Kalim picks his phone out of his pocket, hits a button, and puts it to his ear. His face reddens, and he snarls, "Since when does Lòpez have his phone off during a rescue mission?"
More silence.
"Damn it. You two better start talking."
Vanessa shakes harder, and I hold her tighter to me.
"Calm down," I insist through clenched teeth.
Kalim glances at Vanessa then me. His eyes widen slightly.
Crap. He knows.
"You don't know what you're doing. Interpol is going to have your asses."
"Kalim, go back to guarding the perimeter," Ryker sternly orders.
Kalim raises his eyebrows. "I'm not letting you ruin your lives."
"We're men. We make our own decisions," Ryker replies.
Kalim turns and gets to the tent then puts his phone to his ear.
"Damn it," Ryker mutters. "Jeep, now."
We swiftly guide the ladies to the vehicle, and Ryker gets in the driver's side. He says, "Put your belts on, ladies."
Kalim turns. "What are you doing?" he yells and starts running toward another SUV.
"He doesn't know when to stop, does he?" I grumble and reach into my bag for my gun.
"What are you doing?" Ryker asks.
Kalim gets in and starts the Jeep.
"Buying us time. Cover your ears and get down," I yell at Vanessa and Julieta. I stand up and brace myself against the top bar, aim at Kalim's tire, and shoot.
"What the hell," Ryker yells.
I take out the other front tire of Kalim's Jeep then the other tires on the two remaining vehicles.
"Jesus, Hunter!"
I say nothing and don't take my eyes off the camp until it's no longer in view and it's clear no one is following us. When I look down, Vanessa is twisting her hands in her lap and trembling. Julieta is glaring at me with her arm around her.
"Pull over," I demand.
"What?"
"Pull over." I repeat.
Ryker puts the vehicle in park.
I go to Julieta's side and open the door. "Get out."
"What?"
"Go to the front."
She looks at me as if I'm crazy. "No."
"Go to the front, or I'll remove you."
"Hunter," Ryker growls.
I step in front of Ryker's door. "Tell her to move or so help me God, I will move her there myself."
Ryker scowls and points at me. "Have you lost your mind?"
"Five. Four. Three—"
"Julieta, get up here." Ryker orders.
"No."
"Damn it, Julieta," he cries out.
She jerks her head and her eyes widen in surprise.
I motion for her to get out. She continues to glare at me but steps out, and I slide in.
I release Vanessa's belt, pull her into my lap, and murmur in her ear, "I got you, Flower. You're safe."
No matter what Vanessa says, as long as she's in front of me, she's my woman. And no one is taking care of her but me.
9
Vanessa
My heart stopped racing, and I'm breathing normal again, but I can't stop the tremors.
Why can't I stop shaking?
They are getting worse.
"Julieta, pass me my bag, please," Hunter asks her in a stern but nice voice.
She picks it up and hands it to him but doesn't look at him.
Since he kicked her out of the back seat, no one has spoken other than Hunter, who only murmurs to me that I'm safe and everything is going to be okay.
He removes his blanket out of the bag and wraps it around me then embraces me in his arms again.
We've been on the road so long, the sky is turning dark. I snuggle into his warmth, praying I'll stop trembling soon. Ryker pulls over for gas. He puts the pump in the tank and stands next to our door. "We need to make a decision."
Hunter strokes my hair. "What's that?"
"Do we cut west into Guatemala tonight or keep south? The most direct way to Omoa is south, but is it going to be easier to get into Guatemala if we go a bit west?"
"I'm not familiar with the borders of Belize. Are you?"
"No. But if we cut west, we can hit a freeway. If we go south, we're going to be on rough terrain.”
Guatemala.
I sit up straighter, and for the first time since Hunter got into the back seat, look at his face. "Don't take me to Guatemala. Please."
"We have to go through Guatemala to get to Honduras."
My heart starts beating faster again. "I don't want to go there."