Devil's Gold (33 page)

She dropped her blanket and dressed, giving him a cheeky grin as he whistled between his teeth. Jake paused a moment and watched her graceful moves; the way she flipped her hair back and knotted it without the aid of a hair clip amazed him. It was a messy mane, but the soft curls that escaped framed her face like an angel's halo.

She snapped her fingers and broke the spell. “That look in your eyes, Romeo, isn't going to help us move forward.”

Chuckling, he followed her example and tugged on his jeans and shirt, immediately feeling more in control.

“What's so funny?”

He winked. “Nothing. Just thinking to myself that it's much better to be wearing jeans when in dangerous situations.”

She smiled and walked over, entwining her fingers with his. His heart stopped and then started with a rapid beat that had him swearing silently. He reached up and twirled a stray strand of her hair around his finger. “Cassidy, we need to talk.” Jake inhaled and felt sick to his stomach. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap.

“I know. I thought of something.” She nestled between his legs and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.

“What?”

“We need to determine the connection between Sharpe and Cole.”

Jake nodded. “We've been working that angle for quite some time without any success.” He gazed at her with steady eyes.

“You think I know?”

“What were the geologists doing for you?” Jake didn't like the sudden evasive expression that crossed her face. He felt a spark of anger.

“Trying to prove that Port Harcourt was sinking.”

Jake pushed her off his lap and stood up. “And that was worth killing for?”

Cassidy stared at him as if he'd grown an additional head. “Why are you so angry?”

“Because you're not telling the truth.” He inhaled a sharp breath as she gasped at his accusation, and tried to rein in his temper. “What are you hiding?”

She leapt to her feet and pointed a finger at his chest. “Don't think that because of our little romp in the cabin, you know me or can judge whether I'm telling the truth or not. Because you don't know me. And you can't judge what you don't know.”

His cell phone rang, and he answered it with a curt hello. Listening to Steve on the other end gave him a momentary reprieve to calm his anger and think clearly. He flipped the phone shut and turned to face Cassidy.

“That was Steve. He's downloading coordinates for our rendezvous point. We need to get a move on; the hike will take us about an hour, and daylight is fading.” Cassidy worried her bottom lip. He bent over and kissed her tenderly, easing the frown that wrinkled her brow.

“Sorry, Sunshine. You're right.” He'd readjust his approach next time.

“Are you positive Charlie and David were not simply victims of the raid on the ZEBRA camp?”

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “I don't want to talk about this anymore.” Jake flipped open his phone and read the coordinates. Following the built-in compass, he led them into the woods and away from a topic he no longer felt like tackling. If Cassidy still held this much resentment against him because of his deceit, he needed more time to gain her trust.

Cassidy understood Jake's anger. But, right now, it made absolute sense to her to remain quiet regarding her concerns about Charlie and David. The geological survey was the only trump card she held. Running her fingers across the smooth bark of a quaking aspen, she traipsed after him. She grinned as he stepped over a fallen log, his jeans tightening perfectly across his butt.

He glanced back at her and winked. That prompted her stomach to tense and an uneasy tap dance of attraction to lodge in her gut. She bit her lower lip. “I'm starving.”

“For?” he asked.

“Food.” She laughed when his shoulders dropped.

“Damn. I thought we'd have a little quickie right here in the middle of nowhere.”

“That sounds appealing. Just think, chiggers and ticks and all sorts of funky earth creatures can join us. I think we'd better refocus our minds on the nightmare that has become my life. I know you think I'm holding back, but I'm not. We have to consider what our options are.”

Jake shrugged and held a branch back for her. “Okay. How about the level of involvement of our fearless leader, Drew Sharpe? Why would he aid in the warrant issue?”

“I have no clue.” Cassidy accepted his hand as he guided them through a narrow pass. “He's always supported everything I do. And he, for one, should know I couldn't have brought a virus back. For crying out loud, I didn't even receive my bag until I'd been home for a week.”

Her boots were still wet, and her socks rubbed a raw spot on the side of her foot. Night hadn't fully settled. She breathed deeply in an attempt to smooth out her emotions. The woods held that odd glow that she always associated with the gloaming. It was her favorite time of day. She could feel the earth sigh in relief as the heat of the sun diminished and the cool embrace of the evening beckoned those afraid of the light.

They made their way up a steep incline, and the trees began to thin. Cassidy glanced over her shoulder and paused, soaking in the view. Yellowstone River flowed in the distance. It wound its way through thick groves of lodgepole pines, then spread in a wide path of blue ice before twisting around a bend and disappearing from view.

Jake was directly behind her and turned to follow her line of vision.

“This land takes my breath away. You can almost step back in time to the era of the fur trappers like Jim Bridger and Osborne Russell. The thousands of trails that wind themselves through this region allow us an unusual perspective into the past, don't you think?”

He tilted his head. “You mean a time before terror filled the world in the form of toxins and bullets? Yes, I can certainly appreciate the appeal of that.”

“Did you know we were the first to use biological warfare? We handed the Indians blankets contaminated with small pox and wiped out entire tribes. I guess man has always tiptoed along the edge of the evil canyon.”

Jake sighed as if caught in the clutches of indecision. With a quick swipe of his arm, he pulled her roughly against his chest, kissing her mouth. His lips seared and burned a wide path of desire that sparked every nerve ending in her body. She clung to his shoulders, unsure of how to respond. His kisses were angry; then they faded into a tender caress, singing to her heart. Jake pulled away slowly, inhaled a deep breath, and walked past her.

The thump of rotor blades intruded upon the wilderness and snapped her out of the stupor he'd left her in. She followed Jake through the last line of trees and into the clearing, where the chopper lights flashed in the distance.

She pressed her hand against her chest. Pain curled within, making it difficult to breathe. And she didn't know why. She didn't understand the tears that burned her eyes or the despair that suddenly tied her guts in knots. But she'd be a fool not to recognize the emotional wall that existed between her and the only man to ever push beyond her defenses and open a door into a realm of existence Cassidy thought only belonged in fairy tales and romance novels.

Jake knew it was over. If not this second, then it would be within the hour. He needed to use all measures at his disposal to determine the knowledge she withheld.

Striding toward the helicopter, he nodded at Steve. Jake signaled for him to move to the passenger seat with a point of his finger, and climbed behind the controls. “She's holding back” is all he said. They waited for Cassidy to catch up. She walked slowly across the clearing, her hips swaying in unison with the gentle breeze that moved the trees.

He allowed her the time to collect herself. She wasn't ignorant, and he was certain she'd understood the meaning of his kiss. He frowned. At least he thought she did. Did he properly convey
“I am who I am. Sorry.”

“Where have you set up base camp?” Jake focused his attention on work and not his heart.

Steve cleared his throat and handed him a sheath of papers. “I've successfully commandeered the plane. Valerie has left Yellowstone and returned to headquarters. They've been instructed to search the building and network for whoever the mole is.”

Jake glanced up sharply from reading the press releases Steve had provided. “Mole?”

“Sure. This is an inside job. You'd have to have pretty high clearance within ZEBRA to know the details that were leaked to the press, right?”

“Sharpe did it, right?”

“Colonel Price believes he's not acting alone.”

“Is that how this was done? By the press?” Jake sighed. “It just keeps getting better. Did you bring the gear I asked you to?”

“Yeah.”

Cassidy climbed into the back of the helicopter. “Where to now?” she asked, crossing her legs and sinking against the wall.

Jake glanced over his shoulder. He cursed silently at the dull glaze to her eyes and sudden demeanor of defeat. Frowning, he guessed he'd conveyed a different message with his kiss than the one he'd meant to. “We're going north. If you have the energy, I'd like to snoop around that property that exploded on us.”

“I have the energy.”

Steve twisted in his seat and whispered something to Cassidy. Her light laughter sparked a wave of jealousy. He flipped the ignition switch and lifted them into the air.

He felt Cassidy grip the back of his seat, but she didn't say a word. Another bad omen.

Steve spouted directions, and within fifteen minutes they crested a rise and faced a blackened and scarred corner of Earth. No one spoke. They exited the helicopter and moved to retrieve the axes and other paraphernalia Jake requested. Each person grabbed a small green duffel bag containing flashlights, evidence containers, and an instant camera.

The fire had moved past this zone hours previously. A soft rain began to fall, hitting the ground with a sizzle and kicking up a fine mist. “I think the cabin was in that direction,” Cassidy said. She led the way past the charred remains of the main house.

“Steve, take watch. I don't want to be in anyone's crosshairs.”

“Ten-four, Captain.” Steve jogged to the left, his gun stretched out at arm's length. He scoped the tree line and then moved toward the shore.

Cassidy glanced over her shoulder. “Captain? I can't get used to that.”

Jake didn't need this now. “Just think of Kangaroo. Come on, Sunshine, let's see what was so damn important it needed blowing up.” The silence irritated Jake. It was a testament to all that the evil hand of man ruined. After days of having his senses awakened to the power of the wild by Cassidy, he became acutely aware of the lack of its existence in the wake of the fire.

They made their way to the pile of ashes that sat in what Jake considered the general vicinity of the cabin. He walked around its perimeter and stepped back toward the angle of the river. “I think this is definitely it.”

“Okay.” Cassidy kicked a pile of charred debris and moved in a slow circle. She paused and glanced up at Jake. “Forensics 101?”

He scanned their surroundings and nodded. “It shouldn't be much different than how we approach unusual kill sites.” Shutting down all personal involvement, Jake stepped into his professional skin. “How do you want to proceed—spiral, grid, or zone?”

“I think we should begin in the center, then expand our spiral outward.”

Jake nodded. “Go for it, kiddo.” He followed her into the heart of the debris, scanning the ground for anything unusual.

Cassidy dropped to one knee and examined a small circular object. “I think I've found something.” She stood, turned toward him, and disappeared in a cloud of ashes.