Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
STERLING
C allum Leary’s smug grin faded as I stepped into the light, and he got a good look at me. Based on his expression, I must have looked exactly as awful as I felt.
“You know who locked you in there?” he called down.
“Not yet,” I said.
“You planning to come out?” he asked.
“As soon as you give us some room,” I shot back, not loving the way he loomed over the entrance.I was thrilled to see him—he was a human who was saving us. But I didn’t trust him.
Forrest looked at me. “Go on. I’ll be right here.”
I stepped back and shook my head. “Hell no. I’m not going up there first.”
“I’ll be right behind you,” Forrest reassured me. “I don’t think?—”
I cut him off. “It’s not that. They need me. I’m not sure they think they need you. I’m not leaving you behind. You go up first.”
Forrest’s eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms over his chest. I didn’t know if he didn’t like the truth being thrown at him that way or if he was reacting to me pushing back. I didn’t care.
“Okay,” I said. “You don’t like that reason? Try this one. Whoever’s head pops up through that hole first is going to be the most vulnerable if they have bad intentions.”
“That’s your argument for why I should go first?” Forrest asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I figured it had a higher likelihood of convincing you.” The truth was I hadn’t liked the way Callum had treated him in our last meeting, as if Forrest was an obstacle. Disposable. I wouldn’t put it past Callum Leary to separate us if he could.
Forrest sighed, his arms dropping to his sides. “You’re right. Either way, this is fucked. I want you behind me. Like inches away.”
“Trust me,” I said. “I have no intention of getting trapped down here again.”
As promised, I stuck to Forrest’s back like glue, two steps behind him, as close as I could get without risking knocking us both over. The light above was dimmer than I expected. The sun set late in July, but we’d been down in the cellar for hours and hours. It was bright enough to see Callum and the man who had been with him at Willow Springs. As soon as we cleared the top of the staircase, I stepped to the side, putting space between me and Forrest.I wanted the focus on me. If they didn’t think I cared about him, they wouldn’t be able to use him as a lever. Hoping Forrest would understand, I turned to Callum.
“You’re spending an awful lot of time down south. Don’t you have business back home?”
Forrest sent me a warning glare but didn’t close the distance between us. I hoped that meant he understood why I was five feet away instead of right next to him. I didn’t have to wonder what the glare meant. He’d already made clear he didn’t like me sassing the mobster with the gun. Fair enough. But sarcasm and attitude were my defense mechanisms, and Callum Leary scared the crap out of me.
Callum ignored my query. “You’ve had better days, Sterling. If we hadn’t shown up, you two would have been screwed. I think that means you owe me.”
“How did you find us?” Forrest asked, leaning forward a fraction as if he wanted to move. Toward me or Callum? I gave the tiniest shake of my head. Please ,I tried to send telepathically. Please just be quiet.
Callum ignored Forrest, his focus on me. “Did you find what you were looking for down there?” Before I could answer, he added, “I’m prepared to make you a very good offer.” His eyes flicked to Forrest, then back to me. “We don’t need him. You said he offered you twenty-five percent. Why don’t you let me make it fifty?”
“Why not seventy-five?” I countered.Sass. Anger. Meeting Callum where he thought I should be. That was how I was going to get us out of here safely.
“I like you,” Callum said, crossing his arms over his chest. “But seventy-five is a little too much, even for a pretty girl like you.”
The way he called me a pretty girl grated on my nerves. The leer was masked in his eyes, but it was there. I could feel it as he looked at me. Gross, but I’d put up with it if I could use it. This was a battle, and I needed to use every weapon I had.
Callum’s gaze slid over me in a slow scan, lingering on my tits. I fought off a shudder and rolled my shoulders back, lifting my chin. Not exactly flirting, but just enough to keep him distracted. Ugh . There was no contest between this man and Forrest Powell. There never had been and never would be. Forrest’s promise of twenty-five percent was good even without the contract we’d written up. I trusted him.
Callum Leary, on the other hand, would lie to me in a heartbeat if he thought it would get him what he wanted. My life was only worth something as long as we hadn’t found Alan Buckley’s fortune. The second we did, I wouldn’t have anything to negotiate with anymore. There wasn’t the slightest chance in hell I was going anywhere with Callum Leary, ever.
Still, I stayed where I was, several feet away from Forrest, my arms crossed over my chest. It was bad enough that I was in their sights. I had to keep their attention off Forrest. I shifted, giving Forrest the back of one shoulder, almost fully facing Callum.
“Look, I know the South is great in the summer.” I rolled my eyes. “And you just can’t stay away. But you’re wasting your time. I don’t have a clue about the next cipher. It’s a dead end all the way.”
“Then what were you doing in the cellar?” Callum asked, lifting his chin in the direction of the heavy wooden door they’d opened.
“We don’t know,” Forrest said, “but we’re pretty sure it had nothing to do with my father’s scavenger hunt.”
I cut in. “Someone sent us on a wild-goose chase.”
“Someone? You don’t know who?” Callum raised an eyebrow, his lips tightening at the shake of my head. “If we hadn’t come for you, you two could have died. You know that, right?”
His eyes drifted back to the dark hole in the ground, and I shivered. Partly because I was still frozen by the cellar and partly because of the rapidly dropping temperature as the sun slowly set. We were still in the mountains. As much as I joked about southern summers, it didn’t get that hot up here. The root cellar had been cold and was only getting colder. “Believe me, I know.” I didn’t want to look back at the open root cellar and remember the slide bolt scraping across the wood, sealing our fate.
“This was no wild-goose chase,” Callum went on as if it wasn’t obvious. “They wanted to do more than mess with you.”
“Maybe,” I said, shoving my hands in my pockets. I wasn’t completely sure about that. I hadn’t thought about the cold until we’d been locked in the cellar for a while. And whoever had locked us in left us food and water. They could have been pulling a prank and not realized how deadly the cold could be over time.
“I’d advise you to find safer company,” Callum said. “Or join my team and let us keep you safe.”
I almost answered with a grin and a wink out of habit. But suddenly, teasing and cute didn’t seem like the way to go. This was no game, and Callum Leary was only putting up with my attitude because he still thought he could use me. Slowly, I shook my head, keeping my back to Forrest. “I’m not joining up with anyone. I’ll keep myself safe.”
Callum grunted and fixed his eyes on Forrest. I had no clue what he was thinking, but I knew I wouldn’t like it.
“You’re not going to tell me how you tracked us here?” I asked, drawing his attention back to me.
Callum gave me a swift grin and shook his head. “I think I’ll let your security chief figure it out.” He lifted his fingers in a salute. “We’ll be around.” Callum and his two goons turned and walked down the gravel drive into the deepening gloom.
I looked at Forrest, standing a few feet away, hands shoved in his pockets, glowering at me. “Ready to get out of here?”
He gave me a short nod.
“Fine,” I said. I turned and began the short walk to where we’d hidden the car. The evening air was humid, carrying traces of the day’s warmth, so much better than the cold, dank, musty root cellar.
I plugged my phone in and waited to say anything until we pulled out on the state road, Forrest driving, Callum Leary’s sedan falling in behind us. “Is he guarding us or threatening us?” I asked, leaning to look in the side mirror.
“Both,” Forrest said, his voice tight, the muscles in his jaw hard.
I reached across the center console and took his free hand in mine. “Hey, don’t be pissed,” I said.
“I’m not pissed,” he countered in a voice that said anything but.
“I could tell you didn’t like that whole scene back there,” I said, pushing to get him to talk to me. I knew Forrest too well to think he’d liked staying in the background while I talked to Callum Leary. It would have gone against every instinct he had. I loved him for doing it anyway because he trusted me.
Forrest’s jaw clenched, his eyes flicking off the road to meet mine for a second. “I’m not going to apologize for wanting to protect you,” he said.
“Yeah, well, I’m not going to apologize either. I get that you want to take care of me. I even like it. But in this case, you need protecting more than I do.” I squeezed his hand. “I’m not buying his bullshit. You know that, right?”
“Cut me a little slack, Sterling,” Forrest said, letting out a huff of air. “Half an hour ago, we were locked in that root cellar, and if I couldn’t get through that door, we were both going to die of exposure. Maybe not tonight or tomorrow. But…” He glanced at me, his eyes hot with emotion. “I’m not ready to lose you again.”
I squeezed his hand and laced our fingers together. Shifting in my seat, I leaned to rest my head on his shoulder. It was a little awkward with the center console between us, but I needed the contact.
“You were going to get us out, Forrest,” I reassured him. “I watched you with that rock. You weren’t giving up. We weren’t going to die down there.” I could still smell the dank must of the cellar. “I need a long, hot shower and clean clothes. And to never go underground again.”
My phone rang, the familiar tone sharp in my ears. I looked down to see Hawk’s name on the screen. “Signal must be back,” I muttered as I picked it up, bracing for the lecture to come. Hawk was not going to be happy.