Her lips formed a regretful O. “Shit.”
“Why didn’t you wait for him at the gate like a good girl?”
“I can’t believe I didn’t realize what a condescending ass you are the first time we met.”
That was fair. He was trying to make her feel in the wrong. Because right now that real estate was all his, and he didn’t like it. “I’ll rephrase. Why didn’t you wait for Jae at the gate as he requested?”
“He was out at Mora dealing with unruly campers. The nearest law enforcement ranger after Jae is even farther away—out at Shi Shi Beach. Daylight is dwindling, and a storm is forecast for tonight. If the site’s been looted again, I have a narrow window to collect evidence before the rain washes everything away. And I need to check on George.”
“George?”
“George Shaw. The tribal elder who lives in a cabin not far from the site, on the other side of Kaxo Creek.” She gave him an exasperated look. “He was in the lodge that night. Remember?”
With that nudge, he remembered. Jae had pointed him out too.
“George has a wood carving shop on lodge grounds, next to the blacksmith shop. What if he saw the looters and confronted them? His whole reason for wintering here this year was to protect the site after it was looted in November. I tried calling and texting him after the cameras cut off, but I wasn’t able to reach him.” Her eyes turned fierce. “I’m worried about George and the site. I won’t leave until I know they’re both safe.”
Xavier glanced up at the gray sky. She was right about the storm. She was right about everything. And as much as he didn’t want her to be a liar, he was also a little disappointed her excuse was reasonable. Part of him wanted this to be on her. He wanted her to be guilty of something too, because otherwise, he was the only asshole standing on these stone steps.
He’d screwed her over, and it would hurt a lot less if he didn’t like her so much. If she didn’t invade his dreams every night. If he didn’t wonder every day what he’d thrown away.
He rolled his shoulders, centering himself with the dull ache in the joint that was a souvenir from his last mission. The team would be wheels up in a matter of minutes. He needed information, fast. Focus on the job and forget Audrey was the messenger.
Later, he’d check her story with Jae, but for now, he could at least confirm her cameras were down. He pulled her key from the lock on the basement door and inserted his own. He handed her the ridiculously endowed key chain.
Who carried that many keys? He didn’t even have real metal keys to his car or house anymore. It was all proximity locks and four-digit code numbers.
She took his flashlight from his belt without waiting for permission. If anyone else did that, he’d have them pinned to the ground for making a move that looked like they were going for his gun. It wasn’t good that she’d taken the item without him even flinching. She threw off his reflexes.
She was kryptonite.
The light beam bounced along the rear wall, landing on the row of breaker boxes. She crouched down and entered the dank space, heading straight for the panel with “blacksmith shop” written in reflective letters on the cover. A green light glowed brightly. She opened the cover to reveal the main circuit breaker firmly in the ON position. “The shop has power,” she said.
They left the basement, and Xavier locked the door again. “Let’s check out the shop.” He radioed Cohen, updating him on the situation, giving more details about the archaeological site, cameras, and why it mattered as they walked toward her vehicle.
The clock was ticking on the op countdown. If there was something odd going on at the blacksmith shop or the archaeological site, he had precious few minutes to call off the training.
“You think something’s wrong?” Cohen asked.
“I’m not sure,” he said as they rounded the building to the road- and mountain-facing side. The blacksmith shop was the farthest from the lodge down a gravel track that continued after the paved road dead-ended at the lodge. “We’ll take your SUV to the shop. It’ll save time.”
He reached out a hand when they reached her vehicle. “Keys.” It was not a request.
She glared at him. At this point, it was pretty much her permanent expression when looking at him, but she handed him her heavy key chain.
The road was pitted with potholes filled with gray water. He dodged as best he could at speed. Audrey held on to the bar above the passenger window and cursed at his driving as she bounced in the seat, but they reached the blacksmith shop in what had to be record time.
The building had wide double barn doors at the front that were chained closed for winter. Audrey led him to the rear door. He flipped through her key chain. “Which one? I don’t have keys to this building.” It had been specifically deemed off-limits for the training, which was fine because it didn’t belong in their planned simulation anyway.
“Black,” she said, indicating a key that had a black band around the top. “For blacksmith.”
He looked at the key she’d used for the basement of the lodge. “Why is the basement key gray?”
“Dark. Dank. Full of gray-panel breaker boxes.”
“What’s the front door of the lodge?” he asked as he slipped the black-tagged key in the lock.
“Purple.”