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He frowned, and as he stared across the ocean, the moon glimmered in his eyes. “I thought Ziháo Chui was evil, but whoever is running the show now has everyone shitting their pants.”
I wrapped my arm around his waist, and as the warmth of our bodies molded together, I trembled.
“Hey, it’s over now.”
Tears pooled in my eyes, and I peered up at him through blurry vision. “Is it?”
“Yes, we are safe now. Thanks to you. You’re brave. So damn brave.” The pad of his thumb caught a stray tear, and the softness in his touch unraveled another piece of the tightly wound fear knotting my insides.
“Thanks. You were incredible, too.” It was impossible to convey my awe over his fighting skills. “You’re the one who saved us.”
“We both did.” He smirked. “And your amazing boobs.”
I giggled, and he hugged me to his side as we peered across the beautiful vista. Moonlight danced across the still ocean like it was reminding me that no matter what happened, life went on. People died, yet every day was a new day, a new beginning.
I still couldn’t believe Dad was gone. It had happened so quickly.
Tyler ran his hand up my arm, and the move was so touching and familiar that my heart wept.
I had a weird feeling that Tyler and I were destined to meet. Dad had spent very little time with Tyler and yet Tyler had made such an impact that Dad mentioned him in his final words.
I had lost every single thing I owned, but with Tyler’s arms around me, I didn’t feel that loss anywhere near like I should. It was like his presence filled me with something that my loss took away. Strength, maybe, or stability. Or hope.
But our incredible view proved we were a long way from safety.
And that damn beeping that was drilling into my skull was a rude fucking reminder that some asshole could still be tracking our location.
I eased back from Tyler. “That beeping is driving me nuts.”
He dragged his gaze away from the ocean, frowning like he hadn’t heard the noise until I mentioned it.
He marched to the items he’d pulled from Clark’s tactical vest and picked up the utility knife.
“What are you doing?”
He tipped the hard drive out of the plastic bag. “Seeing if I can remove the tracker.”
He turned on Clark’s flashlight and wedged it into a nook on the cave wall so it rained light on the giant boulder. He turned the device over in his hands, then resting it on the boulder, he wedged a sharp knife into the tiny slit in the side of the plastic case.
Tyler’s intense concentration was a stark contrast to what was going through my mind. It was like my exhaustion was reminding me of everything we’d been through. Diving down to that plane wreck, the skeleton with its missing eyeballs, the moldy cash, the drone attack, the explosion, and Dad dying in my arms.
It was all too much.
Stepping back, I rested my butt against the other giant boulder and removed my scuba booties. As I massaged my feet, Tyler worked with methodical precision, prying the blade into the hard drive’s casing with a rhythm that matched his regimented demeanor. While he needed order and precision, I thrived on chaos.
We were worlds apart, and yet everything about him fascinated me.
With a cry of triumph, he pulled the two sides of the device apart. Turning to me, he wriggled his brows. “Can you shine that light for me?”
Standing again, I pulled the light from the wall and directed the beam onto the guts of the hard drive.
He used the tip of the knife to pull up certain wires, tracing them until he found the one attached to the tiny red light that blinked in time to the beeping.
“Do you know what you’re doing?”
“Shush,” he growled as he lifted a red wire.
My breath trapped in my throat, and the air stilled around us.
