The Cinderella Mission (Family Secrets #1)(32)
Author: Catherine Mann

“There’s some validity in all of it. People act for any number of reasons. That portion of eastern Europe sports plenty of rebel factions trying to finance an overthrow. Jewels would pay for that. Others act from their belief system. For those people, finding the right jewel would be crucial to establishing a blessed reign or good luck.”

“Or maybe like the legend, some guy’s collecting jewels for a woman, to entice her, persuade her to take on someone who’s wrong for her.” Was he any different? Damned if he hadn’t been subconsciously trying to lure Kelly all day with private planes and trips, all to cover up for the ways he knew he fell short of being the kind of man she deserved.

Damn. Not such a selfless gift of friendship after all. Ethan dragged his mind back to work, a safer, more reliable topic. “Who do you think’s responsible?”

She shrugged. “Certainly Rebelia is a possibility with that nutcase DeBruzkya trying to secure his position. But then Gastonia isn’t the most popular kid on the block now, either, since it’s rumored to harbor terrorist camps. And of course Morrow disappeared in Holzberg. How the hell do they sleep at night with so many enemies around them?”

He advanced a step closer to her, his hiking boots thudding against the wooden deck. “Better get used to it, Kelly, because that’s the world you’re going to be living in if you commit to being a field operative. What we do is necessary or innocent people die, but that doesn’t make what we do any prettier. You can learn all the self-defense moves in the world and they won’t mean a damn if you forget the most basic element of self-preservation in this job.”

Ethan leaned until he could see the light glinting in her honey-brown eyes. “Don’t trust anyone.”

“What about you?”

“Not even me.” Especially not him. As selfish as he was, he could so easily take everything she had to give. She deserved better. Anyone other than him, except the image of her finding that man tore him up inside.

Christ, he wanted her. Right or wrong, he wanted her for himself. Ethan canted closer, wanted even closer still to see if the taste of their shared snowball lingered in her mouth. “We should head back.”

“We should,” she agreed but didn’t move. He could already taste her from just the air they shared as they stood so close together.

He forced his feet to carry him backward, away from her. “The airport will probably be ready to clear us for take-off by the time we get back.”

“Probably so.”

He spun on his heel to leave.

“Ethan?”

He glanced over his shoulder. “Yeah, Kel?”

“Thanks for the aquamarine.” She leaned her elbows back against the railing and smiled at him.

Her warm eyes shone with so much gratitude over a cheap little rock, he wanted to detour to Cartier and buy out a display case. She would make a hell of an image in her workout clothes draped with diamonds. “Glad you liked it.”

Kelly pushed away from the rail and stepped forward. The rail wobbled. Ethan’s stomach clenched.

He grabbed her elbow. “Hey, Kel, careful there.” He reached behind her to test the rail. “Clyde needs to make some repairs or he could have a major lawsuit on his hands.”

Kelly shuddered. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Ethan turned back toward the exit tunnel, boards creaking under his feet.

Kelly’s arm jerked free a second before she screamed, “Ethan!”

The wooden deck shifted. Broke apart. Started an avalanche slide downward with Kelly slipping out of sight as the ground fell away from under him.

Chapter 9

Kelly plummeted down the sloped embankment. Rocks, wood and debris skittered past her. Battered her.

She grappled for something, anything to halt her fall. Found nothing.

Kept fighting anyway. She wouldn’t give up until she met ground. Soon, she hoped.

Dim light flickered from above, barely penetrating the abyss under her. She swallowed a scream. Dust clogged her nose. She wouldn’t let it choke her, too.

Below, the blanket of black thinned, muddied. The ground rose up to meet her.

She slammed to a stop.

Pain jarred through her. Air huffed from her lungs. Rumbling sounded above her as more debris cascaded down. Ethan. She scrambled back. Out of the way.

“Ethan? Ethan!”

She peered up toward the glow above. Ethan skidded on his back in a swirl of sliding mud and boards. He landed at her feet with a thud. A fresh shower of debris rained after him.

Kelly swiped her wrist across her gritty eyes, blinking to clear the dust and adjust to the minuscule light filtering from above.

“Ethan?” She crawled across jagged rocks and chunks of wood. One knee snagged on a fresh splinter that tore into the designer jeans Eugenie had helped her choose. She ignored the stab of pain. “Are you okay? Talk to me!”

He groaned. She almost groaned, too, relief slamming through her harder than any of the boards.

He rolled to his back. “Judas-freaking-priest, Kelly. That hurt.” He pushed up to sit. “You okay?”

“Fine.” Scared spitless, but damned well not going to show it. “A little banged up, no doubt. But everything’s working.”

Ethan swept a hand over his dust-encrusted hair. “Same here.”

Renewed relief punched an exhale from her that stirred a fresh swirl of dust and mustiness. Her eyes attuned enough to discern earthen walls around them in a six-foot-wide cavern with no way out but up. She rubbed her hands along her arms. “What happened back there?”

He squinted, tipping his face up to where they’d started. An oozing scrape glared along his cheek. “Ground gave way beneath the deck, I’m guessing. We’re lucky there was a slope rather than a sheer drop off.”

She stared all the way up the steep incline, at least a hundred feet. “Guess we should climb back out.” When he didn’t answer, she turned to him. “Right?”

Ethan braced one arm on his knee and pointed at the remaining pieces of deck, twisted and hanging on by a splinter. “See that? Too much jarring will loosen it. I don’t want to scare you, but we need to be realistic here. There’s also the chance of starting an avalanche of dirt.”

The thought of being pummeled, then buried alive, sent smothering fear clogging her senses. Kelly steadied her breathing, and slowly her heartbeat, as well. “What would you do if I wasn’t here with you?”

“That’s not the point.”