The Adventurer

Gideon."
    "I'm not saying you were faking your response in bed. I don't think any woman could give that convincing a performance, although that may just reflect my own lack of experience. I haven't been involved with that many women and none of them ever had sufficient reason to want to—"
    "I said shut up and meant it," Sarah hissed. "If you dig that hole any deeper, you may never be able to crawl out of it."
    "I'm just trying to point out my side of this."
    "You've made your point. Damn. When I think of all the excuses I made for you based on the trauma you'd been through with your ex-wife and Jake Savage, I could just spit. You don't need any excuses for the way you've been acting, do you? You come by it naturally. Let's change the subject."
    "To what?"
    Sarah chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip. "Why didn't you want us to dig up the Flowers before we left this morning? Jake was gone. If we'd hurried, we could have gotten them without him ever knowing. Are you planning to come back on your own and take all of them for yourself?"
    He didn't rise to the bait. "I didn't want to start digging for them knowing Savage was still in the neighborhood."
    She caught her breath. "You mean you think he might wait until we've dug them up and then try to steal them from us? I never thought of that."
    "I know."
    "But he was your
partner
."
    "I'm aware of that."
    "Of course, he did steal your wife. I can see where you might wonder a bit about his trustworthiness in other matters."
    "It's not because of what happened with Leanna that I'm worried."
    "It's because of what happened on that last trip you two made into the jungle, isn't it?"
    Gideon concentrated on the slow-moving truck ahead of them. "I can't help but wonder bow he survived."
    "You survived."
    "I'm better at it than Savage." There was no arrogance or ego in his voice. It was just a simple statement of fact.
    "So you're wondering how he got out of that jungle?"
    "I'm wondering how he managed to get out of that cave alive, let alone find his way out of the jungle."
    "How do you think he managed?" Sarah asked slowly,
    "I think it's possible he had help."
    "But the only help around from what you've said would have been the smugglers and they were the ones who staged the ambush."
    "You've got it."
    Sarah was shaken by the implications. "You think it was a conspiracy? That Jake was part of it?"
    "I think it's a possibility."
    "That would mean he deliberately set you up that day. That he intended to get you killed. But the plan failed because you sensed trouble."
    "Savage was never very good at the planning side of things. Believe me, it would be totally in character for him to have screwed up the timing on the ambush."
    "I don't get it. Why would he want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs?"
    "A goose, hmm? I never thought of myself that way, but I guess that's one point of view. To answer your question, all I can say is, there was a lot of cash involved."
    "How much of it did you get out of the country?"
    "All of it except what I spent bribing the captain of the fishing boat. I used the remainder to set myself up in business with
Cache
."
    "Good heavens. You did lead an adventurous life, didn't you? I see what you mean about adrenaline. So what this all boils down to is you're afraid we'll be standing there plucking the Fleetwood Flowers from the ground and your old buddy Jake might show up to take them away from us at gunpoint."
    "I'd just as soon not take any risks."
    "I can understand that. You've got a lot to lose. Just one pair of those earrings will be worth a lot of money. I've got an even bigger problem, though, don't I? I have to figure out a way to protect the Flowers from you and Savage."
    "Sarah, if you continued to make not-so-veiled accusations about my trustworthiness, I'm eventually going to lose my temper."
    "The way I lost mine when you started making nasty cracks about my reasons for sleeping with you?"
    Gideon shook his head ruefully. "Something like that. For the record, and not that you've bothered to ask, I give you my word I'll abide by our original bargain."
    "We don't have a bargain. I fired you, remember?"
    "I warned you that I don't fire that easily."
    "Which, translated, means you're not going to give up your claim to the jewels."
    "I don't suppose it's occurred to you that I'm more worried about you than I am the Flowers?"
    "No."
    "Sarah, be reasonable. As long as Savage is hanging around, it's dangerous for you to even think about