The Unseen (7 page)

Rich stood when some of the others entered the room. Kent had met all of them except the Vietnamese man who strode toward him.

“I’d like you to meet Duc An, from the Vietnamese People’s Army,” Rich said. “He’ll be bringing some soldiers along for back up. They’ll be arriving shortly.”

Kent shook the man’s hand and exchanged some brief pleasantries before starting the meeting. “I want to thank you all for your support. Tracking down these gemstone smugglers will bring tourists back to Vietnam and give me an opportunity to complete a scientific mission that will go down in the history books.”

Once he finished his introduction, he shared his recommendations for the soldiers to go in first and the scientists to follow them, and for the people at the cave camp to move underground. He finished by mentioning there had been a small change of plans with the sudden return of Rebecca and Amanda.

The lights flickered before a crash of thunder shook the room.

“I think that’s about the best plan of action under these circumstances,” said Rich. “I hope you can convince those ladies to stay at this hotel for the duration—this isn’t going to be a pretty place for women to be hanging around.”

“You better not say that to Roberta, the archaeologist I hired to check out those inscriptions. From what I hear, she doesn’t take any shit from anyone.”

Rich frowned. “I’ll keep that in mind. Now I think it’s about time to end this little pow wow and get to—”

The lights flickered and went out. “Okay, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

* * * *

Once Kent shut the door behind him, exhaustion overtook Rebecca and she rolled over and drifted off into sleep. A crash of thunder awakened her. She sat upright and looked around, finding herself alone in the eerie darkness.

“Kent, are you here?” She heard only silence. She sat up and illuminated her watch to see the time.
Damn it’s dark for eight AM.

The water-stained window didn’t offer much of a view, but she knew heavy storm clouds lurked outside. The single bulb in the bathroom flickered with a flash of lightning. She peeled off the covers and dug through her backpack for an outfit.

A crash of thunder made her jump. She’d always feared the dark.
Kent should be back by now
. As she slipped on jeans and a T-shirt, another flash of lightning caused the lights to flicker and go out. “Oh, great, no power.”

She thought she heard the knob jiggle. “Kent, is that you?” She got no response. She ducked behind the rickety table when the door creaked open. She peered out into the dimly lit hallway, but saw no one.
Then why do I hear footsteps?
Goosebumps crept up her neck.

Oh my God, what’s happening?
Her thighs burned from her low crouch, but instinct told her she didn’t dare move.

“Is everyone all right down here? I thought I heard someone calling for me,” Kent shouted down the hallway.

Be careful, there’s something in here.
She sensed heat radiating off of a body just inches away from where she hid.
Does it see me?
She sensed it could. And that it was pure evil. She tried to tell herself that her feelings were paranoid, that they were the result of too much stress and too little sleep.

Clenching her teeth and holding her breath, she remained crouched, every muscle in her body rigid and ready for the attack she sensed would come. She felt a breeze, as if a body had suddenly whipped around, then heard footsteps padding across the carpet before the door squeaked partway shut. She drew in a desperate breath as Kent pushed his way through the door.
Thank God.

He gazed around the room, his expression tight and strained. His leg muscles flexed, looking ready to launch an attack on whatever had led her to drop beneath the table.

“Why is the door open? Are you all right?” He ran toward her and crouched down. “Bec, you’re trembling. It’s just a storm. Come on out from there.” He reached for her hands.

Rebecca crawled out from beneath the table and let him help her to her feet. He drew her into his chest. She melted into Kent’s steely contours, grateful to be safe in the reservoir of his strong arms. “I’m so glad you got back when you did. If you hadn’t . . .”

“I realize it’s not fun to be alone in the dark in a place like this, but don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of flashlights and candles to light the room if the power outage persists.”

“No, Kent, it’s not that . . .” Rebecca wasn’t sure how to explain what had happened.
He’s going to think I’m completely nuts.
She walked over to the door and slipped the weak chain into the link, gripped the teakwood armoire on either side and grunted as she tried to tug the heavy piece across the carpet. Since it was three times her size, it barely budged.

“What are you doing? You’re going to hurt yourself.” Kent placed his hands over hers to stop her.

“I have to keep that . . . that person or whatever it was from coming back.”

“What happened?”

“Someone came into this room just after the storm woke me up.”

“Did he hurt you?” A row of wrinkles appeared on Kent’s brow and he pursed his lips. He brushed his hand over her face and studied her as if he was looking for signs of damage.

“No, he didn’t touch me. But he wanted to—I had this terrible feeling something awful was about to happen. Please help me block the door.”

“I had big plans to make you breakfast. But I guess it’ll be energy bars for breakfast, unless we want to go out in the rain to cook with the camp stove.”

“There’s no way I’m leaving this room until I’m sure whatever is out there is gone. But help me move this—please.” Rebecca suddenly thought of Amanda and wondered if she was safe. None of them were safe with this ghost moving about.

“I’ll move it for you if you’ll tell me what this is all about.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Kent shifted and tugged the armoire until it was centered in front of the door. His dimples and the small dents on either side of his forehead stood out on his sweat dampened face. The man’s so hot, thought Rebecca, wishing she could focus on that instead of explaining the terror she’d just experienced.

Rebecca walked across the room and sat down on the hard mattress, resting her chin on her hand.

Kent plopped down beside her so close their hips touched. He slung an arm around her shoulder and turned toward her so their faces were just inches apart. “Now tell me what happened that got my Bec so upset.”

Rebecca sighed, hoping he’d believe what she had to say. “Right after the lights went out, the door opened and I heard footsteps. It sounded like there was an invisible person in here.”

Kent’s eyes widened and a frown crossed his face. “An invisible person? Are you sure you weren’t dreaming.”

“Oh, it happened all right. I wouldn’t be in this kind of shape if it wasn’t.” Her heart raced as if she’d just sprinted a long distance.
If Kent hadn’t returned when he did . . .
She shivered, not wanting to think about it anymore. “I know it sounds crazy. But when that specter-like thing entered this room, I heard it walking across the floor and felt like it wanted to do something terrible to me.”

Kent angled his body toward her and pulled her into the comfort of his chest. “No one is going to hurt you—I’ll make sure of that.”

Rebecca knew he’d go out of his way to protect her. But if he thought she was just being hysterical, he might not recognize the risk. As he held her and skimmed his strong hands over her back, she looked up at his face.

Familiar facial tics showed he was worried and analyzing the situation at the same time—his cheek dimples deepened, he double blinked, and he rubbed the side of his nose.
If only he understood what we’re really up against.

* * * *

Rebecca’s story baffled him. He’d tried to hustle her off on the first available plane not because he’d doubted her abilities, but because what had started as a routine mission had transformed into a nightmare.

Beyond coping with the everyday dangers, including a fifty-five kilometer hike through a jungle crawling with wild animals and rappelling and climbing wet cave walls, she’d bandaged a gunshot wound, survived a near drowning and helped him rescue Bunny from the kidnappers.
So why is she so freaked out about a power outage?

Maybe stress had pushed her over the edge. This whole idea that ghosts were haunting the place sounded like a bit too much. He’d seen people act unstable underground from time to time—darkness could affect people in a bad way—but Rebecca had almost always seemed coherent and they weren’t even below ground.

Sure, she’d grabbed Bunny around the neck once when she was moaning and complaining and Kent had had to pry her hands loose, but he’d wanted to wring the whiny woman’s neck himself on dozens of occasions.

Still, he wondered if the mysterious incident was in any way related to the smugglers.

Despite Bunny’s hysterical tendencies, she’d been astute enough to overhear a conversation about hieroglyphics in the cave when she’d been kidnapped. But her story sounded like bad math—a situation of two plus two equals five.

The kidnappers had stashed mountainous piles of raw rubies and sapphires in an underground cavern near Mountain River Cave. If the kidnappers were about to flee the country with millions of dollars of precious gemstones, why the hell would they care about some random scribbles? It just didn’t make sense. Bunny had said the sketches showed people displaying special powers.
Okay, so some cave visitors smoked some potent herbs and thought they could fly.

Kent turned his attention back to Rebecca, who stood trembling in his arms. Regardless of how far-fetched her story sounded, he hated seeing her agitated and upset. It was his job to make her feel protected and safe.

He leaned in and kissed her gently on her cheek. “Everything’s going to be just fine, don’t you worry.”

She nestled in his arms and her quick breaths warmed his neck.

“Take a deep breath and try to relax. I’m here to take care of you.”

As he skimmed his hands over her back, her breathing slowed and he felt the tension in her shoulders ease.

“Thank you for being so understanding, Kent. I feel so much better now that you’re here.”

“I’ll try not to let you out of my sight for even a minute if I can help it until we get through all this.”

He conjured up the most seductive look he could muster. “Since there’s no power and breakfast is pretty much out of the question, there’s only one other activity I can think of that’s available to us.”

She raised an eyebrow and gave him a one-sided smile. “And what would that be?”

“Playing innocent are we? Raise your arms over your head and I’ll show you.”

A playful laugh erupted from her lips. “So you want to play strip poker without the cards?”

“Something like that.”

“First you have to catch me.” She leaped off the bed and darted away.

He jumped up and ran toward her. She stepped behind the table and he chased her, but she kept shifting directions. “So you want to play hard to get, do you? I guess I don’t have any choice but to—well, you’ll find out soon enough.”

Surprise registered in her eyes as he leaped up and over the table and grabbed her around the waist. “If I were you I would get your cute butt on the bed before I have to resort to desperate measures.”

“Desperate measures sound interesting.” She punched him playfully in the biceps and tried to wiggle free.

Before she had a chance to react, he hefted her hips up on his shoulders and carried her toward the bed.

“Let me go,” she said, kicking her legs.

He gave her a playful swat on the butt.

“Stop that, Kent.”

“I rather enjoyed that, although it would be even more fun if you had your pants off.”

“You won’t be getting them off unless you put me down.”

He flipped her over his shoulders and controlled her fall onto the rigid mattress. She lay on her back looking up at him, breathing heavily. Her lips looked even more delicious and kissable pursed up in a pout. He fought to control his mounting arousal.

“Are you ready to give in to my demands?”

“That depends on the demand.” A playful sparkle appeared in her eyes.

“Oh, I see. Would the lady be willing to raise her arms so I can remove her shirt? I’d really like to fondle her beautiful breasts.”

She sat up and lifted her arms, her chest heaving from exertion. He couldn’t wait to see her out-of-breath and flushed during a more intimate activity.

He pulled her T-shirt over her head, admiring her creamy, succulent breasts.
Thank goodness undergarments in the jungle are ill advised.
Goodbye skin fungus and bra strap hassles.

He massaged a breast with his fingers, relishing its plump roundness and how nicely it fit inside his palm.

He pressed his lips against hers, kissing her gently at first, but as a visceral need to take ownership of her surged through his body, he devoured her mouth—nibbling and sucking on her lower lip.

“Mmm,” she said.

He parted her lips with his tongue and met her tongue in a mating dance. He hoped her body was as on fire as his. He felt like his burgeoning penis was going to tear right through his pants. As he slid down the zipper on her jeans, a loud crash made him jerk his eyes away.

“Oh, no, what was that?” Rebecca’s eyes widened and she whipped her head in the direction of the sound.

“I have no idea. Maybe another guest broke a chair—they’re pretty flimsy.”

“Only if two people sit in them.” She smiled briefly, but then her expression turned scared again.

He wished he could wipe the fear lines from Rebecca’s face. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s nothing, but just in case I’ll go check it out.”

“Please don’t leave me alone,” she wailed.

* * * *

“I won’t if you don’t want me to.” He picked up her T-shirt and dropped it on her bare belly. “Put this on and follow me. We can’t have the ghost family checking out your merchandise.”

Rebecca zipped her pants and yanked her shirt over her head.
Great, he thinks it’s funny. He doesn’t believe my story at all.