“Why don’t you turn this over to the FBI?”
“They’d want to know how and where I got it. Dad will never ask. What was that?”
“I didn’t hear anything.”
Eli motioned for her to turn off the light on her cell phone. It was completely dark in the little building. She didn’t hear him move but only felt him when he threw his body over hers. She made a sound when she was pressed up against the cold, dusty concrete floor, but then stayed still as they waited in silence. If anyone came in the door, they’d see Eli long before they realized there was a body under his.
They lay together for minutes, neither of them moving, but nothing happened.
Eli rolled off her. She couldn’t see him but could hear what sounded like the click of his pistol. “I’m going outside,” he whispered. “Stay here.”
Chelsea sat up and listened. When Eli opened the door, a bit of light came through from outside, and he slipped out, closing the door behind him. It was so quiet in the little building that she could hear her heart beating.
Crawling, she searched for Eli’s pack, found it, and rummaged inside. There were several objects that she couldn’t identify, but when her hand hit the bolt cutters he’d used to cut the lock, she took the tool out. She felt her way along the wall until she reached the door. If it opened, she’d be behind it.
When she heard the door opening, she raised the cutters high.
Eli’s hand caught them midair and took them from her. “It was no one,” he said, and turned on his flashlight to look at her. “You okay?”
“Fine.” She took a breath. “Actually, I feel good. Is your dad coming?”
“Yes. Men are on their way. Some of my cousins—” He waved his hand. “It would be better if you don’t know. But, yeah, people are coming to get these boxes. I need to get them out of this shed. Could you give me a hand? We’ll toss them over the fence, then hide them. We have to do this in silence and darkness. Think you can do it?”
“Of course,” she said. “When do we start?”
Eli gave her a grin of such happiness that she felt her knees go weak. She hadn’t seen that smile since they were kids.
“Robin and Marian, all grown up,” she said and had the satisfaction of seeing him take a tiny step toward her. But he caught himself.
“If we didn’t have this task to do, right now I’d remove your clothing.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” she said.
Eli frowned.
“Because I’d have every stitch off before you could get to me.”
For a second his eyes blazed at her, then he turned away. “Too bad we have to take care of this now.”
Outside, the wind had picked up and it felt like it might rain. Pilar was waiting for them.
“I knew I heard something,” Eli muttered. “Get on the other side of the fence and I’ll toss boxes to you. Or will they be too heavy for you?”
“Puh-lease,” Pilar said.
“Don’t be a jerk, Eli,” Chelsea said.
Pilar and Chelsea looked at each other and smiled.
“Two of you?” Eli said under his breath, then went inside to get the first load of boxes.
Chelsea was glad to see Pilar go over the fence in exactly the way she had. “Ballet?”
“Seven years of it,” Pilar said. “I grew too tall to pursue it.”
“Me too,” Chelsea said and again they exchanged smiles. The first four boxes came sailing over the fence and they caught them before they landed. “So how’s Lanny?” Chelsea whispered. With the wind in the trees, their soft voices were covered.
“Great. I think maybe he’s The One.”