Something Wilder

“This isn’t going to work,” Bradley said. “He just needs the right motivation, that’s all.” He dragged her forward to where Leo could see and spoke to Leo as if to a small child. “Leo, they’re numbers. Numbers are your jam. You just have to figure out what they mean. Okay?”

Leo stared up at him, face bloody, smile gone and eyes full of rage.

Bradley tugged on her hair again, forcing her to her knees and brandishing a gun. Leaning in, he loudly whispered, “Gee, Lily, sorry for the déjà vu.” He turned to Kevin. “Get him up.”

Kevin dragged Leo to his feet and tossed the paper at him. Leo lifted his shirt, wiped at his eyes, at his forehead; the shirt came away stained red. His hands trembled as he peered down at the writing with an intensity Lily had never seen before.

“What does it say?” Bradley asked in a quiet growl.

“It’s twenty-five numbers with no spaces,” Leo said. “This could take weeks to decipher.”

“Bummer that we don’t have weeks, then.” Bradley lifted his chin. “Feel free to have a seat and use the journal to work it out. We’re not leaving until you’re done.”

All Lily could do now was wait.

* * *

A person could think a lot in a few hours.

Bradley sat beside Lily with their backs against the wall, gun resting idly against his thigh while they watched Leo work. For minutes, and then hours, Leo didn’t write anything down, didn’t use the journal. He just stared, mumbling to himself, working out sequences and codes before seeming to disregard them almost as quickly.

Kevin and Jay paced and talked in low voices, and eventually slumped to sleep on the ground. Bradley sat silently, watching Leo, then watching Lily watching Leo, lost in his own thoughts.

Lily had never been a trusting person. In fact, except for Nicole, there wasn’t a single human she’d trust with her horses, never mind her life. But it occurred to her that when they’d heard Bradley’s voice at that stump, she’d never considered that he and Leo might be in this together. Instead, she was scared for Leo, and beyond the obvious danger, she was scared for his heart and what it would mean that the man he considered family betrayed him so deeply.

So far, he was doing exactly what she’d expected him to—remaining calm and stoic in the face of danger—but after this, and God she hoped there’d be an after this, she knew the pain of this betrayal would land, and hard. She hated it even more than the burn of her father’s journal being taken from her and the two of them forced to help someone else find this treasure. In that moment, it felt like it was her and Leo against the world. Lily would have done anything to keep her man safe, but right then she could only sit back and trust him. Her competence couldn’t save them right now.

“Stop that tapping,” Bradley said, surprising her by stilling her hand on her thigh. “God, it’s like a hammer in my skull at this point.”

She hadn’t realized she’d been doing it. “Sorry. It’s just a habit.”

“Well, it’s fucking annoying.”

She glared at him, wanting to claw his face off. “You ruined a decade-long friendship with the best man you know,” she whispered to him. “For money.”

“He and I are damaged but not broken,” Bradley assured her. “Every relationship has a low moment.”

She laughed sadly. “A low moment. You’re delusional.”

“Look at you two,” he said, smug. “You’re trying to tell me nothing happened out here with you? If it wasn’t for me, you and Leo would have never reconnected, so he should actually be grateful.”

“Fuck off.”

Bradley turned his head to watch Leo bent over, staring at the code. “When we get out of here, he and I will talk it out.”

She wanted to punch him. She wanted to swipe the gun and pistol-whip each of them before blocking them in there with their stupid box and this stupid—

“Breathe, Lil,” Leo murmured, glancing over at her. “Don’t let him get you riled up.”

A rush of emotion pushed up from her chest and into her throat, salty and hot, at the awareness that even when injured and intensely concentrating on an urgent task, Leo was still keeping an eye on her.

She nodded, replying quietly to him, “I won’t. I’m okay.”

Bradley laughed softly. “You are so whipped, Leo.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Leo pushed his hair off his head and leaned closer to the paper again.

Lily didn’t know how many hours had passed, but her throat was dry and she was exhausted. It was freezing, and even the slow appearance of dawn through the gap in the cave’s ceiling didn’t promise much warmth. She really had to pee. She looked up just as Leo’s eyes went wide. His brows lifted—hope soared in her chest—before slowly straightening again. He’d found something.