“Well, I must say it’s been lovely catching up with you both,” Griffin said dryly. “But we really should make our farewells. Might it be too much to ask that you give us a fifteen-minute head start?”
“Of course, it’s the least we can do,” Daniel agreed readily.
“Well, ain’t this civilized.” Hunt’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Mr. Hunt!” Daniel spoke in a surprisingly sharp tone.
The cowboy lapsed into a surly silence.
“You have fifteen minutes,” Daniel repeated.
The Arkana team wordlessly made for the door.
“Ain’t you all forgettin’ somethin’ else?” Hunt asked pointedly.
The trio turned to stare at him.
“Miss Cassie, I believe you still got a tiny item that belongs to me.” He stared at the pistol handle sticking out of her waistband.
“Oh, right. Sorry.” She stepped forward and handed him the weapon.
In a move that took everyone by surprise, Hunt grabbed the pistol, swung his arm around Cassie’s throat and pointed the gun at her head.
Erik dove for Cassie’s rifle and trained it on the cowboy.
“You put that piece down, boy. Less you want your girlfriend’s blood paintin’ this cave wall.”
Hunt, guessing at the relationship between Cassie and Erik, had struck a nerve. The paladin instantly lowered the rifle to the ground.
“What are you doing, Mr. Hunt!” Daniel cried.
“He’s going to finish the job he started in Crete, that’s what,” Erik said in a low voice.
“You will not kill these people,” Daniel thundered. “I gave them my word.”
“Relax, son. I’m just buyin’ us a little insurance in case they’ve got a mind to double-cross us. I mean, what’s to keep ‘em from gettin’ the drop on us and takin’ the doodad back again? Now you grab some rope and tie them two boys up. Nobody’s gonna get hurt.”
“Nobody’s going to get hurt!” Daniel exclaimed incredulously. “You want me to tie them up in a cave with a cache of weapons and several angry smugglers.”
“The smugglers ain’t all that lively at the moment. I expect these enterprisin’ folks will get shed of this place in no time and leave the bad guys in the dust. By then, we’ll be long gone.”
“I won’t do it,” Daniel said.
“You want this little lady’s death on your conscience?”
Apparently, Hunt knew how to strike a nerve with Daniel as well because the scion flinched. “Alright, but you must give me your word they won’t be harmed.”
“Scout’s honor,” Hunt replied. “And Miss Cassie, I’d be much obliged if you take that bug zapper you got hidin’ in your jacket pocket and throw it on the ground. I seen what you can do with that thing and I don’t aim to have another fit of the jitters this evenin’.”
Cassie reached her right hand into her jacket pocket and pulled out the stun gun. With an exasperated sigh, she threw it several feet away from her.
Daniel reached down for another segment of rope lying by the crate.
“I wouldn’t believe him if I were you,” the pythia said.
The scion straightened up and stared at her quizzically.
“He’s going to kill us anyway,” she explained in a dead calm voice. “And them too.” Her eyes traveled to the two Arabs seated on the ground who were trying desperately to piece together what was going on.
“But he’s given me his word,” Daniel retorted in a shocked tone.
“And, of course, he’d never lie to you.”
Daniel turned in mute appeal toward Hunt.
“I ain’t gonna kill nobody,” Hunt protested hotly. “Except maybe you, missie, less’n you shut your trap right now.”
He shoved the gun hard against her temple. Cassie winced slightly, but then she said in a bored tone, “So, this is the part where I’m supposed to get all trembly and compliant just because you got a big ole gun pressed against my head?”
“Cassie!” Erik sounded stricken. “For goddess sake, shut up!”
Griffin seemed almost afraid to breathe.
The pythia continued undeterred. “Help me out here, Tex. I’m having a bad case of deja vu. I just know we’ve run these lines before because this scene feels so played!”
“Gal, my trigger finger is gettin’ more than a mite itchy,” Leroy warned testily.
“And the clichés just keep on comin’,” she mocked.
“Cassie!” Griffin’s voice rose in an agonized wail.
She forged on. “You know what they say. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, well... You know the rest.”
Cassie opened her left hand, and a small black object slid out of her jacket sleeve. Before Hunt even noticed the gesture, she jammed the stun gun into his thigh. He shied away and staggered slightly. Not giving him time to recover, she leaped at him and pressed the gun against the exposed skin on his throat for several seconds. He collapsed in a heap, the pistol rolling harmlessly from his grasp.
The men surrounding the pythia all froze, immobilized by astonishment. The two Arabs stared in goggle-eyed disbelief at what had just happened. When Cassie scanned their stupefied expressions, she had to suppress a smile. Giving them all an innocent look, she asked, “What’s the matter, you never heard of a redundancy plan before?”
Chapter 46—Price Check
“Guys, it’s all good. Snap out of it,” Cassie urged her dazed companions.
They remained transfixed.
Erik finally broke the spell when he strode up to her and scooped her into his arms. “You are one scary chick,” he murmured, holding her close. “Warn me before you pull a stunt like that again.” Then he released her.
Griffin hung back, but Cassie walked up to him and asked, “No victory hug?”
He didn’t need a second prompt. He lifted her off her feet and spun her around in a circle. “Thank you! Your timing was spot on.” He set her back down on the ground. “I would suggest in future, however, that you not bait your captor.”
“I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t know I had an ace up my sleeve.” She displayed the palm-size stun gun.
Erik gave her a quizzical look.
Reading his mind, she said, “Don’t you remember? You said I could bring two.”
“I just said that to get you off my back about packing
