Hustle (Book 1 in The Hunted Hearts) - SYTYCW Winner #action #comedy #romance

Hustle | Chapter 23

Copyright 2013 - All Rights Reserved

Hustle By Claire Chilton

23

Deadfall

Jacob wiped the sweat off his brow with the tail of his khaki shirt before taking another glance at the map. According to the markings, the Heart should be buried inside the volcano. He sighed when he peered at the compass, feeling guilty for taking it.

I shouldn't have left her behind.

He shook his head.

It's for the best. Meyer wants her, not me. She'll be safe in the village. I can get the Heart and then go back to find her. That way, Meyer won't get his hands on her.

All thoughts of his father and her father had evaporated when she was wrapped in his arms last night. Whatever had happened in the past was history. He'd realized that for most of his life he'd lived in his father's shadow. The Hawk was his father, not him. His father's company was just another part of the past that was weighing him down. He loved exploring the world and finding hidden treasures, but not for prestige or the title of being the Hawk. That was Douglas Hawkins's life, not his.

When we get back to the UK, I'm leaving the company. I've got enough money to do what I want, and this is what I want.

While all his friends had been traveling the world and experiencing new things, he'd been keeping track of accounts at Hawkins Shipping and chasing the treasures his father had never found, chasing the father he'd never had.

Well, now I've found him.

Once he'd realized that, everything had become so clear.

Get the Heart, keep Ellie safe and get off this island.

At first, this whole journey had been about his father, saving him, saving his reputation. But whatever his father had been doing here, if it involved men like Meyer, his father had been no angel. It wasn't his cross to bear anymore. Jacob's life had been on hold for his father until he'd met Ellie. Now he had her, he'd found his own place in the world, and it wasn't at Hawkins Shipping.

She'll forgive me for leaving her like that.

He nodded as he brushed through the trees to find the dark, cavernous entrance to the volcano before him. He smiled.

She'll forgive me when I give her the Heart of Fortune.

***

Ellie was unsure if she was going in the right direction, so she stopped to rest for a moment beside a large palm tree. She hadn't heard gunshots for a while, and she was relieved by the silence. The constant crack of shots being fired had been wearing on her already tense nerves.

What are they shooting at anyway? Jacob's lame ass wouldn't warrant that many bullets, plus he's such a—

Her thoughts froze as she glanced up to see the dark granite of a volcano above her. It towered through the trees like a daunting fortress. She swallowed her fear of it and hurried through the trees, hoping she was on the right side of the massive structure.

She stopped when she came to a solid wall of volcanic rock.

Crap, where's the entrance?

She had a choice of left or right. She decided to go right and follow the wall, hoping the entrance to it wasn't too far away. The wall of rock was cold to touch. Overgrown trees and plants climbed up it, making it difficult to trek around it. She climbed over wild tree roots that were sticking up out of the earth and brushed by large plants with leaves and thorns, skirting around what she could to stay beside the wall.