Deceptive Treasures: Slye Temp Book 5 Read Online Free PDF Page B

the tunnel, careful not to stumble. A twisted ankle would mean death if she couldn’t run.
    She should have negotiated a deal with this Bo before he caught up with his team .
    If these men were not American military, who were they?
    They moved and acted like a highly-skilled military team and definitely sounded American. Especially the cowboy. He was as large as a tank and clearly in charge.
    Who had the United States sent to take the physicists out of here ? Had this team already revealed their identity to Pang and Har?
    Of course they would have.
    But not to her.
    She was not part of their mission .
    It didn’t matter . Everyone in this tunnel depended on her right now and they were fortunate that she had no choice but to escape or face interrogation, then death.
    Or worse.
    For a woman, there were worse punishments than death.  
    Her fingers tightened on the flashlight . Pang and Har would be a problem. Pang more than Har. He hated her and, even if by some miracle she convinced the cowboy to take her with them, Pang would find a way to leave her behind.
    He’d warned her that he’d make her pay for refusing his advances . Her skin crawled at the idea of being touched by Pang. He was no different than his superior who had raped a young girl. Jin was glad the soldiers had found evidence she’d planted to implicate him as a traitor.
    They’d just found it too quickly and almost caught her at the lab.
    The tunnel narrowed to single file, which meant she was approaching the spot for a change of direction.
    The cowboy stepped in behind her, allowing her to remain in the lead. He asked, “How far does this go?”
    “Not far. This will end at a sheet of metal mounted over an opening in a wall. There is a room on the other side. Once we pass through there, we find another tunnel.”
    “Stop before you reach the metal cover to that room and let me take the lead.”
    “Why?”
    “In case someone’s in the room.”
    He thought to stand between her and a threat ? She said, “The room is empty.”
    “I still go first.”
    The idea that a man would protect her stirred a funny fluttering in her chest. An American, no less. No one had ever stepped up to defend her, but this man had held her in his arms at the Ryugyong Hotel and turned his body to shield her from the guards, even when he knew nothing of her.
    She had felt safe with him .
    Safe had never been a word in her vocabulary . Not when it came to men.
    Lack of sound sleep for months must be playing with her mind. She was no silly woman to read so much into a stranger’s action.
    When her light glanced off the smooth metal covering, a hole large enough for even Pang to pass through, Jin stopped. “We are almost there.”
    Bo touched her shoulder with a finger. “Change positions with me.”
    She had no choice but to flatten her back against the wall to allow him to pass through the narrow space. The cowboy turned to face her and sidestepped past, but there was still not enough room for both of them without contact.
    She sucked in her breath.
    He did the same and barely touched her, but the friction of his chest across the tips of her breasts sent heat shooting into her stomach. Energy raced across her skin and her pulse drummed a fast beat.
    Then he was gone, striding ahead .
    She needed a moment to gather her wits, then quickly fell into step behind him before anyone else tried to pass her that way. Her heart thumped faster than when she and the cowboy had faced the soldier in the Ryugyong Hotel.
    When she reached the end of the path, the cowboy asked, “What’s on the other side of this wall?” 
    “It was once a room for storing equipment when they were digging at this level, but it is no longer used after a tunnel leading to it collapsed before they could finish it.”
    “Collapsed?”
    “Not this tunnel,” she clarified. “That metal panel has been here a long time. The bolts holding it to the wall are old, but it will require two of you to push it open.