The Treasure Read Online Free PDF

him, using his body as a shield. Since he was the closest thing to safety she had, Amelia stayed behind him and wrapped her arms around her waist to stop trembling.
    “Throw your weapons into the bush to your left,” Brody ordered.
    Amelia couldn’t see to know if the men obeyed or not and she didn’t care to look. She wasn’t sure she could. Fear froze her limbs.
    “That’s good. Now, I’m going to get Miss Sawyer’s things out of the truck and you all are going to lay flat on the ground while I do it. So, down you go.”
    Brody looked over his shoulder briefly to say, “Get in,” before he strode away.
    Once Amelia got her limbs working, it took her all of five seconds to jump inside the Land Rover and lock the door. Shivering, she watched through the windshield as Brody walked up to the three men glaring daggers at him. Unaffected, Brody opened the door to Mr. Newton’s truck and grabbed her bags without taking his eyes off them. Then he walked backwards toward her.
    As he approached, Amelia saw a flash of silver as he tossed something into the jungle. Mr. Newton jumped to his feet and started shouting again. Brody tossed her bags in the backseat, jumped in, slammed into reverse, and spun the vehicle around. Seconds later, they careened down the road.
    Brody flipped the heater on high. His knuckles were white where his hand gripped the wheel. A muscle worked in his jaw.
    “I — I can’t s — stop shaking.” Her teeth chattered, her mind numb. “I — can’t — think straight.”
    “You’re in shock.” Brody reached over the seat and dropped a leather flight jacket into her lap. “Put that on. There’s a flask in the pocket. Drink it.”
    Doing as she was told, Amelia eagerly pulled the jacket on. It was three sizes too big and smelled like Brody so she snuggled in, using it to warm her frozen body. Brody aimed the heat vents directly at her. Sweat beaded his brow but he didn’t complain. She dug a silver flask out of the pocket and uncapped it. The word
Ace
was engraved on the front and below it:
Fight on and fly on to the last drop of blood and the last drop of fuel, to the last beat of the heart.
She traced the words with her finger. “What does this mean?”
    Brody kept his eyes trained on the road. “Nothing. Just drink it.”
    Obviously he wasn’t going to share any explanations, so she lifted it to her lips and took a sip, coughing when whisky burned its way down her throat.
    She clapped a hand on her chest. “It’s good.”
    Brody didn’t comment, simply kept driving in stony silence. Amelia tucked her hand inside the jacket sleeve, looking over her shoulder and out the back window to see if they were being followed. Images of being held at gunpoint filled her head and she started shaking again. She took another drink.
    “They aren’t following,” Brody said. “I threw their keys are in the jungle.”
    Amelia nodded, head beginning to swim. “And Mr. Newton didn’t have the tire on yet,” she murmured. “I feel … why did he do this? He had a gun.” The last words came out a whisper.
    Brody slammed a hand on the wheel, startling her. Stomping on the brakes, he brought the vehicle to a sliding stop in the middle of the road and turned a hard glare on her. “What did you think was going to happen when you started flashing around the map?”
    “I wasn’t flashing around the map. Wait, my map?” Amelia frowned. “I don’t understand.”
    “Are you really that naïve?”
    Amelia pressed against the door at his harsh question. Tears filled her eyes, her nerves dangerously close to snapping. “I guess I am. Stop bullying me. It’s a map. That’s all. Drawn by my aunt, for heaven’s sake. She gave it to
me
so I could have an adventure like she did. It was meant for me so why is everyone suddenly fighting over it? Anyway, it’s your fault that those men were pointing guns at me.”
    Brody’s look was incredulous. “My fault? What the hell are you talking