TWICE A HERO By Susan Krinard

He found Fernando with the single mule, speaking to her softly in an ancient Maya tongue; he looked at Liam as if he .knew everything that had happened in the tent. Damn him, he probably did.

“We’re leaving before dawn tomorrow for Champerico,” Liam said in Spanish. “Did you get extra food from the village?”

Fernando nodded as he examined the jenny’s hoof. “And the señorita!”

“Leave her to me.”

The corner of Fernando’s mouth twitched, but he offered no further comment. Liam felt the muleteer’s gaze on his back as he walked away. Walking was what he needed to do; a long, hard walk now that the sun was lowering and the worst of the day’s heat was past. That or a good soak in the lake—but he wouldn’t go there again.

He grabbed a machete and got a few yards into the jungle before the pain in his shoulder returned. More punishment for his sins. He scowled and forced himself to keep going, pausing only to scrape sweat from his brows. For a time he imagined Perry’s face in every hapless tree or bush he attacked. It was almost satisfying—until his thoughts drifted, inevitably, back to Mac.

What was she doing now? Probably blasting him up one side of the Petén and down the other. She wasn’t the sort to accept an indignity quietly. He could imagine the little hellion charging into the jungle with her strange collection of devices, getting herself lost or worse.

He was not responsible for her.

Damn it. Damn it. And damn it all to hell.

He turned and started back.

* * *

What a fool she’d been.

Mac paced the length of the tent and back again, trying to determine where to begin her search. Her watch had to be somewhere in this tent, and by God she was going to find it and be out of here before Liam decided to come back.

She paused in her furious strides to survey Liam’s shaving supplies, laid out on the folding camp desk. Razor, antique bottles filled with pungent lotion, a comb and scissors. No wristwatch. She would not think of the way Liam had looked with the sun on his hair, shaving down by the lake.

Or remember how he’d reacted when she’d given him Perry’s watch. She hadn’t imagined his vulnerability then—or his need.

When he’d kissed and caressed her, she’d lost herself, felt the borders between two bodies melt and merge. She’d felt his need as something limitless, becoming part of her own.

His body was no more capable of lying than hers was. For a time he had truly wanted her. For a while the vast gulf between them had ceased to exist.

Now it was as wide as the Grand Canyon. Or time itself.

She had to get back. Now. Tonight. As soon as she’d found her wristwatch; she didn’t intend to leave any part of herself behind.

She dropped to her knees beside the trunk that contained his clothing; the lid had been closed over the trailing arm of a shirtsleeve, and the contents were in disarray. She didn’t bother to be neat in her exploration. Shirts, trousers, a belt, socks… underwear… she tossed those aside sharply, hoping they landed someplace where stinging insects would make a nest in them.

No plastic waterproof wristwatch. Only a flat paper folder at the very bottom of the trunk, buried under everything else.

Inside was an envelope, neatly printed with Liam’s name and a San Francisco address. Postmarked 1884. She couldn’t resist opening it.

A swirl of perfumed scent rose from a sheet of fine stationery. Elegant lines of script flowed across the page; a woman’s hand, delicate and feminine.

Dear Liam, the letter began.

Mac’s gaze drifted to the bottom of the page, to the demure signature so perfectly placed.

Caroline Gresham, it said. Caroline. The name was extremely familiar. In fact, it made her think of…

Her blood seemed to drain from her fingers and toes and head all at once, leaving her giddy and dazed.

She began to read again.

Dear Liam,

I write this letter in haste, because I know that you and Peregrine are shortly to leave for the jungles again. Oh, how I wish I could go with you! Peregrine says that someday I will have just such an adventure. Peregrine has also promised to bring me a trinket. I shall wait to see which of you brings me the better one. Until you return, I shall keep you both in my prayers.

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