diamond I just want to destroy.
“Caleb,” I whisper, and his face softens. We’ve fought, but now that I’ve made my decision, he’s going to back me one hundred percent.
Caleb holds up a reassuring hand. “Give her a minute. She’s stubborn.”
I understand, but still, I’m worried. How deep does the next cavern go?
Why didn’t it show up on the geological reports?
What if . . .
My eyes scan the deep darkness, and then I see the white light bouncing through the crystals, coming back toward me, and hear the quiet echo of her running footsteps. My heart stops as a slightly dirty but unmarked arm sticks out of the crack.
“I need something to dig with, something sharp.”
Caleb and I both offer her our knives from our sheaths, and I take some small joy that my knife is bigger, more serrated than his.
We set them down, and I can see her face, so beautiful in the dark crack. She looks at them and then takes them both with a smirk, like she could read my thoughts.
“What did you find?”
She doesn’t answer, just winks and disappears into the darkness again.
Caleb and I look to each other, and he grins. “It’s not the size of the blade but how you use it.”
It’s a bad joke, but it helps with my worries as from behind the crystal wall, I can hear scraping noises and a few grunts.
“Give her a minute,” Caleb repeats, and it sounds like he’s reminding us both.
He’s a good guy, would never infringe on something I have going with a woman, but I can sense that he feels some responsibility for bringing Emma here.
And he knows she’s mine . . . and he’ll defend her to his last breath because of that.
“Thanks,” I whisper, one word encompassing so many things. For being my brother, for always having my back, for bringing Emma, for coming himself. All of it, none of it. It doesn’t matter.
Caleb simply nods, and two agonizingly long minutes later, Emma is back, a grimace on her face.
“Did you find it? Holy shit, did you find it?”
“I did. But uhm, it’s not what I expected.” The look on her face is one of confusion mixed with awe.
“Let me see.”
She reaches into her pocket, where she pulls out . . . her sock?
She unwraps the balled-up sock, and I see it. The gem’s beautiful, a hue of iridescence that I’ve never seen before, and it’s somehow carved. The pattern is almost chilling, a figure twisting and entwining itself in a way that’s almost an affront to the sane mind.
“I can see why you don’t like it,” Caleb whispers. “Ugly fucking thing.”
“Fucking finally,” I growl as I reach out, taking it from her. I turn it over in my hands, looking at it, through it, studying it. It feels heavier than it should, like the density of the stone is higher than that of a typical diamond.
Caleb holds up a hand, not to take the gem but to ask, “Where we gonna hide it?”
I look at Emma, who shakes her head as I scan her body. “Not there, you’re not! I ain’t that helpful.”
Caleb rolls his eyes and interrupts. “I don’t care if you smuggle it out of here San Quentin style or shoved up your twat. Though Nathan . . . don’t go sticking your dick in there again or you’re risking some serious cave cooties.”
He grins like that’s high-brow humor, and I can’t help it, I chuckle.
I push him, and he stumbles but finds his footing. Emma giggles the smallest little laugh, like she finds our brotherly battles entertaining. While we’re goofing off, she solves the problem, shaking the urn with dad’s ‘ashes’. “Looks like it’ll fit in here. No need for questionable smuggling.”
We stage the ground to look like we’ve had some type of ceremony for dear old Dad, and we even sprinkle the ash throughout the cave to cement our cover story. Then we slip the gem in the urn. It fits like we planned it that way, but it’s truly just the best of luck. A tiny voice whispers that maybe Dad had a little something to do with that good fortune, but I dismiss it.
“Looks good, yeah?” I ask.
With a nod, we leave the cave to the dusky night air of the jungle.
I fully expect Francisco to have double-crossed us and be waiting with guns drawn to take the diamond from us.
But instead, he’s sitting on his rock by the campfire, drawing shapes in a patch of