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Back The Last Mile Save as PDF
Chapters (49)
  1. Also by
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Epigraph
  5. CHAPTER ONE
  6. CHAPTER TWO
  7. CHAPTER THREE
  8. CHAPTER FOUR
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT
  13. CHAPTER NINE
  14. CHAPTER TEN
  15. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  16. CHAPTER TWELVE
  17. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  21. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  22. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  23. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  44. CHAPTER FORTY
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  48. EPILOGUE
  49. Teaser chapter

“Hector is back at the hotel,” Abby reminded him.

Gage nodded as they headed for their vehicles. “We’ll send him back to Velásquez with the bad news.”

“What? There’s no gold?”

Gage’s mouth edged into a weary smile. “Not for him.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

ABBY SAT AT KING’S BEDSIDE, HOLDING ONTO HIS HAND. GAGE stood a few feet away. Zuma had left to give them time alone.

Abby kissed King’s liver-spotted hand.

“Tell me . . .” he wheezed. “Say it. It’s written . . . all over . . . your face.”

She took a deep breath. “We found the treasure, Grandfather. Mayan gold. It was underneath the hacienda’s outside kitchen.”

King’s eyes narrowed. He looked paler, thinner than he had just that morning. Her throat tightened. He was fading fast, and there was nothing she could do.

“You found Mayan treasure? Mayan gold . . . under the kitchen?”

She nodded. “A room full of ancient gold artifacts. It was incredible. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. But . . . you know the antiquities laws. We had to give it to the Mexican government.”

A slow smile curved King’s lips. “You found your own . . . treasure, sweet girl. Not mine. You have the blood of a true . . . treasure hunter.”

Abby felt a tug in her heart. She smiled. “Gage thinks whoever plundered the Mayan treasure must have started collecting it years after the Peraltas were gone and the hacienda was in ruins. The underground room was just a convenient place to hide it. Maybe the thieves were caught and never gave up the location, or maybe they were killed. Gage still thinks there’s more gold out there.”

King’s smile broadened into a grin. “I know . . . there is.” His amber eyes slid toward Gage.

“The Peralta gold,” Gage said, coming away from the wall. “There were no gold ingots in that room, but I think we’re close to finding them.”

They told King everything that had happened since that morning and that they were free of Velásquez’s hold.

“Why didn’t you bring the gold out when you first found it?” Abby asked King.

“I’d only come down here . . . to search. I followed the clues . . . I had put together over . . . the years, but I still wasn’t . . . sure I would find it. Afterward . . . I went back to . . . make arrangements. I needed men . . . equipment . . . needed to deal with the . . . government.”

King squeezed Abby’s hand. “I don’t have much . . . time. But enough, I think . . . to finish what I . . . started. Get me out of this . . . bed, and I’ll show you . . . where to find . . . the Devil’s Gold.”

Abby started shaking her head. The long conversation was taking its toll. “You need to rest. You need to—”

Gage’s big hands settled on her shoulders. “It’s King’s treasure. He deserves to be the one to find it.”