Carolyn Arnold - McKinley 02 - Vacation is Murder by Carolyn Arnold Page B

stop,” she said.
    “No, we keep moving.”
    “I promise I’ll walk, but my sandals are—” Sara slowed her pace, struggling to reach her feet, as she kept moving.
    Daren jerked on her arm. “Keep moving.”
    “They are bunching on my toes.” She hobbled along, balancing herself on Daren’s shoulder, the opposite leg lifted and bent. “Maybe if you support me, I can make it back like this.”
    She was hoping that he was as uncomfortable from the heat as she was—she had never been this hot in her life.
    “You have two seconds.”
    “Oh. Thank you. Thank you.”
    Daren rolled his eyes as he let her go.
    She bent down, placing the money bag on the ground beside her, quickly looking around. There were a few tourists, but they were far enough away. She glanced up at Daren. He wasn’t looking at her but staring somewhere off in the distance. She reached into the bag and searched around. Her fingertips grazed the handle.
    “That’s long enough, lady. Time to go.” He yanked up on her, pulling her arm from the bag.
    She came out with the knife held firmly, the blade glistening in the sun. Its reflection must have hit him in the eyes. He squinted and his stance faltered.
    She didn’t have time to look behind them, but she heard the footfalls—Sean was coming.

     
    Sean saw them, not more than twenty feet ahead. He closed the distance quickly, happy that he was in good physical shape. He tackled Daren from behind, pulling him to the ground, but Daren landed on top.
    They rolled on the grass, teasing the edge of the jungle but they righted themselves to stay in the clearing.
    Daren straddled Sean. “This is the second time in twenty hours, but this time I’m going to kill you.” Daren reached for his gun.
    “Sean,” Sara yelled.
    He got a blurry view of his surroundings as he tussled with Daren. Earl was standing beside Sara—no longer a threat. They were mere feet away from a cordoned-off ruin.
    He found strength and landed a hard blow to Daren’s jaw that had the man howling like a wounded animal.
    Daren retreated, swaying back, still over Sean.
    Punching his kidneys, Sean alternated left and right until the man toppled off him, then shot to his feet. “Run, darling,” he said to Sara.
    She took off, with Earl following behind her.
    Sean turned around to face Daren, who was coming at him like a raging football player. He grounded his stance, bent in the knee, ready to receive the tackle.
    Daren made contact, shoving his body into Sean’s torso, but he hunched farther down and lifted, causing Daren to fly over Sean’s head and come to land on the other side of the rope.
    Militia came out of the jungle, yelling in Spanish, waving around AK47s, all of them trained on Daren.

 
     

     
    In Hot Water
     
    THE THREE OF THEM STOOD outside of the Spencers’ room back at the resort.
    “She’s not going to want to see me,” Earl said.
    “Give her a chance. You never know.” Sara spoke the words but she didn’t hold out much optimism in this case. The man had cheated on his wife, set up his disappearance, was going to fake his death. Some things were unforgivable, even to Sara.
    “You promised you’d come in with me,” Earl said.
    Sara nodded and passed a glance to Sean.
    They had spent hours explaining everything to the militia. They’d filled them in on Amelia’s murder and how they were detectives from the United States. They made the call to Voigt who confirmed their cover.
    They definitely owed the man a large bottle of fine cognac.
    The three of them were free to go, but Daren Wolfe would never see the light of day again. It turned out that when he fell he broke a piece off of the monument. Now there was a territorial war between the US government, the militia, and the Mexican police. Either way, Daren would live the rest of his life behind bars.
    Sara took a deep breath and turned the handle. Sean followed behind her and Earl trailed in last.
    Catherine Spencer was sitting on the couch, her