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Nyx felt her nerves ramp up higher. Pressing her nails into her palms, she said, “I’m still in grad school. I’m working on my PhD.” As if she couldn’t do her job for the Paladin League and go to school, but he didn’t know that. She hoped.
“What does your fiancé think?”
Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, she chanted silently, hoping that would be enough to have the name emerge smoothly as if she was accustomed to using it.
“Charlie has always been supportive of my education.” It worked. She said Charlie without any hesitations or stutters.
“I meant,” Vargas said coolly, “what does your fiancé think about the Paladin League sending you to Puerto Jardin? Does he know that’s why you’re here or does he believe you traveled solely to spend time with him?”
Her stomach bottomed out. Instinct told her not to lie about the Paladin League. “He knows,” Nyx said with a calm she didn’t feel. “He wasn’t happy when I told him.”
Something seemed to ease, although the drug lord’s expression didn’t change. “You’re headstrong.” It wasn’t a compliment.
“I’d already accepted the job before I knew where the Paladin League was sending me. It wasn’t as if I could tell them I’d changed my mind, not if I wanted to work for them in the future.”
Silence as Vargas considered her. Nyx struggled not to shift, but his calculating gaze made her uneasy.
“Were you honestly at the ruins to watch over a mercenary who can take care of himself? You? A woman whose area of expertise is archaeology and not tactics?”
“Yes. I would never let the man I love walk into what sounded like a trap without trying to help. You might not think much of what kind of assistance I could give him, but I was damn well going to try my best if the situation warranted it.”
His stare intensified as if he were trying to peer into her soul. It took forever before he said, “Loyalty is an admirable trait. Tell me, what does your boss at the Paladin League think of you traveling to the ruins to protect a mercenary?”
Nyx drew a deep breath as the room spun around her. “He doesn’t know about Charlie. My personal life is none of his business.”
“Then why does he believe you traveled here from Trujillo?”
Another deep breath. She had to assume Vargas knew she’d checked into the inn. “I told him I wanted to examine the ruins. That there might be something there despite the archaeologists who excavated the site for years. He had no reason to doubt me.”
Shifting in his seat, Vargas locked his gaze on hers. Nyx knew soul-deep terror. If he was aware she was lying, there might not be anything she could say to save herself.
“He never questioned you?” The skepticism was unveiled.
“He’s an administrator. He knows nothing about archaeology.” Her skin felt as if it were burning, and Nyx wondered if she’d flushed. She hoped not because it would be a huge tell that she was being dishonest. She didn’t know if Archer had a degree, but he was as versed in archaeology as she was.
The drug lord studied her again even longer than he had earlier. She struggled not to squirm. His eyes were emotionless, dead. It was scary to meet his gaze head-on, but Nyx did it anyway. Too many people were at risk if she faltered.
“What does Señor Case know of the Lost Treasure of Trujillo?”
If she’d been flushed a moment ago, she’d likely gone pale now. Was he aware that she was in Puerto Jardin to find the Lost Treasure or had he brought it up for some other reason? She shrugged. The movement felt jerky and stiff. Trying for a humorous tone, she said, “Knowing Charlie, not much. He’s not interested in legends.”
“Even if his fiancée was sent to find this particular legend?”
Nyx felt her skin go ice cold in little more than a heartbeat. “The treasure has been missing since 1820. Men have searched from the day it disappeared. Charlie doesn’t believe anyone will be more successful in locating it now than they were then.”
“What do you believe?” Vargas asked. His voice offered no clue as to how she should answer.
“The treasure is likely lost forever. I’d be amazed if the location of the cache didn’t die with the captain and his first mate.”
“Yet you’re down here, looking for it.”
“I’m being paid to chase a legend. My fee will cover a nice chunk of my school costs.”
Vargas seemed to relax. “I begin to understand the attraction between you and Señor Case. You are as much a mercenary as he is, albeit in a different way.”
Nyx felt insulted but suspected the drug lord meant it as a compliment. It also suggested that Vargas had questioned if she and Lurch were a couple. At least she had put that to rest. She forced her lips to curve, but it was the last thing she wanted to do.
Her attempt at a smile faded as he continued to stare at her.