Page 19 of Cavern of Silence

"Why is that?"

"Men get sexier with age and wrinkles. Women just get discarded."

"I wouldn't ever discard you. And women who age gracefully are sexier than when they were younger. Take you, for example. You no doubt were a hottie, but I wouldn't even know you were in your forties, so that's way sexier," I blurt out then cringe inside.

Why can't you play it cool, like you used to know how to do?

Julieta flushes.

"Ryker, think we need a bet," Axel calls out.

Relieved to get past my admittance and lack of thinking before I talk, I turn. "What bet?"

"If we win, the ladies cook. If we lose, we make breakfast."

"What's the bet?" Penelope asks.

Malin joins us. "Dirk's traps are probably full. Has he checked on them?"

"Not yet," I reply.

Axel sits on the crate that has the food. "Ladies, do you think we're eating pancakes and syrup for breakfast or Dirk's jungle rat that has lots of protein?"

Julieta puts her hand over her stomach and looks at Penelope, who has a disgusted look on her face. At the same time, they both say, "Jungle rat."

"Sorry, ladies. You are now on breakfast duty." Axel rises, opens the box, then hands the pancake mix to Penelope and a mixing bowl and utensils to Julieta.

Hunter and Vanessa join us. We leave the ladies to cook, and the guys discuss the drop off situation. We're all perplexed and uncomfortable with not knowing where we are supposed to take the ladies and why Interpol hasn't told us. All of us feel like something is off.

We're in the middle of a heated discussion when Vanessa calls out, "Penelope."

Penelope is trotting toward the woods.

Axel jogs over. "Where is she going?"

"She's upset about her daughter," Vanessa informs us.

Axel's eyes widen. "She has a daughter?"

"Yes. She doesn't know where she is. Didn't her paperwork have her daughter listed?"

"No. It didn't." He takes off after her and shouts, "Penelope." She doesn't look back and steps into the trees.

Vanessa asks Hunter, "Wouldn't her daughter be on her paperwork?"

"It should be, yes."

"What would be a reason for it not to be?"

He furrows his brows.

"What?"

"If someone is deceased, they wouldn't list it."

"No," Vanessa cries out.

Way to jump the gun, Hunter.