Chapter 8

Jackson didn't get the chance to reply. At that moment, Leo returned, leaping across the gangplank with an armful of grilled fish.

"Dinner!" he declared, then stopped when he saw the two of them.

"That's all right," she said. "I'm not sure I'm hungry. I think I might go lie down for a little while."

Jackson reached for her. "Goose - "

"Stop calling me that!" she said, slipping out of his grip. Her tone must have gotten through to him, because he didn't try to follow her as she darted back across the boat and went down below.

Her eyes burned, and she hated herself for it. What did she expect, tagging along on this expedition? That by hopping on a plane and flying across the world she'd suddenly be an adventurer?

Her eyes fell to the small table next to the ship's kitchenette. Roth had left out the atlas, along with the notebooks she'd assumed were Rinaldi's journals. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she stepped forward and picked up one of the leather-bound volumes and flipped t