Chasing His Kickass Luna Back novel Chapter 170

I look at Karl, his face pale but determined. “This is it,” he says softly.

“Okay, so where do we even start looking for the truffles?” I ask, my eyes darting from rock to bush to the roots of trees. “Inside the building, right?”

Karl shrugs, almost embarrassed. “Adam only told me it's somewhere near the waterfall. That’s as specific as he got.”

“Great,” I mutter. “A treasure hunt to top it all off. What fun.”

We watch the building for a little while, and the whole time, I find myself fascinated by the security measures.

“What could they be hiding?” I murmur, watching a couple of guards walk across a rope bridge that crosses the massive ravine.

Karl shrugs. “They’re poachers, Abby. Could be anything from fancy truffles to endangered animals. Maybe even humans, for all we know.”

I shoot Karl a sideways glance. “Humans?”

He nods. “You never know. There’s a market for everything. Either way, let’s stick close to the walls, where the vines are the thickest. We can work our way down, keep an eye out for the truffles, maybe look for the entrance if we need to.”

“And if we almost get caught, we can hide behind the vines,” I respond.

The waterfall cascades in front of us, a constant, deafening roar that seems to amplify the absurdity of our situation. We’re risking everything, tiptoeing around guards and surveillance cameras for some expensive fungi, and we don’t even know where to look.

Karl nods. “Let’s get moving.”

Slowly, we begin working our way down the ravine. There’s a clear path with steps built into the side of the rocks, one upside of it all. As we go, we keep low, hiding behind vines when guards turn our way and all the while keeping our eyes peeled for the truffles.

But we don’t find anything. As we get closer and closer to the waterfall, it becomes clearer to me that the truffles, if there even are any, are hidden away somewhere—likely in the HQ building. The realization that we’ll either need to turn back and go home once and for all or risk everything and break into the building washes over me, and I’m not sure which outcome I’d prefer.

We’re close to the waterfall now. The sound of the water rushes through my ears, nearly drowning out everything else.