“Come on, I know where we can hide.”
He angled his head, his intense gaze catching hers, radiating reassurance as if to say, I knew you would.
His confidence in her had her heart dancing when it shouldn’t, especially in the middle of this threat. Still, she could use that to bolster her courage.
“Come on.” She held out her hand and he took it.
Olivia pointed out the fissure to Zach, just to be sure he wouldn’t fall to his death if he came back this way.
“I think I remember that from before.”
“Good. Just making sure. But you know what, maybe we could lure the shooters this way, trick them into falling in.”
Zach’s face twisted up. “Only as a last resort. No. Just no.”
“Fine.”
And as Zach had wished, the wind drove the snow hard into icy pinpricks against her face. They might even find themselves in a whiteout. Bad news, but they could use this development to their advantage.
Olivia kept to the trees as she led Zach, holding his hand as they hiked through what seemed like bottomless layers of snow in places, and up a rocky incline. She slipped once on iced-over rocks, but Zach’s hands slid around her waist and assisted her up and forward. Even without the heavy, driving snow to cover their trail, they could have already lost their pursuers in this treacherous part of the wilderness.
Zach hadn’t asked her exactly where she led them, which meant he trusted her to find the way. The longer it took, the more she began to doubt her sense of direction. She’d been here many times as a kid, but hadn’t come back even once since living at the cabin. Maybe all the gunfire and fear had confused her sense of direction.
But she kept moving, plowing and hiking forward. Now they faced off with a rocky wall, snow and ice catching in between the small cracks and fissures.
The cave had to be here somewhere.
And then it hit her. Would Rich have come here, too, knowing it was here? Had he thought to hide in the cave just like Olivia had?
Her hopes jumped.
She glanced back at Zach. He’d left his helmet behind, but he’d long ago covered his head with the hood on his winter coat, as had Olivia, so she couldn’t see his eyes at that moment. Maybe that was a good thing. She returned her energy to finding the cave, pressing her hands against the rocks as she went. Even though she wore gloves, her fingers grew stiff and clumsy.
One look at Zach’s red cheeks and she knew the truth.
The dropping temperature was getting to them.
And what of their pursuers? Did the shooters realize they could die if they didn’t find shelter, too? If the men after Rich were anything like him, then they too were survivors and were prepared for anything, carrying their bivouac gear with them in the mountains on their murderous hunting trip. Olivia’s shred of hope took a dive.
But why should she focus on them? She had yet to find the cave that would keep her and Zach warm, two people who hadn’t carried bivouac gear with them.
God, please, where is the cave? We have to find the cave!
Worry and doubt threaded through her thoughts. Did she have the wrong place, after all? And if she did, how would they survive?
If that was the case, they were as good as dead.
No. Olivia wouldn’t accept that. She cleared away the morbid thoughts and kept her gloved hands pressed against the rock wall, letting it guide her inward until she found the small opening.
There.
“It’s here,” she croaked out, almost not recognizing her own voice. Relief swirled through her.
The rock walls extending forward and out on both sides of the slender gap that served as the cave entrance saved them from the brunt of the building storm.
She hesitated before rushing in and turned to Zach. “If Rich could have made it here, this is where he would be hiding.”
Olivia dreaded looking in Zach’s eyes. What would she see in them? She wanted to cling to the smallest of hopes, but he could shatter those with one look.
He was a realist, after all.
“Let me go first.” Zach lifted his gun, gripped her hand and pulled her along behind him. “The shooters. They could have found the cave ahead of us. They might be waiting inside.”
* * *
“Stay here, just at the entrance.” Zach released her hand.
Olivia sucked in a breath as if she would counter him but then, surprising him, she nodded in agreement. The storm forced them to seek shelter and this cave served as their best option. But would he lead them inside to their deaths?
Or had Rich taken shelter here like she’d suggested?
“If the worst happens, you turn and run.” He pressed forward without waiting for her answer.
Sworn to protect.
Like that had worked so well.
He ignored his doubts and shoved his fears aside.
Entering the dark opening, he crept forward, weapon poised to fire, until his eyes adjusted to the darkness. If the shooters had taken shelter in the cave or waited for Olivia and Zach there, they could take Zach out before he was the wiser. He listened for movement, for breathing, anything at all, as he hedged the rock wall. The shooters weren’t the only possible threat. They could walk in on a hibernating bear.
Memories of this cave skittered through him. Rich had brought him here a few times in the summer. But that had been years ago and Zach wouldn’t count on his memory to guide him.
“Anyone here?” he asked.
Not that he expected someone with nefarious intentions to respond, but maybe Rich had come to hide here like Olivia hoped.
Zach had heard that hope in her words, and a sliver of pain skated over his heart. He had a feeling she would be disappointed.
She rushed by him, stumbling forward in the dark. “Rich! Are you in here?”
“What are you doing?” He grabbed her arm and pulled her back against him. “I told you to wait. Maybe the bad guys aren’t in here, but we could disturb a bear.”
“Rich!” Tears edged her voice.
But nobody answered.
She shifted forward and Zach caught her up in his arms to steady her. “I’m sorry, Olivia. So sorry.”
He never could have imagined he’d find her in his arms again. Good thing her bulky snowmobile suit served as a protective barrier. He didn’t want to feel her softness or be reminded of his attraction to her that obviously had remained even after a decade.
Zach would help her and support her now because she needed it, but he’d guard his heart against falling for her again—an act that would require all his strength. With his hands somehow in the silky copper locks that fell around her shoulders, and her distraught form leaning against him, Zach admitted that he could easily slip back into the past with her.
Except he couldn’t forget how she’d hurt him, asking him to give up his dream for her, then breaking it all off when he didn’t. He would use that now to stay free of any entanglement and continue to forge a future without her, though he found himself holding her in his arms once again.
Seeming to read his mind, she stiffened and moved away, swiping at her face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“Don’t worry about it.” He cut her off and moved deeper into the cave, holding his weapon tightly in his grip. Though if anyone waited here, they would already have made their