“It’s pretty simple. Stay warm and alive until the storm passes. We might even be here all night. Then in the morning we find our way back to civilization and keep well away from those shooters. Maybe we can find Rich, too.”
“Tell me about Rich. Until he showed up yesterday, I hadn’t talked to him in a long time.”
“I haven’t spoken to him that much myself. I’m sure you at least know he’s been in the Middle East working security for a private military contractor.”
“That was the last thing I knew about.” Grief thickened in her throat. So much of what she felt inside couldn’t be spoken out loud because it involved Zach’s own personal tragedy.
And the mistake he’d made that had cost his sister’s life. Olivia wouldn’t add to his torment by bringing it up. He seemed to sense she needed a moment to process. His thoughts had likely turned to the past, as well.
But in this moment, regret permeated her bones.
Why hadn’t she talked to Rich? Why had she been so quick to blame him for their mother’s death? Four years ago, he’d been grieving the death of his fiancée—Zach’s sister, Sarah—and after his tour of duty was over, he decided he wouldn’t return to the States, after all, because there would be no bride waiting for him.
No wedding.
So he took that job in private security instead.
Their mother had taken his absence too hard, just like she had Dad’s death when he’d been killed in the line of duty with the Portland PD. Her mother had used alcohol to console herself for a couple of years after their father’s death but had found her way to sobriety and had been sober until Sarah had been killed and Rich made the decision to stay away. Mom had needed him, perhaps too much. Their mother had been killed in a drunk-driving accident when her vehicle ran off a bridge.
Olivia had blamed Rich and hadn’t spoken to him since Mom’s funeral three years ago.
She squeezed her eyes against the tears threatening to spill. He had needed time and space to heal. Olivia could hardly blame him for that. It was exactly the reason she’d resigned her job as a biology teacher in Portland two years ago and moved to the family vacation house situated in the pristine wilderness of the Siskiyou Mountains. She’d wanted a new life and had run from all that had gone wrong in her old one. And until yesterday, when Rich had shown up, peace and solace had filled her days, replacing tragedy and drama.
But her efforts had been for nothing. Trouble had found her out in the middle of nowhere.
Now she realized she had wasted those precious years avoiding communication with her brother. Her mission now was to find him and keep him in her life. Somehow. Someway.
She buried the pain of the past encroaching on her present situation—and entered survival mode. Clearing tears from her throat, she asked, “What else can you tell me?”
“Not much, I’m sorry. He called me three days ago and asked me to meet him today. Said it was urgent but he couldn’t tell me anything more. In fact, he didn’t mention the cabin by name, only the place we used to vacation together. Until I got there, I wasn’t completely sure he’d meant your family’s cabin. It wasn’t the only place we went in the summer. He said he couldn’t trust anyone except me. Obviously, he was in some kind of trouble.”
The wind whipped flakes around, driving them deep into the cave to blanket them as they huddled together. Zach brushed the snow off them both.
“Do you think it has something to do with his job?” she asked. “He told me he was done working for them.”
“We can’t know when he was done or how long he’s even been back in the States.”
“I thought you guys were best friends.”
Right, and she was his sister. She felt his gaze on her, but stared straight ahead and puzzled over the rough drawings that she and Rich had carved in the wall as children. They had somehow remained after all this time.
“Life happens. People go their separate ways. He had a job on the other side of the world, and I had mine here. I think Sarah’s death changed him. Talking to me, well, that just reminded him of what he’d lost and my part in it.” Zach’s voice had turned harsh.
Yeah, she got that. Though Olivia had not been super close to Sarah, the woman had been her brother’s fiancée, and of course, the sister of the guy she used to love. Sarah’s death had changed their lives in ways they couldn’t have imagined. Olivia tried not to think about the burden that put on Zach, who blamed himself for her death.
Still, she didn’t like the harsh, cold tone coming from him. That wasn’t the Zach she’d known, but she had to get over it. Like he’d said, they were just two people doing what they had to in order to survive.
They weren’t a couple again. They weren’t in love. How he sounded shouldn’t matter to her. Besides, he’d hurt her, choosing danger over love. Choosing to become a police officer like his father instead of being with Olivia.
After losing her father, who’d been shot and killed during a simple traffic stop, Olivia knew she couldn’t handle that life. Couldn’t handle being married to a police officer. She thought Zach had understood that, and yet he’d still chosen that path. His dream had been more important to him than her.
Regardless, Sarah’s death had affected them in ways they couldn’t have imagined.
All their lives had been wrapped up in a big tangled mess of tragedy from which each of them had tried to escape, and yet here they were, tangled up together again.
She drew in a shuddering breath.
Zach squeezed her. “Hey, are you okay?”
No! No, she wasn’t okay. But talking about it would just dredge it all up again and hadn’t he said they didn’t want to do that? How could Zach not be thinking about everything that had happened? She leaned forward and pushed his arm off her. She’d leaned against him for the warmth. That made sense, but she didn’t need his arm around her for that.
Not now.
Not ever.
She wasn’t the least surprised when the storm’s intensity increased and the wind picked up, creating an eerie howl in the cave to add to her torment.
* * *
Zach sensed the subtle shift in her attitude, the change in her. He’d hoped they could endure and survive their predicament without the past coming between them, but clearly, ignoring their familiar surroundings and forgetting the memories had been hoping for too much.
“Try to get some sleep, if you can,” he offered.
He might find the situation as intolerable as she obviously did if he let his mind drift back.
Instead, he would think about her brother, Rich. Zach hadn’t wanted Olivia to know just how concerned he had been for his friend. But things didn’t look good. Sure, he believed the guy’s survival training could keep him alive until help reached him, but these circumstances didn’t bode well for Rich. In fact, Zach feared that even he and Olivia wouldn’t escape unscathed, though he would do his best to get her somewhere safe.
But with his track record, he didn’t know if his efforts would be enough.
What kind of trouble forced Rich to flee to the family cabin? Brought men to this neck of the Siskiyou Mountains in order to kill him? And yeah, Zach concurred with Olivia’s assessment that the men who’d shot at Zach and Olivia had been after Rich, too, but Zach hadn’t said that out loud.
As a former detective, he didn’t want to jump to conclusions, even when they appeared obvious. He couldn’t begin to presume what kind of trouble Rich had brought with him to Olivia’s door. To be fair, Rich hadn’t known he would find his sister here, any more than Zach had.
That didn’t