He’d had to follow his calling. His lot in life. He’d had to become a police officer and work his way up to detective like his father and grandfather before him. That was in his blood. Olivia knew that. He couldn’t understand why she would give him up because he had to follow his dream. Her father had been an officer, as well, God rest his soul. She hadn’t loved Zach enough to let him be who he was supposed to be.
In an ironic twist, he’d given it all up anyway a year ago. The cost of following his dream had been too high. First, his decision to join the police force had cost him Olivia, and then his subsequent failure had been like a domino effect. Had he succeeded in protecting his sister, Sarah, she would still be alive and Rich would be married to her. Maybe Olivia and Rich’s mother would still be alive.
He groaned, hating where this night in the cave with the wind howling like an underscore to his past tragedies drove him. Closing his eyes, he tried to clear his mind. When he opened them again, he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.
“Zach?” Olivia whispered next to him. “Are you awake?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s dark in here.”
And cold.
She hadn’t said the words but he figured she didn’t want to admit she needed anything like, say, warmth.
“You’re not scared of the dark, are you?” Zach grinned to himself. In the dark. Olivia would never admit she was scared either.
“Of course not. It’s just unnerving. I thought I heard something scurrying around in here. You don’t think there’s a rodent or a raccoon or any number of other possible creatures sharing the cave with us, do you?”
“It’s hard to say but I don’t have a flashlight or a match, so we’ll just have to tough it out.” And, since he remained cold as well, and knew she would never admit she needed his warmth again, he wrapped his arm around her and drew her in close.
She didn’t resist.
There. That would keep them both warmer. Now only one thing remained. Waiting. They would wait for the storm to go and wait for morning to come. Seemed like there was a Bible verse on that theme that he’d learned somewhere in Sunday school class. The thought caught him by surprise.
Zachary hadn’t prayed in far too long. Maybe he’d been mad at God for everything he’d lost, but he tried not to think about it. Just ignored that aspect of his life, but now, here alone in the blackest darkness he’d ever experienced, just him and Olivia in this cave where the wind would probably howl all night, sitting close to one of his biggest hurts, biggest regrets, he thought maybe God was trying to get his attention.
“It’s going to be all right, Olivia. We’re going to make it through.” He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to say the words, but maybe it had a whole lot to do with wanting to sound off something positive to combat the doleful cry of the wind in the cave.
She scooted closer to him and shivered. He held her tight until her breathing shifted to a steady slow rhythm that told him she’d finally fallen asleep. Then he let himself drift, too. He didn’t know what they would face tomorrow and he didn’t want to borrow trouble, but he needed to rest. Needed his strength.
Except the worst of dreams accosted his restless sleep.
“Detective Long. You recognize my voice?”
“Jimmy Delaney.” The man had gotten out of prison a week ago. What did he want? Why was he calling?
Fear clawed through Zach.
“That’s right. I have someone here with me you might miss.”
“Zach?” Sarah’s voice rasped, then she sobbed. “Zach...” A scream broke through.
“What do you want?” Zach let all the anger he possessed pour through the phone connection. He would kill Jimmy Delaney when he got his hands on him.
“You. Just you.”
Then gunfire split his eardrums.
A sound stirred Zach awake and he bolted to his feet, rousing Olivia, too. “What was that?”
“What?” She glanced up, sleep clinging to her eyes.
“I heard something.”
He grabbed his weapon, his palm still slick from the recurring nightmare that always hit him at his lowest. Of course he would relive that day, that bad dream, here in this cave under these circumstances.
He shook it away and waited, listening and watching the entrance.
The storm had stopped. Morning light spilled through the opening.
Had it brought the men who wanted to kill them?
A rifle shot rang out somewhere in the woods near them, echoing through the cave.
Gunfire jolted Olivia fully awake. She attempted to stand, but her body, stiff from sitting on the hard ground in a cold cave all night, refused to cooperate. Zach assisted her to her feet before she could protest.
“Thank you.” She rubbed her arms to get the blood going and noted his attention on the more urgent matters outside the cave entrance. Had they been discovered?
She’d much prefer coffee to the fear curdling in her stomach. “What are we going to do?”
Zach edged to the cave opening, staying in the shadows created by the rays of light spilling in. So focused on his task, Olivia wasn’t sure he’d even heard her question.
Then, finally, “First I’m going to check around outside and see if it’s safe.”
“And?”
“Then we’re getting out of here.”
“And what if it’s not safe? What if those men are out there? And what about Rich? We have to find him, or at least, if you’re not willing, then I have to find him.” Oh, why had she said that? But she needed to make him understand.
He turned to look at her then. Under the cold intensity of his ice-blue eyes, she was hard pressed not to look away, but she held his gaze.
“One thing at a time,” he said. “Besides, I don’t think the gunfire we heard was meant for us. That was a rifle. Not a semiautomatic like the shooters used. Like mine.”
Olivia closed the distance then. Approaching Zach, she stood just behind him and peered outside into the winter wonderland. Standing this close, she could once again feel the heat emanating from him. Olivia felt chilled to the bone and wished she could have his arms around her again. Finding the thought surprisingly much too comfortable, she took a step back. She couldn’t let herself grow attached to him again. He’d just leave her to return to his job with the Portland PD.
She focused her thoughts on their predicament. Then whom had it been meant for? Rich? Her heart pounded too hard for this early in the morning, but she was worried for her brother. She hadn’t gotten him back only to lose him again. And once they found him—and they would find him, she wouldn’t think otherwise—she would never again let time and distance separate them. She’d keep in touch.
Pain burned behind her eyes. She had to stop thinking about Rich.
The gunfire hadn’t been about him. Could it have been hunters? Olivia thought of the poachers she’d seen in the region killing deer out of season, and how furious she’d been. She’d reported them to the local game warden, but they had never been caught.
Zach tensed and stepped from the shadows and into the light, his form now silhouetted in the cave entrance.
“Stay here.” He didn’t bother glancing back to see if she agreed, but stepped from the cave, expecting her to follow orders. Simple as that.