Читать книгу False Security - Elizabeth Goddard - Страница 13

THREE

Olivia had seen Rich’s pack on the bed. He hadn’t taken time to gather supplies before he fled for his life. She couldn’t share Zach’s confidence in her brother’s training.

She studied Zach as he watched the cave entrance. Her heart skipped a little. Back in high school, he’d been the kind of guy every girl could fall for, and now, to her chagrin, he looked even better.

He exhibited a kind of masculinity that was hard to resist. Skilled and confident. But those skills were the very thing that stood between them and had torn them apart. That and the choices he’d made.

Olivia shoved thoughts of the past away and focused on the very real and dangerous present. What else did Zach know about her brother? Why had Rich asked him to meet at the house? Her teeth chattered, preventing her from voicing the questions.

Shivering, she tucked her knees up against her chest and rested her chin on them again. How were they going to make it through tonight without a fire, even in this cave? It wasn’t deep enough to prevent the snow from swirling in, ushered by the ice-cold wind that had ramped up.

She buried her face in her knees, trying to keep the cold at bay.

Zach clomped across the cave and stood next to her. He slid down the wall and scooted right up close to her.

“What...what are you doing?” she asked.

“You’re cold. I’m cold.”

She thought to shift away from him but his body heat drew her, though reluctantly. Then he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to him, nice and tight. “Come on, Olivia. We have to keep warm. The past is the past, and we can keep it there. No need to dredge up what happened before. At the moment we’re just two people doing what we have to do in order to survive, right?”

She nodded. “Well, when you put it that way.”

When she peeked at him, he showed her that half grin she remembered and liked. What was he thinking? She wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but she accepted the warmth he offered then pressed her face into her knees again. Maybe she’d warm up enough after a while to scoot away from him. But right now, she couldn’t think straight. Somehow she had to come to grips with everything that had happened over the last several hours. Images swirled like snowflakes in her mind.

Rich’s disappearance.

The blood in the snow.

The snowmobile tracks.

The men with the guns.

And...Zach.

She could hardly believe she was waiting out a storm in this cave with him and that he had his strong arm around her. Life had a way of going in circles. He was right—without survival gear, they had no choice but to use their body heat to stay warm. They couldn’t risk discovery by building a fire when lunatics pursued them, openly firing at them, shooting to kill. She hated that these men had turned the woods she loved into a crime scene.

And Rich. God, please, please keep him safe wherever he is out there.

“So, what’s the plan then?” she asked.

“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 prevent Zach’s rising fury with Rich for involving Olivia, even though Zach had brought trouble to his own sister.

Trouble that had cost her life.

He couldn’t stand by and watch the same happen to Olivia.

As if sensing his tumultuous thoughts, she shifted against him, trying to get comfortable, then finally turned her back to him and leaned against his shoulder. His insides ached with her nearness.

Sweet Olivia. How did he keep her safe?

God, I need Your help.

That’s what Rich would want from him now—to protect his sister. They weren’t going anywhere in this storm, especially with nightfall fast approaching. The only thing left to do involved wrapping his arms around her as they sat in the cave and tried to stay warm without a fire. But Olivia wouldn’t have that, and frankly, he didn’t want it either. He’d said they should leave the past behind them.

Right. He still felt the sting of her rejection as if it had happened yesterday.

What was the matter with him?

Memories, that’s what. This close to the woman he used to love and his mind flashed right back as if ten years had never passed. Except...well, the pain of his hurt surged all over again.

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.