Deadly Fall

by Elle James

“I’d like to explore the house and yard,” Dix said. “I want to see all of the places you like to play.”

  Leigha’s eyes brightened. “Bennet will be so excited. He doesn’t get many visitors where he is.”

  Dix frowned. “Just where is Bennet?”

  “I’ll show you.” Leigha led the way down the stairs and through the beautiful entryway to what Dix would describe as an old-fashioned parlor or sitting room.

  Brewer followed, his toenails tapping on the marble tiles.

  Leigha aimed for the far side of the sitting room and a massive fireplace. Fresh logs were laid out on the hearth, but no signs of ash could be found. Dix doubted the fireplace had been used lately.

  When Leigha didn’t slow, Dix frowned. Where did she think she was going? It wasn’t as though they would climb up the chimney.

  Leigha walked right next to the stack of logs and turned to the side where she pressed on one of the bricks. A door big enough for Leigha opened inward.

  Dix had been in that parlor before and hadn’t noticed the secret door.

  Leigha entered, pulled a string above her head and a light blinked on, illuminating a room or passageway beyond. She turned and waved for Dix to follow. “It gets bigger once you go through the door.”

  Before Dix could take a step forward, Brewer shot through the opening and past Leigha, disappearing into darkness beyond.

  Feeling like Alice in Wonderland falling down the rabbit hole, Dix followed Leigha through.

  She waited for Dix to clear the little door and straighten before she turned and led the way through a narrow tunnellike corridor.

  “Does your father know about this place?” Dix asked.

  Leigha shook her head. “No. Bennet didn’t want anyone to know.”

  A shiver of apprehension slipped across Dix’s skin. “Why?”

  “He said it was our secret.”

  Alarm bells went off in Dix’s head. Anyone asking a child to keep such a big secret had to have nefarious plans. “Then why are you showing it to me?”

  “Bennet trusts you. He said I could bring you and it would be okay.”

  “But not your father?”

  She stopped for a moment, her chin dropping to her chest. “Sometimes Mr. Stratford doesn’t like me very much.”

  Dix dropped to her haunches in front of Leigha. “Oh, sweetie, he does like you a lot. He loves you so much, he brought you here to live. He wanted you to have a great place to run and play.”

  Leigha scuffed her foot on the wooden flooring. “I like it when he reads to me,” she conceded.

  “Then ask him to do it more.”

  “He always seems too busy.”

  Dix made a mental note to tell Stratford to spend more time getting to know his daughter and making her feel more comfortable around him.

  “You really should tell your father about this. What if you fell and got hurt? He wouldn’t know where to look for you.”

  Leigha’s brows dipped. “Do you want to come or not?”

  Dix nodded, knowing she’d pushed far enough. If Leigha didn’t show her father the secret corridors, Dix could show him later. She hated to think of Leigha wandering around and possibly getting hurt and no one knowing how to find her.

  As she followed Leigha through the narrow corridor, Dix caught occasional glimpses through peepholes in the walls. At one point, she could see into a study through a narrow slat in the wall. She memorized the angle of the view. Next time she was in the study, she’d look for the hole in the wall that allowed her to see into the room.

  Dix would have loved to take her time and explore more thoroughly, but Leigha appeared to be a child on a mission. After a while, the wooden flooring ended at a door. Leigha opened the door and the path gave way to hard-packed earth beneath their feet. The tunnel no longer was the wooden slats of antique walls but carved-out rocks and dirt.

  Leigha stopped long enough to retrieve a flashlight from a cubbyhole in the dirt wall. She flicked the switch and aimed it into the darkness of the tunnel.

  “How did you find this place?”

  “Bennet showed it to me.”

  Walking behind the child who held a flashlight, Dix stumbled several times over the rugged ground. Eventually the small tunnel emerged into a cavern the size of a school auditorium.

  In the middle of the cavern was a clear stream, meandering its way through.

  Leigha hopped across the narrow strip of water and kept walking.

  “Sweetheart, I’m not so sure this is a good place for you to play.”

  “Why?”

  “Rocks could fall on you. There could be an earthquake that shakes this hillside and blocks the entrance.”

  “There’s another way out.”

  “Still, it’s not the best place a little girl could play alone.”

  Leigha frowned. “But I’m not alone. I have Brewer and Bennet.”

  The child’s declaration didn’t make Dix feel any better. “Where is Bennet?”

  “He’s here.” Leigha smiled and waved her hand toward the cave wall.

  Dix stared in that direction, wondering what the girl was seeing that she couldn’t. “I don’t see him.” Yes, the girl had an imaginary friend. But just for grins, Dix asked, “Could you take me to him?”

  Leigha giggled and turned to Dix. “He’s right next to you.”

  A chill rippled down Dix’s spine. “May I have your flashlight?”

  Leigha handed her the device.

  Dix spun in a circle. Still, she couldn’t see anyone beside her, behind her or anywhere else. Willing the gooseflesh rising on her arms to subside, she pulled herself together. “I take it only you can see Bennet?”

  Leigha giggled. “He’s right beside you.”

  Standing in a dark cave, with only the beam of the flashlight cutting through the darkness, Dix was ready to grab the child and run back to the lit corridor. The creep factor was really high.

  Brewer trotted up to Dix and stopped a couple of steps away, tail wagging and tongue lolling. He didn’t seem to be looking at Leigha or Dix. Instead he appeared to be staring at the empty space beside Dix.

  Another chill rippled across Dix’s skin. “He’s here now?”

  Leigha nodded. “He says you’re a gorgeous dame.” Leigha tilted her head and shifted her gaze to Dix. “What’s a dame?”

  “A woman.” Dix bunched her fists. If she had to hit someone, who would it be? She had to be able to see the person to hit him. But then, if he were a ghost, what good would it do to take a swing at him? Hell, what was she thinking? Ghosts weren’t real. Or were they? “Wow, this is getting a little too weird, even for me.” She took Leigha’s hand. “We should probably go back to the house.”

  “But I haven’t shown you the place I like to play.”

  Dix’s brows rose. “This isn’t it?”

  Leigha shook her head. “Of course not. It’s too dark.”

  Dix handed the child the flashlight with a resigned feeling of dread. “Show me. Then we’re going right back to the house.”

  Leigha took the light and headed for another tunnel on the opposite side of the cave from the one leading toward the house.

  Dix prayed she’d remember which one would get them back. All she needed was to get lost in a maze of tunnels and caves with the little girl she was supposed to be protecting. Call her crazy, but she followed Leigha. She couldn’t wait in the cave for the little girl. Not in pitch black. Not with a ghost called Bennet calling her a gorgeous dame.

  Brewer walked beside Leigha as she led the way through the tunnel. Soon a faint light appeared at the end of the tunnel and grew larger as they neared.

  Dix closed the distance between her and Leigha. Having no idea where the tunnel came out, she didn’t want Leigha to fall o
ver a ledge or be captured by the unknown threat Dix was hired to protect her from.

  Leigha held up her hand. “You have to go slow here,” she said. With her back to the side of the tunnel, she slipped around the corner.

  Dix stepped into the bright light streaming into the tunnel entrance and let her eyes adjust. Then her heart screeched to a halt and her breath hung in her lungs. “Holy sh—shenanigans!” she said and stepped back, her hand going to the cave wall. Before her was the ocean and a one-hundred-foot drop to the rocky shoreline below. One more step and she would have gone over the edge and crashed to her death on the rocks.

  “Leigha!” she shouted, her voice rising. “Leigha!”

  Leigha appeared around the corner, her pretty brow furrowed. “What’s wrong?”

  Dix clutched the little girl’s hand. “That’s a deadly fall.”

  “I know. That’s why I go around the side.” She smiled at Dix. “It’s okay. There’s a path you can follow all the way down to the beach. That’s where I like to play.”

  Dix wasn’t so sure about sliding around the edge of the cave. One misstep and she’d be free-falling to the ground.

  Leigha laughed.

  “It’s not funny,” Dix grumbled.

  “Bennet thinks so. He’s making me laugh.” Leigha slipped around the corner with Dix’s hand in hers.

  Dix either had to follow or let go of Leigha.

  She followed, hugging the cliff side with her body as she inched her way around the corner.

  Once out of the cave and onto a path, the trail widened and led a few feet away from the sheer drop-off. Leigha clicked off the flashlight and skipped ahead with Brewer.

  Dix glanced up and couldn’t see the top of the cliff above. From what she could surmise, they had exited the cave halfway down the side of the cliff. Stratford House was another one hundred feet above them.

  The trail wound along the face of the cliff with its own pockets of trees and grass. Before long, Leigha came to a set of steps leading downward. Carved out of stone, the steps were partly natural with a few obviously chipped out by man.

  As they neared the bottom, the trail narrowed again but the drop-off was less frightening.

  At last, Leigha hopped off the last stone step onto a thin strand of beach.

  “The tide is out. If the tide was in, the beach would disappear beneath the water.”

  “And your father doesn’t know about this place?” Dix glanced at the sixty feet of beach.

  “No,” Leigha called out and darted away, running along the sand, chasing Brewer.

  Dix shook her head and stepped onto the sand. First thing when she got back and Andrew returned home, she would show him what Leigha had shown her today.

  If he wasn’t concerned, he had no business being a father to a curious little girl. The child shouldn’t be coming to this little beach alone. Wandering through a cave and a couple of tunnels alone was bad. A beach that disappeared at high tide was equally bad.

  Dix’s mind went through all of the horrible situations that could have happened. But there was Leigha, alive and happy, running across her favorite place to play. She’d be mad at Dix for telling her father about her secret place, but someone needed to let Andrew know what his daughter was up to. He probably had no clue.

  Since Leigha never left the house through any of the known doors, and Andrew hadn’t found the hidden door himself, no one could have known what Leigha was up to without dogging her every step.

  She would burst that bubble later. For now, Leigha was safe. Dix would make sure they got back to the house without mishap.

  The sun shone down on the little beach. Leigha threw a stick for Brewer and he retrieved it twelve times before he got tired of the game and wandered along the sand, sniffing.

  Dix found a boulder to sit on and watched the waves roll up on the beach. The continuous ebb and flow mesmerized her. She could stare at the waves and the ocean for a very long time and never get bored.

  A shout drew her attention. Only the shout wasn’t the high-pitched call of a little girl. Instead it was a man’s voice.

  Dix dragged her attention away from the waves, Leigha and Brewer to locate the sound. Out in the bay, she spotted a dive boat. A man on the deck waved toward her. From the distance, she wasn’t exactly sure who it was. Not wanting to appear unfriendly, she gave a little wave back.

  The dive boat swung around. For a moment Dix thought it was pulling away from the shore, but it made a complete circle and slowly moved toward the spot where Leigha and Dix were.

  Fifty yards from the shoreline the boat captain stopped the boat, dropped an anchor and stared down at the water. He wore a dark wet suit, unzipped and peeled down around his waist, exposing a thick, muscular chest. He glanced up and yelled, “Can you hear me?”

  Dix nodded. She could just hear the captain’s voice.

  “There are two divers down there. They should have been up by now. I’m going to down to find them. If I don’t come back up in thirty minutes, could you send for help?”

  Dix climbed down from the boulder. “Yes, of course.”

  The man quickly shoved his arms into his wet suit and zipped. In under a minute he had on his buoyancy control device, tanks, regulator, masks and fins. Shoving his regulator into his mouth and pulling his mask over his face, he gave Dix the okay sign and stepped off the back of the boat.

  Leigha came to stand beside Dix. Brewer stood at the edge of the water, staring toward the boat.

  Dix counted the minutes. Searching the surface of the bay for bubbles. Unfortunately, the bay had just enough wave action to keep her from spotting any.

  “Where did that man go?” Leigha slipped her hand in Dix’s.

  Dix shifted her empty hand to feel for the small handgun she’d tucked beneath her lightweight jacket before she’d left her room that morning. If the man who’d gone under planned to stage an attack via the bay, he’d have a surprise waiting for him. A lone woman and a little girl might look like easy prey, but Dix could take care of herself and the child.

  Fifteen minutes passed and still the man in the wet suit hadn’t surfaced.

  Dix moved closer to the shore, Leigha at her side.

  “Is that man going to drown?” Leigha whispered.

  Dix slipped her arm around the child’s shoulders. “No, sweetie. He knows what he’s doing.” At least, she hoped he knew what he was doing.

  A second later a head popped up out of the water. Then another and another only ten feet from shore.

  One of the three men gave an okay sign and pulled his regulator out of his mouth. “I’m sending these guys up with you. They’re too tired to swim back to the boat and the boat can’t get any closer to the shore. Too many submerged rocks in the area. Can you get them to a telephone?”

  “Sure,” Dix said, not too happy about the unexpected company on the beach. Especially considering there would be two of them against her and one little girl.

  The two men swam toward the shore, the third man shoving them from behind. When they could stand, the third man trod water a little away from the shore. “Are you from the Stratford House?”

  Dix nodded.

  “I’m Dave Logsdon. I’ll call to check on them later. Thanks for helping out. I’d stay and make sure they got back to Cape Churn, but I need to take my boat back to the marina before the fog rolls in.”

  Dix nodded and waved to Dave.

  He slid his mask in place and turned toward the boat.

  Dix rested her hand on the gun beneath her jacket and waited for the two men to emerge from the surf.

  They sat in the shallow water, pulled off their fins and tossed them to the shore. Then they stood and walked toward her and Leigha.

  “Thanks for letting us come ashore. I don’t think I could have made it back
to the boat.” The diver’s voice sounded familiar. When he pulled off his mask and wet-suit hat, he grinned. “Hey, you’re the lady who was with Stratford last night at the café.”

  Dix recognized the guy as one of the twins who’d been at the table next to them.

  Leigha slipped behind Dix’s legs.

  Reminded of her duty to protect, Dix smiled, but kept her hand on her H&K .40-caliber pistol. “What happened?”

  “We got hung up in kelp,” the young man closest to Dix said. “By the time the dive master found us, we were almost out of air.”

  His twin added, “Thank goodness he did find us. I was beginning to think we weren’t going to make it.”

  Both men dropped to the thick sliver of sand and pulled off the gear they’d been wearing, leaving on the wet suits.

  Leigha tugged her hand. “That man made it to his boat.” She smiled up at Dix, the relief evident in her eyes.

  “Yes, sweetie, he did.” Dix turned to the two men. “The tide is starting to come in. I know you’re tired, but we need to move you and the gear to higher ground before the beach disappears beneath the water.”

  The two men lurched to their feet, gathered their tanks and other gear.

  Dix nodded toward the path. “Follow the trail up the hill. You can drop your gear when you get to where the path widens. It should be well above the watermark and safe.”

  “We can retrieve it later, after we rest,” one of the twins said. “Right now, I just want to lie down for a couple of hours.”

  “Me, too,” the other twin said. “But I don’t want to lose the gear. We don’t have it in our budget to replace it.”

  “No, we don’t.”

  They reached the widened area of the trail and set the gear up against the rising bluff, as far away from the drop-off as they could get it.

  When his hands were free, the first twin stuck one of them out. “By the way, I’m Jared Kessler.” He elbowed his brother. “He’s my brother, Joe.”

  Dix released Leigha’s hand and took Jared’s cautiously, prepared to take him down if he tried anything. He shook her hand and let go.

  Joe offered his and did the same.

  Not letting her guard down for a moment, Dix said, “You two can lead the way up the trail. We’ll follow. When you get to the top, you’ll have to squeeze around the side of a cave entrance. Be careful. A fall could prove deadly.”