“It was just a rabbit,” she teased while grinning. “You’re jumpy.”
Kane uncertainly moved away from her. He couldn’t stop thinking about the last time she was that close to him and the pain she caused when she kicked him in the face. Riley appeared surprised by his retreat and laughed.
“Oh, my God, you are afraid of me! What did I ever do to you?” she teased.
“That’s a loaded question,” Kane muttered.
She moved closer to him, touched his chest, and appeared particularly playful. “I’ve never frightened a man before,” she cooed almost seductively. “It’s kind of fun.”
Kane again moved away from her and closer to the entrance while attempting to sound more confident. He shamefully felt the need to duck out the entrance. “You don’t scare me--”
“Then why do you keep moving away?”
Kane realized she was right, and he resisted the urge to move away from her. After all, what was she really going to do? She certainly wasn’t going to attack him as she had that night in the museum. Riley moved against him, placed her hands to his shoulders, and kissed him warmly on the lips. Kane suddenly tensed with surprise and possible horror to her soft lips on his. He actually hadn’t seen that coming. Her lustful actions were troubling and puzzling. His heart was pounding, which seemed only natural, but he wished other parts of his body stopped reacting with so much enthusiasm. He cursed his genitals for being easily manipulated. Riley pulled back, met his stunned gazed, and appeared disappointed despite her smirk.
“Not nearly as good as I had imagined,” she remarked with disappointment in her tone.
A thousand thoughts raced through Kane’s mind as he stared at her. He didn’t know if he wanted to kill her or kiss her, but he was almost positive he wanted to punch himself in the groin to teach his genitals a lesson. The rabbit running through the cave suddenly caught his attention and took his focus off his own arousal. As the rabbit ran into the darkened area, Kane noticed a thin wire across the cave floor just inches from the ground. He attempted to make sense of the wire, anything to take his mind off Riley’s kiss, when the rabbit ran into the wire. There was a loud explosion as the cave rumbled. For a moment, he was paralyzed with shock. Riley threw him out the entrance as the cave collapsed behind them. Riley and Kane roughly hit the ground outside the cave. Dirt, dust, and rocks erupted from the entrance in a large, dark cloud. Riley attempted to look back at the destruction. Kane dove on top of her and shielded her with his body as debris flew past them. They were pelted with small rocks and rotting wood fragments. The debris finally settled. Kane slowly rolled off Riley and looked at the sealed entrance just a few feet behind them. Riley slowly sat up and appeared horrified.
“Frank--” Riley gasped.
“I saw a tripwire,” Kane cried out while jumping to his feet with added soreness. He immediately regretted the sudden action. “That idiot had the cave rigged to explode!”
“He’s crazy, but he’s not that crazy,” she cried out as she remained sitting on the ground and stared at the sealed cave just before them.
Kane looked back at Riley, took her hand, and helped her to her feet. Both brushed thick amounts of dirt from them. Kane looked at the abrasions and cuts on her arms through the thick layer of dirt covering her then noticed the small cut on her cheek. He placed his hand to her chin and assessed her injury. It was in the exact spot where she later had the scar, although this injury was only minor. Kane stared longer than he should. It was an eerie reminder of who she later became. He had to force himself to say something to get that image out of his head.
“Are you okay?” Kane uncertainly asked.
Riley slowly nodded and gingerly rubbed her sore wrist. “That was one hell of a tackle,” she announced. “Remind me to never piss you off.”
He suddenly tensed and allowed his thoughts to drift momentarily. “I’ll be sure to do that,” Kane muttered.
Riley hurried for the startled, tied horses now covered in dirt and removed her emergency two-way radio from the saddlebag. “Selena, do you copy?”
There was no sound. Riley attempted a different frequency. There was still no sound. She popped the back casing off the radio. The batteries were missing! Her expression turned to rage, frightening Kane.
“Damn it, Selena! She gives dumb blondes a bad name!” Riley cried out.
Kane appeared bewildered and stared at the radio. Was that the incident that ultimately led to Selena’s murder? Did she blame Selena because she couldn’t call for help when Hayes died? Riley shook her head in disgust.
“Frank could be buried alive in that cave. You stay here,” she ordered. “I’m going to take the four-wheeler for help.”
Kane’s mind raced with a flood of concern and fright. “I don’t think you should go alone.”
“I’m fine. Selena’s the one you need to worry about!” she lashed out.
Kane stared at her with surprise. Her anger and hatred was frightening, but this time no one died. Selena should be spared, but if that was the case, why hadn’t he vanished as Casper had predicted. Could Casper have been wrong about the entire time displacement theory? A tall, lanky man held his head as he stumbled toward them from beyond the tent. Riley saw Frank, appeared relieved, and ran for him.
“Frank, thank God!”
Frank stared at the cave-in with a look of horror then glared at her. “What the hell did you do?”
“Me?” Riley suddenly slapped his arm. Frank jumped and bolted away from her. “What’s wrong with you? You nearly killed us with that booby trap!”
“What? No. Are you insane? Why would I blow up the mine?” he demanded while gesturing wildly. “There’s a fortune in there. Now look at it! It’ll take months to dig that out!”
“There was a tripwire,” Kane announced firmly.
“Tripwire?” Frank suddenly demanded while giving Kane a distrusting once over. “I didn’t rig the mine to explode. How stupid are you?”
Riley and Kane rolled their eyes. Kane had to resist the urge to punch the man. He wasn’t much of a fighter, but this situation almost definitely called for it. Riley then noticed Frank’s bleeding head.
“What happened to you?” Riley asked.
Frank waved her off. “Ah, a damned rock must’ve hit me on the head. Knocked me out cold,” he informed her. “This whole area is unstable. Rocks falling everywhere.”
“I’d say this expedition is officially over,” Kane firmly insisted. He’d had enough for one day. “It’s a long ride back. We should get going.”
Chapter Twenty-four
The bed and breakfast lobby was peaceful that afternoon. The entire inn seemed unusually quiet. There hadn’t been a soul around since breakfast, which seemed strange considering how many guests were staying within the old inn. Casper sat on one of the lounge chairs with a mug of hot chocolate setting on the coffee table alongside the coaster that clearing indicated it should be used. He relaxed with a large, homemade cookie in one hand and a gossip magazine in the other while his large feet were proudly propped on the coffee table. Judging by the amount of cookie crumbs surrounding him and spread across his shirt, he’d had a few cookies already. A loud thump was heard from upstairs. Casper looked to the ceiling and appeared bewildered. When he didn’t hear any other sounds, he returned to his magazine. The front door was heard opening. Casper glanced up as Hayes entered. Casper sprang to his feet, allowing cookie crumbs to scatter along the floor.
“Hey, there you are!” Casper announced cheerfully. “Did you get lost?”
Hayes approached the check in desk and set his overnight bag down with a low sigh. “No, I needed to take care of a few personal things before I came out here.” He seemed to tense slightly. “Is Riley upset?”
“Maybe she was a little,” Casper replied and flicked a crumb from his shirt while missing the other six. “I assume she got over it. She was in a good mood when she and Kane headed out to the site this morning.”
Hayes appeared surprised and
stared at Casper a long moment. “She went without me?”
“Yeah, she was insistent about going, so Kane went with her,” he replied.
“She shouldn’t have done that,” Hayes remarked and seemed intensely concerned. “Did they take a radio? I should probably check on them and make sure everything is okay.”
“Of course everything’s okay,” Casper informed him. “They took a map and everything. Kane won’t let anything happen to her. Stop worrying.”
“I don’t know,” he announced and fidgeted. “Maybe I should go out there. If anything happens, I’ll feel responsible.”
Casper’s entire body suddenly twitched to his comment about going to the expedition site. “Nothing’s going to happen,” Casper said almost too quickly then fumbled to sound more relaxed. “Kane’s an excellent rider, and Riley seemed at home in the saddle.”
Hayes appeared surprised. “They rode out on horseback?”
“Yeah,” Casper informed him. “Kane was all, like, ‘oh, horses’. He’s weird.”
“If they took horses, they had to take the longer trail,” Hayes remarked. He appeared to consider the thought then smiled and laughed softly. “That’s a long time in the saddle.”
“Yeah, Kane’s gonna be hurting,” Casper announced while grinning.
The door opened to reveal Collin. He saw Hayes, hesitated a moment, and then appeared unusually cheerful. “I see you finally made it.”
“Yes,” Hayes replied dryly. “Apparently Riley didn’t bother to wait for me either.”
“Well, you know Riley,” Collin teased. “Once she gets something into her head--” He collapsed onto one of the nearby chairs and appeared curious. “I was just out for a walk, and I saw a strange car parked in the woods.”
“A strange car?” Hayes asked then brushed it off. “Maybe it broke down.” He then appeared to reconsider. “What makes it strange?”
“It sort of looked like Randy’s car,” Collin remarked.
“You mean the Randy I fired last week?” Hayes asked with surprise.
“That’s why I thought it seemed strange. Think he’s secretly seeing Chrissie?” Collin asked with a note of jealousy in his tone. “I hope she didn’t invite him.”
“Chrissie’s here,” Hayes asked with a puzzled look.
“Yeah,” Collin replied. “I thought we could use the extra hands.”
Casper stared at both men then felt the need to interrupt by waving his hands around. “Whoa, whoa, back it up a minute,” he suddenly announced. “A man gets fired then shows up at a remote inn where his boss is working.” Casper appeared concerned. “Isn’t anyone else a little troubled by that? Sounds more like a plot for revenge to me.”
Hayes and Collin suddenly looked at Casper. Collin appeared concerned and looked back at Hayes.
“I heard he was lurking around the museum a few days after he was fired,” Collin suddenly remarked.
Hayes groaned and shook his head. “He wasn’t lurking, he was cleaning out his locker. I sincerely doubt Randy came all the way out here to the sticks to beat me senseless.”
Casper uncertainly sat while staring at Hayes. It was obvious his mind was reeling with the new information. The sound of thundering footfalls were heard on the stairs, alerting all three men. Tucker appeared at the bottom of the stairs with his overnight bag, stormed across the lobby past them, and out the door. Selena hurried after him. All three men exchanged bewildered looks.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Hayes suddenly asked.
Casper jumped up from his chair and hurried to the window closest to the porch. Selena and Tucker’s voices were heard shouting. Casper glanced at Hayes and Collin, who stared at him with apparent disapproval.
Casper frowned. “I suppose it’s rude to eavesdrop.”
“Keep it down,” Collin shushed him. “I can’t hear.”
Casper hid his smile and returned to listening by the window.
Tucker stormed off the porch and approached his car in the lot alongside the other parked cars. Selena was on his heels. He tossed his bag into the backseat and slammed the door. Selena stood before the driver’s side door, folded her arms across her chest, and glared at him.
“I wasn’t finished talking to you,” she growled.
“You weren’t talking; you were screaming like a banshee,” he snapped.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“Anywhere you’re not,” he announced while glaring at her. “Since I’ve met you, you’ve been nothing but trouble. You’re a spoiled little girl trapped in a woman’s body. When things don’t go your way, you stomp your foot and throw a tantrum. I’m tired of being some pawn in your sick, little game. I’m not letting you take me down with you.”
“Oh, you’re the pawn? I’m using you, huh?” she demanded while glaring at him. “That’s hysterical!”
“Hey, I don’t need this crap!” he launched back. “Now get out of my way!”
“Fine,” she screamed and moved away from the car door. “But don’t come crawling back to me! It’s over!”
Tucker opened the driver’s side door and glared at her. “No kidding it’s over! I’m the one ending it!” He sneered at her. “Have a nice life, bitch.”
Tucker jumped into the car, started it, and burned out in reverse. Selena appeared to pout while watching him speed down the gravel driveway. She stomped her foot then appeared to consider the action. She frowned and hurried for the porch. As Selena entered the inn, Casper and Collin leaped onto nearby chairs and attempted to act disinterested. Hayes remained standing near the front desk as Selena slammed the door. She suddenly hesitated and looked at the three men in the room. She seemed to calm slightly.
“I suppose you heard that,” she remarked with some hostility.
“Heard what?” Collin asked with an innocent look on his face then quickly turned his magazine facing the right direction.
“I never understood that relationship anyway,” Hayes remarked simply, causing both men to stare at him.
“So you were listening,” Selena pouted.
“Selena, they heard you out on the interstate,” Hayes informed her while casually placing his hands in his pockets. “Riley warned you about Tucker.”
Selena groaned and ran up the stairs. Collin and Casper eyed Hayes with marvel and shook their heads.
“Did you purposely engage her?” Collin asked. “Why would you do that?”
Hayes shrugged. “I’m a prick.”
“Some of my closest friends are pricks,” Casper casually announced.
“You never liked Selena,” Collin remarked.
“She makes bad personal choices,” he replied. “She’s on the short trip to self-destruct and won’t listen to anyone who tries to help her. The only thing left to do is sit back and watch her explode.”
“I feel sorry for the idiot who marries her,” Casper muttered and finished his cookie.
“I don’t know,” Collin announced. “Maybe now with Tucker out of her life, she’ll finally grow up. He doesn’t exactly bring out the best in women.”
Albert entered the lobby and looked around. “What’s all that shouting and banging?” he asked. “I thought this was supposed to be a relaxing rat trap.”
“Excuse me,” came Bessie’s harsh voice from nearby.
All four looked at Bessie approaching from the hallway. She glared at Albert through piercing eyes.
“Did you just call my inn a rat trap?” she demanded to know while placing her hands on her hips. Judging by the color in her face, Bessie was the one who was about to explode.
“I’m sure you misunderstood him,” Collin quickly announced while standing.
“No, I’m pretty sure he said ‘rat trap’,” Hayes commented with little emotion.
Albert glared at Hayes.
Bessie suddenly poked Albert in the chest while glaring at him. “I have put my blood and sweat into this place,” Bessie proclaimed while throwing around her hands. “Who the he
ll do you think you are calling my inn a rat trap!”
Casper and Collin sheepishly hurried across the lobby and out the front door. Hayes smirked and leaned against the check in desk while watching Albert back away from the irate woman and fumble for an apology.
Chapter Twenty-five
It was late afternoon and a warm breeze blew past the back porch where Hayes sat on one of the rocking chairs with a glass of iced tea on the table alongside him. He stared into the vast countryside of fields and woods while appearing lost in his own thoughts. Selena walked onto the porch, saw him sitting in the rocking chair, and uncertainly leaned against the railing across from him. She avoided looking at him and had the appearance of a scolded child attempting to get out of being grounded.
“I’m sorry about my behavior earlier,” she said softly. “You were right about Tucker, of course.”
He looked at her and smiled timidly. “I probably could have been a little more sensitive while pointing that out,” Hayes informed her. “You know he’s bad for you.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“So now it’s time to start making good decisions,” he announced.
She slowly nodded and finally looked at him. She smiled timidly. “You know, not all of us are like Riley. We don’t all have someone like you looking out for us.” Her head again lowered and she spoke softly. “I wish I had someone like you looking out for me.”
Hayes studied her a moment in silence and was about to speak when he looked past her. His expression suddenly dropped and he appeared alarmed by what he saw. He slowly stood and stared at the distant woods.
“What the hell--?”
Selena looked in the direction he stared. Kane and Riley could be seen riding along the edge of the woods. Both horse and riders were covered in a thick layer of dirt. Hayes bolted from the porch. Selena hurried after him. Riley and Kane rode their horses along the woods’ edge toward the stables behind the inn. Frank followed behind them on his four-wheeler. All three were exhausted and covered with dirt and scratches. Selena and Hayes hurried toward them from the back porch. Kane and Riley slowly dismounted with added stiffness as the stable boy collected their horses. The poor kid was speechless over the filthy condition in which they were returning the horses. Hayes approached Riley, pulled her into his arms, and looked over her with concern.
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