Love Inspired Suspense June 2015 #1

by Margaret Daley

  “Everything okay, Tracy?” Cade again.

  “Yes, David’s at a safe distance, I hope.” But as she said the words, pebbles trickled from above her. “Please hurry!”

  If this truly had been planned, the goal must have been for Tracy to be buried alive, and Santino would have exacted his revenge. As it was, this could still end badly, and in that case, he would have the pleasure of knowing he’d killed her along with someone she cared about deeply.

  Someone she cared about deeply…

  When had she started caring about David in that way that would lead to deeper feelings—feelings that were supposed to be reserved for that one special man? Especially when she’d made sure to guard against caring like that. Tracy needed to harden her heart, but right now she had to focus on getting David the help he needed. Getting them both out of this mine was far more important than issues of the heart.

  “David, please wake up.” She couldn’t take this anymore. A knot grew in her throat. “Why is it that every time I care about someone, they get hurt?”

  Saying the words out loud, she heard her own desperation. She couldn’t let this happen again. She couldn’t care about him. Tracy stiffened, her heart and mind warring with wanting to move away from him and wanting to hold on to him. She only wanted to protect him from further injury. But the urge to hold on to him was more than that. For far deeper reasons, she wanted to be close to him.

  When she shifted to reposition his head so she could pull away, David’s hand reached up, catching her wrist.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” David stared up at her, a half grin on his face.

  She started. “You’re okay. Thank You, God.”

  She tried to move away again.

  He held fast to her wrist. “I asked you a question.”

  Even in the dim lighting, she could see a glimmer in his eyes.

  He acted as though he’d been enjoying their proximity a little too much. Was he teasing her? But he’d been unconscious, hadn’t he? Given their predicament, her pulse really shouldn’t be racing at that look in his eyes.

  “I need to find out what’s taking so long.” Tracy still held his head in her lap. Awkward. She eased away.

  Was that disappointment in his eyes? Releasing her, David sat up slowly, gripping his head. He groaned.

  “Just how long were you awake?” she asked.

  “What?”

  “I was…talking to you.” She shoved thoughts of his reaction to her when he’d opened his eyes just now out of her mind. No point in dwelling on it. “Have you been awake and listening, just letting me…?”

  “No. Not long. I heard a voice and I don’t know… I wanted to wake up and find who it belonged to.” His voice was husky. “And I found her.”

  Tracy couldn’t breathe.

  David winced. “My head is killing me.”

  “You’re lucky you weren’t killed.”

  When he pushed all the way to his feet, Tracy grabbed his arm to steady him. “Take it easy.”

  Had he forgotten where they were? What had happened?

  Though he appeared disoriented, David found the wall, leaned against it and rubbed the back of his head. He’d found the knot. Then he gazed at her. “We both could have been killed.”

  Guilt washed over her.

  Dirt and pebbles trickled from the wall of debris as Cade worked to clear a path. The ceiling shifted above them. David pulled her into his arms and shielded her against the wall, protecting her and trapping her at the same time. She was scared they were going to die. But there was no other place she’d rather die than in his arms.

  She was in trouble.

  *

  A small rock tumbled. Scraping sounds coupled with more shifting and moving from the front of the mine caught David’s attention.

  Cade stuck his head through a hole he’d been widening at the top of the pile. “Okay, boys and girls. Sorry to interrupt your fun, but we need to get out of here.”

  He tossed a flashlight in.

  “I couldn’t agree more.” David reined in his emotions and tried to ignore his pounding head. Tried to ignore the feel of Tracy’s soft form in his arms.

  She had power over him just as he’d feared that first moment he’d met her. It was the whole reason he’d intended to stay away from her. Even this dangerous situation hadn’t prevented her effect on him. When Tracy had held David, spoken softly to him, he’d heard both her desperation and something more in her tone that had warmed him, drawn him out of his unconscious state. And he couldn’t seem to shake this…whatever it was between them.

  Nor could he be open with her about it, especially when he hadn’t figured things out himself. He knew well enough he shouldn’t connect with her on an emotional level, and here he was. It was too late. David slowly released her.

  Dizziness swam over him.

  She shifted under his arm, bolstering him. “I told you to take it easy.”

  Anyone else would have done the same thing, but it wouldn’t have had the same effect on him as Tracy. He had to shake off these emotions.

  “I’m all right.” He untangled himself from her. He could stand on his own. “We need to get out of here.”

  “But what about Solomon?” Tracy’s distress rushed over David.

  From deeper in the mine, the dog’s barks grew stronger and his form became visible as he emerged into the dim light from the opening of the mine shaft. Solomon nearly knocked Tracy over in his exuberance.

  She hugged him to her, rubbing his head and body. “What happened to you, boy? Why’d you go so far into the mine?”

  David should remind her that he’d likely been taken to lure them in. The trap would have worked perfectly if he hadn’t called his brother to let him know where they’d gone.

  Solomon started in on David then, jumping up to lick his face. He didn’t want to push the dog away, but they needed to get out while they still had the chance. “Come on, Solomon. Let’s get you out of this mine.” He projected his voice toward their small exit. “Cade…”

  “Yeah?” His brother stuck his head into view.

  “A little help, please? Call the dog.”

  Cade called Solomon, pulling him up and out through the hole.

  Then David assisted Tracy, positioning her as carefully as he could.

  God, please keep things stable until we can make an escape.

  Tracy climbed up ahead of him. The debris appeared to have settled and was packed enough that they could climb it without causing another shift. Once Tracy climbed through the opening, Cade and Heidi assisted her the rest of the way and David followed.

  He was grateful that if this had to happen, it had happened during summer in Alaska. The sun wouldn’t completely set until late, and even then, they could expect twilight until well after eleven. Not that he was afraid of the dark, but they weren’t safe here and every bit of added visibility helped. “You guys came alone? You didn’t bring Isaiah or Adam?”

  “They were on their way,” Cade said. “Terry, too. But I just texted them you’re out.”

  “What happened in there?” Heidi rubbed her hand over the back of David’s head.

  He winced. It could take him days to get over this headache. He’d stop by the hospital and get his head checked out as soon as he could.

  Heidi peered at him, concerned.

  “We went into the mine after Solomon.” David crouched down. “Solomon, come here, boy.”

  The dog wagged his tail and came willingly, then licked David all over his face again. Not something he’d normally prefer, but he allowed it for Tracy’s benefit. When he looked up and saw her beaming at him, it was worth all the dog slobber in the world. But his chest tightened. He shouldn’t be thinking along those lines.

  She crouched next to him to pet her dog and wrestle him from David’s face. “I think he likes you.”

  Cade and Heidi laughed.

  “You think?” Heidi said.

  “I’m sorry,” Tracy said. This t
ime she pulled Solomon off David, but she had to use so much force that she overbalanced and fell on her backside. Laughter erupted.

  He liked her laugh and he liked her voice. A soft, compelling voice that had pulled him from an unconscious state. He couldn’t seem to grab hold of her exact words—they hung at the edges of his mind, just out of reach—but there’d been something inviting in them, that much he knew.

  Then he noticed the thick marine rope around Solomon’s neck. “This yours, Tracy?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I don’t tie him up. But someone must have tied him up in the mine, just as you said—to lure me inside. Solomon obviously chewed his way out. Good thing it wasn’t a galvanized steel tie-out or he’d still be down there.” She ran her hand over the dog’s forehead and down his neck and back. “What would we have done if he hadn’t escaped?”

  Cade pulled out a pocketknife and cut the remains of the rope from Solomon’s neck.

  Tracy crouched to get in the dog’s face. “What would I do without you, Solomon?”

  She tugged him close.

  “Tell me,” Cade said.

  David glanced around. “It’s not safe to stay. We need to hike out of here. There’s someone bent on harming Tracy.”

  “We don’t have to hike far. My truck’s just over there.”

  “You drove up here on these overgrown roads?”

  “Yeah. I figured you’d done something stupid and I didn’t want to waste time.”

  David wanted to glare at Cade. After all, David was his older brother and deserved some respect. He should be the one dishing out advice. Instead he tugged his brother to him. “Thanks, bro.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Together they hiked along the overrun trail toward the truck.

  “So who is this guy, Tracy?” Cade asked. “Any ideas?”

  “Someone connected to my past. You could all be in danger now because of me.” Tracy sighed.

  David eyed the woods. Tracy had caught a glimpse of someone just before the mine collapsed. Someone could be hiding in the trees. He put his hand on his weapon in his holster.

  A twig snapped somewhere in the shadows of the forest.

  Cade’s truck was only fifty yards away, but it wasn’t close enough. David shook off a wave of dizziness, retrieved his weapon from the holster and grabbed Tracy’s hand. He picked up his pace. Cade and Heidi followed his lead. The person after Tracy—a killer, an arsonist from her past—could be watching them now. He shuddered to think what a person like that could do to the small town of Mountain Cove.

  He feared Jay wouldn’t be the last person attacked, that Veronica wouldn’t be the last person to die. He feared in the end, he would fail Tracy.

  ELEVEN

  “I don’t know if I can do this to you, Jewel.” Tracy peeked between the curtains to see Cade and David talking to Terry, Cade’s police friend, who stood next to his cruiser. “You need this room for your income. Bad enough I was taking up space in your cottage.”

  “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for someone I care about.”

  Tracy pulled her gaze from the three men and looked at Jewel, who leaned, arms folded, against the doorjamb. In her midforties, Jewel was beautiful, with a quiet and elegant grace about her. Her ash-blond hair, long and straight, hung down past her shoulders. Tracy pictured her as the kind of woman who would wear it the same way even into her sixties and seventies and look just as beautiful.

  Moving to Mountain Cove, Tracy had tried at first to avoid any close friendships, but Jewel had refused to be pushed away. “Thanks. I care about you, too. That’s why I’m not sure this is a good idea. What if—?”

  “You don’t need to worry.” Jewel closed the bedroom door and came all the way into the room. “The boys down there are going to switch out watching the house while the police track this guy down. We stick together here in Mountain Cove. Nobody is going to do this to one of our own.”

  “But he already did. His fire at the grocery store killed Veronica.”

  Jewel frowned and sat on the bed. It was covered with a gorgeous mariner quilt, and Jewel spread her hand over the design. “Veronica’s grandmother quilted this. The woman lives in Massachusetts. She sent it to me a few years back. This along with two more in the other guest rooms. She stayed here once years ago when she came to visit Veronica.”

  How could Tracy ever make up for any of this? “It’s my fault. She’d still be alive if it wasn’t for me. And by letting me stay here, you’re putting yourself in danger. And what about your guests?” Tracy rubbed her arms and stared at the window again. The woods surrounding the B and B made for a beautiful natural setting, but a killer could hide there and make a plan to attack them, undetected. “I should contact Jennifer, Marshal Hanes, and go into WITSEC. I shouldn’t stay here for even one night.”

  Jewel was at her side and hugged her. Then she held her at arm’s length. “Now, you listen to me. None of this is your fault. You didn’t kill anyone. This guy who’s after you is the guilty party. And he’s just a man, nothing more. He’s flesh and blood. My guess is that he’s out of his element in Alaska. We’ll get him before he takes someone else down.”

  “You can’t promise that, Jewel.”

  “No, I can’t. But there are no promises in life. People die every day, people who don’t have a killer after them.” Jewel released Tracy and adjusted the earth-colored drapes. “I lost my husband a few years back. He was a firefighter—he mentored David Warren, in fact. But he didn’t die fighting a fire. No. He had to get struck by lightning when he was out hiking in the mountains. A lightning strike killed my husband.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Tracy said.

  “Do you hear me? Lightning killed him. We never get lightning here. He put his life at risk all the time for his work, and the thing that killed him was literally a bolt out of the blue. There are no guarantees. We have to live each moment as if it was our last. Treasure the time we’re here. Cherish our loved ones. So if you don’t want to run and hide, if you want to stay here with your friends, we’ll stand with you in this.”

  The depth of Jewel’s conviction touched a place equally as deep inside Tracy. How could she leave people who were that committed and loyal? And yet how could she stay?

  “David thinks that if the guy could find you here, he could find you anywhere, even if you had a new identity,” Jewel added.

  Tracy wasn’t as sure about that and wondered if David was only trying to justify a reason for Tracy to stay. That thought zinged through her—why would he care so much? She smiled inside. After the way he’d acted in the mine, she had no doubt as to the reasons. There was a strong pull between them, but Tracy knew better than to succumb to her attraction or any feeling she might have for him.

  Plopping on the bed, she pressed her hands to her face. “I don’t know about this.”

  Jewel lightly squeezed her shoulder. “You need to rest and then you’ll see things more clearly. This is one of the rooms with a private bath. If you don’t feel like joining us for dinner, I can bring up a tray.”

  “No, Jewel. I should help you serve. It’s my job.”

  “Piffle. I’d say you need a day or two off. I have more than enough friends in town that can help when I need it.”

  The way Jewel eyed her, Tracy was reminded that she’d given Tracy a job because she’d felt sorry for her. She’d been her charity project—in the nicest possible way. Tracy hadn’t come to town begging, but somehow Jewel had known she’d needed a refuge. She smiled at the woman.

  “Thank you.” The words creaked out. She could never fully express the debt of her gratitude.

  Jewel gave her an easy, knowing smile then exited through the door, shutting it with a soft click. Tracy needed a shower or maybe a long, hot bath. They’d already brought most of her things up to the room—easy to do, since she didn’t have much.

  Solomon had been sleeping in the corner on a mat. He lifted his head and whined, but he didn’t come to her for attention
. Today’s experience had worn him out. Tracy stole one more glance out the window. The men were still there talking, the deep grays of dusk dwindling behind the mountain silhouettes.

  She was about to let the curtains drop when David glanced up at the window. He caught her watching and his gaze lingered. Was that smile suddenly lifting his lips for her, or something one of the other two men had said? Her heart skipped all the same. She was grateful they didn’t seem to notice David’s attention on the window. She let the curtains drop and sucked in oxygen. She really couldn’t afford her reaction to that man.

  David Warren.

  Somehow this nightmare had given rise to him entangling himself with her, something that should never have happened. She would have been better off leaving town as soon as she’d heard Jay’s story. But she didn’t know where to go. Coming here in the first place, finding a place to stay and a job, had been a monumental task. She couldn’t imagine moving again, and if she did, would she find a group of people who cared enough about her to stand with her, as Jewel had said? Would she find another protector like David?

  Bone-tired, she headed for the bathroom and started filling the tub with hot water. In the bathroom, she noticed a cross-stitch on the wall. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105.”

  God, what do I do?

  *

  “You don’t get to order my officers around.” Chief Colin Winters worked his jaw back and forth.

  David stood on the other side of the man’s desk. When they’d started this conversation this morning, they’d both been sitting, but as tensions had escalated, both men had gotten to their feet. “Terry wasn’t on duty last night. He chose to watch over the Jewel of the Mountain on his own time.”

  “In police property!”

  Winters had already had words with Terry, and that was why David was in his office to face off with the police chief. “To let the killer know we’re onto him. To scare him off.”

  “First off, we don’t know there is a killer. Nobody’s been murdered, that we know of. And even so, scare him off? We want to catch him, Warren.”