Framed For Love

by Rachel Ann Nunes

  Fred kept looking at the baby, wondering what it would be like to hold him. Why hadn’t he married? He should have a family of his own by now.

  “We’ve tracked down the house in France,” he said. “Everything had been cleaned out, but we did find a manila envelope in an upstairs room. We’re sure it belonged to Cassi.”

  “The one my husband sent?”

  “Yes, or a copy. But come on in, we’ll give you the details.”

  Renae walked into the room, her eyes immediately resting on Robert. “Robbie,” she said with a little sob.

  He stood from his chair next to Fred’s desk and met her in the middle of the room. “I heard you were here. I’m so sorry.”

  Renae blinked and accepted his hug.

  Of course they know each other, Fred thought. She and Cassi were friends from high school.

  Robert drew away. “Hey, look at this baby,” he said, pulling back the blanket. “He’s sure a cutie. Wow, he looks like Trent.” With the familiarity of an old acquaintance, he lifted the baby from Renae. “Take my seat and rest while I give you a break from this little guy. Fred will explain everything.”

  “Thanks,” Renae said gratefully.

  The baby began to fuss, but Robert bounced him gently with obvious experience. In that instant, Fred made up his mind to ask his Darla out. They’d known each other for three years, and he didn’t think she was dating anyone. Why shouldn’t I give it a try?

  “We think Cassi found Jared and Trent,” Fred said. “But now they’ve all disappeared again. We’re tracking leads found in the envelope. We’ve stormed the few warehouses it names in France and they are all dirty, but none of it is attached to Laranda. Not even a trace. It’s as though she has vanished.” There was nothing more he could tell her. Each passing hour, Laranda could be extending her world even farther. Who knew where she would end up?

  Renae fought to hold back tears.

  “We’re not giving u—”

  Justin burst unannounced through door. “Good news! Cassi called Carl’s phone. She’s in Portugal, and the guys are tracing down the information. They believe the call came from a place called Alter do Chão.”

  “Call our Legat office in Madrid and explain the situation,” Fred said. “They already have faxed copies of the Portuguese information we found in France, but I want our operatives on the scene—now!”

  “Will do,” Justin said. “They can run the check on a man named João who owns a navy van. If they can find a match close to that city, we might just find the right house.”

  * * *

  CASSI WAS DEAD. IT TOOK Jared a few minutes to absorb the shock. Then he cried. In an instant, all of his hopes and dreams had shattered. Hot anger mixed with his grief until he choked with the immensity of it.

  When at last he could breathe, he raised sore eyes to see Laranda, who stared at him with triumph. Murder sprang to Jared’s heart. How easy it would be to take revenge on the now helpless woman. In his mind, he did it in a million different ways, but at the last moment, he prayed for help, and an infinitesimal glimmer of hope shot through the blackness of his despair. He couldn’t give into rage now. He had to find Cassi and bring her to the surface. She might, just might, still be alive. He had to hold on to that bright sliver of hope.

  Methodically, he climbed up the bowl and walked toward Laranda. There was fear now in her face, but with the urgency of finding Cassi, the thoughts of murder had left him.

  He grabbed the knife from Laranda’s hands and raised it. “Jared,” she pleaded. Ignoring her, he brought the knife repeatedly down on her motor and the controls to her chair, destroying them.

  “I can give you everything,” she said frantically.

  “Did you really believe I’d turn to you if you killed Cassi? How little you know me. I told you once before that you may threaten and force, but you cannot buy my soul.”

  He snapped the discarded handcuffs on her wrists and grabbed the handles on the back of her chair. It was heavier than he expected, but he wouldn’t allow that to stop him. As he approached the basin, her breath came in rapid puffs.

  “Cassi is the only woman I will ever love,” he said to her. “And we will be together.”

  “She’s dead.”

  “Not to me, she’s not.” He pushed her chair over the edge, keeping hold of it so that she would not roll into the chasm. He parked her six inches from the opening and put on the brakes to the chair.

  “You can’t leave me here.”

  “I can and I will.” Jared went back for the rest of the rope, checking the knots Peter had made in the ring. It had been a long rope, and still was even without the part that had gone down with Cassi, but he had no idea if it would be long enough. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back for you. But it won’t be pretty.”

  With effort, he kept from striking her, feeling that if he started, he wouldn’t stop until her blood was on his hands. Protecting himself or Cassi was one thing, but killing an unarmed woman in a wheelchair was quite another. Even so, leaving without punishing her was the second hardest thing he’d ever done. The first had been watching as the rope holding Cassi had disappeared into the bottomless pit.

  “You’re not going after her! That rope won’t be enough. I told you already.”

  “Yeah, but you lie. Don’t move too much, Laranda, or you may meet us below.” He cut a piece of rope looping one end though the lantern’s handle and tied it around his waist. Another piece of rope secured the knife. Without another word, he grabbed onto the rope and dropped hand-over-hand through the hole.

  “You can’t leave me here!” Laranda’s voice wailed after him, though her voice didn’t sound as desperate as he would have liked. No doubt she was relieved that he hadn’t hurt her. No doubt she had a plan. But even if she managed to drag her body up the side of the bowl to a hidden phone or even to her own house, Jared would be out of her reach. And so was Cassi.

  Agony knifed through him at the thought, and he had to stop momentarily, his feet braced against the sides of the hole, to regain control. His hands felt like putty. It would be almost too easy to let go and join Cassi in her dark grave. But he wouldn’t. He would find her.

  Finally, he continued on.

  “I would have made you happy!” Laranda’s jagged voice called after him.

  Jared didn’t reply.

  * * *

  CASSI’S WOUNDED LEG THROBBED WHERE she hit it on a rock as she swung like a pendulum. She pushed her feet gently against the sides, trying to stop her motion. Her wrists hurt where the rope burned into them, and her arm ached painfully from the jerk of the stop.

  But at least she had stopped.

  Moments ago, she’d seen Jared’s worried face above her, but she knew he was as helpless as she was. The black pit beneath her revealed little to her desperate eyes.

  Cassi did the only thing she could do—pray.

  All at once she was falling again. She could see absolutely nothing. Then her arms jolted and pain wracked her shoulders, elbows, and wrists. She’d stopped again and was still swinging like before, but now the added torment was unbearable.

  Another jutting rock hit her in the stomach, knocking her breath away. But the rock gave her an idea. When she neared it again, she tried to swing her legs up to grasp it, but her borrowed maid’s skirt made the act impossible. She kicked it angrily. One of Jarelyn’s loafers slipped from her foot. Cassi listened but never heard it hit the bottom.

  Her impetus from kicking the rock brought her shoulders into contact with a ledge. It was too high for her to get on, but it gave her hope. Surely there were others, and one might be accessible. She began pushing off the sides in different directions, searching for something she could land on. In several directions she couldn’t even touch a side wall, which told her how much the chasm had widened.

  When her feet touched a ledge at thigh level, Cassi felt rejuvenated. It took her three tries to find the place again, and two more to land on it.

  No more sudden descents,
she thought with satisfaction as the pain in her arms and shoulders faded. Of course, Laranda could still have her brought up when Jared capitulated to her demands. Regardless, Laranda would not let her live. Laranda hated her for obtaining something she could never have: Jared’s love.

  Determined, Cassi began to untie the rope with her teeth. It wasn’t as easy as she had hoped. Her teeth ached and her lips were bleeding before she was freed. She was careful to keep hold of the rope, tying it to an outcropping of rock. Then she sat down to think.

  She felt around in the dark, but was afraid to move very far. She couldn’t go up because Laranda was there, and she couldn’t go down—not without another rope, anyway—and there weren’t any openings into other caves on her ledge. There was no choice but to sit down and wait.

  The seconds ticked by slowly. For lack of anything better to do, Cassi counted them. Somewhere she’d lost her watch again, along with the little light it would have afforded. Any light at all would be better than this empty darkness. How long could she live here without food? Without water?

  Something rushed past her in the dark, sending fear through her gut. She sensed the object was large, but she couldn’t see what it was. She scrambled to her feet, nearly losing her balance. With one hand braced against the cliff side, her fingers curled into the nooks and crannies, she tugged on the rope above her to see if there was any change in the tension.

  Nothing. It was still tight. She kept her hand on the rope, pulling slightly. Abruptly, it moved, and she nearly fell as her tenuous thread with the outside world came tumbling down.

  The realization that she would have fallen, would have probably been dead, hit her forcefully, and for a moment she stood frozen on the ledge, still gripping the end of the rope. As the shock faded, she realized that now she had a way down. Or at least further down.

  For long moments she felt around for a more secure place to tie the rope. She found nothing better than the outcropping she’d tied it to previously, so she began her descent. About two body-lengths down, she found a more likely rock to tie onto. Now she had one good safety hold and one backup.

  Slowly she inched her way down the cliff face, occasionally slipping and burning her hands on the rope. Through trial and error, she learned to tie the cord around her waist in such a way that when she released her hold a bit, she could lower herself down. She used this technique when she couldn’t find any solid handholds.

  Tie the rope around her waist, climb down, rest, untie and let out a little, retie, climb, rest, untie, tie, rappel a few feet, rest, rappel again, rest, untie, tie, climb down, rest, and on and on. Cassi was glad she couldn’t see the bottom through the oppressive darkness, but she wondered how far it was, if the rope would reach, and what she would find once she got there. When her feet finally did touch the ground, she almost couldn’t believe it.

  “Now to find a way out.” Her voice echoed hollowly in the distance. The heat she’d felt while climbing was gradually changing to a wet chill. She felt along the wall, walking as quickly as she dared in the dark and occasionally stumbling over loose stones. Eventually, she found a small tunnel leading out of the cavern. She knelt at the opening, felt around for some small, loose rocks, and made a rough arrow in case someone came looking. Hopefully it would be help, and not one of Laranda’s goons.

  The cave ended abruptly, and Cassi was forced to find her way out again, kicking at the rock arrow in frustration. Sighing, she put her hands up against the sides of the cavern and tried again. She found another tunnel, made another rock arrow, and walked as fast as she dared. At an intersection, she formed another arrow. Her sides heaved and her eyes ached from trying to see something in the depths—anything at all. But it was no use. There was only the brutal blackness.

  At last Cassi could go no further. She slumped down on the rough rock to rest. After a few minutes, fear of the complete blackness ate at her. Anger was close on its heels. I shouldn’t be here. None of this should be happening! Vividly, she saw Linden bleeding on his lush carpet, and Trent lying so still on the cement floor in the studio. She had been next on Laranda’s list.

  The next to die.

  All the pent-up emotions tumbled around inside her until they broke free. Never in her life had she felt so utterly alone. There was nothing for her but terror of the dark, visions of Linden’s still face, and Renae’s future screams of loss when she learned Trent was dead. Of Jared, she saw nothing. No one was ever going to find her, and she was doomed to wander in dark tunnels until she died of thirst or hunger. She lay back on the rocky tunnel floor, fighting despair.

  Jared is still alive. I have to be strong for him. The thought strengthened her. She had to find a way out so she could get help.

  First she would rest for a few minutes to recover from the climb. With a sigh, she closed her eyes against the darkness.

  * * *

  JARED HAD BEEN ROCK-CLIMBING and rappelling several times before with friends, but never with such limited equipment or on such a vertical wall. They’d had professionals directing them, proper gear, and at least two safety ropes. He’d always been nervous that something would happen. It never had, and now he was grateful for the experience.

  Sweat poured from his face and body, filling his nose with the scent. He tried not to think about Cassi, but concentrated on the descent. The movements filled his life, as though there had never been anything except the rope, the wall, and the dancing shadows cast by the lantern.

  The weight of the rope beneath him grew lighter, and he wondered if for the first time in her life Laranda had told him the truth. Maybe she had sent someone down and they hadn’t found the bottom. Maybe he wouldn’t have enough rope. He judged that he’d already been going at this painstaking pace for about an hour—though it could have been much less or much more.

  He almost didn’t believe his eyes when he saw a rope tied to a rock. It looked the same width and age as his rope, and his hopes soared. It had been tied by a person, not caught there by mistake. But had it been tied by Cassi, or by someone months or years ago?

  Since he was some horizontal distance from the other rope, Jared had to climb sideways to reach it. Once safely on the ledge, he cut the remaining length of his rope and tied it around his waist in case he should need more later. The knife was so sharp that it only took two passes over the relatively thin rope. No wonder Laranda had been able to cut it so quickly.

  He clenched his jaw at the thought and continued on his way. Down, down, slowly, hand over hand. Then finally, he was at the bottom in a large cavern with an uneven floor. Jared held the lantern high and was startled for a moment at the change in the shadows. What would it be like for Cassi, who had no light at all?

  Jared searched the area, behind uneven outcroppings and in the bowl-like indentations on the floor. After a few moments, he found Peter’s body. He didn’t go near it; there was no way the man could have survived such a long fall. Then he found something much more disturbing: a gaping hole. This wasn’t the end of the descent, but rather a place where very large overhangs existed. Had Cassi reached the bottom, only to fall through that hole? Or had she fallen through when Laranda had cut the rope? He stared into the depths, dropped a rock down it. There was no sound of the rock hitting. If Cassi had fallen there, she really would be dead.

  No. She had to be alive.

  She’s not stupid, he thought. Impulsive, brave, and sometimes irrational, but never stupid. If she climbed down as I did, she would have kept to the side.

  He began to check for other avenues, and saw at least five tunnels leading from the cavern. Perhaps there were more hidden. But which one to check? The one nearest the rope he had descended was a dead end. At the mouth of the second, he found an arrow made with small stones.

  “Yes!” His shout echoed in the cavern. “Cassi!” he yelled. “Cassi, are you there?”

  No answer.

  He began to run. At each step, he thought how awful it must be for her to walk this path in the dark. He called seve
ral more times and then lent his energy to the terrain. Another opening appeared to his left. He hesitated, but didn’t turn down it. Surely she would have left another rock arrow.

  There was only his breath and the stumbling of his feet to mark his passage. He couldn’t see how she could have come so far in the dark. Maybe someone else had left the arrow years ago.

  Tears trickled down his cheeks, and the agony of losing her again was too much to bear. Still, he forced himself onward. One more turn, and then another. Then a fork with a rock arrow marking the right one. He saw a bend ahead, thought he heard something.

  Abruptly, the turn opened up into a wider cave, about twice the size of the tunnel. A pool of clear water had gathered inside. Next to the pool lay a woman. Jared was too overwhelmed for words. He felt like a dead man given another chance at life.

  * * *

  “CASSI!”

  Her eyes flew open and saw light. “Jared!” She sat up as he set the lantern down and came toward her.

  For long moments they hugged without saying anything more. Then Jared whispered fiercely, “No one’s taking you from me again!” Her reply was drowned as his lips urgently sought hers.

  After a long moment, Cassi broke away. “Laranda?”

  “Taken care of for now. But we need to get out of here. We have to help Trent.”

  “But he’s—”

  “No, he’s not.” Jared released her. “I pretended he was dead so Laranda would leave him alone. I would have told you if I could. But he was bleeding badly, and there’s no telling what her guards will do to him when they wake.”

  “Poor Renae,” Cassi said.

  “And those kids.” Jared straightened. “We have to save him. But we can’t climb back up that hole.”

  For the first time Cassi noticed the water, and thirst engulfed her senses. She moved closer to the pool and stuck her hands inside. It looked clean enough. She tasted it, and besides a slight metallic flavor, it was good. Cupping her hands, she took a deep drink, and Jared did the same.

  “The water had to get here somehow,” Cassi said. “I mean, aren’t a lot of these tunnels made by water? What if this comes from the outside?”