Part 2 (2/2)
She was growing more certain that some daring explorer hadn't happened on the remains and stolen the skulls. They'd never been here to begin with. But if the sawing had occurred down here, she should find minuscule bone fragments in the samples she'd taken from the floor of the cave.
Cait flipped off her flashlight and stowed in into her pack. Shrugged into it. ”Toss me a line. I'm coming up.”
There were a few moments of silence. Then a rustle as some rappel line snaked over the edge from above. ”Give me a minute.” The lights Sharper was holding faded, and she was left in the dark bowels of the chamber with only the light on her hard hat slicing through it.
Cait wasn't easily spooked, but she also wasn't in the mood to linger in the darkness. When the line snaked down the side of the wall, she grasped the line in both hands and waited for Sharper's faint shout to begin her ascent. It was a relatively swift climb up and over the lip, which landed her back in the branch off from the original cave.
Releasing the rope, she dug in her pack again for her flashlight and switched it on. Then she crawled to the mouth of branch where Sharper was crouched, waiting. ”I want to see how much deeper the original vein goes before heading out.”
”I can already tell you that. It dead-ends about twelve feet from here. At least it narrows enough that even you can't squeeze inside it.”
”Then it won't take me long to see for myself.” He seemed to be settling in for a wait, so she crawled by him and got down on her belly again for the trip ahead. It took only a few minutes to discover Sharper was right. The cave nipped in beyond the point that any human could squeeze through. And although there were a couple shadowy outcroppings along the way, there were no other sections to explore.
She had to wiggle backward to return to where the man was waiting, around the bend of the branch off, a task that took a bit of dexterity. As it was, she misjudged her distance and hit something less solid than the wall of the cave.
”s.h.i.+t!”
She felt her foot caught, firmly moved.
”I haven't given up all thought of fathering children, so take it easy, will you, Slim?”
”Sorry.” But Cait smirked a bit in the darkness as she cautiously backed into the wider branch of the cave. He deserved at least that after the cracks he'd made prior to their climb. ”When we get out I'd like to continue up to the top of Castle Rock. Is that doable from here?”
She could hear his shrug in the low rumble of his voice. ”Depends on you. Castle Rock is a popular hiking area for tourists, so there are trails. We can make our way to a ledge that comes down from the top of it. Like I said before, the other side is a switchback through the forest. Not a difficult hike once we get to the top.”
”Let's do it, then.”
”That'll put us about fifteen miles from my vehicle. Maybe you should wait for tomorrow to do the rest of it.”
”I can call Barnes and have him pick us up.”
”Hope you brought something to eat.” He started out into the cave ahead of her, belly crawling toward the entrance. ”I only brought one sandwich and I'm not in the mood to share.”
”Given your sunny disposition, that's a real newsflash.” She struck out on her stomach behind him. ”Don't worry about me, Sharper. I've been taking care of myself for a while now.”
But somehow her response lost its intended sting directed as it was to the soles of his boots. There was nothing to do but crawl toward the entrance where sunlight waited.
Chapter 3.
”Breathtaking.”
Zach shot a look at the woman by his side. The descriptor could have just as easily been applied to her, but her gaze was on the scenery below them. He took another bite of his sandwich, chewed and swallowed. It was hard to take in the view from the peak of Castle Rock without comment. ”That's the McKenzie River Valley. Those peaks there”-he pointed across the valley-”are the Three Sisters.”
”And on the other side of Castle Rock, toward the east, is McKenzie Bridge?”
He nodded, recalling the time she'd spent in the vehicle studying maps. There was more to Caitlin Fleming than the one-dimensional image that had decorated many a soldier's trunk lid in boot camp. She'd still been modeling then, but that had been over fifteen years ago. He hadn't given her a thought since, but if he had, he sure wouldn't have considered her pursuing police work. Or whatever she'd gone into to be working in the capacity of consultant for the Lane County Sheriff's Department.
But he didn't ask questions because he didn't dig into people's pasts. When he'd come back to the area, he'd just wanted to be left the h.e.l.l alone. That meant offering others the same privacy he expected for himself. Although it didn't always work that way.
That didn't mean Zach wasn't tempted to break his own rule. He finished off the sandwich, chewed reflectively. He found himself unwillingly fascinated. Not in the way he'd been when he'd been a randy teenager and she'd been the hottest teen model to grace a catwalk. He was willing to admit that her earlier comment about him having her poster had a particle of truth in it. But his interest in it had waned about the time he'd discovered pinning a three-dimensional female against the wall was a lot more satisfying than pinning a one-dimensional female to it.
”I gather this area is quite a tourist destination.”
Grateful to s.h.i.+ft his attention to something else, he lifted a shoulder. ”For people who enjoy the outdoors, Oregon has just about everything there is to offer.”
Cait was scanning the area around them. ”But summer's the peak season?”
Wondering what she was getting at, he nodded. ”We've got ski resorts. Lots of people snowmobile, cross-country ski, and snowshoe in the winter. But summer and fall are busiest, yeah.”
”And Castle Rock is a local attraction, right?” She didn't wait for an answer before going on. ”Lots of people hike it, Andrews said. Anyone could have stumbled across that cave, at any time.”
Dryly, Zach responded, ”You may have noticed, it's not exactly easy to get to. But, sure. It was only a matter of time before someone found what was dumped there. Fact is people were probably in that cave before me. Either they didn't go far enough inside or didn't have the equipment to get down in the chamber and check things out.”
She seemed to consider that for a few minutes, lost in thought. And he had the distinct impression she'd managed to forget his existence. So he wadded up his sandwich wrapper and stuffed it into a pocket in his bag. Withdrawing his water bottle, he removed his gla.s.ses and squirted some water on the lenses, wiping them clean with the hem of his s.h.i.+rt. Then he took another drink, before glancing back at the woman beside him.
She had her phone out, was punching in a number. But after holding it to her ear for a few moments she flipped it shut and shoved it back inside the pack at her feet. ”Barnes isn't answering, but I'll keep trying. Worst-case scenario, we'll start back for the vehicle and he can pick us up on the way.”
”You might find him a bit more difficult to manipulate than you're used to.” Zach knew he was being a p.r.i.c.k and couldn't say why this woman seemed to bring out the worst in him. The reaction annoyed him. It meant she had an effect on him, even if it was a negative one. He didn't like the thought of that at all.
She froze in the act of bringing her sandwich to her mouth. Her voice went dangerously cool. ”Care to explain that remark?”
There was no reason in the world for him to pick up the verbal gauntlet. No reason, really, to be such a d.i.c.k. Yet he heard himself saying, ”He's gay. So he's not likely to fall for any of the usual ways you probably use to bring guys into line. If he's busy, we're likely going to have to wait for hours before he can get to us.” He shrugged, shoving the bottle back into his pack, and awaited her reaction. It wasn't long in coming. It also wasn't what he expected.
”Well, that's a disappointment.”
Her tone was husky enough to have his throat drying out again. He couldn't have prevented himself from looking at her on a bet. And once there, his gaze stayed, transfixed.
She took off her sungla.s.ses, the movement slow. Leisurely. He had a moment to observe that her eyes were the same color as the moss covering one side of the rock they sat on before she reached up languidly and pulled the cap from her head. Loosened her hair and shook it back before allowing it to settle into place around that exquisite face.
He knew when he was being taken for a ride. Knew it, and was helpless to look away, even as he had to remind his lungs to go to work. The tip of her tongue slicked over her lips before she parted them, just a little. Her eyes went slumberous and her expression . . .
Her expression was pure s.e.x. The come-on as easy to read as neon against a starless sky. And brutally effective. Even knowing he was being had, Zach felt himself harden on cue. Which royally p.i.s.sed him off.
”Well, my kind is best at seduction, but if that isn't going to work, I guess I won't be able to convince Barnes”-she touched the base of her throat in a way guaranteed to draw a man's gaze-”to do much of anything. Which will be a shame.” When her hands dropped to the hem of her T-s.h.i.+rt, his pulse gave a leap like a stallion lurching from the starting gate. She dragged it up over an impossibly slender torso to expose a ribbed tank that clung to curves that had been fas.h.i.+oned by a very benevolent G.o.d. ”I guess that means I'll just have to”-she leaned forward, giving him a tongue-lolling view of cleavage-”ask him nicely and hope that's enough.”
With barely restrained violence, he grabbed for his water bottle again, chugged enough to wash down that boulder-sized knot in his throat. ”You do that.”
Her voice normal now, she shoved her s.h.i.+rt into her pack, her movements rife with temper. ”You are a complete and utter tool, Sharper. It's hard to believe you could build a business that depends on tourism, given your personality. I can only figure that your employees do an admirable job of covering for the fact that you're devoid of any redeeming qualities.”
He could have told her that he'd once had a few redeeming qualities. But that was before. He wasn't sure that Zach Sharper existed anymore.
Instead he remained silent, which was what he should have done before eliciting that little scene. She didn't seem to expect a response. With movements jerky with fury, she was pulling her hair back again, donning the cap and sungla.s.ses.
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