Out of the Depths

Upstairs was still under construction with plastic sheeting hung across doorways. Two of the bedrooms were being combined into a large master suite. One was full of boxes from his move, and the last held only a bed, dresser and bedside table.

Kyndal took a peek and then hurriedly turned away as her heartbeat rose to a pounding in her ears. Chance’s old mahogany bedroom suite. She was so not going to let herself think about times spent in that bed.

A couple of inconspicuous deep breaths brought her heartbeat under control as she moved to the railing. She gripped it and focused on the fireplace below. “Everything is really lovely.” Her voice came out high and strained like an old beagle’s howl.

“Sorry about the dust.” Chance mercifully closed the door to her nostalgia. “It’s more house than I need right now.” He leaned his elbows on the banister, his arm and leg brushing hers. “But I hope to fill it up with a family someday.”

She glanced at him and found his espresso gaze locked on her. “Oh?” She scooted over a couple of inches and coughed, hoping the knot in her chest would shake loose. “Is Chesney pregnant?”

Chance rubbed his hand down his face. “Lord, I hope not. She’s just a baby herself.” He gave a low, meaningful chuckle. “Besides, someday means years from now—when my practice is built and I’m well on my way to being a judge.”

“So you plan on getting involved in politics.” Obviously since judges are elected officials.

He shrugged. “Nonpartisan…but yeah.”

She wouldn’t allow herself to analyze why his words squeezed at her heart. She just wanted to go to the cave, get her shots, then hightail it back to Dover, Tennessee, and dreams of a new job—with a few fantasies of Ranger Rick thrown in for good measure.

She turned her back to Chance. “Do you have a stepladder?” She threw the question over her shoulder as they made their way down the stairs. “We may need it to reach the opening to the vug.”

“Yeah, I have one, but we don’t want to lug that with us for a half mile.” Chance waved away the idea. “If the opening’s no higher than you said, I can boost you up and then make the jump myself.”

His hands were going to have to touch her body in various places. Her mouth went dry at the thought. She’d have to steel herself not to react. It had been a while since anybody had touched her anyplace interesting.

Chance grabbed the backpack by the kitchen door as they headed out.

The temperature had risen even higher, and the sky had darkened appreciably since they went inside. Humidity hung heavy in the air with a cloying stickiness.

“It’s so warm, they’re calling for a chance of hail. Better put your car in the garage.” Not giving her time to argue, Chance went to the keyless entry by the garage door and punched in a code.

Kyndal pulled her Jeep in, allowing only a brief comparison of her car to the black SUV and the sleek, silver Porsche Boxster occupying the other two spots. She was careful not to crowd the corner obviously set up for Chesney with a doggie door, blankets, and food and water dispensers.

She pulled her backpack out of the backseat and slung it over her shoulder. “Will Chesney follow us?”

Chance shook his head as he punched the button to let the garage door down. “She wears an electric collar that gives her the run of about two acres. She’ll know when to turn back.” He motioned toward a well-worn path through the trees behind the garage. “Follow the yellow brick road.”

The Munchkin voice coming from such a body was too incongruous, and Kyndal laughed in spite of herself.

“Well, it’s about time.” Chance’s arm went around her shoulder in a quick hug as they walked. “I’ve been waiting to hear a real laugh from you for almost twenty-four hours.”

The hug felt nice. Not flirtatious. Almost like the one this morning from Bart.

Maybe she was being too sensitive. Maybe it was time to let go of her hurt and embarrassment. Loosen up. Count her blessings. She had a night out with her best friends, a photo-worthy cave and an old friend to share it with, a promising hope of a new job—not bad for someone who’d been facing jail time the day before.

All right, it didn’t have to be just business. She threw her arm around Chance’s waist and hugged back. “Sorry I’ve been so uptight. The whole experience yesterday messed with my mind, you know? Too many shocks to the system for one day.”

Thunder rumbled through the trees, sending Chesney scurrying back toward the garage. “Well, don’t let your guard down just yet. There are some surprises still in store.” His arm tightened briefly around her, then he let go and quickened his pace.

As if to punctuate his words, a raindrop plopped onto the end of her nose.

She broke into a jog to keep up.

* * *

THEYMADEITINSIDETHECAVE just before the storm broke. Chance watched Kyndal shiver as the coolness dropped over them like a wet blanket.

He rubbed the back of his fingers against her arm. “Cold?” It was a lame excuse to touch her again, but touching her was all he’d been able to think of since she’d gotten out of her car. The pink T-shirt hung loose from her shoulders, giving no hint of the curves that had been so obvious yesterday. He wanted to touch them, feel for himself they were still there and ignore the voice of reason telling him that would be a mistake

She shook her head as two hard buds poked through the cotton, contradicting her answer but enhancing the appeal of the T.

“I’ve got a couple of things to show you if you’ve got the time.” He watched the debate play across her face when she checked her watch. Her “other person” was probably expecting her. He threw out additional enticement. “Some interesting things about the cave…if the kids haven’t vandalized them since I was here last.”

“Are vandals a problem?” Kyndal’s brows knitted.

“You decide for yourself.” He pulled a battery-operated lantern from his backpack.

“Whoa!” Kyndal leaned back, squinting against the light shining in her face. “You’re packing a big one!”

“Well, you ought to know.”

Kyndal snorted at his innuendo. Her eyes darted away before coming back to meet his. “I remember reading somewhere that alcohol shrinks the male genitals.” She let her eyes drift downward, stop to squint at his crotch, then brought them back up to lock with his. “Sooo, how much drinking did you do at Hah-vahd?”

The last word dripped with sarcasm, more biting than funny, and it wasn’t difficult to read the tension in her posture. The merest mention of their past and she’d gone from friendly to pissed in thirty seconds. He would heed the warning and watch what he said. No use getting her riled for the short time they were going to be together.

He turned the lantern so the beam illuminated the dark end of the entry room, bringing to life the neon paint graffiti from the past two months that marred the beauty of the past ten thousand years. Beer cans and liquor bottles littered the floor.

Kyndal’s gasp spoke her horror at the sight.

“My feelings exactly.” His stomach turned at every name scrawled across the limestone. Levi. Mattie. Rachel. Brant. “‘Fools’ names like fools’ faces—’”

“‘Always seen in public places.’” Kyndal shook her head slowly. “This is awful. How can they do this? Why do they do this?” Anger and sadness flashed in her eyes, which deepened to emerald in the dim light.

“They’re just young.” He shrugged, not really having an answer. “They don’t realize how special it is.”

“We were young, too, but we knew exactly how special it was.” Her eyes widened. The words hadn’t meant to be spoken, but had somehow escaped. She bit her lip and turned away, moving closer toward the wall of names. “Will anything take it off?” She skimmed the wall with her fingertips, a mother soothing a wounded child.

“Time.”

“Time.” She heaved a sigh. “Heals all wounds.” She pulled her camera from the pack and made a few shots of the names.

Her back was toward him, and the light caught in her black hair, which hung loose and sleek. He itched to touch it, to run his hand down it and into it, to turn her around and look into those emerald eyes, to run his fingers from her temples to the tips of those strands of black silk.

He raised his arm, stretched his fingers hesitantly.

Don’t be stupid.

He dropped his hand back to his side and breathed. “C’mon.”

They stopped for a few minutes to survey the damage in the next room. No permanent damage, but clear indications of what the teens had been up to. A couple of air mattresses surrounded by handfuls of condom wrappers, empty liquor bottles, some roach clips and meth pipes. When Buck had used the term orgy, Chance thought he was exaggerating.

Kyndal cleared her throat self-consciously, but remained silent. Did the leftover sexual litter remind her of their time there, the way it did him? Talking about it felt too edgy, so he kept quiet, as well.

Leading the way through passages long familiar to him, he pulled her into the adjoining cavern and then deeper into another one.

“You know where you’re going?” Her voice held an edge of skepticism.

“Yep.” He turned the beam of light onto a slab of limestone that looked slightly out of place—as if it had fallen from the ceiling and had been propped against the wall. He let go of her hand and pushed the slab to one side revealing a narrow tunnel. “We have to crawl through, but it’s not very far.”

Kyndal bent down for a look. When she raised back up, her eyes were hooded with doubt.

“If you want your backpack, you’ll have to take it off and shift it through ahead of you. It might be easier to hang your camera around your neck, but push it around to your back.”

Her derisive sigh let him know he’d better not be wasting her precious time, but she shrugged out of her backpack. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Brennan.” She gave him a push. “You first.”

“I know what I’m doing,” he assured her. “I’m going to show you one reason I think Old Man Turner ran us away that day.”

CHAPTER SIX

CHANCESLIDHISARMS out of his pack and dropped it on the ground beside hers. As he squeezed his way through the opening, he realized it had been a while since he’d been through this tunnel. Too much time sitting behind a desk. Not enough time doing fun things like this.

Nothing in the tunnel indicated the teenagers had found it, but he dreaded what he might find at the other end. He shimmied the last few feet and came out into the small dead-end room, sighing his relief. Nothing had changed since the last time he was there, but he’d forgotten the ceiling was so low. He had to keep his neck bent so as not to bump his head.

Kyndal scooted out of the tunnel effortlessly. Her tiny frame probably hadn’t even touched the sides. He helped her into a standing position, which proved to be no trouble. She even had a foot to spare. He watched her expression as she scanned the strange contents of the room.

Mounds and indentations—nine of them all together—circled the outside perimeter of the cavern, and each had a leather collar lying at its center.

Kyndal knelt by the nearest one and picked up the collar, reading the name inscribed on the small metal tag. “Ajax?” Her bottom lip protruded in a thoughtful pout. “His dog?”

Chance nodded and knelt beside her. “All of Mr. Turner’s

dogs, I think. This is where he buried them.” He focused the light on a collar about three feet away. “That collar is really old. No name on it. And the depression is the deepest, so it’s probably the first grave. Maybe a childhood pet.”

“Oh.” Kyndal’s hand spread across her chest. “That is so sweet.” The light glistened in her eyes as she blinked back tears. “All these years, I’ve thought he was a mean old man. But he had a soft side behind that gun-toting exterior, didn’t he?”

A wild urge to kiss away those tears came over him and he stood up abruptly, whacking his head against the low ceiling. He let loose a string of expletives, which did nothing for the pain but eased his frustration somewhat.

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