By Request Collection April-June 2016. Оливия Гейтс
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Название: By Request Collection April-June 2016
Автор: Оливия Гейтс
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Короткие любовные романы
Серия: Mills & Boon e-Book Collections
isbn: 9781474050081
isbn:
She didn’t hesitate a beat, but handled the task with the same ease and efficiency that she might have exerted if he’d asked for his water bottle. When he held out his hand, she placed the gun in it. “Now, switch places with me.”
Once she had, he turned off the light, pitching them into total darkness. And waited. While they did, Duncan put himself into the mind of the person or persons who’d followed them into the cave. Whoever it was had to know that Piper wasn’t alone. If it was the person who was sending the flowers and the death threats, why would he or she make this move? Setting that minor avalanche of stones off the cliff—that he could see. But following them in here seemed reckless. Desperate.
For now, he and Piper had a slight advantage. They weren’t moving. And there was a very good chance that their pursuer still was.
At first the silence was so total that Duncan was sure he could hear the beat of his own heart. Then he heard what he’d been waiting for—the sound of more rocks being dislodged.
But which ones?
In his mind, he pictured the route they’d taken—the first pile of stones had been in the second of the caves he and his brother had played in as kids. So that’s where their pursuer must have been earlier. That meant he had to be in the cave they’d just left, the one that Piper had discovered, where they’d found the earring.
Close, Duncan thought. He listened hard.
Nothing. No more rocks shifted. And there was no conversation, not even a whisper sounded. Then the darkness in front of him lightened fractionally. Whoever it was had seen the tunnel and was shining a light into it. Beside him, Piper placed a hand on his back to indicate she’d seen it, too, but she remained perfectly still. Perfectly silent.
A lone pursuer, Duncan guessed, who was weighing options. And listening for a sound—just as he and Piper were. To go forward or retreat? Pursuing them any farther was risky. Especially if your quarry knew you were coming. And in the silence, he had to at least suspect they did.
Rocks tumbled again. Behind him, he heard Piper suck in a quiet breath. But the darkness was total once more. The next sound of stones came from farther away. Still, Duncan didn’t move and neither did she.
He’d counted to twenty when Piper breathed. “He left.”
“That’s the good news.”
“What’s the bad?”
“We can’t go out the way we came in. Whoever it is could be waiting. And that’s not the worst scenario.”
“It can get worse?”
“He could suspect we’re listening, and he could have retreated just to throw us off. Even now, he could be doubling back. That’s what I’d do.” He took her arm and urged her in front of him. “I’ll bring up the rear just in case.”
WITH ONE HAND PRESSED against the wall of the tunnel and the other out in front of her, Piper concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, testing each step as she went. Just think about that, she told herself. Worry later about who might have followed them into the cave and why.
The stones beneath her palm were cool to the touch, some smoother than others. She couldn’t see a thing. And this tunnel could dead-end in front of them in a Hollywood minute.
Don’t think about that. Instead, she pictured what the two of them must look like. With one hand clamped to her shoulder, Duncan was totally relying on her to lead the way. The perfect image of the blind leading the blind. Much better to think about that than to worry about the fact that his other hand was probably gripping that very large gun she’d found in his backpack.
Seconds ticked into minutes, and she felt as if they were moving at a snail’s pace. But Duncan said nothing, and he didn’t have a problem with telling her what to do. She heard a whack, then Duncan’s quick intake of breath.
“Hit my head,” he breathed. “Need a minute.”
She used the time to reach up. The rocks overhead were only inches away, which meant that Duncan had to be practically crab-walking. In the short silence that stretched between them, she heard only the sound of their breathing.
Then came the faint sound of rocks hitting other rocks.
“He’s in the cave we just left,” Duncan whispered. “When I see a light behind us, I’ll let you know.”
Oh, good, Piper thought. One more thing to be nervous about. What would they do then? Run?
No, she wasn’t going to go there. In her mind, she corked up all the worries and started forward again. She was just going to pretend she was on her morning run—which she hadn’t had a chance to get in yet.
In the next seemingly endless stretch of minutes, she imagined that she was passing the shoe store, the bookshop. All routine except she found that the floor of the tunnel was climbing upward more steeply. The walls had begun to press in, and they were suddenly not just cool to the touch, but damp.
“The walls,” she whispered. “Touch them.”
His hand left her shoulder for a moment. “Wet. But we’re not headed toward the lake.”
“No.” This time she was the one who whacked her head hard. Stars spun in front of her eyes as she sank to her knees.
“You all right?”
“I think so.”
Duncan’s arm was around her, and she felt his chest pressed hard against her back. Panic bubbled up. Whatever she’d rammed into had come up fast. Had they finally reached a dead end? She blinked once and then twice. It wasn’t just stars she was seeing. Ahead of her light penetrated the absolute darkness. And when she glanced down, she thought she could just make out her hands on the floor of the tunnel.
In the silence, they could hear the scrape of something against stone. A shoe? A shoulder?
But escape was in front of them. Piper was sure of it. “There’s got to be an opening up ahead,” she breathed. “It’ll be faster if we crawl.”
Crawl they did. The incline was sharper now, but they were making better time. Rocks scraped against her hands. And she had to slow her pace twice to get the sweat out of her eyes. But the light ahead grew steadily stronger and suddenly she could hear the sound of water above the pounding of her heart.
The area around them suddenly widened, and the shaft of light pouring in from above was blinding. She was still blinking against it when she heard Duncan grunting behind her. Turning, she saw he had his shoulder against a rock the size of a small boulder. In seconds he had it blocking the space they’d just crawled through. “Just in case,” he gasped.
Then he gripped her waist and thrust her toward the opening above them. It wasn’t large, but the fresh air nearly made her giddy. She spotted the root of a pine. She clamped one hand over it and dug the fingers of her other into the soil. Breathing hard, she pulled, twisted and muscled СКАЧАТЬ