Gayle Wilson - Flashback

“This isn’t where she’s being held.”

Present tense, Eden noted. For some reason, her tired spirit responded to that.

“You’ve searched the other one? The other cave?” Maybe while she’d been searching this one?

He shook his head. “It’s not rock. I don’t know why I didn’t remember that until I came. Maybe I just didn’t notice.”

“Notice…?”

“Wherever she is—that place she’s in—it’s been dug out of the earth. I could see exposed roots in the dirt. Tree roots. The roots of shrubs. Just…no rock.”

Eden realized that she had been listening with her lips parted, seemingly willing to take in every word the guy said. Angry with that eagerness to believe, she closed her mouth and then lowered the flashlight so that it was no longer directed at him.

“Which means it could be anywhere.” She’d kept her tone flat, but he clearly read what she was feeling.

“Look, I don’t care whether you believe me or not. All I’m telling you is this isn’t the place.” Despite the fact her weapon was still trained on his chest, Underwood turned, shrugging broad shoulders through the opening in the rock.

Did she believe that he’d just happened to think of these caves and come to investigate? Or did he have some other, more sinister reason for being in this isolated location?

She shivered, unsure whether that thought or the natural chill of the cave was responsible. She listened, but couldn’t hear any sounds that would indicate Underwood was moving down the trail. Which meant…

Taking a breath, she switched off her light and then ducked through the opening. As she straightened, she saw him standing at the head of the path, looking down the slope. The evening shadows had elongated, reaching into the trees below.

“I’ll wait while you check the other one,” he said without looking at her.

In spite of the heat, the insects had started their evening song. She actually debated taking his word for it that this wasn’t the place before she turned and trudged up to the second cave. She didn’t bother going inside, simply directing her flashlight around the interior.

Nothing there. Just as she’d expected.

And just as he’d told her.

She switched off her light and realized only then that she still held her weapon. She shoved the Glock back into its holster, turning as she did to look at the ex-soldier. He hadn’t moved, his continued stillness unnerving.

“If the caves aren’t what you saw—” she began.

“She could be anywhere. Anywhere isolated enough that he could dig a hole and lower her into it without anyone seeing him.”

The despair in his voice echoed what she had felt all day. They were well beyond any time frame in which conventional wisdom suggested a kidnap victim might still be alive. And they were no closer to finding Raine than they had been when the 911 call came in.

“He?” She had finally grasped the significant part of what Underwood had just said.

“She’s terrified… It doesn’t seem like a woman could produce that level of fear.”

“But if she’s alone and in the dark—”

“It’s more than that. It’s him.”

It would be, of course. As she and Dean had speculated that first morning, whoever had taken Raine hadn’t done it for money.

You’re acting as if this guy knows what he’s talking about. As if he really is tuned into that little girl’s terror.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t say something like that to anyone in town.”

He turned, his eyes hard. “I did what I was told to do and look where it got me. Believe me, I’m not likely to talk up my ‘insanity’ around town. You ready?”

Should she consider his determination not to leave her alone up here a vestige of his upbringing or something more sinister? Except she hadn’t gotten that vibe from him. After the initial spurt of fear, she hadn’t been afraid to be alone with him. She wasn’t now.

And there was nothing else to examine up here. Another dead end. Another in a long, frustrating series of them. “I’m ready.”

She had expected him to let her lead the way, but he started down the trail, leaving her to follow. As she did, she realized that she wouldn’t have been comfortable with him trailing behind her through the growing darkness. And he had known that.

Just as he’d known why she was out here? Hell, maybe he was psychic.

Or maybe you’ve gone way too many hours without sleep.

They didn’t speak again until they reached her cruiser. She opened the door and then hesitated. In the gathering twilight, he had watched her every move.

She met his eyes, deciding that, since she’d come this far, she might as well go all the way. In for a penny…

“You think she’s still alive?”

He didn’t answer for a long heartbeat, his eyes focusing on something up the slope behind her. When he looked at her again, he shook his head. “I don’t have any reason to believe she isn’t.”

“Then…?”

“I can’t tell you anything else. Maybe if there’s another one…”

She nodded as if that made sense. Maybe it did. At least as much as any other avenue they’d pursued. She’d already bent, ready to slip into the driver’s seat, when he spoke again.

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For coming out here. For going that far.”

“You’d be surprised how far I’d go to find Raine Nolan.”

“Because it’s your job?”

My duty…

“That’s part of it.” That and the memory of another little girl no one had found.

“And the rest?”

“Like you said. She’s terrified.” Alone and in the dark with a madman. “Unless somebody finds her…”

Eden left the sentence unfinished. They both knew the reality. A reality most of the people working on this case had already conceded. That she hadn’t, she realized, had as much to do with this man than with any claim she might make about duty.

“If you do…have another one, I mean…” Again her words trailed.

Underwood nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I will.”

He was still standing on the edge of the dirt road when she had turned the car and headed back down it. In the darkness his silhouette seemed to merge with the woods behind him. She slowed, pushing the button that would lower the window on the passenger side.

“Where’s your car?”

“Truck. There’s a turnoff a few feet back.” He gestured with his head in the direction she’d just come.

Her eyes lifted to the rearview mirror. She hadn’t seen another road, but then she’d only been looking for a place wide enough to turn the patrol car. Obviously, he knew this area better than she did. Well enough to know where to conceal his truck.

She dismissed that flicker of doubt, remembering the sincerity in his voice when he’d talked about Raine. “It’s going to be dark soon.”

There didn’t seem to be any reason for him to stay out here, but he didn’t appear to be headed to his truck. Was it possible he was feeling the effects of that climb?

Impulsively, she acted on that thought. “If you want to get in, I can back up to wherever you’re parked.”

His eyes lifted to briefly consider the road behind her before they came back to meet hers. “I may look around. Since I’m here. I didn’t see this area on any of the search grids.”

She hadn’t either, so that part made sense. Except what did he think he was going to be able to see in the dark?

“It’s gonna be hard to see up here pretty soon,” she reminded him with a smile.

The one he gave in response emphasized the shape of his mouth, its bottom lip fuller than she’d noticed before. She was shocked at the flutter of desire in her lower body.

“I like the dark.”