Lion in the Shadows

by Delilah Devlin

  “He hit your mom?”

  Lani rubbed her cheek up and down on his chest. “Not often. But sometimes she just wouldn’t shut up. She never learned to be quiet, like me. Never learned to hide.”

  Rafe took a deep breath, tamping down the sadness and anger that had him wishing her worthless father was in striking range.

  “My favorite place was the coat closet,” she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I’d crawl in between the coats where it was dark, and the sounds of their fighting were muffled. I didn’t care that the air was stale or that it got hot after a while. I liked disappearing inside there. I could stay a long, long time. Sometimes, I’d daydream and pretend I had a friend inside the closet with me. Someone I could really talk to.”

  “Didn’t you have a real friend you could talk to about what frightened you?”

  “Mom always said the neighbors didn’t need to see our trash.”

  Rafe’s anger washed over him all over again. Another person had a lot to answer for. “Sounds like your mom wasn’t there for you, either.”

  “She had her own problems to sort through.”

  Upset, he combed through her hair with his fingers, trying to calm himself. “Do you think that’s an adequate excuse?”

  “Not really. Looking back now, I can’t figure out why the hell she didn’t leave him.” Her voice sounded raw. “She didn’t need him. But at the time, I just thought that was the way it was supposed to be.”

  “What I want to know…” Rafe stopped to clear the lump in his throat, “…is how you turned out so strong.”

  “Strong?” Lani’s brow furrowed. “I never thought of me like that. I was just surviving.”

  “Lani, you’re the strongest woman I’ve ever known. Physically, mentally.” He squeezed her again. “Hell, you withstood me for months.”

  Her laughter was husky. “Well, I guess I am. Look at me now.” She stretched and slid her knee between his legs. “I have you just where I want you.”

  Rafe tightened as her thigh nudged his sex. “Witch! You trying to change the subject?”

  “Spoilsport.” She settled back on his chest. “When I was in high school, it got better. I stayed away from home more. And I discovered caves. One of the guys’ parents was into caving, so he asked if he could bring some friends along, sometime. His parents gave us classes, took us out to low bridges and had us learn to rappel and work with the ropes and rigging. Then one day, they took us to a cave they were very familiar with for us to practice what we’d learned.

  “Most of the kids got a little freaked out the deeper we went. They didn’t like the darkness and the smells. They were afraid of the bats clinging to the ceiling. But I loved it. It was like crawling into my closet, but so much bigger. I felt free, and I was good at it. I couldn’t wait to go back.” Lani leaned away and looked into his eyes. “So, now you know.”

  He nodded and threaded his fingers through the soft hair at her nape. “You came here. Why?”

  “I couldn’t change the way things were between my parents, so I decided to take charge of my own life. I liked rope work, and I’m not afraid of heights. The thought of rescuing others appealed to me. I became a firefighter and took EMT training. When the chance came to be a full-timer training a crew of volunteers, I saw my opportunity to cut ties.”

  He kissed her shoulder. “Get your own life.”

  “Yeah. See whether I could do it any better.” Lani’s gaze was steady, but the raw vulnerability she rarely allowed to show was there in her face. Her eyes were moist, her mouth trembling. “I didn’t want this, you know. Didn’t plan to start any relationship with a man.”

  “I know. You don’t need one.”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t need any man—but I need you.”

  “Are you afraid?”

  The corners of her mouth turned down, and her lips trembled. “I hate it. I feel like a coward, but sometimes I think if I let my guard down and let myself love you, you’ll change.”

  “Become a monster? Like your father?”

  Her next indrawn breath sounded like a ragged sob. She nodded. “I know intellectually you aren’t him—you’re as far from him as any man can be. But it’s still there.” A tear welled in the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek.

  Rafe framed her face with his hands and held her gaze. “Lani, I won’t change. I won’t ever hurt you.”

  “I know.” She sniffed. “I’ve tested your patience and acted like a flake. Please, have patience.”

  “Baby, I’m not going anywhere.”

  Her smile, tremulous though it was, lifted the shadows. He pulled her down for a kiss, telling her with his mouth and body he was in for the long run. No way, would he ever let Lani push him away again. She needed him. She needed to learn that a man could keep his promises.

  “Off belay!” Lani directed her shout upward, but the sound hung in the air next to her.

  Lani opened her jaws wide, trying to pop her ears. Stepping into the limestone wonderland was enough to take her breath away, but while God had formed a visual marvel with a hundred thousand years of mineral-soaked water drops, the muzzy acoustics inside McKelvey’s cave left a lot to be desired.

  Yesterday, she’d been eager to return to the cave. But, at the moment, she couldn’t remember why. She hadn’t felt the sense of homecoming she normally did when she’d stepped into the darkness beyond a cave’s entrance. Perhaps, she no longer needed her haven. Rafe’s love and acceptance had given her that. After last night, she’d awoken feeling like she’d shed a lifetime of sadness and guilt.

  Lani stepped away from the rope as Randy glided down the last few feet to the cave floor then waited patiently while he unclipped the carabiner on his harness.

  “So, what are we looking for?” he asked, his eagerness apparent in his expression. The younger man had definitely caught the caving bug.

  “Let’s try to find where Matt Costello fell,” she said, not mentioning that she was also looking for signs the mountain lion had been this deep in the cave.

  They trained their flashlights on the cave floor and worked their way in an ever-widening circle away from the rope.

  “Found it,” Randy shouted.

  Lani hurried to his side. A large, dark stain and the dented, lens-less remains of small flashlight lay on the cave floor. She trained her light in the direction of the wall with the angled ledges. His body had been found on one about twenty feet above the floor.

  “I don’t get it,” Randy said. “There’s blood here, and on that ledge where we found him, but not a drop in between. but how the hell did he make it up there?”

  “I don’t know. He was a hundred-forty pounds. Can a mountain lion even carry that weight?”

  Randy grimaced. “I’m glad I’m packin’ a weapon today. That had to be one big, hairy moth—monster.”

  “Yeah, it was.” Lani sighed. She’d hoped for answers. Now, she just had more questions.

  “This is kind of a creepy place. Feels smaller down here. Kind of closed in.”

  She’d noted the anomalies before. The way sound didn’t carry, how light seemed to be swallowed over a distance. Even she felt a little claustrophobic. “Want to take a look around before we head back up?”

  Less enthusiastic this time, Randy merely nodded.

  The lower level of the cave was as long as a banquet hall and bordered on one side by a rock formation that resembled a giant pipe organ and the other side by more of the calcified drapery. Further inside the chamber, the floor was littered with a dark layer of bat droppings and desiccated insect bodies contrasting with the pale walls.

  In the distance, Lani heard a faint murmur. She cocked her head to the side. “Hear that?”

  Randy’s eyes widened. “Sounds like a creek.”

  “I think there’s another level beneath us,” she said, excitement stirring again. “I’ll bet another room is being carved out of the rock right below our feet.”

  “Are we gonna try to find a w
ay to get down there?” By his expression, he was game for the attempt.

  “No.” She lifted her eyebrows. “Maybe another time. We better head back, or Cale will send out a search party. He didn’t like us coming down here by ourselves in the first place.”

  As they neared the rope, Lani’s light glanced on something bright. “What’s this?” She squatted beside a pile of white, fragmented objects.

  “Shit!” Randy whispered from behind her, and she glanced back. His light illuminated a rounded shape. “It’s a skull!”

  She stood up and backed away. Splintered bones, some long—and human, by the shape of the few still intact—lay in a pile. And beside them, a complete skeleton. A mountain lion’s if she had to hazard a guess.

  “How long do you think this has been down here?” Randy asked, an edge of nervousness in his voice.

  She lifted a flattened piece of fabric from among the fragments. “My guess would be quite a while. This is a moccasin.”

  Chapter 7

  Tired and disgusted, Rafe turned in his chair to stare out into the darkness. The sun had set an hour earlier, but he continued to run through the day’s reports and taken calls from local ranchers who’d reported sightings of the cat.

  The mountain lion was quickly becoming the Bogie Man. No single cat could be responsible for all the mischief that had been laid at its feet. Folks were convinced it had a part in Matt Costello’s death and were ready to paint it a devil.

  To top it off, the construction foreman at the golf course reported the theft of a case of dynamite from their warehouse. So now, ATF was getting interested in the blast that had set off the chain of events leading to Matt’s death.

  The one bright spot in the past couple of days was his blossoming relationship with Lani. Oh, they’d shared sex for months before the breakup—furtive, desperate liaisons. At first, he’d been content to keep things on the surface and scratch the purely sexual itch, but his feelings for Lani had grown, deepening without his notice. Not until she’d tried to end it had he realized how deeply she’d burrowed into his heart.

  Now, the future looked bright. Her smiles came more easily. The wariness he’d long thought of as part of her nature was abating as he slowly peeled away her armor. The trust she’d shown during last night’s revelations only increased his belief she was just about ready for the next step.

  He’d made up his mind. He didn’t know when he’d ask—but he was sure she’d balk. She might even try to close him out again, but he wasn’t going to believe her when she said she didn’t want it—didn’t love him like that. He just had to get his skin hardened a bit for the battle to come.

  One thing was certain—he was going to marry her.

  His phone rang, and he turned back to his desk to answer one last call.

  “Sheriff, you’ve got a call on line four,” the dispatcher said. “It’s Lani, and she sounds upset.”

  His heart thudded in his chest as he pressed the flashing button. “Lani? You okay?”

  “Rafe, the mountain lion’s on my porch.”

  “Stay inside. I’m on the way.” He grabbed his hat and keys. As he left, he stopped at the dispatcher’s booth. “Call the game warden. Tell him the lion’s at Lani’s place.”

  He drove with his blue lights strobing, his foot mashed on the accelerator. When he turned onto her driveway, he turned off his lights and crept the cruiser to about the midway point on her long drive before cutting the engine.

  Popping the trunk latch, he radioed back to the dispatcher to let her know he’d arrived, and then opened the cruiser’s door quietly.

  Except for the chirping of crickets, all was still, almost expectant. With only the bright lights of the porch lamps filtering through the bushes, he took out his shot gun and checked the barrel for cartridges. Then he headed to her house, keeping his ears pricked for any sound from the mountain lion.

  As the porch came into view, he saw Lani in the window and waved. Then he heard a crunch in the underbrush and spun toward it, his shotgun raised.

  The hairs on the back of his neck prickled and lifted, his heart slowed—all senses focused on what was hiding within the bushes. For a second, he debated whether he should go to the porch and wait for the warden or track the cat himself. If it escaped, Rafe worried it would return another day and catch Lani unaware. For whatever reason, the creature considered her property part of its territory.

  He stepped off the driveway and into the trees, the stock of his weapon firmly braced on his shoulder. Ignoring the soft sounds his own feet made as he entered the thicket, he strained for a rustling or a telltale snarl. Rafe called himself every kind of a fool for tracking a lion alone in the dark. Still, he forged ahead.

  The faint glow from Lani’s porch lights faded, and soon he had only moonlight filtering through the leaves, painting everything around him in shades of gray shadows.

  Beside him, a twig snapped, and he crouched, trying to discern an outline despite the dim light. He waited, slowing his breaths and his heartbeats, straining to hear. Then came a rumble, low and rhythmic.

  In the distance, he heard the crunch of a vehicle turning onto Lani’s gravel road. Thankful backup had arrived, he rose and retreated, choosing his steps carefully as he backed away.

  “Rafe,” Lani called, her voice surprisingly distant.

  He hadn’t thought he’d traveled that far from the road. Satisfied nothing stirred in the bushes before him, he lowered his weapon, still carrying it in front of him, and turned to head back.

  That’s when he spotted the mountain lion standing in his path. Its head was lowered to the ground, moonlight gleaming white on its bared fangs. A harsh growl, scratchy and resonant, rattled from its chest.

  Knowing a sudden movement might startle it into attacking, Rafe backed away, hoping it would sense he wasn’t a threat.

  The cat matched his movement, coming forward a step.

  “Rafe!” Lani called again.

  But Rafe couldn’t respond. The unblinking gaze of the animal in front of him told him he couldn’t take his attention away from it for a second. But he couldn’t remain frozen and have Lani walk up on them.

  “We’re at a stalemate, you and I,” he whispered. He had to take the cat out now. He swung his rifle up to his shoulder, slid his finger into the trigger housing, and pulled back.

  Just as the shot went off, the cat launched itself with a screaming howl. A hundred eighty pounds of mountain lion slammed into his body, carrying him to the dirt.

  Then it seemed to fall right through him like water pouring through a sieve.

  Rafe lay on the ground trying to catch his breath. What the hell had just happened? He rolled to the side and came up on his knees, glancing around him for any sign of the cat. But the clearing was empty. He picked up the gun, which had been knocked from his hands.

  “Rafe! Are you all right?” Lani asked, from right behind him.

  Without turning toward her, Rafe yelled, “Lani, get back to the house!”

  As usual, she didn’t heed his warning. She pushed past a cedar branch and rushed to his side. “Are you hurt? Why didn’t you answer? You’ve been out here so long.”

  More footsteps crunched. “Sheriff, you okay?” The game warden had arrived.

  Rafe dragged in deep breaths. He’d just been knocked stupid. And he’d missed the cat. “Damn!”

  “What were you doing out here?” Lani asked, stepping close enough to put her arm around his shoulders. “You scared me half to death.”

  Rafe returned her hug and struggled to stand. “I saw the mountain lion.”

  She slipped her arm around his waist. “Well, I saw it too, but it was on my back porch just now.”

  “When the lion heard your gun go off,” the warden said, “it lit out like lightning. Didn’t have time to get a dart into the son of a bitch.”

  “What? But it was just here,” Rafe said, shaking his muzzy head. “I fired my gun, and it knocked me to the ground.”

  “Are
you hurt?” Lani skimmed her hands over his chest.

  “I’m fine,” he said, looking around him, “but it got away.”

  “Do we have two cats?” Lani asked, her eyes widening.

  “Must be a breeding pair,” the warden said, “They’re solitary creatures, except when they’re ready to mate.”

  “So, why’d they choose my place for their love fest?” Lani asked.

  “Look, I don’t like you standing around out here.” Rafe grabbed her upper arms. “Let’s get you inside.”

  Lani frowned. “Hey, I’m not the one who thought they could take a mountain lion on single-handed.”

  He let out a gust of air. “I deserve that. I feel like a goddamn fool.”

  “Well, you probably scared him to the next county,” the warden said. “I’ll head out now. I think it’s gonna be a busy night.”

  Rafe let Lani lead him to her kitchen and press him into a chair.

  “You’re bleeding!” she said, staring above his eyes. “I’ll take care of this.” She turned to the cabinet over the sink and pulled down a blue first aid box.

  Rafe touched his forehead and found a large lump. At least he understood now why he felt so dizzy. “Don’t fuss. It’s just a bump.”

  “It’s a goose egg.” She swabbed his forehead with peroxide, making him wince. “Don’t be such a baby.”

  Rafe closed his hands around hers and pulled her between his legs. “I’m fine. I’m sorry I worried you.”

  “You were gone so long, I couldn’t help worrying.”

  That was the second time she’d said that. Rafe shook his head. “I only stepped off the road. It was five minutes at most.”

  Lani leaned away and looked into his face, her eyes widening with concern. “Rafe, you were out there at least half an hour. I was so frantic I called the warden to make sure he was on the way. Then I heard growling on my porch and saw the cat outside my bedroom window. I couldn’t come after you.”

  He shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense. I had only stepped off the road to follow the cat into the brush when I heard the warden arrive.”