by L. L. Muir
A glance back toward the animal pens revealed nothing more than darkness. Sallie had moved on to the other side of the sheds. Maybe he should go back to her. Maybe he should try once more to explain…
He shook his head and turned again down the path to the lunch hall, doing his best to harden his heart.
What she believed was of no matter to him. He’d likely be gone from this place within hours, anyway. His only purpose in coming here was to save her life and he’d done that. Her happiness wasn’t part of the bargain any more than his was. She wasn’t his responsibility.
Now, if he could only convince himself that was true, perhaps he wouldn’t feel as if he’d just lost everything that had ever mattered to him.
*
So much for her believing that she’d completely changed. So much for her having learned her lesson about men.
Sallie dumped the bucket she carried with much more force than she’d intended, splashing water in all directions. The goats were completely unimpressed, casting a reproachful look in her direction before returning to their feed.
To think she’d been close to hysterical with worry over that man.
She dropped the bucket at her feet and hung her head, eyes closed.
To think she’d almost allowed herself to imagine she might be falling for him. Iain. The gorgeous, soft-spoken, caring man who was likely a lunatic. Either that or an out-and-out liar.
Then again, considering her track record with men, falling for someone like him made perfect sense.
Thank goodness she found out before it went any further.
She bent to retrieve her bucket from the ground and straightened, taking a moment to wipe her eyes before she finished bringing water to the others.
When she heard the noise behind her, her anger sparked again, pushing aside all the self-pity.
“Go away, Iain. I told you, I don’t have anything else to—” But it wasn’t Iain standing behind her when she turned. “Dale. What are you doing out here?”
“So,” he said, as if that one word carried the whole of his argument. “Who’s the crazy one now?”
“Go away, Dale,” she said, turning to finish her chores.
She hadn’t the strength for another encounter with yet another crazy man tonight.
“I don’t think so, Sallie,” he said, stepping so close she could see the determined gleam in his eyes. “I need you to know that I’m the one you belong to. I’m the one who loves you. Not that crazy foreigner.”
She was seriously not in the mood for this. Not tonight. Not when her heart already hurt. Or maybe she was. Maybe a fight to clear the air was exactly what she needed.
“Really, Dale? You’re the one who loves me?” She snorted her derision. “Then what happened to you when I fell in the water? I saw you there with everyone else just before I fell. But it wasn’t you who jumped in to save me, was it? No, it was Iain. You weren’t even there to help everyone else pull us out. You were gone, completely, like you thought someone might expect you to risk your own precious butt.”
His chin quivered and his expression hardened, the combination so potent she took a step back from him. A step he followed, ending up even closer to her than he had been before.
“None of that matters now. You’re safe. You came through that just fine, because you were meant to. But your accident convinced me that we don’t have any time to waste. Life is too precious. I’m done with waiting for you to realize what’s standing right in front of you. I’m the man you need. You belong to me.”
“You want to know who the crazy one is, Dale? Both of you.” She poked a finger at his chest, hoping he’d back away. “I don’t belong to anyone but myself. I don’t need any man. And if I did, I can promise, it sure wouldn’t be you.”
Instead of moving away, he came closer, his presence overwhelming her. His hand snapped out, grabbing her wrist so quickly she didn’t have a chance to dodge away. He pulled her close to his chest, pinning her injured arm behind her and dipping his head to within a fraction of an inch from her face.
“You’re wrong, and I’m going to prove it to you. I should have thought of it for myself. But now I know. And when I’m finished with you, you won’t believe there was ever a time you didn’t want me.”
He lifted her from her feet, forcing her face into his shoulder where she fought to catch her next breath. With each of her struggles, he increased the pressure on her injured arm until her vision dimmed with the pain.
He carried her, his hold effectively eliminating any possible chance of escape. She’d never imagined him to be so much stronger than her. As she struggled against him, she felt the wound on her arm break open, felt the moisture against her skin as blood soaked her shirt. Pain clouded her judgment, preventing her from forming any coherent plan of action. She had to do something to get away, but her options at the moment were clearly limited. Fighting wasn’t a consideration as long as Dale continued to apply pressure to her arm. Even screaming was out of the question, as tightly as her face pressed into his chest.
All she could do was bide her time, hope he would come to his senses, and wait for the first opportunity.
The sliver of hope she’d been clinging to evaporated when Dale finally set her on the ground and she realized where they were. Deep inside the Toliver Mine, far down the sealed off tunnel where nobody ever came.
“Maybe we’ll just tie up those wrists of yours,” he said, grinning as he slipped off the shirt he wore. “Take a little of that willful fight out of you.”
One look at Dale’s face in the glow of the candle he’d lit and Sallie’s hopes sank even lower. Whatever thin grasp on normal the man had held before tonight, it was completely gone now. She could really use a helping hand from the ghost Iain had invented on their tour.
If only Iain’s ghost stories were real.
All of the stories he’d told her, stories about Faeries and witches and ghosts, flooded into her mind. As crazy as Iain had sounded with his claims of actually being a ghost, if she ever had the chance again, she’d happily take that kind of crazy over the lunacy standing in front of her right now.
If she ever had the chance again…
Chapter 8
Light spilled out around Iain as he opened the door to the lunch hall. The delightful smells that met his nose reminded him of the evening meal he’d missed. His stomach rumbled in response and he took a plate from the stack. Might as well enjoy food one last time before he traveled on to the next stage of his journey.
Manda and Ashley were the only ones around, but they were busy in the kitchen, so, thankfully, he had no need to attempt conversation. He chose a table near the door, in case he needed to slip outside quickly. In spite of his hunger, the food felt heavy in his stomach, unwelcome. He found himself toying with the food, pushing it around on his plate, avoiding the next bite. What he needed was a cup of whisky. A large cup. Though, with the way his luck was going, the whisky would likely have no more effect on him than the snake venom had.
He dropped the fork to his plate and scrubbed his hands over his face.
Something just didn’t feel right. Some little voice in the back of his head niggled at him, urging him to go back outside and find Sallie. Find her and give it one more go at explaining things to her before it was too late.
“Guess we were all wrong about those two,” Tony said with a chuckle as he entered the room, Dusty following closely behind.
“Sure looked like it to me,” Dusty agreed. “That’s not something I ever thought I’d see, though. I guess we should let Justin know what’s going on.”
“Definitely,” Tony agreed. “But I’m having some food first. I’m famished after spending the whole evening putting those picnic tables together.”
Both men filled their plates and then joined Iain at his table.
“You are never going to believe what we just saw,” Dusty said around his first bite.
“What are you?” Tony asked. “Some old woman? Damn, man. Gossip much?
”
Dusty shrugged, stuffing his mouth full again. “He should know,” Dusty said. “He’s stuck with her until after his training is done. She might be coming on to him, too. Who knows?”
“What are you talking about?” Iain asked, a knot of concern building in his chest.
“Our new boss-lady,” Dusty said. “We saw her making out with Dale over by the animal pens. Guess they thought it was too dark to be seen.”
“This is going to cause trouble,” Tony said, keeping his eyes fixed on his plate. “Nothing like this has ever happened in the whole time I’ve been here.”
“Which is why old lady Toliver should have left Justin in charge when she took off for Europe.” Dusty wagged his fork at his companions. “I’m telling you, this is what you get when you put a chick in charge.”
“Where did you see them last?” Iain asked.
“Heading into the mine,” Dusty said, his eyebrows waggling to match his leer. “Him carrying her in his arms. Looking for a little kissy-kissy time, if you get my drift.”
Iain did indeed get the man’s drift. He just wasn’t accepting it. No matter how upset Sallie had been with him, there was nothing he’d seen, nothing he’d heard from her that would indicate she had in any way changed her mind about Dale.
He certainly hadn’t. After the incident in the mine and finding the snake, Iain was more convinced than ever that Dale was a threat to Sallie. And now she was heading into the mine with him? Willingly?
He couldn’t believe it. Wouldn’t believe it.
Iain rose from his seat and headed out into the night, his steps increasing in speed as he neared the entrance to the mine. Just inside the opening, he stopped, tipping his head to the side to concentrate all his senses on discovering where Sallie was.
Nothing.
If Dale had indeed taken Sallie into the mine as Dusty and Tony said, he hadn’t bothered to turn on any lights. Iain didn’t care for the possibilities that omission suggested.
He moved out of the moonlit night and into the dark cavern. Once inside, he paused again, allowing his eyes time to adjust to the complete absence of light.
Except, complete absence of light wasn’t what he saw as his eyes adjusted. A faint glow in the distance drew him forward. A faint glow outlining the entrance to one of the secondary tunnels. The very one, in fact, that he’d been drawn down his first day at the Toliver Mine.
Quietly, quickly, he made his way down to the opening, following the light inside. He found them exactly where he’d suspected—where he’d feared—he would, beside the boarded-up shaft that was the reason this tunnel had been closed off.
Only the shaft wasn’t boarded-up now. The cover had been removed, the hole gaping open, dark and threatening like some giant mouth waiting to be fed.
No wonder Soni hadn’t come for him after he’d pulled Sallie from the water. He hadn’t yet done what he’d been sent here to do.
Like an animal of prey stalking its kill, Iain paused, assessing the scene before him. He needed to take his time. No quick actions that could create a greater risk of harm for Sallie. This situation required that he use his cunning and stealth to determine the best plan of attack.
Dale, bare-chested, stood over Sallie, his face a maniacal mask of glee. She lay curled on her side on the ground, her hands bound together in front of her. She was alive, though it was clear from her expression, she was terrified. That alone was almost enough to push Iain over the edge. When she tried to sit up, tried to scoot away from her captor, Iain saw the large splotch of fresh, wet blood staining her shirt. All rational thought escaped him, leaving only a red haze of fury to blanket his mind.
A snarl of rage passed over his lips as he charged Dale. They both hit the rock floor with a sickening thud, the smaller man gasping in pain beneath him. Iain didn’t care. He wanted to hurt Dale. Wanted to make him pay for what he’d done to Sallie. He smashed his fist into the other man’s face before rising and lifting Dale to his feet, only to send him reeling back to the floor with another explosive punch.
Somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind, some small part of Iain was aware he’d lost all control, but that didn’t matter to him now. Nothing mattered except his need to make sure Dale never harmed Sallie again.
Only when Sallie’s screams pierced his consciousness did he finally stop.
She huddled near the wall, her eyes giant saucers of fear. It took little imagination for him to realize that her fear was as much his doing as it was Dale’s.
“By all that’s holy,” he muttered, releasing his hold on the man’s neck.
Dale’s body crumpled to the floor and Iain stepped over him to help Sallie rise unsteadily to her feet.
Some fine savior he’d turned out to be. He’d shown himself to be as much of a beast as Sallie’s attacker had.
He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, muttering the same mindless soothings to her as he remembered his mother saying to him when he was a small child awakened by nightmares. Within his embrace, she shivered, as if overcome with the cold.
She needed warmth and light. She needed medical attention for her shoulder. As much as he might wish to remain here forever, her locked in his arms, he needed to get her out of this place.
With an arm to the back of her knees, he lifted her from her feet, reveling in the feel of her so close to him. It was as if she were a part of him. As if she belonged here next to him. When she locked her arms around his neck and nuzzled her head into his shoulder, he spared another thought to staying here in this very spot, just like this, for all eternity.
But of course, that was mere fantasy.
A fantasy that shattered into a million pieces as he heard the slow hand clapping behind him.
“Now there’s a sight I never expected to find,” Justin said. “What a strange little twist to our play.”
Iain turned to find Justin several feet away, his face a mask, devoid of any emotion. As unnerving as the picture he presented, it was the old sword which had hung in the museum office clutched in one hand that drew Iain’s attention.
“It was the only weapon I could find up here,” Justin said with a chuckle. “But don’t let the age of the steel fool you. I made sure it was sharp and deadly, just in case, you know.”
“Just in case, what?” Iain asked, slowly lowering Sallie to her feet.
“Just in case a moment like this presented itself,” Justin said, twirling the weapon in front of him. “Just in case I had the opportunity to eliminate my competition. Like I do now.”
“Competition?” Sallie said, her voice quivering as her body trembled. “What are you talking about?”
“You, of course,” Justin answered. “You stole my promotion. My raise. I’ve been here as long as you have. I was the one who should have been made manager, not you.”
“This is about Nancy having promoted me instead of you?” Sallie shook her head, taking an unsteady step forward. “But I thought you were cool with the idea. You never said anything.”
“Like it would have done any good to have said anything after that old biddy decided to put you in charge?” Justin’s laugh lacked all humor. “No, you put some kind of spell on her. Wound her around your little finger and stole what should have been mine. Well, I’m putting things to rights tonight, just like I planned from the beginning.”
With the sword held out in front of him, Justin advanced until he could push at Dale’s limp body with his foot, eliciting a weak groan from the other man.
“What is it you planned to do to us?” Iain asked, edging forward a step.
His best hope was to maneuver himself in between Justin and Sallie so that he could provide a barrier when Justin chose to act.
“You weren’t supposed to be a part of this at all, Iain.” Justin shook his head, a sad smile lifting one corner of his mouth. “I actually feel kind of bad about that. But, oh well. Your bad fortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe it’s for the best, you coming down here after D
usty told you about Sallie and Dale. The cops will assume it was some lover’s triangle gone wrong when they find your bodies.”
“Our bodies?” Sallie squeaked, taking another step toward Justin. “You can’t be serious. No job is worth hurting people.”
“I’m not going to hurt you, boss-lady,” Justin said, using his foot to shove one of Dale’s legs over into the gaping hole next to where he lay. “I’m going to eliminate you.”
“You won’t get away with this,” Sallie warned, but Justin only laughed.
“Of course I will. I’ll admit, things haven’t gone as smoothly as I had hoped, but it’s all different now. This time there won’t be any screw-ups.”
“That first day I arrived,” Iain said, hoping to distract Justin. “You were the one here in the tunnel. You were the one calling Sallie’s name.”
Justin nodded, followed by a shrug of one shoulder. “But you were the one who heard and came looking, not her. I knew then, I needed a better plan.”
“Like a poisonous snake?” Iain asked, finally putting the pieces together.
“Exactly.” Another chuckle and shake of his head. “But that didn’t work, either. So this time I decided I wasn’t taking any chances. I would deal with the situation myself. Hands on, so to speak.”
Beside him, Sallie took another step forward, as if completely oblivious to the danger in front of her. Slowly, with as little obvious movement as possible, Iain snaked his arm behind her and hooked one finger into her belt loop. She was already too close to that monster.
“I can’t believe you’d ever consider doing something like this,” she said.
“Believe it,” Justin snapped, his eyes flashing his anger. “I was tired of something always saving you. So today, I came down here and opened the shaft. And then I found Dale and told him that I’d seen you and our big Scot here down by the stables, having a little romantic alone time. It was easy to see from the first day that he liked you. And once I made those pills he took every day disappear, it wasn’t long before that turned into an obsession.”