“It’s okay, Marcie. You’ll be okay. Just breathe.”
I didn’t pull away.
Repeat.
I didn’t pull away.
Okay, so maybe I can excuse myself because it was most likely life or death here. Honestly. I probably would have died had he not dragged me into that blasted cave and swaddled me with his body and coat.
My wet hair clung to my cheeks. My fingers hurt, and I started to feel the pins and needles in my feet.
I snaked one arm around Sky’s middle under his coat, pulling closer to him. His back felt familiar. Stronger. Broader. But oh-so-familiar.
The last time I’d been this close to him, I’d just graduated from the Eastman School of Music with my Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance. I remembered every detail of that night.
Callie and Sky had thrown me a little lakeside party. But the event was just the three of us, not some big event, since Callie had already started her reclusive lifestyle after that horrible incident in her first year of college.
Just before we’d gone to bed, we took a ride with Sky on his parents’ pontoon boat. After enjoying the summery breezes and lake spray misting over the sides of the boat, we sat by the dock and talked, sipping wine coolers and eating salted cashews. Callie had asked me to stay over—as I often did and had since we were little—and we fell asleep after talking for an hour in her big bed, watching the stars from her skylight.
A little after one in the morning, Sky crept into the room and woke me with a kiss. I stirred and sat up.
“Come on,” he said. “I have something to show you.”
I’d rushed to the bathroom to brush my teeth, slipped into Callie’s bathrobe—since I was only wearing one of her oversized tees—and followed him out to the dock.
He’d set up a little table there with a candle, two chocolate éclairs, and a bottle of champagne. He knew how much I loved éclairs, and I’d loved that he remembered all the little things about me no one—except his sister—would have known. He remembered it all, and not even Thelma or my beloved stepfather, Raoul, had known me like Sky did.
“I wanted to celebrate properly,” he said. “Just you and me.”
I’d been touched by his sweet gesture, and after we’d had our fill, he walked me up the hill behind the houses on the lakeshore and laid a blanket on the soft grass. We sat side by side, overlooking silver streaks of moonlight reflected on the glossy black lake. He’d slowly removed my clothing, nuzzling me all over with his scratchy two-day growth of beard, and had made the most exquisite love to me.
That man knew the places to kiss and stroke and blow on that made me crazy. And he knew how to stretch it all out until I could barely stand to breathe. He’d take me to such heights of wanting that before he entered me I would beg in a small voice…Now, Sky. Now. Please, now.
It had been so right, so good.
He’d lain atop me, still inside, breathing sweet breath on my face, kissing me in the afterglow, whispering against my neck and ears as my body shuddered in post spasms of pure pleasure. And in that moment when I didn’t think life could be more perfect, he’d reached for a little blue box, flipped it open, and popped the question.
He’d known something was wrong when I didn’t encircle his big neck with my arms and squeak, “Yes!”
He’d rolled off me, propped himself on one elbow, and just stared at me with those big green eyes. The perfect little diamond winked on the blanket between us. I knew it must’ve been hard for him to afford such a thing on his construction worker’s salary.
“What?” he finally whispered, his deep voice choked with emotion. “You don’t want to?”
I’d taken his face in my hands and feathered his lips with a tender, sweet kiss. “Sky, honey. I’m not ready to settle down yet.”
“But I love you. I want to be with you forever, Marcella.”
“I love you too. I love you so much. But right now, I’ve got to follow my dreams.”
“What does that mean?”
I sat up and turned away, crossing my arms over my breasts. “It means New York.”
“New York City?”
I bit my lip. “Uh huh.”
“What will you do there?”
The hurt in his eyes broke my heart. “I’ll waitress. I’ll audition at the Met. I’ll try out for some Broadway shows. Until I make it, Sky. I have to give it a shot.”
“I’ll come with you, then.” He looked hopeful now, his eyes lighting up. “I’ll quit my job and…”
“What about your mother and sister? They need you. They depend on your income.”
He looked shattered. “Well, yeah. But maybe I could send money from New York. Once I get a job there.”
I stroked his cheek. “It’s really expensive to live in the city. I mean, insanely expensive. I might not even make it, baby. And I’d feel awful if Callie and your mom suffered because of me.” I hugged my knees and looked over the lake again, the place we’d spent so much time together since childhood. “No. As hard as it is to say this, as difficult as it is for me to leave you, I need to do this. Alone.”
We’d talked for another hour, about how long I’d be gone. I told him I really wasn’t sure. It could be years.
When he’d finally, thoroughly absorbed what I was saying, he’d taken me in his arms and started loving me all over again. “You’re killing me, Marcella. I won’t survive without you.”
That last time had been faster, more urgent—as if he were racing against the clock and needed to wipe away the memory of my rejection, to claim me forever as his. I knew I’d broken his heart that night, but I also knew I’d never forget him, never stop loving him deep down in my soul. I still questioned my decision back then, but I’d only been twenty-two and life in the lights had lured me even more than the love of a good man.
I snuggled closer to him in the cold, damp cave. The firelight flickered. The wind howled outside. And I let myself fall into a natural sleep—this time not due to the cold— feeling safe and secure in his arms.
Chapter 22
The next morning, the sun shone into the cave in bright, piercing shafts of light. I still lay in Sky’s arms. He snored gently, and I let myself live in a tenuous, dreamy pretense until he woke.
Maybe I belong here, I thought. Maybe this is what’s meant to be.
I let my fingers lightly trace his chest and abs, trying not to wake him.
How often had I dreamed about this? Imagined him beside me, asleep, so I could revel in his rugged beauty? I let my hand slip lower, and barely, oh-so-gently touched the part of him that God had gifted. I remembered when Quinn and I were caring for him last year after we hit him with our van, when my husband had helped him bathe. It had taken Quinn days to get over it. He said no normal man should have to see that. With a sad sigh, I chuckled, realizing he was right.
Sky rolled to his back. I watched, my arms still entangled around him. I stayed close for warmth, since the fire was out. In spite of the sunshine, it had to be below zero in the cave.
His strong jaw relaxed in sleep. I wondered what he was dreaming about.
Me?
Long blond hair fell in drifts over his forehead and tumbled over his ears and neck. His lips, full and inviting, lay slack. Those blond lashes wisped across his cheeks, hiding the eyes that burned so green.
I felt myself grow inappropriately needy. Longing surged through me, making me quiver in spite of the cold.
What was wrong with me? Had this last fight with Quinn pushed me over the edge? I’d never actually considered really giving in to my baser urges. Never. I’d been dedicated and loyal and moral.
But now…I really wondered where I’d go with this.
I leaned over and kissed him.
His eyes opened and he smiled. It was more than a smile though, it was a broad, damn-he’s-beautiful, bad boy grin. I felt my resolve crumble.
“Sky?”
He touched my face. “Marcella.”
“You saved my life.�
�
He took my hands in his, looking down at them. His shirt lay opened where he’d cuddled against me, sharing his body’s warmth.
He leaned on one elbow. “Are you okay? Your fingers? Your toes? Can you wiggle them?”
I tapped my fingers against his chest. “Uh huh. I’m actually…fine.”
Those eyes again. Drat. They caught me in their bright glare.
“You are fine, my girl. Very fine.”
It was an old joke, one he used to toss around whenever someone asked me how I was doing.
He leaned closer to me, pressing his lips against me. “I think you need to stay warm.”
I let my reserves melt away. No longer was I a married woman. No longer did I think of anything outside this cold cave in this winter landscape. There was just me. And Sky.
I snaked my arms around his neck. I kissed him back.
He sat up and lifted me to his lap, my legs straddling his middle. I kissed him, oh how I kissed him. Deep and tender and so amazingly right. It felt as if I hadn’t left his arms all those years ago.
“You’re more beautiful than when I last made love to you,” he moaned.
I kissed him some more, and his hands reached up to unzip the snowsuit I still wore. Not very fashionable and figure enhancing, but I didn’t care. In spite of the cold air, I just wanted out of it.
His big hands found my sweatshirt and lifted it up, plunging under my bra and touching me in only the way Sky could. His fingers tantalized me, almost bringing me to the cusp without even touching my private, tender parts that tingled and moistened now.
I ignored the sound of the chopper overhead. Who cared what was happening in the outside world?
I reached down to release him from his snow pants, and just like the old days, he sprang free in a majestic salute. Tenderly, I touched him, remembering the textures and curves, the veins and soft folds.
The helicopter grew louder. So loud now, I had to glance outside.
“What is that?” I asked, more in a purr than a real voice.
He breathed in a ragged gasp, then pulled himself from me, covering himself again. “They’re probably looking for us.”
“I don’t want to leave.” My eyes searched his. “Do we have to go back?”
With a husky laugh, he pushed to his feet and ran to the door. “We’ve got to get you to safety.”
He dragged a flare from one of his many jacket pockets, struck it on the cave wall, and set it outside in a snowdrift. “We have no choice.”
A few minutes of silence passed, filled with unresolved longing, aching desire, and the knowledge that Sky was right. Of course he was right.
His face looked tight, pained. I realized he’d just come face to face with the one scene he’d dreamed about for years—decades—and maybe he just now realized that he’d purposely forsaken it.
But he’d taken the high road, when I was ready to tumble head first down the low road of depravity.
I zipped my snowsuit and walked to his side, lightly touching his hand. “Thank you.”
With a sad smile, he shrugged. “For what?”
“For saving me from myself.” Tears flowed down my cheeks.
“Marcella, if the ‘copter hadn’t shown up, I don’t know what I would have done. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have taken the high road, honey.”
Funny how we’d both thought of the same analogy.
I watched him, certain he would have done so. He wouldn’t want these special circumstances of nearly freezing to death to entice me to give in to my need for human contact, my desire to be held. My baser instincts. Then we’d have the storm to blame, and maybe it wouldn’t be real. I knew he’d want it to be real. To be forever, if it happened.
I watched as he waved to the helicopter, which hovered overhead and lowered a basket.
“Ladies first,” he said.
I climbed inside.
Chapter 23
Copper’s face appeared over the basket when I dared to open my eyes. “Marcie, you can get out now.”
I clambered out into the helicopter and let a young male officer snap me into a harness in the back.
Copper’s serious eyes bored into me. “We thought we’d lost you.” She embraced me. “Callie’s been going insane.”
I hugged her back. “Poor Callie.” I pictured Callie’s haunted expression, the same one she’d worn since her brother had disappeared. Her angst had slowly been replaced by contented joy since he returned, and since she met and fell in love with Copper. I shuddered to think how frantic she’d been since her brother and best friend went missing in a snowstorm with a serial killer on the loose.
A serial killer or two, I corrected mentally. There had been two of them in the woods, according to Sky’s tracking observations.
Copper and her young partner lowered the basket for Sky and in a few minutes, the winch lifted him into the cab.
“Cripes, Sky.” Copper embraced him fiercely. She was almost as tall as he was. “What the hell?”
I watched as they made him sit and belted him in. “Callie’s been going nuts.”
His face paled. “Oh, crap. Of course she is. Did you get word to her?”
Copper nodded. “Yep. Walkie-talkie.” She pointed to an old fashioned device on her belt. “These things still work, ‘specially when there’s no cell signal.”
He reached out to take Copper’s hand, stopping her in her brisk movements about the cab. “She’s okay?”
She closed the door, then turned to him. “She’s damned relieved. And she’s stronger than you think.”
“Good. Now, what about our cars? The Highlander and van are still parked at the trail head,” Sky said.
Talk about nonchalant. He and I had almost died in a monster snowstorm, but he acted as cavalier as if we’d just taken a walk in the summer woods and lost our water bottles.
Copper secured the basket, then sat between us. “That’s how we found you. We saw them from the air and kept circling the area. We’ll have someone pick them up for you. Right now you both need to be checked out.”
Sky leaned forward, a pensive look on his face. “Ginny and her daughter are out there. We don’t have time for hospitals.”
“We’re fine,” I said. “Really. Sky was totally prepared for the storm.”
Copper glanced at Sky with a raised eyebrow. “Uh huh. You’re a regular Boy Scout, aren’t you?”
Sky and I burst into laughter. He made the Boy Scout sign with his hand, but quickly hid it when Copper looked back and forth between us. “What? What’s so funny?”
I chuckled and patted her knee. “Just an inside joke, hon. No biggie.”
“What’s next?” he asked. “How do we track the bastards?”
Copper’s face turned grim. “We’ve got nothing. We’ve been passing around the composite drawing to all the students and families in the village. So far, nobody’s recognized him.”
“What about matching the drawing with known felons in the system?” Sky asked.
Copper looked impressed. “You been watching CSI?”
He shrugged. “Guilty as charged.”
Sky’s cheeks flushed, and I was surprised he’d feel embarrassed about watching television. Maybe it had to do with all those years he’d been held prisoner in Iraq, or the time he spent on jungle trails with Gary Young. Maybe it felt like a waste of time, or such a luxury that it felt wrong to him? I could only guess.
“Well, you’re right on target.” She grabbed a folder from her black bag on the floor. “We’ve got a pile of photos here that came in from the feds last night. Just got them off the printer before we headed out to find you. Had to wait for the damn storm to calm down.”
The chopper whap-whapped through the blue sky, heading back to Speculator.
“Let’s see them,” I said, reaching for the pile. “Maybe we’ll recognize someone from the area.”
I stared into men’s faces who could have been on a high school football team. But in each case, there was s
omething about the eyes. Something cold, something not right. “Are these guys all criminals?” I asked.
Copper nodded. “Oh yeah. But they’re not all from around here. It’s a nationwide database.”
I slid through the pile again, then stopped at one fellow with short black spiky hair and narrow eyes. He was good-looking in a superficial sort of way, but his expression left me cold. I pointed to the necklace draped across his white tee shirt. “This looks just like the St. Christopher medal we found in the shed.” I didn’t mean it as anything of great import, but Copper sat up and grabbed the photo from me.
“Holy crap,” she blurted. “You’re right.”
Sky took a look at the photo, his eyes narrowed. “I’ve seen him somewhere before.” He thought for a few seconds, then locked eyes with Copper. “My God.” He ran his hands through his hair. “He’s one of our patients in the trial.”
A leukemia patient with a criminal record? Turned serial killer? My brain whirled with bizarre thoughts and images.
Copper grabbed the photo and she scanned the description on the back. “Marcus Lowry. Thirty-four. Convicted rapist and stalker. Served his term and was released last year.”
Sky shook his head. “That’s not the name he gave us. We call him Chet. I think last name’s Polish. Janovsky or something like that.”
Copper’s eyes darted back to Sky. “How do these patients get into your trials?”
Sky didn’t hesitate. “They’re recommended by their oncologists, in most cases. Once in a while we get a walk-in, people who’ve heard about us. But mostly it’s referrals.”
Copper got on her walkie-talkie and relayed several short messages to Detective McCann. She spoke to the driver, and turned back to us. “You sure you two are okay? I’d like to head right up to Project Hope, if that’s okay. McCann will meet us there.”
Sky leaned toward her. “Have Callie meet us there, too. Afterwards, she can bring Marcella back to your house to stay, if that’s okay with you two. We don’t want her alone at Tall Pines.”
“Good idea. And of course it’s okay.” Copper nodded briskly. “Callie needs to see you two, anyway.”
Tall Pines Mysteries: A Mystery/Suspense Boxed Set Page 78