They were close. The cave’s entrance came into view, just a few yards away.
Another deafening crack.
The ceiling gave a final shudder and let go.
They dove for the exit.
Brenna hit the ground hard, Colt beside her. Sheriff Chase and Reyes tumbled out right behind them as the cave collapsed in a thunder of rock and dust. The opening sealed shut, the noise fading into an eerie, suffocating silence.
----- ? ----
Chapter Fifteen
Colt shut the door behind them and turned the lock. The cabin was quiet, shadows from the early evening light stretching across the floor. He dropped his gear by the wall and turned to see Brenna standing in the center of the room, looking as if she wasn’t sure she could make it another step.
He knew exactly how she felt.
They were both soaked in fatigue. Dirt, sweat, and ash clung to them like another layer of skin. The day had come at them fast, ending in a dead sprint for their lives. Again. And for what?
Jared was gone.
Buried beneath a ton of rock, his uncle dead a few feet outside the cave. Two more bodies added to a list that was already too long. Colt didn’t need a coroner’s report to know Jared hadn’t survived. There’d been too much blood. No movement. No hope.
They had nothing but a collapsed cave and more questions.
Brenna let out a slow, sharp breath and rubbed the back of her neck. “He was right there. And we still lost him.”
Colt crossed the space and wrapped his arms around her. She didn’t resist. Her head dropped to his chest and she let herself lean into him.
“We’re not done,” he said quietly.
“I know. I just…” She trailed off and sighed again, her breath warm against his collarbone. “I wanted answers. And now we’ve lost the two people who might have had them.”
Colt rested his chin on the top of her head. Her body was tense. She wasn’t crying. But she was hanging by a thread, same as him.
“We’ll find the truth,” he said. “We’re not giving up.”
Her arms slid around his waist. For a moment, they just stood there, holding on.
Brenna eased back from him, her eyes meeting his. Colt saw the weariness there, but something else, too. Something that made it hard to look away.
He thought about kissing her.
Just one kiss.
Her gaze dropped and she sighed. “I need a shower.”
“Yeah. Me too.” His body ached, muscles tight and sore, a reminder of how close they’d come to getting crushed to death. Again.
“You want something to eat first?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Those burgers and fries we had earlier will hold me.”
He nodded. Yeah, they’d hold him as well though it’d been hours since they’d had them delivered to the sheriff’s office. He watched her turn and head toward the hallway and the guestroom bath. She didn’t look back.
Colt stood there a moment longer, listening to the quiet. Then he grabbed clean clothes and went to his own bathroom.
He kept the shower quick. The hot water eased the tight pull in his shoulders, but it didn’t wash away the image of Brenna, naked and slick with steam, just up the hall.
