Her light caught something pale. A wooden sign, its letters barely legible through decades of grime: Sterling Mine—Level 2.
A person could get lost down here for eternity, just wandering.
“Jericho?” Her voice bounced off the walls.
Orlando barked, the sound sharp and urgent. He disappeared around a bend.
“Wait!”
She rushed forward, nearly stumbling over fallen rocks. The tunnel opened into another chamber, this one smaller.
Her light swept the space, spotted more entrances.
No scent dog.
“Orlando!”
Barking sounded, and she followed it into a corridor. Her light pressed against the darkness.
Still, no dog.
Shoot. “Jericho!”
Barking, again, this time louder.
She took off, faster now, and spotted Orlando running at her, tail wagging.
Then he turned and—
“Harley?”
Jericho appeared like an apparition in the night, her light casting over his green parka, grime on his face, his hand up to ward off the beam.
“Jericho!”
He put down his hand as she pointed the beam away, just enough to see the scrape on his chin, his eyes hard, his shoulders rising and falling as if in shock.
She dropped the light and launched at him.
He caught her up as she put her arms around him. “I thought you were dead. Oh!” She buried her face in his jacket, a shudder releasing.
And then shoot, she couldn’t help the hiccup, the tears. “I thought—”
“Shh,” he whispered. “Shh, I’m okay. It’s okay—”
But she grabbed his jacket, leaned back, looked up at him in the glow that still illuminated the tunnel, her breath still catching.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I know I do impulsive things and—”
“Stop. I know. It’s okay.” He touched his forehead to hers. “I’m the one who was impulsive. And so stupidly proud. You were right. I thought I had to protect everyone, solve everything ... But maybe that’s not my job.”
“No, JB—that’s not—I mean—”
“Shh. Listen. I know you’re a PI. I get that—”
“No, I get it.” She touched his face, her body still trembling, the tears hot on her face. “I’ll be more—”
And then he kissed her. Just took her face in his hands, cradling it, and silenced her with his mouth on hers. Maybe not as gently as it might be under a starlit, aurora borealis–strewn night, but still, in the dim artificial glow, he kissed her like he knew her. And wanted her.
