“That’s what I want to hear. See? Everything will be fine. All I need you to do is keep the rope under your bottom. Can you do that?”
She didn’t have any choice, not if she wanted out. “Yes.”
“Perfect. Here we go.”
The rope drew so taut it cut into her thighs, but nothing happened.
Terror ripped through her. The task was too much for him, just as she’d feared! She stifled a whimper, preparing for the moment when he’d admit defeat. But then he began to reel her toward him, inch by painstaking inch.
Dangling in midair, completely dependent on a stranger she couldn’t even see, was frightening. But he was trying to help, and that was better than being alone in the mine. Anything was better than being alone.
When at last she reached the opening, she couldn’t see a lot more than she could in the shaft, but the fresh air sweeping over her confirmed that she was no longer inside the mine.
I’m free. She choked on a sob. She didn’t have the strength to crawl over the lip, but he grabbed her arms and hauled her out before sinking down next to her.
“There...you...go,” he said, as if her problems were over. But, in some ways, the mine still held her captive, and she was afraid that would always be true.
Heedless of the gravel and dirt, she rolled onto her back so she could stare up at the starry sky. “Thank you.”
He propped himself up beside her. She could hear his movements but couldn’t make out more than a dark figure. “I’m glad I heard you. How badly are you hurt?” he asked.
It was cold, colder than inside the mine, thanks to the wind, but she didn’t care. “I’m n-not sure.”
“Anything broken?”
Relieved that he was giving her a chance to recover before waving that flashlight in her face, she put her arm over her eyes in case he angled it at her before she was ready. “I don’t think so. I’m just...rattled and b-banged up.”
“What happened?” He seemed to have caught his breath. “How’d you wind up in the mine?”
You tell anyone about graduation and I’ll kill you. I’ll stab the old lady, too. Do you understand? No one wants to hear it. It’s old news. And in case you’ve been gone so long you haven’t heard, Cody’s dad is mayor now. Going to the police won’t get you anywhere. Consider this a little...FYI.
How much did she dare tell before she was asking for more trouble? She couldn’t say she’d fallen into the mine and expect to be believed. Once he could see her clearly, he’d notice that she was in her underwear and her eye was swollen almost shut. The marks from the rope would be another giveaway.
But she couldn’t be honest, or the man who’d done this might think she was blabbing, exactly as he feared.
“I, uh, s-sleepwalk sometimes.” It was an obvious lie, one that would most likely be interpreted as a refusal to answer, but that seemed her only option.
“You...sleepwalk?” When he raised the flashlight, she tried to cover herself. Her pink Victoria’s Secret tee fit tight and short, and her panties were barely a scrap of fabric, but there wasn’t much she could do about her nightwear at this point.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to focus on her state of undress. He was too surprised by the condition of her face. She knew it was her injuries that had caught his attention when he turned her chin toward him so he could have a better look. “Sleepwalking, my ass.”
“I, uh, hit my face when I fell.”
“Right.” The sarcasm that dripped from that word screamed bullshit. “Why are you lying, Addy? Do you know the person who did this to you? Is that it?”
Not quite the way he thought....
“Was it your husband or boyfriend or...lover?”
“No. I’m not m-married.” Thank God! She had been once, but for such a brief period it wasn’t even worth counting. Saying “I do” to Clyde Kingsdale had been a bad fit from the beginning. Fortunately, she’d realized her mistake almost immediately.
“You have to be protecting someone,” he said. “You don’t need to tell me. But I hope you’ll tell the police.”
Unable to tolerate the brightness of his flashlight, she jerked her chin away. “There’s no reason to include the police. I— It was my own stupid mistake.”
He didn’t shine the light in her face again. He set it aside so he could help her pull on his sweatshirt. The soft fleece warmed her but not enough to stop the shivering. “Where do you live?”
“Whiskey Creek. At the moment,” she added because she hadn’t yet come to terms with the fact that, depending on what she convinced Gran to do, she might need to stay longer than the few months she was planning.
“Hey! I’m from Whiskey Creek, too,” he said with obvious surprise. “What’s your last name?”
“Davies.”
“Have we met?”
How could she tell? What she’d seen of him so far had been dark and indistinct. He was tall and muscular; she’d gathered that much from his general shape. He was strong, too, or he couldn’t have lifted her out. But that was all she knew. She couldn’t even see the color of his hair.
“Maybe,” she said. “Who are you?” Chances were good she’d recognize the name. Gran owned Just Like Mom’s, one of the more popular restaurants in the area, and she used to help out there.
She’d anticipated some degree of familiarity, but the name came as a shock.
“Noah Rackham.”
She said nothing, could say nothing. It felt as if he’d just punched her in the stomach.
“My father used to own the tractor sales and rental place a few miles out of town,” he explained to provide her with a frame of reference.
Fresh adrenaline made it possible for her to scramble to her feet, despite the pain the movement caused her scraped and bruised body. “Cody’s brother?” She had the urge to rip off the sweatshirt he’d given her.
Noah stood, too. “That’s right. You knew him?”
He sounded pleased, excited. She might have laughed, except she was afraid that if she ever got started she’d end up in a padded cell. Of all the people who could’ve come by and offered her aid, it had to be Cody’s fraternal twin. There wasn’t a greater irony than that.
“You and Cody were friends?” he prompted, trying to interpret her reaction.
She was glad she couldn’t see his face. That would be like meeting a ghost, especially here, at the mine. “Not really,” she said. “I was behind the t-two of you in sch-school, but...I remember him.”