away. There was nothing underneath. Maybe never was.”
She recognized the tension in his voice, and her stomach tightened. It was one thing to get herself into this predicament—something else to drag someone with her into this hellhole. “People warned me not to do this, said it was dangerous. Oh, Chance, I’m so sorry.” She swiped her hand through her hair. The knot behind her ear throbbed, but the bleeding had stopped.
His arm came around her shoulder with a comforting squeeze. “Not your fault. I should’ve thought faster and stayed behind. I could’ve gone for help. It was just…when I…when I heard you scream…I…” His deep voice cracked, and he finished his statement by kissing her on top of her head.
The emotion in his voice, the touch, the kiss. It was too familiar and too much. A lump in her throat grew as large as the one on her head.
They had to get out of there.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“I’VE SEEN MOVIES WHERE people tied their clothes together and used them as ropes.”
She couldn’t be serious. “If I get you to take your clothes off, I’m sure as hell not gonna worry about making a rope, or even try too hard to get out of here.” Chance laughed, meaning it as a joke—sort of.
“Maybe if I stood on your shoulders…” Kyndal’s voice broke in panic.
Chance studied the distance from where he stood to the opening in the ceiling. “We still wouldn’t reach it. Besides, it’s too dangerous with that ankle of yours.”
“Did you know the cave had a section deeper underground? Have you ever explored it?”
He shook his head to both questions.
“So what do we do?” A tremor rattled her question.
“We wait. The best thing to do is stay put. Let’s hope Sheriff Blaine takes the day off, and the teenagers like to party on Sunday.”
“That could be hours from now. Late tonight.”
“People know we’re here. Jaci and Bart…and you’re dating someone, right? Surely, he’ll get worried when you don’t come home.”
“We’re not living together. And he’s working a lot of nights, so I’m not sure when he’ll call.” Kyndal took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a long moment. Even when she opened them again, an impenetrable veil behind them stayed down. A defiant tilt of her chin let him know her love life wasn’t up for discussion. “What about you? Did you tell anyone?”
Chance rubbed his hand down his face in frustration. “The office is closed until Wednesday. Mom and Dad have already left for New Orleans, and our secretary’s father is having surgery tomorrow.” Another flicker of hope came to him. “Don’t you and Jaci talk all the time?”
Kyndal’s sigh extinguished the flicker. “Usually just once a week, unless something important comes up.”
She didn’t say being with Chance Brennan wasn’t important enough, but the implication stung just the same.
“Your mom?”
She shook her head. “On one of her trips. I don’t know where she is.”
Chance well remembered Mrs. Rawlings’s unannounced little trips. Kyndal would come home to find a note, and her mom would be gone. Damn woman missed her daughter’s high school graduation—valedictory address and all. His own mom, bless her heart, took Kyn shopping and paid for her dress for their senior prom.
“So…we’re stuck. Until somebody figures out we’re missing. Or the teenagers decide to party…” Kyndal’s words trailed off to a breathless whisper.
Chance’s mind raced. Was it possible they’d actually have to stay there overnight? Or longer? Without supplies? Water. They’d need water.
He found the bottles he’d stuck in his pack. One was crushed and had lost most of its contents into the pack. He pulled it out and laid it on its side to preserve what was left. The other was still intact.
He removed the small first aid kit, replacing it with his soiled T-shirt to soak up the precious liquid. He could use that to cleanse Kyndal’s head and put some of the medicated ointment on it. The ibuprofen would ease her pain for a little while. No food, though. “Do you have anything to eat with you?” She didn’t have enough meat on her bones to last too many days without food.
“A couple of granola bars.”
“And I have a bottle of water. We won’t starve, but we’ll have to conserve.”
“You don’t really think we’ll have to stay in here that long. Do you?”
She groped for reassurance, and he wanted desperately to give her what she was looking for. His gut told him they needed to play it smart, and play it right. He forced some