She stiffened, ignoring the way his soft words caressed her skin. He was a killer. He had lied and used her. She would not be sucked in again.
“Move, Lee.” She gave him a none too gentle shove towards the tunnel at the back of the cave. He didn’t budge.
“Let me explain.”
She wasn’t revisiting their past now. “There’s nothing to explain. We have two missing children, and you’re going to help me find them.” She hoped they had left the cave like Arthur suspected, because the tunnel system was a maze that few knew their way around. Though Lee was probably one of the few.
Lee nodded. “We’ll talk later.”
She didn’t correct him. The only thing happening later was him heading straight to gaol. She switched on her torch and followed Lee to where the tunnel branched off from the cave. Two smaller sets of footprints were clear in the sand.
Nhiari was impressed by the two boys’ ingenuity escaping their bonds, but right now she only wanted them found, safe and sound.
She shone the light down the tunnel, keeping a step behind Lee; far enough that he couldn’t catch her unaware, close enough to catch him if he ran.
The tunnel narrowed, the rock walls closing in and the ground becoming rocky. Nhiari wiped the sweat from her forehead. It was like an oven in here. She’d thought the caves would offer relief from the heat outside, but it seemed to absorb it, locking it inside.
“The trail has stopped.”
There was enough space in the tunnel for her to squeeze past Lee to see for herself. They weren’t much more than fifty metres from where they started. There was enough room to slide through the gap in the rock, and the boys could have done so, but would they have? They had no light, and the sunlight didn’t reach this far into the tunnel.
She shone her torch through the gap and called, “Jordan! Cody!”
Only her voice echoed back.
A light rattle like metal on metal behind her made her spin. Lee stepped closer, his body pressed against hers, and he slipped a hand down her side.
What happened to the handcuffs?
The question became insignificant as she realised what he was doing.
Going for her gun.
Adrenaline spiked and she shoved his hand away, bringing up her knee, but he was too close for her to do any actual damage. He reached towards her, grunting as she twisted and elbowed him in the gut. The torch fell out of her hand. He released the clasp over her gun, but she stepped away and hit the hard rock wall. Pain shot down her back. Trapped between it and him.
His firm body pressed into her, reminding her of their night together. She blocked the thought as his other hand snaked out and lifted the gun from her holster.
No!
Nhiari grabbed his arm, desperate to stop him.
He shoved her back as if she weighed nothing and brought up the gun to point directly at her.
“Stop, Nhiari.”
Shit. She sucked in a breath as her heart raced.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” His face was shadowed in the light shining from the torch which lay on the ground behind him. She couldn’t see his eyes, but his tone held regret. The gun didn’t waver.
“What are you going to do now?” She kept her own tone even as she cursed herself for letting him get her gun. She should have known he had the skills to get out of handcuffs.
He was quiet, as if figuring it out for himself. “If I let you go, you’ll come back, won’t you?”
She said nothing. No way she would let him go free.
He cursed quietly. “We’re going back to the cave.” He stripped her police vest of all her weapons, tucking them into various pockets, and gestured for her to move past him.
The cave would give her more manoeuvrability and was closer to the cars. She might be able to make a run for it. She walked slowly back down the tunnel, blinking as the sunlight grew brighter. She’d only get one chance to disarm him.
