If You Know Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense (25 page)

He couldn’t panic, couldn’t take any more stupid chances.

With that thought in mind, he headed into town.

“She doesn’t look happy to be here,” Remy said, pushing his sunglasses up on his head and studying Nia. “Matter of fact, she looks pissed. Reilly, I got to tell you, that woman in a pissed-off mood doesn’t do my state of mind much good.”

Law looked at Nia. She was out pacing by the truck, her hands jammed in her pockets, staring off into nothing.
She wore one of his shirts and under it her shoulders were rigid.

Yeah. Somebody who didn’t know her would definitely look at her and see somebody who looked pissed off.

Law looked at her and saw somebody who looked terribly alone.

But he didn’t say that. He suspected Nia wouldn’t appreciate it and he doubted Remy would believe it anyway. “Well, if she’s right, and I think she might be, wouldn’t
you
be pissed off in her shoes?”

Remy scowled and pushed his sunglasses back down over his eyes.

“Don’t worry,” Ezra said, giving Remy a wry smile. “If she gets testy, Law and I are going to be the ones out there with her.”

Remy snorted. “And that is supposed to make me feel better? You know what your wife would do to me if something happens to you? Any idea what Hope will do to me if something happens to Law?”

“Stop it,” Law bit off. “She’s not looking to get us out in the woods just to shoot us in the back, okay? So stop.”

“No, she wants to go out there because she thinks that somebody other than Carson killed her cousin and the proof is … where exactly?”

“Look, we’re just taking some time to walk around, okay?” Ezra said, his voice edgy. “Now are you going to keep bitching and whining or what?”

“Don’t you think if there’s something out there to find, you should have your men out here instead of her and the Grisham wannabe here?”

Law curled a lip at him.

Ezra, his face blank, said, “And what do I say when I call them out here? I’m looking for … something? I
don’t know what? And I’m looking because this woman’s gut instinct says something more is going on?”

“Damn it, Ezra. You’re walking awful damn close to a line here. If you fall, you’re fucked.”

With a thin-lipped smile, Ezra said, “Don’t worry. I got good balance.” Then he shifted his gaze to the house. “Besides, if she’s right … this is a risk worth taking.”

They might have said more, but Nia apparently had run out of patience. She turned on her heel and came stalking their way. “Are we heading in any time soon?” she demanded, ignoring Ezra, ignoring Remy, focusing only on Law.

“Yeah.” He smiled at her, reached up and curled a hand around her neck, his fingers digging into the tight muscles there. “You sure you’re up for this?”

She bared her teeth at him in a mockery of a smile. “I didn’t come here to sit around and twiddle my thumbs.”

“I know.” Looking past her shoulder, he focused on Remy. “You’re staying with the other two until we’re back.”

A muscle twitched in Remy’s jaw but he gave a terse nod.

“And nobody comes in,” Ezra added.

Remy’s brows arched. In a voice heavy with sarcasm, he said, “I’ll be sure not to have parties while you’re out, Dad.” Without waiting another second, he stormed to the house.

“He’s pissy,” Nia said.

“He’s in a mood.” Law gave her neck one last stroke and then let his hand drop, focusing on the woods. “From the best I can tell, we’re roughly a straight mile from the first one. After that, there are a couple of others scattered around, one about a half mile west, but we have to hike down the cliffs to get to that one. This could take a while.”

“Then let’s get to it.”

*   *   *

It wasn’t exactly a straight mile to the first. More like a mile and a half, and it was a waste of time. It had long since caved in. The second one wasn’t in much better shape.

It was a harder hike to get to the third, although distance-wise, it wasn’t as far from Lena’s house—it was a hike down the cliff, and by the time they got down to the base, Ezra looked ready to bite something in two.

Law didn’t blame him. They’d been out there for more than two hours and the way their luck was going, they’d be out there another three hours before they hit all the areas. This third one wasn’t proving as easy to find as it should be, either. They’d been in the area for thirty minutes and still, nothing.

Swearing, he stopped and studied the map, aware that Nia was all but mindless with impatience. He wished he could do something, say something to help, but he had nothing for her.

He checked the compass once more, then the map. “Okay, we need to leave the trail,” he said. “The trails aren’t going to take us where we need to go anyway.”

Ezra nodded, his face grim, mouth set in a firm, flat line.

Nia all but took off running—or would have if Law hadn’t caught her arm. “Together,” he said softly. “We need to stick together, and slow down now. We shouldn’t be too far off.”

She rolled her eyes but remained at his side. “Just what are we looking for, anyway?”

“I’m not too sure,” he said, sighing. “This is farther in than I usually come. I’ve done some walks with Lena, but she doesn’t come near the cliffs and she knows I’m not fond of hiking, so we don’t generally come this far back. I’m out of my depth here. The big, bad sheriff over there doesn’t do much hiking, either, I don’t think.”

Ezra grimaced. “Shove it, Reilly.” His limp had become more noticeable over the past hour and harsh lines bracketed his mouth.

With a faint smile, Law kept walking, easing deeper into the undergrowth.

“There,” he muttered. “Shit, I bet it’s in there.”

There was an odd growth of greenery there—something that didn’t quite match with the rest of the forest. If he hadn’t been
looking
for something out of place, he wouldn’t have noticed, not in a million years.

“What?” Nia asked.

“I’m not sure yet.” He drew closer and his paranoid mind had him going slower, slower … nothing. But his skin was prickling, all over.

“Damn it, are you part snail?” Nia hissed behind him.

He shook his head.

Ezra muttered, “Keep your eyes peeled, Reilly.”

He grunted, still inching forward. As he placed his right foot down, something creaked.

Wood—

Carefully, he lifted his foot. Narrowing his eyes, he used his foot to sweep it back and forth over the forest floor—or what
should
have been the forest floor.

But it was cloth—durable, thick cloth, the same indistinguishable shade of brown as the ground, covered with leaves and dirt. He backed up and crouched down, searching for the edge of it. Once he’d found it, he started to lift it. Nia gasped and lunged, but Ezra caught her. “Slow down,” he said brusquely. “We don’t know what we’re looking at yet.”

“But …”

“I said
slow down
. Reilly, come on. We need to mark the area—I’m going to call some favors in, have some friends come in and help me …”

Law tuned them out. Yeah, he knew what Ezra was
thinking. He suspected the sheriff hadn’t entirely expected to
find
anything but more of what they’d already found.

This … well, it was unexpected. Somebody had gone to the effort to hide this, and that was already an oddity. The cop’s mind was probably in overdrive now, whirling and spinning, either thinking about a compromised case, or maybe down the same direction Law’s had gone—Law was a paranoid bastard. Maybe this guy was, too. Maybe there were traps …

But he got the cloth up without incident and found himself staring at a door, set in the earth.

He reached for the iron handle.

“Damn it, Reilly.”

Lifting his head, he glanced at Ezra over his shoulder. “You want to call them and say,
Hey, I found a cellar. Come out here and help me make sure nobody died in it
. Or would you want something that looks … nefarious?”

Ezra opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. Finally, he snapped, “I can’t
use
anything that I find down there. Not a damn thing.”

“No.
You
can’t. If
you
go in right now, into this place that’s not on
your
territory, and
you
find something that could become part of a case, it could compromise a case, right?” Law gave him a thin smile. “But me? Being a nosy bastard who was just checking something out while you two caught up with me? If I find something and tell you about it, that’s a different story, isn’t it?”

Ezra glared at him.

“I’m going. Just me,” Law said softly.

“No fucking way,” Nia snarled, twisting her arm and breaking free from Ezra. She shot forward, but Law blocked her.

“Wait here,” he said. “For now, just wait. There might not be anything down there, and even if there is …”

His voice trailed off.

Ezra stepped up. Curling a hand over Nia’s shoulder, he said, “If there is anything down there, the fewer people inside the better
—you
being in there is going to make it even more complicated. It’s bad enough with Reilly, but at least he’s local and I can use his nosy ass and those maps as a reason why he was out there. People are used to him doing crazy things. But if you want justice for your cousin, you need to back away from this now.”

Justice—

“Back away?” she said softly, arching a brow. She looked between Law and Ezra. Then she shook her head. “Damn it, neither of you would have even bothered trying to
look
for anything if it wasn’t for me and now you want me to back away? Fine. You know what? Go fuck yourself.”

Jerkily, she pulled away and stormed off. She was tempted to take off, but if she did, either Law or Ezra or both would come after her, she suspected. And even if she was pissed about this, she wanted to know if there was anything beyond that door—

There was a faint screech as metal protested. Swinging her head around, she stared, watched as Law peered down inside. He pulled a flashlight from the backpack he’d brought along and flipped it on, peering down inside. Then, just like that, he was gone, leaping down into that maw of darkness.

Her breath lodged in her throat until she heard his voice floating up.

“One big room—a cot, an area that looks like somebody could shower or something. Lights on the wall … don’t work. Gas, maybe.”

There was silence, for the longest time.

Then, he spoke again, his voice strained. “I’m coming back up—there’s a ladder.”

The first thing she saw was his face, pale and gleaming under a fine sheen of sweat. His eyes too dark, almost glassy. He climbed out of that hole but before he could say anything, he shoved past them.

She watched, stupefied as he stormed away and bent over, hands braced on his knees, like he was fighting the urge to be sick.

“Law?”

He straightened slowly, shaking his head.

“Damn it, Law, what is it? Did … was there something of Joely’s down there?” she demanded.

He shook his head again. Then he held out his phone, but not to her. Ezra took it.

Whatever the sheriff saw caused little reaction. Tucking the phone into his pocket, he looked at Law. “It might not be for what you think,” he said quietly.

“Fuck that,” he muttered. He looked a little less pale.

Good, because Nia was about to kick his ass. “What did you see?” Storming up to him, she drilled a finger into his chest, about ready to pummel him.

He caught her fist, his grip tight, almost too tight. Eyes half wild, he stared at her. “I’m not telling you, damn it,” he growled. “I don’t want to live with that in
my
head. I’m sure as hell not putting it in yours.”

She jerked away. Fine. Fuck this—she’d go look—

And he caught her by the waistband of her jeans before she took two steps.

Shrieking in frustration, she rounded on him and hit him, full force, her fist plowing into his jaw.

His head snapped back. When he looked back at her, there was next to no emotion in his eyes. “Go ahead and do it again if it will help,” he said. “But I’m still not telling you and you are
not
going down there.”

“Kids.” Ezra stepped up, pushed between them. “I hate to break up this lovely scene … but we need to get back. Law, we need to figure out how we’re going to
spin this. For now, we’ve got lousy reception so that plays into our favor. If you want to try that shit, we were hiking and you got ahead of us, ended up finding that spot while you waited …? I need you to e-mail me that photo …”

Staring at Law, she backed away, shooting another look at that dark hole.

Answers … so close.

“There aren’t any immediate answers down there, Nia,” Law said quietly. “If you go there, all you’ll get is more nightmares. You don’t need that.”

She looked at him. “Isn’t it up to me to make that decision?”

“You can’t undo the damage once it’s there. You can’t take those nightmares away.” He shook his head. “I’m not letting you do it.” Then he moved around her and sealed that nightmare back up.

T
OOLS
. R
OPES STAINED WITH BLOOD
. C
HAINS
.

Those were bad enough. But the other things …

Law’s gut clenched each time the image of the saw blade danced through his mind. The serrated teeth stained with blood. His gut clenched each time. He hadn’t gotten sick, but it had been damn close.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. And Nia wanted that image in her head.

Shit, no. He had to watch her like a hawk, too, because for most of the afternoon, she’d been ready to take off running. He’d made his call, not necessarily fudging anything. Just leaving out one or two minor details.

Like that they had been
looking
for the cellar they’d found.

They’d just gone hiking.

Remy hadn’t been pleased—Law could tell, but at one point, the lawyer had cornered both of them and snarled, “What are you two trying to do? Get all of us fucked?”

“Now, Remy … I never outright told you what we were doing,” Ezra said easily. “Just mentioned Nia’s concerns … then that we were going out for a hike.
And, to be honest, I didn’t expect to really
find
anything.”