Nearly shaking with anticipation, Alissa pulled off her gloves and shucked off her bulky parka so she could fit into the narrow tunnel without disturbing evidence. She jammed the small flashlight in her mouth to leave her hands free and dove in headfirst.
Tucker shouted, Wyatt, wait!
Im fine, she called back, her flashlight-muffled words bouncing back from the ice and snow. Ive almost got her!
Blood pumping, she crawled forward, careful to avoid a line of scuffs and boot prints preserved in the blown snow near the edge of the tunnel. Almost there! The girls bare ankle looked more gray than flesh toned, except where raw places stood out in bloody slashes. She was curled on her side facing away from the tunnel entrance. She wasnt moving.
Alissa said a quick prayer, reached out and touched the motionless ankle. She felt the faintest hint of warmth. The flutter of a pulse.
Shes alive! she shouted. Get the MedVac helicopter down! Im going to pull her out. When you see my feet, give a yank! She reached forward and felt for the girls other foot. There was something tied to it, maybe a length of the rope shed been bound with.
Alissa yanked on the twine.
A bright white light flashed. An earsplitting crack reverberated through her skull.
And the tunnel collapsed on top of her.
Chapter Two
Ice, snow and dirt landed atop Alissa, pressing her down, squeezing the breath out of her. She screamed and tried to scramble back, but her arms and legs were pinned. Panic clawed at her throat, and her heart hammered in her ears. The weight increased, as though the whole canyon had come down on top of her.
She thrashed, squirmed and cried out with what was left of her breath. Help! Help me!
The tiny flashlight fell from her mouth, illuminating a small air pocket that had formed around her head. She saw dirt and ice six inches from her on all sides. Saw it shift a little closer as the cave-in settled.
Help! she whispered when she ran out of breath to scream. Cold, salty tears streamed down her face and ran into her mouth, and all she could hear was the pounding of her heart.
Calm down, she told herself. She had to calm down. Think! She tried to count her breaths, but she couldnt breathe, so instead she counted her heartbeat, which was too loud, too fast.
McDermott had been right behind her. He would get her out.
But what if he cant? asked a scared little voice in her soul. What if hes too late?
The panic crested again, and she moaned, wishing she could be anywhere else. Out with the girls for a round of Friday-night drinks. Visiting her mother, even. They werent really close anymore, hadnt been since Alissas father had left and her mothers middle name had become Bitter. In that moment Alissa wished she could see her mother now and say she was sorry for having been a snotty teenager and a distant adult. Sorry for having blamed her mother because her father had never come back for that promised visit. And in a crazy way, she was sorry shed never searched for him, if only to tell him that he was a rotten jerk.
Her tears dried to cool wet tracks on her cheeks. The air inside the small pocket warmed and grew stale. She thought she heard a shout and dull thuds, but they were too far away. And she was all alone.
Youre going to be okay, she said aloud, her voice strengthening as the debris allowed her an inch of breathing room. Theyre going to get you out of here.
She felt a hint of movement beneath her outstretched hand. Not shifting soil this time, but living flesh. Then she remembered. She was holding the girls ankle!
Elizabeth? Lizzie, is that you? she called, not knowing whether her voice would carry far enough, but devastatingly grateful that the girl was alive. If you can hear me, wiggle your foot a little.
The foot moved.
Okay. Hold on for me, okay? Theyre going to get us out of here. Alissa bit her lower lip and forced her voice to be even. I want you to stay calm and relaxed, okay? Im a police officer, and my friends are digging us out right now.
Shed meant Cassie and Maya, who had been on the search team farther up the canyon and who must be frantic with worry. But her brain fixed on a picture of McDermott. She pictured him digging down toward her, eyes as dark as theyd been when the two of them danced.
Incredibly, the image brought a measure of calm.
Alissa drew a shallow breath to keep talking, more for her own sake than the girls, but her words were cut off by a roaring shift of dirt. A far-away shout of panic.
The air pocket collapsed. Icy cold weight bore down on her.
And she couldnt breathe at all.
FASTER. HE HAD TO DIG faster, spurred by the knowledge that it had been a damn trap all along. The anger of it burned through Tuckers gut as exertion flamed in his muscles. He got his fingers around a chunk of rock and frozen soil and heaved it aside.
He cursed as he worked, cursed Alissa for not waiting for backup, cursed himself for not being close enough to stop her. Cursed the bastard whod left a note with his name on it, then ambushed an officer.
A female officer.
Her sex shouldnt have mattered, but it did. Or maybe it wasnt just that she was a woman. Maybe it was this particular woman. Ever since that night at the bar, shed been at the edges of his mind, tempting him to forget his own rules.
Its settling! shouted a tall blond woman he recognized as one of Alissas friends. Cassie something. The other searchers had all converged on the spot, drawn by the small, deadly explosion and Tuckers bellow of shock and rage.
Weve got to get them out of there. Chief Parry scraped at the snow and dirt with gloved hands. There cant be much air!
Alissas image flooded Tuckers mind, all honey-colored hair and warm blue eyes. Her remembered taste lingered on his tongue, though hed told himself to forget it.
With a nearly feral roar, he lifted an ice-crusted boulder and heaved it aside.
There! Cassie yelled. There she is! She darted toward a scrap of cloth and a laced boot. Get down here and help me!
The others surged forward, but Tucker elbowed them aside. Ive got her! He dropped into the hole and touched the limp body of the woman he was supposed to have been backing up. Who was supposed to have been backing him up.
This was why he didnt work with a partner. He was no good at teamwork.
He whispered a prayer, or maybe a threat, as he checked her over and found nothing obviously wrong. She was stirring when he lifted her up and out of the hole. His muscles strained, though she couldnt weigh much more than 110, 120 pounds. He looked down and realized her hand was caught on something. He saw a flash of denim and shouted, Theres the girl!
His shout brought a flurry of activity, of renewed digging, but Tucker focused on the woman in his arms. She moaned as he hauled her up and out of the ragged hole and carried her to the side of the canyon, where he could lay her flat as the BCCPD helicopter landed nearby.
She didnt stay down long. Within moments she was batting at his hands and struggling to sit up. But her attention wasnt focused on the rescued girl, whose motionless body was being strapped to a backboard for loading into the chopper.
No, Alissa was staring at the place where the kidnappers bomb had blown away part of the tributary canyon wall.
No, Alissa was staring at the place where the kidnappers bomb had blown away part of the tributary canyon wall.
Look! She pointed to the scarred rock and dirt.
He saw it then, and let out a soft curse at the object that had tumbled from the disturbed earth.
It was a human skull.
ALISSA WAS COLD and sore and scared, but shed think about it later, when she was alone and nobody could see her lose it.
Shed been buried alive. She deserved some hysterics, but shed learned to put off the tears long enough to deal with the immediate problem. When she was younger and her mother had been struggling to keep them together, the problem had usually been moneyan irate landlord or a cold Denver apartment in January.
Now the immediate problem was a crime scene. Actually, it was two crime scenes, one on top of the other.
Who did the skeleton belong to? How had the person died? How had it come to be buried there? And what were the chances that the rigged explosion would accidentally open another, far older grave?
Very slim, which suggested they had been meant to find the grave. But why?
McDermott touched her arm. Theyve got Lizzie loaded on the chopper. Theyre waiting for you.
Im fine, she said automatically, though her lungs ached at the words. She moved away from his touch, uncomfortable with how her chilled body yearned to lean into his warmth. She glanced at him and saw that his eyes were as dark as she had remembered, only with irritation, not passion. Thanks for pulling me out.
She would never admit that thinking of him had kept her sane in those last few minutes. Shed used him as a mental crutch, that was all. A focus.
Instead of accepting her thanks, he snapped, I wouldnt have needed to if youd waited for me. What were you thinking? Never leave your partner like that.
Irritation sparked. If youll remember, you left me behind, not the other way around!
Doesnt matter, he said, though they both knew it did. Just get your butt on the chopper.
She gritted her teeth. Im not going to the hospital when theres a crime scene to work.
Let one of the others do it. Isnt that why the chief hired three of you? So thered be redundancy in the Forensics Department?
No, Cassie said, neatly stepping between them. He hired us because our skills complement each other, and because the BCCPD needed an upgrade. She turned her back on him and locked eyes with Alissa. You should go with the girl. Shell need to talk to someone.
It was ironic that Cassie was playing the mediator. The tall, blond evidence specialist was usually the abrasive one, the sharp-tongued edgy one, who made enemies more easily than friends and never hesitated to express her opinion. If she was toning it down, it meant shed been worried. Very worried.
Alissa clasped her friends hand and smiled. Itll be okay, but thanks. She glanced over and saw a petite, dark-haired figure climb into the helicopter. Lizzie doesnt need me right now. Maya will help, and her parents will be waiting at the hospital. Ill go in later and see if I can get a sketch. For now Ill stay here and work the scene. She shot a look at Tucker, who stood nearby, glowering. You got a problem with that?
They both knew he did, and he probably had a point. She was tired and sore, and damned if her camera wasnt down there somewhere, amidst the busted-up ice and rock.
He scowled and turned away. No problem. Im not your keeper. Do what you need to do and leave me out of it.
And he was gone, taking the faint, lingering warmth with him.
Alissa watched him climb to the top of the canyon and work his way toward the back of the blown-out tunnel, where the bomb experts were already congregating. Then she held out a hand to Cassie. Let me borrow your camera, okay? Mines trash.
Cass cocked her head. Want to talk about it? She wasnt asking about what had happened in the tunnel.
Alissa shook her head. Nothing to talk about. Lets do our jobs.
TUCKER WATCHED the two women work the scene together. There was no doubting they were a team. Cassie handled the evidence collection, having dragooned several task force members into digging, witnessing the collections, starting the chain of evidence and transporting the items back to a waiting vehicle.
Items. It sounded so much neater than bones, but that was what they were uncovering. A skeleton had been buried in a shallow grave at the side of the ice tunnel.
The searchers brought in heaters to melt the frost layer and used hand trowels, then brushes, to uncover the bones. The soil was bagged for sifting, and the bags were carefully labeled with exact coordinates.
Alissa helped when needed, but otherwise stood aside and recorded the process with photographs and detailed notes. She listed where each bone was found, how deep it was buried and how far away from the others. When the exhumation was complete, she could use her notes along with her new computer programs to recreate the scene in its entirety.
Which, Tucker admitted, would be a step up from Fitzs glossy photographs, and the hand-drawn schematics he used to tack on a flip board for the jurys view.
It wasnt that he had anything against progress, Tucker thought, as he watched Alissa record the position of a femur. And it wasnt as if he missed Fitz all that much. Hell, if the old coot wanted to retire, who was he to complain? It was
Admit it, he muttered inwardly. Its Alissa.
She rattled him. Unsettled him. Fascinated him, though he had no business being fascinated with a local when hed put in forand been grantedhis next transfer. The only thing keeping him in town right now was the task force. Once the girls were found and the kidnapper was in custody, hed be in the wind.
Growing up, hed hated the moves from one military base to the next, hated the look on his mothers face when his fathers next set of orders came through. These days it was the opposite. His parents were happily settled in Arizona, while he was the one skipping around.
But he liked it that way. Liked his freedom. His independence.
As though she sensed his thoughts or his gaze, Alissa lowered the camera and looked across the distance separating them. He felt their eyes lock, felt a click of connection in his chest. He wanted to go to her, to tell her how hed nearly gone out of his mind digging down to her.
Instead he turned away and focused on the second crime scene, where two members of the bomb squad were excavating what was left of the tunnel. Chief Parry stood nearby with his hands jammed in the pockets of his uniform parka. He frowned as Tucker joined him.
Bastard rigged a trip wire to Lizzies ankle and shoved her into the tunnel. We got a few fragments of the device. Troupers taking them.
Tucker nodded. Reasonable. The BCCPD had a good relationship with the feds, particularly the FBI. After the second kidnapping, when it became clear that this was more than a disgruntled teen hitting the road for Vegas or points west, they had called for help and gotten Trouper, a lean, graying agent whod done his damnedest to help without stepping on toes.
Parry glanced over toward the rapidly emptying grave site. They find anything with the bones?
Tucker shrugged. More bones, maybe a few scraps of cloth. Theyre having trouble with the ice.
The chief grunted, which was his fallback answer to most everything. The skeleton will go to the ME for a preliminary workup, and then well let Wyatt have the skull. Maybe we can get a recognizable face from it.