Alaska Twilight (31 page)

“She’s right, it’s pretty good.” She hesitated. “It sure makes you think about how things may not be like they seem here. Do you really think heaven exists?”

“Don’t you, deep down?”

She looked away. “I used to. I had a picture Bible Augusta gave me, and I read it by the hour. Until Chloe died, I thought I was a Christian. My faith sure didn’t survive that trial.”

“Even Christians get mad at God.”

A small shadow came barreling from the direction of Haley’s tent. Oscar leaped onto Haley’s lap and settled there. He eyed the bigger dog and growled a soft warning. Samson ignored him, and then Oscar edged closer to the search dog. Moments later the two dogs were sniffing noses, then Oscar vacated Haley’s lap and the two ran off together.

Haley laced her fingers together on her knees. “Where do we go tomorrow?”

Her dance with God always seemed to be two steps forward, three steps back. He decided to let her change the subject. She’d come to it in her own time. “I’ve been thinking about that. If I were flying a plane and began to have trouble, I’d look for a water landing. It would be the safest bet even without floats. I want to take Chet’s plane upriver and look for wreckage. They’re obviously not here, or the dogs would have picked up the scent.”

She unclasped her hands and reached over to take his fingers in a firm grip. “How do you stay so strong?”

He laced his fingers with hers. Sitting out here alone, he needed a human touch. “They have to be all right. I’ll save my daughter. I’ve been praying, and I know I can save her.”

She tightened her grip. “Don’t tempt fate, Tank. You’re a strong man, but you can’t do everything.”

“I mean it. Nothing is going to happen to my little girl. If I’d been home when Leigh—”

“You’re the one always talking about God. Are you such a big man that you can dictate to God how things are to be done? I was sitting right beside my sister begging for her life, and God took her anyway. He doesn’t always listen.”

Was she trying to make him mad? If so, she was doing a good job. He pulled his hand from her grasp. “I thought you came out here to comfort me.”

“I did, but you started making stupid statements. If anyone can save the girls, you can. And we’re going to do the best we can to find them.” She swept her hand toward the forest. “But this land is harsh and unforgiving. And God is the same way. Sometimes he yanks the thing we most love from us. And no one can alter that, not even you, Tank Lassiter.”

“I don’t want to hear it. I will save her, Haley. You’ll see. She’s out there waiting for me to find her.” He rose and stalked toward his tent. He kicked off his boots, then crawled inside his sleeping bag. Burrowing his head in his arms, he tried to sleep, but her words echoed in his head.
Sometimes he yanks the thing we most love from us.
Not in this case. He rolled over on the hard ground again.
Surrender, my son.
The gentle pressure came, but he resisted it. He curled his knees to his chest and tried to ignore God’s insistent impression on his heart.
Surrender.
He rolled to his stomach. For hours he wrestled with God. It was almost time to get up when he finally put Brooke in her Father’s hands.

What was that? Marley bolted upright. The blackness of the mine pressed in on her from all sides. She grappled in the darkness for her flashlight. The thin beam pushed back the edges of black, and she breathed easier. Next to her, Brooke enjoyed the sleep of the exhausted. Joy cried out in a nightmare. Marley was beyond exhaustion, but the mine frightened off her ability to sleep. It seemed to echo with the past. Was Leigh here too? She strained to see past the shadows.

She shone the light on the ceiling. It had been shored up with beams that looked half-rotten. It probably wasn’t safe in here, but it was even more unsafe outside where animals could get to them. At least in here, the mosquitoes only tasted them instead of devouring their flesh and leaving bare bones behind. She smiled at the macabre thought.

How were they going to get out of this situation? It was up to her to take care of Brooke now. She had to rise to the occasion. Somehow. But people would be looking for them. Surely, someone would find them tomorrow. She shone the light on her diamond wristwatch. The second hand wasn’t moving. The swim in the cold water must have ruined it. They should go back to the shore.

She stood and bumped her head on a rafter that was partially detached from the ceiling. It moved several inches, then a rumble started. Marley backed away, her pulse galloping like a grizzly in a full run. Debris began to rain down onto the dirt floor. She scooped up Brooke and shoved Joy back into a side drift. Then the world went dark.

Twenty-Six

T
ank leaned over to look down from the window. The sun was already halfway to its zenith, and there was no sign of the plane. Haley sat beside him, watching out the other side. Libby sat between them, which was a good thing, because he could feel the strain and figured Haley could as well.

“Wait, what is that?” Haley said suddenly. She leaned forward and tapped the pilot on the shoulder. “Go down. There’s something floating in the water.”

Tank could see it now. “This might be it!” He gripped the seat in front of him and watched as the plane swooped lower.

“I see a wing,” Haley called. Her voice quivered.

Tank’s stomach matched her voice. “Please, God,” he whispered.

Libby’s hand found his and squeezed. “A water landing might have saved them,” she murmured.

“Going in for a landing,” Chet said.

The other trooper grabbed the radio and told the other searchers where to join them. The plane dipped and bounced on the rough ground, then jolted to a stop. Tank exited the plane with Libby and Haley right behind him. Debris floated in the water. He looked frantically around for his daughter. There was no sign of her.

Haley’s hand gripped his arm, her nails digging into the flesh of his forearm. “Tank, look.” With the other hand she pointed to something floating among the weeds along the bank.

He inhaled sharply. A bloated body floated face-down in strands of dead vegetation.
It doesn’t mean Brooke
is dead.
He lunged toward the woods. He had to find her. Stumbling a little, Haley ran beside him. “Brooke!” he screamed. His boot toe hit a rock, and he sprawled onto the sloping riverbank. Barely aware of his fall, he sprang to his feet and began to run again, shouting his daughter’s name until he was hoarse. He ran the length of the sand, too frantic to look for signs or footprints. “Brooke, Brooke, my baby girl.” He had to find her. He’d give everything he owned—his job, his home, everything—to feel her small hands gripping his face.

He finally stopped when he was so spent he couldn’t run any longer. Hemmed in by trees, he wasn’t sure where he was. His face was wet. He wiped it with the back of his sleeve, then turned and realized Haley was still with him. She was crying too. He practically fell into her arms.

She held him tight. “It will be okay. We’ll find her. They’re not in the water, so they have to have made it.”

He pulled away, then pulled her into his arms. He kissed her with the desperation of a drowning man. She was the only solid thing in his life right now. The love that welled up surprised him. She kissed him back with a strength and passion that made him cling to her all the more. “I love you,” he murmured in a broken voice. “I don’t want to, but I do. Don’t leave me.”

“We’ll find them,” she said again. “Don’t say anything you don’t mean.”

Did she think it was fear talking? He started to explain, but a shout from over by the water stopped the words.

“Tank, the dogs have a scent.”

“Thank you, God, thank you,” he muttered. Clutching Haley by the hand, he pulled her with him toward the rest of the searchers. The dogs were milling around. Samson woofed and strained at his leash. “Let him go,” he said urgently.

Bree nodded and unclipped the leash. “Search, Samson,” she said. The dog took off with the rest. Even Oscar was in on the quest. His tiny tail wagging, he stayed on Samson’s heels.

Still hanging onto Haley, Tank followed Bree and Kade. The searchers fanned out as the dogs raced over the ground undulating with golden grasses. They seemed to be heading for the closest mountain. The dogs never deviated from their straight course right for the hill. Maybe Brooke, sweet Brooke, would be in his arms before his watch’s hands moved to ten o’clock.

He glanced back to see the other searchers dropping behind. Libby was trying to keep up, but Erika and Augusta were at the back of the pack. He faced forward and pressed on to reach his daughter.

The topography looked increasingly familiar to Haley. She told herself it couldn’t be the site of the old dig. It couldn’t. But the panic fluttered more and more madly in her chest as they neared the mountain. She’d come so far in facing her fears, her nightmares. God couldn’t be cruel enough to pit her against the one thing she couldn’t bear. She looked back at the rest of the group. She wanted her grandmother, but Augusta was back a good quarter of a mile.

Tank still had her fingers gripped tightly. She tried to pull away, but he seemed oblivious to her state of mind. She jerked her fingers free. “Go on, I’ll catch up.”

He glanced at her leg and nodded. “Hurry.” He took off again.

Haley rubbed her knee. The mad run across the uneven ground had taken its toll, but her real reason for lagging behind loomed in front of her. It was the place of her nightmares. She’d vowed never to come here again. Never. She stumbled to her knees and stared. The opening to the mine yawned like the mouth of hell.

Shuddering, she clutched her arms around her. Feeling as old as Augusta, she finally got to her feet. Forcing herself forward, she kept her gaze on the mouth of the mine. She reached the rest of the group in time to see Samson run to the opening. Barking, he dashed inside, but not so far she couldn’t still see his tail swishing. Tank ducked inside, but the sunshine still illuminated his broad back.

He uttered a frustrated shout. “It’s blocked! There’s been a cave-in.”

Haley stumbled and nearly fell again. “No,” she whispered. She moved forward in a dreamlike trance. Her sister was in there, not Chloe this time, but Joy. Though they’d barely had a chance to get to know one another, she loved the young girl already. Hard and fast, the memories slammed into her.

Tank turned and saw her. “What is it?”

Haley marshaled every ounce of courage she could find. She wasn’t the same little girl who had cowered in the dark twenty years ago. She’d learned to walk again with one leg, learned to take the hard knocks that came her way. She could do this. She had to do this. She met Tank’s gaze. “I know another way in.”

His face changed, and hope glimmered in his eyes. “Show me.”

She led the way around the side of the hill. Clambering over rocks and loose shale, she pulled shrubs and vegetation away from the opening. “This leads to the main drift.” She took off her backpack and stuffed her jacket inside.

“What are you doing?”

She felt frozen inside, terrified, but she continued to move toward the dark hole. “I know the mine. And it takes someone small. You’re too big to get through in many places. I might even be too big, but I have to try. Give me a flashlight.” He pressed a flashlight into her hands. “If we get stuck, I’ll read her book to her. It’s in my backpack.”

“You’re not getting stuck.” Tank gripped her shoulders. “I’ll never forget this, Haley. You be careful. I don’t want to lose you too.”

She stared into his face. “Pray, Tank.”

“I haven’t stopped.”

Huffing and puffing, Augusta reached them. Her gaze took in Haley with the flashlight, then wandered to the mine opening. “You’re not going in there.”

“I have to, Augusta. The other opening has caved in. I have to look for them.”

“You’re not strong enough to do this, Haley,” Augusta said quietly.

“I know, but I have to.” Haley closed her eyes and inhaled Augusta’s sweet scent. She pulled away. “I’m the only one who knows where the mine goes. It has to be me.” Fear contorted Augusta’s face. “I’ll be okay. Pray.”

“I will.”

“I can go,” Bree said. “Samson will lead me right to them.”