Carlise was relieved she was safe from being shot again . . . but only for a moment. Then guilt swamped her. Susie had been outside in the direct path of an avalanche.
There was a chance she’d survived. Carlise read about people living through them all the time. But without anyone around to dig her out, her friend was likely gone.
Dead.
The reality of her own situation hit Carlise. She might have been safe from the path of the slide, but she was underground. The avalanche had surely buried the entrance to the bunker. And it wasn’t as if she had any provisions down here. The metal shelves were empty.
She’d been buried alive just as surely as Susie.
A whimper left Carlise’s lips before she could control it. She backed up until she was leaning against the wall of the bunker but cried out in pain the second her shoulder touched the surface. Not only was she buried, but she’d been shot, the hole for air had been covered, and Riggs would find that damn letter and think she’d left him!
Taking a deep breath before panic could overwhelm her, Carlise shook her head.
No. There were cameras. Susie’s car was still parked in front of the cabin. With her bags inside and probably both doors still open. And she had no doubt Baxter was still going insane in the bathroom, probably trying to scratch and bite his way out.
Riggs would try to find her. She knew it.
The only question was . . . how the hell would he do so? How deep was the snow above her head? Would he even search so far away from the cabin? Would he assume she’d been buried while running? Even if he did think to check the bunker, how would he find it with all the snow covering everything? With the door buried beneath so much debris?
The odds of her being found before she starved to death or suffocated were slim to none.
A tear rolled down Carlise’s cheek. She’d finally found the man of her dreams, only to be ripped away from him in the cruelest way imaginable.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. Her words seemed to echo around the metal box. Now that the avalanche had stopped, everything was quiet. Too quiet.
“I’m here, Riggs,” she said out loud. Hearing her own voice was preferable to the oppressive and scary silence. “I’m here.”
Carlise pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, trying to ignore the pain in her shoulder. That was the least of her worries at the moment. Her head dropped to rest on her knees, and she let go of the tears she’d desperately been holding back.
Chapter Fifteen
Chappy frowned as he pulled down his drive. A vehicle, with both front doors standing wide open, was parked haphazardly in front of the cabin, but he could see no one inside.
Who the hell was here, and why were the doors open?
He noticed the Maine license plate, but he didn’t know anyone who drove a RAV4. He immediately went on alert. Ever aware that Carlise had a stalker, he reached into the glove box of his Jeep and pulled out the weapon he carried with him in case he came across a random bear or moose who wasn’t inclined to give him some space.
Walking quickly, Chappy headed for the RAV4—but a familiar sound stopped him in his tracks.
He’d only heard an avalanche once, but the deafening noise had been imprinted on his brain. It sounded like distant thunder, and the closer the hundreds of tons of snow and rocks got, the louder the thunder became.
Every muscle in his body tense, Chappy stared in the direction of Baldpate Mountain. His cabin was out of the slide zone. His brain knew that, but he still fought his body’s instinct to run.
The avalanche sounded close. Really close.
Chappy forced himself to skirt around the SUV and up the stairs to the cabin. Even if there was a slide happening right that moment, he was safe. He wanted to reassure Carlise that they were fine right where they were. That he’d done the research and made sure his cabin would be clear from any slides that might happen.
But the second he opened the door, Chappy knew she wasn’t there. Wasn’t just in the bathroom. There was an empty feel to the cabin that had previously been filled by Carlise’s presence. She’d brought light and love to his world and into this home away from home. Both seemed notably absent now.
Then another sound, coming from the bathroom, had his heart in his throat.
Baxter, growling in a vicious way he’d never heard from the skittish dog before.
He opened the bathroom door, expecting to see Carlise, but only Baxter flew out of the room. The dog ran around the room, his nose to the ground, before he went to the door and barked loudly, over and over.
The dread Chappy felt was almost overwhelming.