Still connected with Red Crow, he filled the horse’s mind with images of Ella, hoping that would keep the beast going in the correct direction, one that would bring him to the woman herself. He looked around, saw the same scenery, those same peaks he had when he’d done that mind meld trick.
Up… up… up they went….
The higher they went, the more separated Tiernan felt from the reality of where they were. Drifting rudderless, he swore he could feel Ella, could almost hear her calling his name.
He closed his eyes.
Ella? Are you there?
Suddenly feeling lost in a vacuum, Tiernan panicked and, his heart thumping, flashed open his eyes. Red Crow stopped as if waiting for directions. Where to go? Nothing but trees and brush and rock around.
And the mine.
Tiernan sat there for a moment, staring at the entrance, seeking the link with Ella that had been faint but was now lost. He had to find it again. Had to find her.
Closing his eyes, he freed his mind, sent it searching. He had no focus, no direction. He was testing something intangible. Trusting that others saw in him some truth he did not even know he possessed, he gave himself up to a hope he’d never before had.
He was seeking an indefinable connection that would bring Ella and him together in the most intimate way of all, only as those who loved each other could do.
He couldn’t lose her, not now. He had to fight for her in any way he could.
Ella, are you there?
No response. His pulse threaded unevenly as he tried again.
Ella, where are you?
Still nothing. Tiernan forced his mind to reach further than ever before….
And then he felt her.
Ella!
Find me, Tiernan, before it’s too late!
Where are you?
Open your mind and you’ll see….
Tiernan was more than willing to do as Ella asked. At least he hoped it was Ella. Hoped he hadn’t fabricated her voice because he needed to hear it. He wanted to open his mind as she asked, only he didn’t know how.
Dismounting, he fastened the reins around a bush branch and moved toward the mine entrance. At the mouth, he went inside and touched the tunnel walls. Then he closed his eyes and tried to get from the inanimate rock what he’d gotten from the very much alive Red Crow. He’d never tried this before, didn’t know if it would work, but he sensed Ella had been here.
Ella and someone else, someone intent on evil.
After taking a good look down the tunnel as far as the light went, he closed his eyes.
Rock cool against his palms, Tiernan concentrated on the tunnel itself, attempting to link himself to any lingering memory here—hoping it would give him a road map that could lead him to his woman. He moved slowly, through light into shadow and crossed over into the dark. He imagined Ella doing the same.
His inner vision was suddenly lit with a weird bluish glow.
Light from a cell phone?
Must be.
Ella! he called, mentally beseeching her to appear so that he could be certain.
He followed the light through a maze of tunnels, keeping track of every twist and turn of direction. Feeling the earth’s power like an invisible pull, he let it draw him into the deep reaches of the mine. Suddenly he paused at another split, unsure of which route to take.
Which way, Ella, which way?
An invisible hand drew him to the left. He entered cautiously, anticipation jackhammering through him. He felt her. She was close. Had to be. The glow shone around the cavern to a thready glint on the far wall. But as he moved to it, something made him stop and refocus downward.
She lay arched in a soft bow, her hands and feet behind her. Groggily, she opened her eyes and he bent down to release her. She shook her head.
Hurry… find me… or it’ll be too late….
It cannot be. I am responsible for this.
No! she cried.
I love you. I should have—
And I love you, Tiernan. Fight for me!
The vision fading, Tiernan gasped and his eyes flew open. First, he would have to find her. Nathan had been right. He’d just had some kind of out-of-body journey.
Before forgetting one minutiae of the vision, he ran back to the horse, calling Kate on his cell as he did so. Listening to her voice-mail message, he pulled a flashlight and a first-aid kit from the saddle bag. Attaching them to his belt, he left an S.O.S.—surely Kate would check her messages in time.
“Kate, I need backup and fast! I’m at the old mine on the reservation, the entrance the movie company is going to blow up. Ella is in there. I have to get to her!”
As he flipped the cell closed, he was already hurrying to the mine entrance and praying he wouldn’t be too late to save Ella.
Tick-tock.
How long did he have?
***
Thoroughly depleted, Ella lay there with the cold shutting down first her body, then her mind, praying with everything she had left that Tiernan could find her. He was so close she could almost feel him.
If he didn’t find her soon, he would be too late. The cold beckoned sleep, and she was having a difficult time fighting to stay awake. Some part of her heard Tiernan calling her with renewed urgency, but rescue seemed so elusive.
Leonard—where was he? She hadn’t heard him hack away at the ore in the tunnel in a while. For all she knew, he could have walked right by her and left the mine. Or gotten lost in it.
Something in her wanted to laugh at the thought. How would Leonard Hawkins feel if he were to be forever trapped in the mine that gave him his money and power?
What irony that would be.
Footsteps, faint at first, then louder, warned her someone drew near. She shook her head to clear it and bit the inside of her lip to wake herself.
“Ella!”
The sound of his voice rushed toward her along with a light so bright it at first hurt her eyes. Her chest opened, allowing her to breathe again, and she felt as if her heart were exposed.
“Tiernan!”
“I have you now,” he said, pulling the knife from the sheath at his waist and reaching over her to get at the rope binding her feet to her hands.
A sharp tug from him and suddenly she was half-freed, able to lower her legs. What she could still feel of them. Then he was cutting away the ties securing her wrists—she felt the rope fall away from them—and then he freed her feet.
Tiernan’s hands on her as he helped her into a sitting position had never felt so good. Somehow, she threw her half-lifeless arms around his neck.
“I can’t believe you found me, Tiernan. I thought this was the end of me.”
“What makes you think it isn’t?”
The caustic question echoed from somewhere behind them. Even as Tiernan lifted her onto her feet, Ella glanced back to see Leonard coming down the tunnel toward them. He was still far enough away that they could escape. They had to after the way she and Tiernan had finally connected. They couldn’t lose each other now!
“We have to get out of here,” she choked out, her throat as dry as parchment.
Her limbs were still stiff and unmanageable, so Tiernan half carried her back the way he’d come. His very touch filled her with longing. And with hope that they would get out of this alive and together.
“You don’t think I’ll let you leave so easily,” came the warning from much closer behind them.
Ella glanced back but this time there was no light. Leonard had been wandering these tunnels for decades, so he could no doubt navigate them in the dark. He could be right behind them and they wouldn’t know it until it was too late.