Page 27 of Eyes Like a Hurricane

“I’m going to be fine. We will get through this,” I say encouragingly, even though I can’t be sure my plan will work.

“One, two, three,” he counts off but doesn’t release my hand. I relax my grip and allow my hand to slip through his hold and out from his grasp.

“No!” he shouts. “Aislinn!”

“I’m okay, Lachlan. I have a strong hold on this root system. Off to my left, there appears to be an old rope ladder. I’m making my way over toward it as I descend,” I say to reassure him.

I slide on my hip toward the ladder, and although the rope is old and severely frayed, I use it to guide me through the brush. My boots slip each time I try to plant them, and it is severely tearing up my palms. My hands are stinging from the frayed rope cutting into them.

When my feet hit the ledge, I realize it hides an overhang to my left.

“Lachlan,” I call up to him. “It looks like there is something here, maybe a cave or something.”

“Aislinn, don’t go in there. If it’s a cave, there could be bears or mountain lions,” he shouts down with real trepidation filling his voice.

I take a hesitant step back and move closer to the ladder in case I need to try to climb up. I remove my phone from my back pocket and turn on the flashlight.

When the light hits the entrance, I gasp. I cup my hand to my mouth and shout up the slope, “Lachlan, I think I found something you are going to want to take a look at.”

Chapter 26

Lachlan

It's only been three minutes since Aislinn shouted to me, claiming to have discovered something under the overhang. I need to get down to her. She hasn’t said what she found. She only mentioned we may need the number for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

I get Hurricane properly tied to a tree next to Thunder, scolding myself for not tying her off before I got distracted. This entire ordeal could have been avoided if I had simply not gotten ahead of myself.

Time to call Noah. I sigh as I punch in his number and reach up to rub the back of my neck. I already miss the feeling of Aislinn's fingers twining through my hair.

On the second ring, Noah's voice comes across the line. “Hello?”

I clear my voice and say, “Hey, Noah? Are you still at the ranch?”

“Yeah, Boss, what’s up? Aren’t you supposed to be out on a romantic ride on Topaz Ridge?” he asks.

Sighing, I say, “I was on a romantic ride with Aislinn, and everything was perfect until Hurricane knocked into my shoulder, causing her to slip off the slope. Now Aislinn is on a ledge about fifteen to eighteen feet below the top of the ridge. I need rope to pull her up, but first I need to make my way down to her.”

He sucks in a sharp breath. “Are you both okay? Is she injured?”

I shake my head and let out a long breath. “No, she says she’s fine. A little scraped up from making her way down the slope, but she says she found something. She hasn’t told me what, just that the Montana Department of Environmental Quality might need to get involved.”

He gulps. “I’ll saddle up Lightning and make my way out there. Do we need Tucker, too?”

“No,” I say. “I just need some rope, and it’s starting to get dark. You better hurry.”

“On it,” he replies. “Be there in fifteen minutes.” Then he hangs up.

I pocket my phone and make my way toward the edge. I look down and see Aislinn standing on the ledge cradling her hands against her chest. When she sees me, she quickly places them on her hips.

Cupping my hands over my mouth, I call down, “Aislinn, I got a hold of Noah. He should be here in fifteen minutes. Because it’s getting dark, I think we should pull you up and come back tomorrow to take a closer look at what you found beneath the overhang. Can you describe it to me?”

She sighs. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s getting a bit dark, and I really want to get back to the ranch so I can take a warm shower. At least it’s a beautiful night, though I wish we were continuing what we started.” She clears her throat, then smiles at me. “Ithink this is an abandoned mine, Lachlan. Did you know of any mining that took place here?”

I shake my head and respond, “No, I don’t. This was my grandfather’s land on my mother’s side. He gave it to Ingrid and me in his will when he passed away around a decade ago. He never mentioned it while he was alive. At least not that I can remember, but I was just a teenager. I will definitely be asking my mom tomorrow. Maybe she knows more. Are you doing okay down there?”

I see the whites of her eyes looking up at me, and then a white smile glows in the low light.

She calls up, “I’m doing just fine, Lachlan. I’m getting pretty hungry, though. Any chance you have some food up there?”

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