Read The Second Sign for Free Online

him.
    “Are you sure? I don’t hear anything,” Jenna
     whispered, right before he stopped near a high ridge.
    “Gabby!” He dropped on all fours at the lip of the
     drop and peered inside, seeing movement and then her face.
    “Jake?” she called back, her voice cracked and
     dry.
    Squeezing the wet earth for purchase, letting the
     dirt sift through his clenched fingers, his heart raced with an
     urgent need to see her face and know that she was all right. “Are
     you hurt?”
    “No, but please hurry up. I think there’s something
     down here with me.”
    He’d hidden his climbing gear in the truck when his
     dad forced him to go to this godforsaken place. He’d been adamant
     about finding a mountain to jump off. “I’m going for my gear. I’ll
     be right back,” he called down.
    “Jake,” she called. “Don’t leave me alone,
     please.”
    The sound of her voice broke him.
    “I’ll get it,” Jenna said, and before he could say
     anything, she ran, fast.
    “I’m coming down.” He made to climb but stopped
     short at her frantic call.
    “No!”
    “It’s okay, Gabby. I’ve done this before, remember?”
     The ground was wet, the rim of the hole filled with mossy patches
     and weeds. There was nothing to hold on to and he could see where
     she had dug her nails and ripped vines to try to get a hold. “Move
     out of the way in case I fall.”
    “Don’t fall!” she called. “But hurry.”
    Something in her voice unnerved him. With no place
     he could secure his weight, he decided it best he fell on purpose
     rather than an accident. “I’m coming down fast, move out of the
     way.”
    With nothing but air between him and the ground, he
     dropped and rolled deeper into the chamber to lessen the impact. He
     didn’t have time to speak when she flung herself at him, wrapping
     her arms around his neck. She shivered uncontrollably, and her
     heart pounded against his chest through the fabric of clothing. Her
     breath came in deep gasps.
    “There’s something dead here with us,” she whispered
     in his ear.
    Relief spread through him at her touch, causing him
     to hold her tighter. Scanning the small chamber, he found what she
     was referring to. “It’s okay, look. It’s some kind of dead
     animal.”
    “No,” she said into his shoulder. “It’s a man. A
     black man.”
    A black man? He pulled her away so she had to
     look at him. “Gabby, look. It’s an animal.” He led her gaze to the
     carcass on the ground. It didn’t look anything like a human, let
     alone a black man. She shuddered again but didn’t make to hold on
     to him again, and he regretted the empty space between them.
    A deep sigh escaped her lips as she wiped her hair
     out of her eyes. “I’m a mess.” She gave him a halfhearted
     smile.
    He sniffed. “Yeah, you stink,” he said, forcing her
     to laugh and feeling heat rise through him. He’d never heard of an
     attraction at first sight, but he had it bad. He loved the feel of
     her close to him, her cold against his heat. He loved the sound of
     her voice, the shape of her lips, and the color of her eyes. He
     shook the reaction away and stepped back.
    “Hey, you guys want me to leave?”
    “No!” Gabby called up before Jake could say yes.
    Jenna threw a rope into the hole.
    “I’ll go up first and—”
    “No, I don’t want to be here alone.” Gabby took the
     rope. “I can climb, just don’t...” She paused, her face turning
     pink even in the dark. “Don’t look up.”
    Her muscles tightened under the strain as she pulled
     herself up. The rope had been knotted in even intervals and she
     used it for purchase. She didn’t need him to lift her up. She was
     strong enough to do it herself. Once she reached the lip of the
     ridge, he climbed.
    “Thanks,” Gabby said sheepishly before turning back
     toward her house.
    Jenna shrugged at Jake and they followed.
    “I just have to jump in the shower,” she said over
     her shoulder as they reached