Read Time Everlastin' Book 5 for Free Online

the
direction she indicated, and took long strides to where the second
pack lay. Although it had taken Flan and Gil to carry it, the
stranger hoisted it onto his back without effort. He swung himself
onto the horse's bare back and settled the duffle bag in front of
him.
    "Fàg!" he bellowed, pointing toward the inn. Leave!
    Her heart pounding at the
base of her throat, Taryn watched the galloping horse carry him to
the far end of the chasm. Both man and beast turned in her
direction then descended, the sound of hooves striking stone
echoing with disquieting finality. A moment of stark silence
followed, shattered by guttural tremors when the ground came
together and sealed.
    Taryn wasn't sure how long
she waited. Her senses were super-sensitized. Painfully
super-sensitized. She tried to think of something humorous to
wrench her from the stupor keeping her atop the knapsack. It was
futile. The reporter Taryn was determined to answer the questions
reformulating in her mind.
    What else are the
Watchdog-MacLachlans hiding below? Treasure? More Neanderthal clan
members?
    How did the ground open and
close so quickly?
    She hadn't detected the
sound of hydraulics. Certainly an opening that big required massive
equipment.
    Her gaze traveled in the
direction of the inn. If she returned, there was no way she could
hide the fact she had left the establishment.
    How desperate are the
inhabitants to keep their secret?
    Desperate enough to
kill?
    Dragging herself to her
feet, she lifted the knapsack and trudged along the border where
the chasm had been moments ago. Perhaps ten feet from where she
believed the man had ridden downward, she encountered a rock with a
flat surface, roughly eighteen inches high. Sitting, she laid the
knapsack across her lap and draped herself over it. She was beyond
exhaustion and yet her mind wouldn't slow its reeling
pace.
    A vibration beneath her rib
cage wrenched a startled cry from her, and she sat up, staring at
the pack as if convinced it would come alive and swallow her
up.
    "Damn," she gasped, and
unzipped one of the smaller sections. She fished for the pager and
found it. Its harsh vibrations ceased when she depressed a tiny
button. Green luminous numbers were displayed across the narrow
strip at the top.
    Her boss. Again.
    Idiot! Doesn’t he realize
the time difference?
    An urge to cry overwhelmed
her, but she forced it back, refusing to allow any weakness to take
control. She testily cleared the message and set the pager next to
her on the rock. When a fierce shiver coursed through her, she
muttered under her breath and scanned the surrounding desolation.
The rain continued its steady downpour, obstructing the range of
her vision. She didn't need to see far to fully grasp her
predicament. Her options were zilch at the moment. Unless she
returned to the inn and changed into warm, dry clothing, she would
end up in a hospital—or worse yet, under the care of the
Watchdog-MacLachlans.
    "Who are you?" she murmured,
squinting off into space.
    Her gaze lowered to the
ground stretched out in front of her. With the standing stones
increasing in height toward the central menhir, the area between
them did resemble a runway.
    Frowning, she worried her
lower lip. The stranger had vanished below ground. A chasm had
opened and closed. Was the secret the Watchdog-MacLachlans were
protecting, connected to some subterranean society?
    Now, wouldn't that be a
kick.
    She had gone to a good deal
of trouble to garner information on Broc MacLachlan and Ciarda
Baird—more time than she had spent researching her ancestor Robert
Ingliss-Baird.
    She glanced at her knapsack
and made a rueful face.
    What would a dirk with runes
and carved gargoyle faces have to do with that man and a
subterranean chamber?
    A sacrificial dagger?
Hmmmm.
    "I'm not leaving without my
answers," she vowed, a tremor in her tone.
    She was about to unzip the
sack and remove the dirk when her pager went off, the vibrations
particularly obnoxious against