As the men raced to their cars, Rick told his wife to pass her watch back to Robin, fearing he would lose contact with them if the minerals in the cave caused any more interference.
"Honey, you take the transmitter, I'm going to climb onto the chair and see if I can't loosen these rocks." Laurie told Robin. As she handed her the watch, her daughter caught her fingers in hers. "Mama, I love you, I know I don't always get the chance to tell you, but I do."
Laurie fought back tears as she squeezed Robin's hand. "I know you do, sweet. I love you so much, you give me joy everyday. We're going to be okay, your father and uncle and Ron and Abby will be here soon. And probably your brother too, if only to yell at us for coming out in this weather."
"Oh, Mama, it wasn't bad when we came!" Robin chuckled, then Rex yawned in her face.
"Ew! Rex, you have doggie breath!" Seemingly proud of himself, the exuberant dog promptly licked her face then tried to wriggle down from her arms.
"No you don't, Rex. Stay!" Robin ordered, fearful Rex would get hurt or lost. Laurie saw her dilemma and spoke to her pet. "Rex, stay here, little guy."
Whimpering, Rex nosed around for his mistress, then barked as Robin lifted him up to see her through the opening. Leaning out to see him, Laurie found that her work on the stones imprisoning her had finally loosened them so she was able to make the hole bigger.
"Mama, I think you can get out now, can you try?" Robin said anxiously, seeing the rain starting to fall again.
Laurie pulled at one more rock, then leaned through the opening. "No honey, I need to get rid of another row of rocks, here, maybe this will help." Laurie took off her jacket, and handed it to Robin. Trying again, she got halfway out, then felt herself getting stuck, and managed to back into the cave.
"I'll have to wait, Robin. They'll be here soon." Laurie reassured her daughter, then shone the flashlight onto the cave floor. The water was partially covering the legs of the chair she stood on.
"Hurry, please darling." She "called" desperately, then was heartened to hear Rick "answer", "I'm almost there, darlin'."
As they neared the old reservation road leading to Eagle Peak, Rick felt the relief in his wife's thoughts from his answer.
"Rick, is it Laurie?" A.J. looked at him, then let out a breath as Rick nodded. "The conditions are getting worse there, A.J.. Did you reach Rob?"
"Yes, he and the Chief are meeting us up ahead, there, see?" His brother indicated the Sheriff's cruiser ahead of them, just pulling off the main highway. He was glad to see them, he'd been unable to reach either Rudy Wells or Oscar Goldman, but A.J. had called Linda and she promised to keep trying.
Just then Rick spotted another car turning off, then A.J.'s watch beeped.
"Uncle A.J.?" Robbie's voice came through the crackling static, then Rick almost slammed to a halt as a flash of lightening ricocheted off the sky then struck the nearby hills. As a deluge of rain hit the area, smoke appeared in the distance, and both men blanched.
"That's coming from Eagle Point!" Rick said, as Robbie echoed his fear. "Pop, that's near where Mom and Robin are."
Another voice spoke in the background, and the two brothers realized Ian was with Robbie.
"Dad, are they all right?"
Rick heard the worry in his son-in-law's tone. "Son, Robin has a hurt ankle, but she's all right otherwise. You two stay in our tracks, we don't want anyone getting stuck in the mud."
As they drove into the hills, Rick "called" to his wife again. "We're coming, Laurie."
"Robin, your father's almost here." She told her happily, then leaned out and petted Rex's head.
Suddenly another crack of thunder sounded, and Laurie looked up and saw the lip of the overhang catch fire, then start crumbling.
"Robin, get away from here, against the canyon wall, quick!" she yelled, then watched as Robin obeyed and painfully limping, crossed the small path between the rock walls. A moment later several large stones fell where her daughter had just stood. She held her breath, praying that the rocks wouldn't block the cave entrance any more, but the roof held.
"Honey, are you all right?" Laurie called, then was thankful to hear Robin's steady reply. "I'm okay, Mama. Thanks…. how did you know it was coming down?"
"The thunder, sweet, it's weakened the whole place." Laurie explained. She shivered as she spoke, the damp and wet seeping into her thin shirt and pants. As the rain got harder, the fire went out, relieving her worries about that. She heard Rick in her thoughts again, and she 'answered". "Rick, it's all right, the fire's out."
Casting about for something to take their minds off the dangerous situation, Laurie was surprised when Robin asked, "Mama, what did Kasey do after she found out, you know, after the reading of the will?"
"About her father? Well, for one thing Grandmother found out the secret of her father's identity was known to more then the family lawyer."
"As the others filed out of the room, Mamacita stared at me, and I tried to smile at her.
"Kasey, chichita, I told your father to tell you many times, but he wanted to wait for the right moment."
"I figured as much, Mamacita. It doesn't change anything, though, I still love him. But, I'm never going to speak to my mother again….she cheated me out of my father when I needed him."
My anger started to flare up, then I managed to calm down. Mr. Robertson came over to me just then.
"I'm going to need your signature, Miss Kasey, then it will take three days for the bequests all to be legalized."
"Of course, Mr. Robertson." I nodded, then reviewed the paperwork before I signed my name..
Shaking the older man's hand, I watched the others leave, then heard Gene in back of me.
"Here's your coat, Kasey." Gene stood next to me, then insisted on putting it on for me.
His touch seemed to drain all the anger out of me. "Thank you, Gene. Why don't you go on home, I can go over to the office early." I offered, only to see him shake his head.
"No, Kasey. I don't want to see you working on an empty stomach. Come on, I'll buy you dinner at the hotel."
Surprised, I started to excuse myself, only to find Gene propelling me out of the office and down the street. I didn't know what to make of his invitation, except perhaps he felt sorry for me, or maybe had to talk over the transfer of the land….
No, it wasn't that, it wasn't like Gene to do that.
Once we reached the hotel, the mouth-watering smell from the kitchen woke my appetite, and I couldn't help an anticipatory grin as Gene ordered steak and baked potato for both of us.
After our dinners were served, I started to eat, only to see Gene looking at me, an apologetic expression on his face. "Kasey, I owe you an apology."
I was dumbfounded. "Apology? Gene, you've done nothing wrong. In fact you…you're the one who has helped me the most through this awful time. Your confidence in my ability…I can't tell you what it means."
He pushed his steak around his plate for a moment. "That's nice of you to say, but Kasey, I thought you knew that Bob was your dad, I was sure you were a spoiled girl who was ashamed of her parentage. When you came here last month…. I couldn't make out why you didn't cry or refer to him as your father. Then I figured out you really didn't know the truth." Gene explained.
Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, I hung on to my composure. "I don't know what to say, I mean, there was no way I'd be ashamed of my father, or of the fact he chose to give me some kind of a normal life at the cost of his own happiness." Abruptly the hard-won battle with my emotions started to give way. I put my napkin down on my plate.
"Gene, I'm not very hungry right now. If you would excuse me…" my face felt frozen as I got up, then quickly made my way through the dining room and out of the hotel.
I strode purposefully toward the office, only to find myself veering toward the church, and beyond it, the graveyard. I picked my way through the tombstones until I stopped at my uncle's, I mean, my father's grave.
Looking at the inscription on his plaque, at once a terrible, choking sob erupted from me…"Father. I'm sorry, I can't hold it in any longer, I can't be brave anymore…I'm sorry… I'm trying…."
Sinking to my knees, I covered my face with my hands, then a strong arm was around my shoulders, and I buried my face in Gene's chest.
"It's all right, Kasey. It's okay to let go." His voice soothed me. After a few moments, I managed to stop crying and accept the plain white handkerchief that he handed me.
"Thank you, Gene." I cleared my throat, then wiped my eyes. As he helped me to stand, I raised my eyes to his. "I want to make him proud, he always believed in me."
"You're right, but I have to be honest, Bob was scared to death something would happen to you, I promised him I'd never send you out on duty if it was too risky." Gene held his hand up as I started to protest.
"I know now you can handle anything that's thrown at you. You've earned your job these last weeks."
I smiled, this was high praise indeed. "Thank you, Gene. And, about before, I know you were only looking out for my father's interests. Thank you for being his friend."
"He and Chief Redfern were the first ones to support me, I could do no less." He said, then quietly walked with me to the Sheriff's office.
And now he was doing the same for me. For the first time in a month, I felt like I could hold my own. All I needed was to know I wasn't alone.
Laurie paused as the sound of thunder rumbled through the canyon. Suddenly Robin cried out, "I hear voices! We're over here!"