Free Over the Edge by Mary Connealy Page A

he doing so far from the ocean? How did it get in here? How did any fish get in this deep? If it’s a shark, that’s interesting in itself. But any fish is very interesting.”
    “In one piece, too. No one was eating this fish for dinner.” Rafe turned from the fossil and smiled at her. Gracious in admitting he’d been wrong. If she hadn’t already been deeply in love with her husband, she’d have fallen right then.
    “It had to swim up there.” Her voice rose with the excitement and echoed back at her. “This cavern had to be full of water, up this high. How could that have happened?”
    “Noah’s flood. This is what’s got you so excited. To write about floodwaters so high that they must have covered the whole earth.”
    “I believe God led me here, to this place, to the cavern, to write about that fossil.”
    “I can’t look at that fish up there and not take you seriously.”
    Which was somewhat insulting—that he hadn’t taken her seriously without proof, but Julia didn’t let it bother her.
    “And named after the discoverers?”
    A light laugh echoed in the chamber. “I’m not going to insist they name it a Julia-fish-osaurus .”
    “I am.” Rafe leaned down and kissed her soundly on the lips. “This is your discovery. I’ll help you however you need me to, to get your papers written, to explore more, to get more things mailed off. I wonder if Seth or Ethan can draw worth a lick.”
    “I could try and chisel the fossil out of the wall, but where it is here is as important as what it is. Let me show you something.” Julia pulled out a sheet of paper and went to the fish fossil and laid it over the fish’s head. With her pencil she began drawing back and forth covering the paper, rubbing the skeleton’s shape into it.
    When she finished, Rafe looked closely at her rubbing, and the attention he was paying warmed her heart.
    “Are there more fish fossils?”
    Nodding, Julia said, “There is so much more, Rafe. I could write about the wonders of this one cave room for a year. I’ve already started a book. Can you see how exploring down here could last me a lifetime?”
    “I can indeed. Now show me the rest.” He switched his lantern to his left hand and reached out his right to her. She took it and pulled him between the stalagmites and fossils, talking as they went.
    Julia smiled. “Thank you.”
    She tugged on his hand until he turned to face her. She stretched onto her toes to kiss him. His strong hand sliding around her waist drove out the shivers and the dark imaginings. “I love you, Rafe Kincaid. Thank you for understanding about this cavern.”
    “I think the cavern is finally safe. We’ll be careful in unexplored caverns, in case the floors might be thin, but the rest of it is finally safe. No half-blind tracker thinking he can force some secret about treasure from you.”
    “A secret treasure I know nothing about.” Julia wondered what fortune her father had taken and where he’d hidden it.
    “No wandering, confused brother to scare us all to death.”
    “Well, except he’s still confused and he’s wandering right now.”
    “But not in the cavern,” Rafe pointed out.
    “No outlaws to threaten Audra.” The outlaws had mentioned a boss, but Julia didn’t remind Rafe of that.
    “Now all we need is to get someone who can draw.” Rafe’s brow furrowed.
    “We’ll worry about that later. Let’s go home. It’s suppertime.”
    They walked out together, and Julia caught herself grinning to realize that the cavern was in fact safe now.

    “Jasper, wake up.” “Jasper, wake up.”
    The jab in Jasper’s ribs sent him grabbing for the knife. It wasn’t there, so he attacked and had things under control before he was fully awake.
    And looked down to see his wife glaring at him—with his hands wrapped around her throat.
    He shook his head to clear it of the lingering nightmares and let her go.
    “You want to go after your money, then go. I can tell it’s making you