CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

DIANA SHERIDAN

Captives in a Cave

Copyright © 2015

Published by Dark Hollows Press

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Captives in a Cave

Copyright © 2015 Diana Sheridan

ISBN 10: 1942176546

ISBN 13: 978-1-942176-54-1

Author: Diana Sheridan

Editor: Ashley Kain

Original Publication Date: January 2015

All cover art and logo copyright © 2014 by Dark Hollows Press

Cover design by

3 Rusted Spoons

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in

any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or

in part, without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons

living or dead is strictly coincidental.

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

1

Cooper stood up from the uncomfortable leather chair, stretched his burly frame, and

strode to the windows that encircled the ranger tower. From that vantage point he could see

any telltale tendrils of smoke that might signal a forest fire. Fortunately, however, as he

circled the tower and peered out the windows that Saturday, he saw nothing disturbing.

A group of men and women carrying picnic gear trudged past the ranger station,

laughing and back-slapping. Cooper frowned. Don’t leave your trash in my pristine forest,

was the thought he directed toward them.

He noted which direction they were going in. When Travis came along later, Cooper

would be sure to guide him to a different part of the forest. He didn’t want any unexpected

encounters—even if they didn’t make love in a secluded part of the forest this afternoon, as

they did often but not on every date. And Travis might not feel like making love after Cooper

had had his say.

Cooper had a heavy message to deliver that afternoon.

Cooper dropped back into the leather chair and swiveled it toward the small-screen TV at

the left of the desk. Although he didn’t watch TV very often at home, he found it a welcome

companion during his work shifts when he was manning the tower, not patrolling the woods,

and not keeping his eyes on something troublesome. Cable was not an option here in the

woods, nor was the ranger station equipped with a dish, but he could reliably tune in a

number of channels from the nearest town, one of which was heavily into news.

Cooper, who was something of a news junkie, subscribed to both the local newspaper

and the New York Times, and when he did watch TV at home, he most frequently tuned in to

CNN. He also frequented news sites on his computer. So he was pleased to realize he was

just in time for the noon news broadcast on the local channel that catered to folks like him.

The lead story had to do with a scandal involving a school custodian caught taking

upskirt photos of female students with a hidden camera in the girls’ room. But it was the

second story that captured Coop’s attention. It was all about denaria.

Denaria was the name that had been given to a new type of precious stone that had been

discovered by some explorer-entrepreneur types. Brilliant seafoam in color, with the sparkle

of a fiery diamond, denaria—the same word was used for both the singular and the plural—

were far rarer than kept promises and far more coveted than four leaf clover wishes.

Scientists had examined examples of denaria and declared them absolutely not

manmade. They were the real deal—a new type of gemstone with a potential worth that

might even exceed that of diamonds. But where did they come from? Their purveyor, a

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

2

fellow named Ben Manton, was totally close-lipped about the source. The only thing he

would say was that he had mined them and was claiming all rights to what he had found.

Cooper was totally caught up in the story. So when the second story of the noon

newscast had to do with denaria, he perked up, sat forward, and paid attention. Where in the

world did the denaria come from? And wouldn’t he love to own one.

The mysterious stones had been front-page news in the paper four days out of the last

seven, and Cooper, even though he wasn’t a jewelry hound, was fascinated by the story and

the stones to the extent that he coveted one. Even more than that, though, he wished he knew

the origin of the stones and the story behind them. An avid mystery reader, he felt intensely

drawn into this real-life mystery.

The newscast broke for a commercial, and when the show resumed, the next story was

about a damaging fire in the Willow Heights section that had leveled three houses. Coop

shuddered. Willow Heights wasn’t far from the northern edge of the forest. Suppose the wind

had fanned the flames in the direction of the trees. Fire was the forest’s worst enemy, and one

of Cooper’s biggest worries. Although most forest fires were caused by either lightning

strikes or careless hikers, Coop worried about freak incidents like a house fire spreading.

With careless hikers still on his mind, when the newscast was over, Coop switched off

the TV and descended from the tower to patrol the forest for a bit. Setting out in a westerly

direction, he almost immediately encountered a young couple sitting on a fallen log, snuggled

up together. For a second, their physical closeness to each other reminded him of himself and

Travis. The thought brought a shadow to his day. But almost immediately he noticed the

cigarette in the man’s hand. The man was carelessly flicking the ashes onto the ground

below, heedless of the dry leaves that could readily spark if a live ember touched them.

Cooper approached the couple. “I hate to put a damper on your enjoyment,” he began

tactfully, “but please stop and think about your actions. You’re endangering the forest with

your cigarette.”

“Who are you—Smokey the Bear?” the man snarled.

“You could say I’m a good friend of his,” Coop responded, trying to keep it light. “I’m a

forest ranger, and forest fires are our biggest concern.” He ran his fingers through his reddish-

brown goatee, as he often did when he was debating what to do about a situation.

“Well, go buzz off in your little fire truck and leave us alone, why don’t you? Me and my

girl would like a little privacy.”

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

3

“The animals who live here and I would like a little safety,” Cooper said in a low voice,

trying to keep things peaceful. “If you want there to still be a forest for you to enjoy your

privacy in, take care with those cigarettes. That’s all I’m asking.”

The man started to get up as if looking to escalate the confrontation. His girlfriend held

him back. Cooper slowly pivoted around and walked away from the couple. He checked his

watch. Twelve-forty. He wasn’t due to meet up with Travis until two.

He continued patrolling the area, but all was peaceful. At one-thirty he returned to the

ranger tower, availed himself of the bathroom and spruced up a bit, running a comb through

his coppery-brown hair, and thought yet again about what he planned to say to Travis. No

matter how he phrased it, Travis wasn’t going to like it. Cooper sighed deeply.

At one forty-five he descended the steps once again and strode off toward their usual

meeting place, only to find a youth group of some sort on a nature expedition right in the

clearing where he and Travis always got together. Oh great! Coop thought. While the forest

ranger in him was glad to see young people being educated in nature and taking advantage of

the forest, the lover in him regretted this intrusion.

Promptly at two, a crackling in the underbrush signaled the approach of Travis. With the

kids nearby, the two men refrained from kissing each other in greeting, opting to head deeper

into the woods and an area even Cooper was not as familiar with. At last they reached another

clearing, near to a cave with a low entrance that didn’t look very welcoming. “Here’s a big

rock we can sit on,” Coop suggested, planting his butt on a semi-flat boulder.

Travis lowered himself next to Coop and finally turned to collect a kiss. His shaggy dark

hair framed his appealingly craggy face, and he smiled beneath his bushy moustache. As their

mouths met, their lips parted and their tongues started a very different sort of fire than the

ones that concerned ranger Cooper. Travis clamped one of Coop’s shoulders with his strong

paw of a hand, pulling his upper body tightly to him. Cooper responded in kind, locking a

hand on Travis’s shoulder and holding him tight in his grasp.

“Been too long,” Travis muttered thickly, disengaging his mouth from Cooper’s so he

could first take a breath and then speak.

“We were supposed to get together on Tuesday,” Cooper reminded Travis, an accusatory

tone in his voice.

“I couldn’t help it!” Travis’s voice was one pitch away from a whine. “Amelia was sick

and stayed home from work. I couldn’t get out of the house. She might have asked

questions.”

“You could have told her you had to see a client,” Cooper said evenly. “Couldn’t you?”

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

4

“Too risky.”

Cooper turned to face Travis head-on. “That’s the trouble with this relationship,” he said

in measured tones. “Everything is too much of a risk for you. You tell me you love me. You

tell me you want to be with me always. But you won’t leave Amelia and you won’t risk the

chance of Amelia finding out about us. We can’t get together at your house, and you won’t

even come to my house very often for fear of someone seeing you coming in or leaving, or

seeing your car parked in my driveway.

“The last time I got you to come over, you parked three blocks away and then practically

freaked out the whole time you were walking over. You were a nervous wreck by the time

you got to my door. And when that salesman rang the doorbell, you literally hid in the closet!

This is no way to have a relationship.

“I’m calling it quits,” he finished abruptly. “I’m gay and I’m out. I stopped hiding over a

decade ago, pretending I was something I’m not. Everything was fine till last year. Then I

made the mistake of falling in love with a man who’s married and passing as straight, but

mistakes can be undone, and I’m undoing this one here and now.

“I love you, Travis. I really do. But I want more out of a relationship than this. This isn’t

a proper relationship. This is a furtive affair. I need more.”

“But, Coop, babe—”

“No buts,” Cooper cut him off. “Unless you were about to say, ‘But Coop, babe, I filed

divorce papers this morning’?”

Travis shook his head ruefully. “I can’t.”

“You said you don’t love Amelia anymore,” Cooper reminded him.

“I’m a respected member of the community, a member of several civic clubs—hell, you

know all this. Why can’t you understand?” Travis’s voice was a true whine now.

“You think they’ll kick you out of the civic clubs? You think out gays can’t be respected

members of the community? Do you feel any lack of respect for me because I’m gay?”

Cooper looked deeply into Travis’s eyes and waited for an answer. Travis squirmed and

averted his eyes from Cooper’s. But Cooper wasn’t letting him off the hook so easily.

“Well?” he asked. “Do you respect me less because I’m gay?”

“No! Of course not!” Travis scuffed his feet on the ground and kicked a twig that went

skittering toward the cave.

“Neither does anyone else,” Coop said.

In the distance, thunder rumbled. “Uh-oh. We’d better get back. There’s a storm

brewing,” Cooper cautioned.

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

5

“Get back so you can get on with your life without me? You’re in a hurry to get me out

of your life, aren’t you?” Travis’s tone was bitter. He kept his butt planted firmly on the rock.

Then his tone turned unexpectedly to wheedling. “Come on, babe. Don’t tell me you don’t

love me anymore. Do you feel nothing when I do this?” His hand reached inside Cooper’s

shirt and tweaked his left nipple, pinching and twisting it, then traveled down to Cooper’s

crotch and, through the denim material of his jeans, grabbed a handful of cock and squeezed

it.

As Coop’s cock hardened and uncoiled, the ranger could hardly deny the effect Travis’s

ministrations were having on him. But he was firm in his resolve. “Of course I feel

something,” Coop said, aware that his tone sounded annoyed. “I never said I stopped loving

you. But that’s beside the point.”

“That is the point,” Travis insisted, turning to face Cooper head-on and give him a

resounding kiss, a hard, fierce, closed-mouthed yet passionate kiss. “That’s very much the

point! I love you—I love you a lot. And you admit you love me. Why should we end a good

thing?” He thumped his palm down on Cooper’s thigh and then curled his fingers inward to

squeeze the thigh hard.

“Because it isn’t a good thing,” Cooper said with a weary sigh. He felt as if he were

instructing a bull-headed child on the necessity of saying “Please.” “And that’s why we

should end it. Why we need to end it.”

“Why we need to end it?” Travis made his point archly.

“All right, why I need to end it.”

“Are you sure you need to? I love you and you admit you love me.”

“You’re willing to tell me you love me, but you aren’t willing for anyone else to know.”

Thunder rumbled once again, this time nearer.

“We’d really better make a run for it,” Cooper said. “We’re a long way from the ranger

station, and the parking lot is even farther.”

Travis remained resolutely seated.

“Come on!” Cooper insisted, grabbing Travis’s hand and trying to pull him to a stand.

Just then the first raindrops fell. “Uh-oh. Too late,” Cooper said.

“What about that cave?” Travis said, looking to his right to the cave with the low, narrow

opening. “Can we squeeze in?”

“I dunno,” Cooper said, looking at the cave mouth appraisingly. “At least with an

entrance that low, it’s not likely to be a bear’s den. There’s never any knowing what’s inside

a cave. And the last I heard, they still don’t have fluorescent lighting in these things.”

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

6

Travis grinned.

Cooper put one hand to his belt, where a flashlight hung from a loop, and the other hand

on Travis’s back, urging him to get up and head for the cave. The duo, now more than

slightly wet, scuffled through an agglomeration of dead leaves and twigs to the mouth of the

cave. The top of the opening was slightly higher than waist height. Travis bent over and then

flexed his knees, while Cooper elected to get down on his knees and crawl. Together they

entered the darkness of the cave and stood stock still until Cooper clicked the flashlight on

and illuminated the area.

Just beyond where they stood, the cave floor sloped down sharply and led off in two

different directions. It was almost like they were standing in an entry foyer, with two

hallways leading off it. Cooper’s curiosity got the better of him. Besides, if they were stuck in

the cave till the rainstorm passed, they might as well do something to pass the time. Making

love hardly seemed a desirable option on the verge of a break-up, and even the prospect of

making conversation felt awkward at this point. On the other hand, though, if this was their

last time together, maybe “one for the road”—one last chance to enjoy each other’s body—

wasn’t the worst idea in the world.

Both men seemed to have the same thought. As Coop turned his face to Travis for a kiss,

Travis turned too, and they awkwardly bumped into each other. Coop stifled an exclamation,

though Travis emitted a short, nervous, and subdued giggle. The two men’s lips met,

effectively silencing Travis, and then Travis’s tongue thrust hungrily into the confines of

Coop’s open mouth.

Coop trailed his hand down the front of Travis’s body. Feeling the swollen protrusion

there, he squeezed, the warm hardness evident even through the thick material of Travis’s

pants. Travis stood up, and Coop could hear the swishing sound of clothes being removed. He

stood up and followed suit. The rocky floor of the cave wouldn’t provide the most

comfortable bed, but it would have to do.

Now naked and down on the floor of the cave, they stroked each other eagerly. Travis’s

hand jerked Coop’s dick at an impatient pace, tugging at his hard-on till it swelled impossibly

larger. “I want it in me,” he said huskily.

“Get it nice and wet,” Coop urged, and Travis licked Coop’s eager cock, then clamped

his lips tight and began to suck in earnest. Coop felt Travis’s throat wrap itself tight around

his hard-on. Travis’s throat-muscles stroked Coop’s dick like loving fingers.

Coop began to hump into Travis’s throat. Back and forth, in and out, he fucked his

mouth hungrily, carried away in the heat of the moment. As his balls bumped Travis’s chin

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

7

and his dickhead disappeared down his throat, he knew there was a hotter, tighter place

waiting for him. But this felt so good…just a minute more…he had to fuck his throat for

another minute…or two.

But then, close to coming, Coop pulled out. He didn’t want to come there. He didn’t

want to gyp himself out of the chance for one last goodbye fuck of Travis’s warm, tight ass.

“Lie down. Lift your legs,” Coop instructed Travis. “Let me at it.”

Travis assumed the position, and Coop felt his way in the semi-darkness with only the

flashlight’s glow to guide him. Coop’s erection pulsated as he positioned it at the gateway to

Travis’s warm interior. Coop thrust forward and pressed his way in, then lunged in to bury

his dick to the hilt.

Travis emitted a satisfied growl as Coop drove into in him balls-deep, his coarse pubes

brushing against Travis’s ass. Slowly Coop pulled back till just his dickknob, and nothing

else, remained within the grip of his holding sphincter. Then, with a quick twist of his hips,

he surged deeply back into him, rubbing every inch of walls along the way.

At the sound of Travis’s groan, Coop increased the speed of his stroking and crammed

his cock into him fully yet again. Travis was groaning as loudly as a nor’easter blowing

around a corner, but the roaring in Cooper’s brain almost drowned him out.

All he knew was that his balls were full, his woody was swollen almost to bursting, and

Travis was also on the verge of a major explosion. Cooper grasped Travis’s joint and jacked

it as he stuffed his ass with dick.

They nearly came off together. They came together, explosively, and Coop collapsed on

top of Travis. They kissed. The kiss was bittersweet to Coop, knowing it might be the last

time their lips met.

But the floor was cold and hard and rocky, and the two men quickly disentangled from

each other, got up, and put their clothes on. “Want to explore?” Coop asked Travis.

Travis looked around before he answered, and uncertainty played on his face. “Okay,” he

finally answered. Then, with more bravado in his voice, “Sure.”

“Which way do you want to go first?” Cooper asked.

Travis shrugged, then pointed to the opening off to their left.

“Okay,” Cooper assented. Taking the left fork, the pair carefully made their way over

uneven footing in darkness illuminated only by the beam of the flashlight. They worked their

way back and back and still farther back. The chamber seemed endless but was apparently

devoid of stalactites and stalagmites, or other interesting creations of nature, so Cooper asked,

“Seen enough?” and halted his inward progress.

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

8

“Sure. Let’s see if the other chamber is more interesting,” Travis said agreeably.

“First let’s see if the rain’s stopped,” Cooper suggested. “It may have been a quick

passing storm.”

Cautiously they made their way back toward the entrance to the cave, up the grade that

led to where they had come in. Long before they got to the opening, though, it became

obvious that the rain was still coming down—and, if anything, more heavily than before.

They didn’t hear any thunder, and Cooper was glad to think the lightning, the forest’s worst

hazard, might have stopped, but the downpour was torrential. They could hear the rainfall

when they were still well inside the cave.

So they made their way to the right-hand chamber. Once again their way led down a

fairly steep slope, but this chamber split off into two other chambers just a short way inside.

“Left or right?” Cooper asked Travis, once again leaving it up to his about-to-be-ex-lover to

make the choice.

“Right,” Travis decided quickly.

The pair found themselves in a stone passageway that got ever narrower the farther they

went in, till the walls seemed to close in on them and Cooper, despite the fact that he did not

suffer from claustrophobia, began feeling uncomfortable at the way they were hemmed in.

Whether Travis felt similarly uncomfortable or was merely being practical, it was he

who spoke up first to suggest they turn around. “Let’s explore the other passageway,” he said.

“Let’s check if the rain has stopped, first,” Cooper said. “Then we’ll check out the last

chamber.”

“Okay,” Travis agreed, but it was once again clear long before they got near the opening

that the rain was still coming down. The pattering drumbeat of large, determined raindrops

made the cave seem a welcome alternative, despite the fact that the cave’s interior was cool,

damp, and mildly unpleasant. It also had a damp odor. But it was better than going out in the

storm and getting soaked to the skin.

“I wonder how long this will keep up?” Travis said.

Worried about getting home before wifey? Cooper thought bitterly, but he kept his

thoughts to himself. There was no point in injecting a note of rancor into what he expected to

be their last time together—and especially while they were stranded in this small space

together.

“Did you watch the noon news? What did the weather report say?” Travis asked.

“I turned it off before they gave the weather.”

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

9

They had reached what seemed to be a dead end in the middle chamber, but a natural

stone formation provided a handy place to sit other than on the ground. It was sort of a ledge,

uneven but at just the right height, cool to the touch but deep enough that there was room to

sit down without being half off the seat. They carefully lowered their butts to this stone “seat”

and agreed to wait there awhile before checking again to see if the rain had stopped yet.

“So you don’t know the weather forecast?” Travis asked.

“This morning there was no mention of rain,” Cooper said, “but as I told you, I turned

off the noon news before they gave the weather forecast.”

“Anything interesting on the news?” Travis asked.

Cooper shifted his butt uncomfortably on the cold, uneven stone ledge. “Another story

about the denaria,” he said.

“What a fascinating, tangled tale that’s turning out to be,” Travis said.

“I’m totally hooked,” Cooper agreed.

“I wonder where the purveyor is getting those stones from?” Travis asked dreamily.

“I wonder if the supplies are really limited or if he’s holding back a large number to

inflate the price,” Cooper added. “The whole thing is certainly a mystery.”

“You always did love mysteries,” Travis said with a chuckle.

“Real-life mysteries are even better than detective novels,” Cooper opined. He got up

from the stone seat.

“Where are you going?” Travis asked.

“My butt’s frozen from this cold stone.” Now it was Cooper’s turn to chuckle. “I had to

stand up or it was in danger of turning into an icicle.”

“A butt-cicle,” Travis chimed in. “My butt’s getting cold, too.” He shifted around on the

stone ledge but didn’t stand up. “Wouldn’t I love to have been the guy who found the denaria

mine—or wherever they come from.”

“Yeah. Me too,” Cooper said. Then he put his hand out toward Travis suddenly and said

in the barest of whispers, “Hush!”

“What?” Travis whispered back.

Cooper moved back to the ledge, the better to be able to talk in the quietest of tones and

still have Travis hear him. “A noise,” he said in the lowest possible voice.

“What sort of a noise?” Travis asked.

“Not sure,” Coop muttered.

“If it’s an animal, won’t it smell us?” Travis asked.

“Probably—if it’s an animal,” Cooper answered.

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10

“Do you think it’s another person?” Travis asked.

“I don’t know,” Cooper answered. “It could be someone taking shelter from the rain.

Like us.”

“It could be?” Travis echoed, emphasizing the question. “Or…?”

Although the flashlight’s beam didn’t carry far, and they were deep into the middle

chamber of the cave, Cooper turned the light off. There was no sense looking for trouble. “I

don’t know,” he said simply. “Let’s be quiet.”

They both kept silent after that. Cooper listened carefully for footfalls or other noises that

might indicate who or what had entered the cave. After a minute he heard voices. They were

indistinct and unintelligible, but they left no doubt in Cooper’s mind that the new visitors to

the cave were human and that there were at least two of them. He waited to see—or hear—if

the new arrivals would come into the middle chamber of the cave where he and Travis were,

but it seemed they were headed to one of the other chambers. It didn’t sound like they were

waiting out the rain in the cave’s entryway.

Were they simply sheltering in the cave, using it as a harbor from the rain, the way he

and Travis were? Or was there something more going on? Cooper’s instincts told him these

were not merely hikers taking shelter. But then what was their purpose in being in the cave?

Cooper felt impelled to find out. It was a mixture of ordinary curiosity, his love of mysteries,

and a certain sense of responsibility as a forest ranger.

He told himself that, had he not been in the cave himself right then, he would never have

known about these new arrivals and would not have occasion to check out their identity and

purpose, but nonetheless he was in the cave now, he did know there were other people inside

the cave besides him and Travis, and something about their presence there just didn’t feel

right.

“I want to see what’s going on,” he said in low tones to Travis. “You don’t have to come

with me—just in case they’re up to no good. I’ll be walking with my flashlight turned off,

feeling my way, just in case there’s anything to be concerned about. You probably ought to

stay here and wait for me. I think that’s safer.”

“Do you really think there’s any danger?” Travis asked, concern wreathing his voice.

“I really don’t know. I can’t imagine what they could be up to unless they have a hidden

drug factory in one of the chambers, or something else like that. But if they do, they won’t

want visitors. That’s for sure. And I could be putting myself at risk by trying to find out.

You’re better off staying put till I come back,” Cooper said, putting a hand on Travis’s

shoulder.

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

11

“What if you don’t come back?”

“Call the police.”

“No,” Travis said resolutely. “I’m coming with you. Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it

together.”

“I’m a forest ranger,” Cooper answered him. “You’re not. Even though checking out

people in caves isn’t really in my job description, I feel I need to do this. You have no reason

to put yourself in possible danger.”

“Yes, I do!” Travis answered him quickly. “I love you, and I don’t want anything

happening to you. If these are bad guys and not just hikers, there’s safety in numbers. If you

need backup, I want to help you.”

“You’re sure?” Cooper asked, standing up from the rock ledge.

“Yes. Very,” Travis answered, standing up as well.

“Okay. Let’s go,” Cooper said. “Remember—no lights, no sounds. I doubt they’re in the

rightmost chamber, the narrow one, but let’s check it out first to be sure. Then we’ll stumble

around in the leftmost chamber and see if we find them there.” He found Travis’s shoulder in

the dark and squeezed it hard once, then felt his way along the wall of the chamber, taking

slow, small, careful steps.

When they reached the outer entryway, Cooper listened hard for voices. In the total

silence that followed, he realized that not only did he not hear voices, he didn’t hear raindrops

either. Apparently Travis had the same realization. In the quietest of voices he murmured,

“The storm’s passed. Do you want to just leave?”

“No. I want to check out who our ‘guests’ are. But you can leave if you want. Do you

know your way back?”

“I’m not leaving. I’m sticking with you.”

“Okay. Rightmost chamber first. Then, if they’re not there, the leftmost chamber. Walk

carefully. Watch out for the slope. Be quiet. Feel your way along the cave’s walls.”

“Okay,” Travis whispered.

Cooper hesitated. “You’re sure you want to go with me?”

“Positive. No matter about what you said earlier, I still love you, and I don’t want

anything to happen to you. If you’re in any danger, let me help you.”

The cave felt even damper now in the aftermath of the rain. The humidity level was high,

to the extent that Cooper thought of the humidity as a palpable substance that he could pick

up in his hand or poke through with a jabbing finger.

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

12

The pair headed for the rightmost cave chamber first, Cooper leading the way. Feeling

their way along the wall of the entry area, they made their way into the opening that led to the

narrow-walled chamber. It wasn’t a very deep area, and in no time they were in the back part,

where the passageway was very narrow.

“They’re not here,” Cooper said. “Do you remember your way into the leftmost

chamber? The deep one?”

“I think so,” Travis said. “Maybe they turned around and left again after they came in, or

maybe after the rain stopped.”

“Maybe,” Cooper agreed, “but I’m not convinced it’s so. I still want to check it out. You

can still leave if you want to, though. Don’t feel you have to accompany me.”

“I told you I want to help,” Travis said resolutely, “and I’m not leaving you to deal with

possible danger alone. Let’s go.”

Cooper led the way once again, taking cautious steps along the uneven terrain of the cave

floor, mindful that if he stepped on a large rock there was the distinct possibility he would

twist his ankle. As the ground sloped up, he knew he was nearing the exit from that chamber,

and then up ahead he began to see daylight as they neared the entryway area.

“Last chance to change your mind,” he said in sotto voce tones to Travis as they reached

the entryway area.

“Not leaving!” Travis said firmly. “Let’s go.” He surged forward.

Cooper put a restraining hand on Travis’s shoulder. “Not so fast,” he cautioned. “And let

me lead. Now, be absolutely silent, ’cause they almost have to be back there somewhere.” He

pointed his hand in the general direction of the leftmost chamber.

Leading the way, Coop headed to the opening of the left chamber. There was enough

daylight to light the way into the opening, but beyond that darkness ruled. Cooper hugged the

leftmost wall, feeling his way as the pair entered the long passageway they had explored

before.

The floor of the chamber was uneven, and walking was precarious. Cooper took baby

steps, setting his foot down carefully with every measured step. He could feel Travis right

behind him, so close that Cooper could feel his breath on his neck and sense the heat that

emanated from his body. Travis’s nearness incited a longing within Cooper that almost made

him regret his resolve to end the relationship. He wanted to turn around and feel for Travis’s

body, connect with his lips, give in to the passion that was rising in him, and pull him down

to the rough floor of the cave to get naked and nasty.

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

13

But that would have been imprudent on two different levels. First of all, he had told

Travis that he was calling it quits on the relationship. It was hardly sensible to get physical at

this stage of the game. And second, not knowing who was beyond them in the farther reaches

of the chamber or what the people were up to, it hardly was safe to expose themselves like

that. That was an even more compelling reason to be circumspect.

Cooper held back the sigh that rushed to gust out of his lungs at the thought that if he

held firm to his resolve he would never bed down with Travis again, never again indulge in

one of the volleys of riddles with which they periodically tried to stump each other, never

again enjoy a steaming mug of cinnamon-spiked apple cider with Travis on a rainy afternoon.

But these pleasant interludes had always been marred by Travis’s concern that somehow

he would be seen entering or leaving Cooper’s house, that his wife would find out, that there

would be a big, unpleasant scene, that he would be outed as gay and, what’s more, a cheater.

Most often they met at the ranger station, and their get-togethers consisted of walks in the

forest, where they could enjoy each other’s company in the privacy of the surrounding trees,

with no people around to observe them together.

And that was no way to carry on a relationship.

With firm resolve, Cooper steeled himself against his desires, both emotional and

physical, refrained from turning around to embrace Travis, and carefully took the next step

forward, then the next, then the next.

As they walked blindly ahead in the darkness, groping their way along the walls, Coop

sensed that they had gone farther than they had when they had explored this chamber earlier.

How much farther did the cave go? Was he really sure the people whose voices they had

heard earlier were in there somewhere? Mightn’t those people, whoever they were, have

turned around and left the cave right after they came in? How much longer should he and

Travis continue walking into the depths of the cave? Were they on a fool’s errand?

Beset with doubts, Cooper took a hesitant half-step forward and then halted his progress

inward. Travis, who had no way of knowing, in the pitch black cave, that Cooper had

stopped, bumped into him. Startled, Coop very nearly let out a gasp. He managed, however to

restrain himself from uttering a sound that could reveal their presence if the unknown cave

visitors were actually there and within hearing distance.

Travis backed away immediately, but Cooper could still feel the warmth of Travis’s

body heat against his back, the sensations lingering and stirring longings in him. But much as

he wanted to turn around and embrace, perhaps for the last time, the man he was about to

close the door on, he knew he needed to focus fully on the situation at hand.

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

14

Pausing in the cave with one hand against the craggy rock wall, he debated whether it

was worth pursuing this chase any further. On the one hand, he felt it was his obligation to his

job to see who the visitors were and what they were up to. If they really had gone deep into

the cave, they clearly were not just seeking shelter from the storm. If their mission was not so

innocent, then what were they up to? On the other hand, they might just as easily have left the

cave some while ago, which meant that Coop and Travis were on a wild goose chase,

stumbling around in the dark and endangering themselves for nothing. He paused,

considering the situation, debating whether to forge ahead or turn back. He could sense

Travis behind him, feel his body heat and hear his soft breathing.

As he stood there, undecided, a faint noise reached his ears. Whatever it was, it had come

from deeper in the cave. He doubted any wild animal would be that far back in the utter black

reaches of the cave, which meant that in all probability the sound had come from the people

he and Travis had heard earlier.

Reaching back, he groped till his hand connected with Travis’s arm, and he gave a gentle

tug as a signal to move forward. The muscles in Travis’s arm were tense and knotted, from

which Cooper deduced that Travis had heard the sound too and was aware that they were

definitely not alone.

Even more stealthily than before, Cooper resumed his forward progress into the depths

of the cave. Again he heard a sound, this time definitely human in origin. It sounded like a

grunt, as if someone were exerting energy in some sort of muscular effort. He wondered who

they were and what they were doing, but mainly he wondered how many of them there were

and what they would do if they discovered him and Travis.

He was still feeling his way along the wall, and now the cave’s chamber seemed to have

reached some kind of bend. As he carefully felt his way around the bend, a faint glow

appeared up ahead. Whoever the visitors were, they apparently had a lantern. So they hadn’t

stumbled on the cave by accident nor come inside to seek shelter. They had been prepared.

But who were they and what were they up to?

Cooper slowed his already-cautious forward progress. If they got too much closer to the

light source, the light would reveal their presence. Yet if they didn’t proceed, they would

never know who the visitors were or what their purpose was. Cooper did carry a gun, but in

all his years as a ranger he had had to use it only once, and that was in an encounter with an

already-wounded and enraged bear. He had never shot another person, nor could he rightfully

take aim at the visitors just for being in the cave. In a quandary, Cooper came to a complete

stop.

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

15

As he did, Travis bumped into him again, then apparently lost his footing and fell over.

As Travis fell, he yelped. In the narrow stone confines, the yelp carried. Cooper was sure

they’d be discovered now. What to do? Retreat? Stand his ground? Draw his gun?

He stood stock still and listened. Then he heard footsteps. Suddenly a strong flashlight

shone in his face. He couldn’t see who was behind the light, but he and Travis were clearly

visible.

“Spies!” came the voice from the owner of the flashlight.

“I told you we couldn’t keep it a secret forever.” This was said in a different voice.

“What did you find?” a third voice asked from deeper back in the cave.

So there were at least three of them—whoever they were. Clearly he and Travis were

outnumbered, Cooper thought, as he slowly, stealthily reached for his gun.

“I wouldn’t do that,” the flashlight’s owner said menacingly. “We’ve got a gun too.

Hand yours over, slow and easy. No tricks.”

Reluctantly, Cooper complied.

“Yours, too,” the man said, shining his light directly on Travis.

“I don’t have one,” Travis said.

The flashlight held steady on Travis for a minute. Apparently the man was doing a visual

inspection. Then the man ordered, “Pull both your pants legs up. I want to see that you don't

have a gun strapped to your ankle.”

Quickly, Travis did as the man had ordered.

“I don’t know what you think,” Travis began, “but we were just hiking in the woods

when the rain caught us by surprise and we took shelter in the cave. I don’t see anything

wrong with that. What’s your problem?”

“Then why was your friend armed?” the flashlight-holder challenged.

“I’m a forest ranger,” Coop replied, hoping his voice sounded calming. “I don’t go

anywhere in the forest without my gun. Wild animals, you know.”

“A forest ranger? Ah-hah! I knew you were spying on us.”

“Why? What are you doing?” Travis asked imprudently.

But Cooper already had some idea of what they were up to. As the lantern-holder swung

the light back and forth around the cave, apparently making sure there was no one else with

Cooper and Travis, Cooper had caught a glimpse of the other man’s face—and recognized it.

Ben Manton had been in the news often enough lately, both on TV and in the newspaper, as

the purveyor of the rare and coveted denaria. Realization now dawned on Coop that the top-

secret source of the denaria must be here in the cave.

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

16

Of course, since the government owned the forest, the cave was on government land. A

comparable situation had never arisen in all Coop’s years as a forest ranger, but he was pretty

sure that the men had no rights to the denaria. If the mine was on government land, the

gemstones were the property of the government. No wonder Ben Manton and his cohorts

were being so secretive about the source of the denaria. It was more than just the desire to

keep proprietary information a secret. They were purloining government property.

“Hey, Will!” Ben called to the third fellow. “Come here and tie these guys up while I

keep this gun trained on them.

Scuffling footsteps announced the arrival of the third man even before another flashlight

illuminated his progress toward the foursome. “We don’t have any rope, man,” he said to

Ben.

“Improvise!” Ben snarled. “Use one of those burlap bags and tie their ankles up. Shorty

here can keep the gun on them while I decide how to dispose of them. Clearly we can’t let

them go free. Meanwhile, let’s make sure they can’t make a run for it.”

The man Ben had called Will went farther back into the depths of the cave and returned

with a small burlap bag and a knife. Using the knife he slashed the bag into two halves and

used one half on each of the men, Cooper and Travis, shackling their ankles and impeding

them from trying to make a dash to freedom.

“What if they reach down and untie themselves?” Will asked.

“My gun says they won’t,” Shorty said with an evil snicker.

Cooper’s mind raced, trying to come up with an escape plan, but nothing occurred to

him. The rough burlap chafed at his ankles, but he tried stretching his legs against the

material all the same, to see if it would give enough for him to slip one ankle out of

confinement, or even enough that he could hobble out of the cave with his ankles still tied.

But although the material gave a little, he couldn’t stretch it enough to slip his ankle free, and

the likelihood of a hobbling escape when their three captors had total mobility and a gun

seemed improbable.

The one called Shorty saw Cooper’s furtive foot movements. “Hey! What are you trying

to do?” he growled.

“My ankle itches,” Cooper replied. “I was trying to scratch it with my other ankle.”

“Yeah, sure!” Shorty sneered.

“Well, I didn’t think you were going to let me reach down and scratch it with my hand!”

Cooper answered quickly.

Shorty kept silent.

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

17

“What do you say we two get back to work?” Ben Manton suggested, apparently

speaking to Will. “Shorty here can keep an eye on our two ‘guests’ and make sure they don’t

make any sudden moves.”

“What are we going to do with them?” Will queried.

“I don’t know yet,” Ben mused. “We have time to figure something out. They’re not

going anywhere. Meanwhile, frisk them. Confiscate their cell phones and any other kind of

electronic communication device they might have. Even anything as simple as a walkie-

talkie. Search them well. Will, you take care of that so Shorty here can keep holding the gun

on them.”

Ben put down the lantern he had been holding and aimed it upward so it cast its glow

softly all around the area. Will approached Travis first, thrusting his hand slowly and deeply

into every pocket. He came up with a cell phone but nothing else. “Okay. This one’s clean,”

he said, pocketing the cell phone and moving on toward Cooper.

He first checked the two front pockets of Cooper’s jeans. As with Travis, Will found a

cell phone but nothing else. He checked the back pockets and found a pocket knife in one, a

small magnifying glass in the other. “What’s this?” he asked suspiciously, examining the

magnifying glass closely.

“A magnifying glass,” Cooper answered, mentally adding, “Asshole!”

“You sure that’s all it is? Not a recording device? A transponder?” Will challenged.

“Do I look like James Bond?” Cooper snorted. “I’m a forest ranger, not a spy.”

“You are a spy,” Ben said. “You’re here spying on us.”

“We’re here taking shelter from the rain. While we were inside, we decided to explore

the cave a little. We’d never been inside before. Does that make us spies?” Travis protested.

“Are you a forest ranger too?” Will asked.

“Me? No! I’m an architect,” Travis said.

“The truth, now!” Will menaced Travis with the nose of the gun.

Even in the dim light Cooper could see Travis turn a paler shade.

“That is the truth!” Travis protested. “I’m an architect. Travis Wilson. My office is over

my garage on Sycamore Street in town.”

“Then what were you doing in the woods?”

“Hiking with my…buddy. I’m entitled to some R and R.”

Cooper noticed how Travis hesitated before identifying him as a buddy.

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

18

“’Buddy’, huh?” Shorty sneered, and Cooper assumed Shorty had made a more accurate

assumption, but no, that was not what he was thinking, as Shorty’s next sentence made clear.

“I think you’re working undercover with him to catch us.”

“Catch you doing what?” Travis asked, and it dawned on Cooper that while he had

identified Ben Manton and inferred that the denaria mine was somewhere nearby here in the

cave, the penny had not yet dropped for Travis.

Knowing it would be folly to tell Travis now in front of their captors, Cooper kept silent

and looked straight ahead.

“Let’s finish up inside for today,” Ben said with a jerk of his head toward the farther

depths of the cave. “Will, you come with me. Shorty, keep an eye on these two. We’ll come

up with a plan for disposing of them while we work. I’d rather not shoot them and just leave

them here. If their bodies ever were found, especially riddled with bullets, it might lead the

investigators to search the cave more thoroughly.”

“No, we wouldn’t want that,” Shorty agreed. “But if we take them well away from the

cave and then shoot them, they have more of a chance to escape or to scream. There’s always

the chance someone will be nearby and hear them.”

“Suppose we shoot them in here,” Will offered, “and then carry their bodies out at night,

when there’s hardly any chance of running into anyone. We can leave them far enough away

that nobody will connect their killings to the cave.”

“How are we going to carry that much dead weight?” Ben asked.

“We can carry them one at a time,” Will said. “If all three of us support the weight, and

we take one body at a time, we can carry them.”

“If we wait until night, though,” Ben said, “they’re bound to be reported as missing. If

this one here,” he jerked a thumb at Travis, “told anyone where he was going, they’ll come

searching the forest for him, and that one,” and now he pointed to Cooper, “is a forest ranger,

so when he doesn't report back to his station at the end of his shift they’re bound to send out a

search party.”

“The forest is pretty big,” Will said. “What are the odds that they’ll stumble across us

just when and where we’re carrying the bodies?”

“Do you really want to take that chance?” asked Ben, fixing Will with a steely gaze.

Will shrugged and raised his eyebrows.

“Come on. Let’s get to work. We can talk over a disposal plan while we’re working.”

Will hesitated, but then he turned around and made for the farther depths of the cave with

Ben right behind him, while Shorty stayed behind, guarding Cooper and Travis. Ben took a

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

19

flashlight from a belt loop to light their way back, leaving the lantern on the floor so Shorty

could keep an eye on the two captives.

Coop and Travis were still standing up, their ankles hobbled in burlap, their hands free.

Cooper’s mind raced desperately, trying to come up with a plan. But nothing he thought of

seemed plausible. Meanwhile he kept trying to unobtrusively loosen the burlap, putting all his

weight on his left foot and maneuvering the right foot to stretch the material. If only he could

get one foot out of its confines, he’d be able to spring on Shorty and perhaps overpower him

or at least knock the gun out of his hand and hopefully retrieve it before Shorty did.

His thoughts were nebulous at best, hardly what he could call a well-formed plan, but it

was the best he could come up with at the moment. Then, as he leaned against the cave wall,

he felt a piece of semi-loose rock wiggle against his hand. That gave him an idea. If only he

could wiggle the rock totally loose without Shorty catching on. If only….

He worked at it as hard as he could without being obvious. To cover the motions of his

hand, he shifted his entire body restlessly, moving from foot to foot, wriggling his shoulders,

shifting his butt around, and altogether doing a good job of covering what his hand was

doing.

Still, Shorty grew suspicious. “What are you doing?” he queried.

“I’m restless. My ankles are itchy. My muscles are sore…. I’m not doing anything,”

Cooper replied.

Finally he had worked the piece of rock loose. He raised both his arms in an elaborate

stretch and yawned as convincingly as he could at the same time. Keeping his hands in the air

he said, “Hey, Trav—how are you holding up?”

As he had hoped, Shorty turned to look at Travis. While Shorty’s gaze was fixed on

Travis, Cooper brought his arms down and arced the rock at Shorty’s face. Unfortunately his

aim was off, and the rock skimmed past Shorty, catching his attention as it whizzed past

harmlessly.

“What was that? What did you do?” Shorty snarled at Cooper.

“What was what?” Cooper asked as innocently as he could. “I didn’t do anything.”

Travis, apparently wise to the situation, covered for Coop and said, “I think a rock came

loose from the ceiling of the cave. I don’t think Coop could have engineered that.” He gave a

forced chuckle. It sounded as fake as it was, but it served the purpose. It got Shorty to allay

his suspicions.

Meanwhile Cooper was thinking, Damn! Blew that! Okay, what’s Plan B?

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

20

He was still working at loosening the burlap that bound his ankles together, and little by

little he felt it give a bit more, and a bit more, and a bit more. Finally he felt that it was loose

enough that his foot would come up out of the binding if he pulled hard enough.

And then a Plan B occurred to him.

He looked over at Travis and raised his eyebrows unobtrusively. He hoped Travis would

recognize it as some sort of signal, although Cooper had no way to let Travis know just what

it was that he was signaling. Cooper bit his own tongue as hard as he could tolerate. This

caused his mouth to salivate more rapidly than usual. He didn’t swallow but collected the

saliva on his tongue. When he had a good gob of spit in his mouth, he readied the projectile

and, leaning forward, he spit hard, aiming for Shorty’s eye.

This time his aim was better than it had been with the rock. The gob of spit got Shorty

right in the eye, and Shorty yelped as he felt the offensive wetness hit him. Reflexively he

raised his hand to his eye to wipe away the nasty projectile. Now the gun wasn’t pointed at

Cooper or Travis.

Cooper yanked his right foot upward hard, while keeping it close to his left leg.

Mercifully he got it free of the burlap restraint on the first try. Lunging forward he knocked

the gun out of Shorty’s hand, sending it skittering toward Travis. “Grab it!” he barked at

Travis, and Travis reached down and picked up the weapon.

“Hey!” Shorty screeched.

“One more peep out of you and you’re dead. Got it?” Cooper snarled. “Shut up. Not a

sound. And no funny business.”

“Is everything all right out there?” Ben’s voice came from his location deeper in the

cavern.

Pitching his voice lower than normal to mimic Shorty’s tone as best he could, Cooper

called back, “Fine. All’s fine.” Then he instructed Travis, “Keep the gun on our friend Shorty

here, and don't hesitate to shoot.” Crouching down he untied the burlap restraints from first

Travis’s ankle and then his own left ankle. He picked up the two burlap restraints, then the

lantern, and told Shorty, “Start walking toward the exit. And no yelling, no funny stuff.”

Then to Travis, “Stay behind him and keep the gun trained on him at all times.”

With the lantern to light their way, leaving was a lot easier than coming in had been.

When he judged they were halfway out of the chamber, he said, “Everybody stop.” Then he

said, “Shorty, sit down.”

“Are you going to shoot me?” Shorty asked.

“That depends,” said Cooper. “Are you going to scream or try anything funny?”

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

21

“No,” Shorty replied meekly.

“Then we won’t have to shoot you,” Cooper answered. “Just remember that. If you want

to live, be quiet and don’t try anything.”

Putting down one of the burlap pieces and holding on to the other one, Cooper first tied

Shorty’s ankles together, then, picking up the other burlap piece, he tied his wrists together.

He double-checked his handiwork to make sure Shorty was tied tightly, then left him sitting

on the floor while Cooper tugged at Travis’s arm and said, “Come on. Quickly!” They

grabbed the lantern and skittered down the passageway as fast as was prudent.

Of course, as soon as they were out of sight, Shorty began screaming for Ben and Will.

But Cooper had expected that. He and Travis progressed as fast as was prudent on the rocky,

uneven terrain of the cave’s floor, until they got out of the chamber. It was late afternoon and

the light was fading, but they could see the cave’s exit. Travis headed toward it, but Cooper

stopped him. “No!” he said. “This way!”

He led Travis into the rightmost chamber and back some way into it. Then he switched

off the lantern. Sure enough, Ben, Will, and the now-untied Shorty came racing out of the

leftmost chamber very quickly. From their hiding place, Cooper and Travis couldn’t see

them, but they could hear them. It was obvious that, having no reason to think the pair had

stayed behind in the cave, the trio was leaving the cave to search the nearby area.

Cooper and Travis stayed put in their hiding place for just a few minutes—long enough

for Ben and his henchmen to get fairly far away from the cave. “When they can’t find us,

they might circle back to scoop up as many of the denaria as they can while they still have the

chance,” Cooper said to Travis. “We’d better get going. Now would be a good time to leave.”

He switched the lantern on again.

“Denaria?” Travis asked, sounding thoroughly baffled. “Those gemstones?”

“Yes. That’s what this is all about. Ben is the guy who’s been all over the TV and the

newspapers as the purveyor of the denaria. Apparently the mine is somewhere in the cave,

beyond the point where Shorty was keeping us at gunpoint. They didn’t want us to find out.

I’m pretty sure that, since the forest is government property, the denaria belong to the

government. Although Ben’s concern may just have been poachers—people who would try to

help themselves to some of the denaria. Also if the market got flooded with denaria, the value

would go down. It was in Ben’s best interest to keep the supply suppressed. But let’s go. We

can talk about the denaria later. Let’s get to safety first.”

They exited the chamber, ducked down to get through the low mouth of the cave itself,

and hesitated. Which way to go? “We’d better not make a beeline for the ranger tower,”

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

22

Travis suggested. “You told him you’re a ranger. He’ll assume you’re heading back to your

base. Whether they fanned out or stuck together for safety in numbers, they’re likely to have

headed in the general direction of the tower.”

“Good thinking,” Cooper praised him. “We’ll take a circuitous route and approach the

ranger station from the other direction. Too bad they took our cell phones.”

“At least they didn’t take our lives!” Travis said.

“Amen to that!” Cooper said.

Travis didn’t know his way around this part of the forest, but Cooper knew the forest

pretty darned well. “This way,” he said, and they set off on a path that took them at a right

angle to the ranger station. “Let’s be quiet,” he said, “just in case any of them is nearby.”

Sure enough, as they made their way through the densely wooded terrain, Cooper spotted

Ben and Will tramping between the trees a few hundred yards away, on a path parallel to

their own. Taking Travis’s elbow, Cooper guided him silently in a direction that took them

away from Ben and Will. He kept a keen eye out for Shorty but didn’t see him anywhere. At

last he decided it was prudent to resume a course that would bring them toward the ranger

station.

There were no further close encounters with the trio of bad guys. As they trudged

wearily toward the ranger station, Travis asked in soft tones, “How much farther is it?” Just

then he spotted someone in the near distance and, freezing in his tracks, grabbed Cooper’s

arm and pointed toward the figure.

Cooper peered between the trees and recognized Rory, a fellow ranger. “It’s okay,” Coop

said to Travis. “It’s one of the good guys. It’s Rory. They must have sent him out to look for

me when I didn’t come in at the end of my shift.” He hesitated to call out to Rory just in case

Ben, Will, or Shorty was nearby, but he hurried through the trees to get to him.

“Where’ve you been?” Rory asked when the pair appeared between two trees. “Is

everything okay?”

“Well, we found the source of those denaria and almost got ourselves killed in the

process, but we’re okay now,” Coop said. Travis sagged against a tree, suddenly looking

totally wiped.

“Almost got yourselves killed?” Rory asked. “How? And what’s the source of the

denaria?”

“Three poachers—miners—whatever you want to call them—apparently found the

denaria in a cave way west of here in the forest, and when my friend here and I took shelter in

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

23

the cave during a sudden rainstorm, we explored the cave for the hell of it and almost

discovered their secret.”

“Almost?”

“They caught us before we got quite as deep in the cave as where the mine is, and they

hobbled our ankles and held a gun on us.”

“How did you escape?”

“If you don’t mind, buddy, I’d rather save the long version of the story for when we’re

safely back at the ranger station. They’re still out here in the forest looking for us, and they

don’t want us for a foursome of bridge, if you get my drift. They’ve got our cell phones, and

they’ve got murder in mind. I’ve got safety in my mind—and so does Travis here. Let’s head

back cautiously. Okay?”

“Sure!” said Rory, and the trio took a more direct route back to the ranger station than

the course Cooper had been charting up till now.

When they arrived at the ranger station, ranger Captain Davis and Chief Gallagher of the

local police were waiting. Cooper and Travis repeated the story for the two of them, this time

unspooling it in full detail. Chief Gallagher was immediately concerned with catching the trio

of baddies. Captain Davis seemed more concerned that his ranger Cooper was all right.

“You’re sure you don’t want a ride to the hospital to get checked out?” he offered. “I’ll run

you over there myself.”

“Nah. We’re primarily shaken up, but thanks,” Coop said. Chief Gallagher called in the

report and then turned to Coop and Travis and said, “I guess you two are gonna be some kind

of celebrities.”

“Really?” asked Travis. “I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

“Go on home and prepare yourself,” Chief Gallagher said. “The media’s gonna be

pounding on your door.”

“I don’t think my wife’s going to appreciate that,” Travis said.

Coop winced inwardly at the mention of Travis’s wife. But what the hell. It was over

now anyhow. He had told Travis he wouldn’t keep on with a closeted affair. They had

momentarily been distracted from their parting by the misadventure in the cave, but now they

could get back to getting on with their lives—separately. At least Travis was still alive. Coop

hated to lose him at all, and he certainly didn’t want Travis killed.

Or himself killed either, for that matter.

The media descended on them even faster than Chief Gallagher had predicted. The

Channel 6 news team’s reporter showed up at the ranger station before Coop and Travis had

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

24

even had a chance to say goodbye to Gallagher, Davis, and Rory, and leave—and say

goodbye to each other forever.

Sheena Cromwell and her cameraman came knocking at the door of the ranger station,

let themselves in, and said, “Which of you two are Cooper and Travis? We’re from Channel

6, and if you don’t mind, we’d like to tape an interview for the evening news.”

“Here,” said Cooper.

“I’m Travis,” said Travis.

“Roll ’em,” said Sheena Cromwell to her cameraman.

“So, Channel 6 has learned that a daring forest ranger and his companion have uncovered

the secret of the source of the denaria and almost got themselves killed in the process. Is that

right, guys?”

Cooper and Travis nodded their heads. “Uh-huh,” said Cooper.

“That’s right,” said Travis.

The camera kept rolling.

“And you guys are—friends?” asked Sheena.

Cooped opened his mouth to answer but hesitated a minute. Travis put his hand on

Cooper’s arm to stop him. “Lovers, actually,” said Travis, taking a big gulp of air. “This is

going to come as a big surprise because I’m married and I’m not out as gay—at least, I

wasn’t until now—and I hope I can get home and break it to my wife before your newscast

airs. Six o’clock, yes? But I’m gay, and Cooper is my lover.”

Cooper put his arm around Travis and squeezed him hard in a one-armed hug.

“I’ve been living a lie, but there’s nothing like a close encounter with death to make you

realize just what’s important in life,” Travis said.

“You’re what’s important in my life,” Coop said to Travis.

“So where did you find the source of the denaria—and how?” asked Sheena, who was

obviously more interested in the Big Story of the gemstones than a human interest story about

love. It wasn’t Valentine’s Day, after all. Newscasts have their priorities. The denaria were

the day’s Big Story.

But Coop was far more interested in Travis’s declaration. For him, the big story was that

Travis was at last out, at last declaring, and apparently ready to spend the rest of his life with

Cooper.

It had taken a brush with death to do it. But with his beloved at his side and a bright

future together ahead of him, Cooper was a very happy man.

CAPTIVES IN A CAVE

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About the Author

Diana Sheridan

edited gay male sexzines for the better part of two decades

under the nom de plume of “Dan Maxwell.” Though “Diana Sheridan” isn’t her

true name either, it does reflect her true gender. In her own name, she has had

numerous books published both in print and as e-books, is an accomplished

editor of both books and magazines, and is comfortable switching gears to go

from serious nonfiction to erotica in her work. Diana lives with her Significant

Other, who is fully aware of and supportive of the many facets of her career.

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Dark Hollows Press

Dark Hollows Press is a publisher of all genres of erotic expression.

We believe our authors are artists and their talent shouldn't be censored,

so our authors present high quality stories full of romance, desire, and

sometimes graphic moments that are both entertaining and erotic. We have an

exclusive group of talented writers and we publish stories that range from

historical to fantasy, sci-fi to contemporary.

We invite you to visit us at

www.darkhollowspress.com

.