Eye of the Beholder

pursuit. It was as if he was confident that he would overtake her when she eventually tired.
    He was probably right.
    She hitched the satchel higher on her shoulder and reached out to grab hold of an outcropping of rough stone. More loose rock fragments slithered beneath her feet. She realized that if she was not very careful she would start a small landslide that would carry her down with it.
    A landslide. She looked around. There was evidence of several of them in the vicinity.
    She searched the mounded boulders and chunks of stone for another dark opening. She passed up three before she noticed one that was partially blocked by a heap of tumbled rock debris.
    It looked impossibly far away. She thought about the knife and renewed strength flowed from somewhere. She managed to climb to the dark entrance. Praying that she would not come face-to-face with some creature who might take offense at the intrusion, she worked her way over the barrier of loosened stones.
    Nothing hissed, rattled, or roared out of the inky darkness.
    She crouched behind the bulwark of stones and rocks and let the satchel slide off her shoulder. She dared not look out over the rocky barricade for fear her pursuer would spot her. In hindsight, her orange and yellow striped blouse had probably not been a wise fashion choice this morning, she thought. It was as bright as a beacon. All too easy to see.
    She sank deeper into the darkness and strained to listen for sounds of her pursuer.
    Pebbles rattled down below. He was still in pursuit.
    She gripped the largest of the rocks that half-closed the opening of the crevasse and shoved with all of her might.
    For a terrifying instant, nothing happened.
    And then, with a grinding, grating rumble, the mount of rock debris in front of the small cave began to shift.
    Slowly, but with gathering energy and noise, the small avalanche of loose stones picked up momentum. Alexa pushed several more chunks of jagged rock over the edge of the opening.
    " Nooo ..."
    The cry was high and shrill. A scream of fright and rage. Alexa could not tell if it was male or female.
    There was no way to hear footsteps above the sound of falling stones, but she sensed that the other was frantically scurrying to get clear of the shower of rock.
    The noise of the cascading debris seemed to go on forever.
    A rush of triumph brought a strange euphoria.
    "Don't mess with the wild woman," she whispered as she pushed a few more pounds of rubble down the slope.
    She huddled in the shadows of the crevasse and listened until an unnatural silence fell. The brief thrill of victory dissipated as quickly as it had come. An annoying series of shivers took its place.
    For the first time she became aware of the dark, close confines of her hiding place. Claustrophobia squeezed through her. She fought it with deep breathing. The Dimensions Institute training had been good for something after all, she thought.
    After a while, when she heard nothing moving on the path beneath the cave, she opened her purse and took out the cell phone.
    Punching out the emergency number was not easy. The stupid little instrument would not hold still in the palm of her shaking hand.

22

    Why in hell didn't you tell me what you were going to do?" Trask paced back and forth across Alexa's living room. It took everything he had to hold back the storm of unfamiliar emotion that threatened to swamp his control. "Of all the damn fool stunts. Do you have any idea what could have happened?"
    "You don't need to spell it out for me." Alexa sat on the edge of the sleek chaise longue , huddled over a mug of hot tea. "I was there, remember?"
    The first thing she had done after walking through the front door was take a long shower. Trask had seethed quietly while she bathed and changed into a pair of jeans and a white cotton shirt.
    After an eternity she had emerged from the bedroom. Her damp hair was combed straight back from her forehead and anchored behind her ears with a faux tortoiseshell headband. The strict line emphasized the shadows in her eyes and the tautness around her mouth.
    He had wanted to take her into his arms and crush her close just to reassure himself that she was safe. Unsure of how such a gesture would be received, he had opted to chew her out instead. Every successful CEO lived by some very simple rules. One of them was, when in doubt, start yelling.
    He paused in front of the window. "You should have called me before you went off on your own."
    "Please stop