Page 30 of Stone Cold Savage

Coy nodded, “That thing gets here. Clear it and then send it down empty.”

Coy opened the door to the stairwell leading to the basement level and went in. The deputy propped the door and stood at the entrance, where he’d have a clear view of the main floor and the stairs should anyone breach from that direction.

“You got this, Stone?” Shanks asked, nodding down the stairwell.

“Shoot first, ask questions later,” Coy replied. “Anyone you don’t know. Your patience is thin, deputy. They don’t comply immediately, you shoot.”

“Copy that. I got you.”

Coy proceeded down the stairwell, evaluating every sound and shift in the air. Worry was settling in, and fear was threatening to take over. He didn’t hear her. Surely, if she were still down here, he’d hear her in some capacity. But it was deafeningly silent. So much so that he could hear the air softly flowing through the vent and the subtle hum from the lights above. If you asked him, he could hear someone’s pulse race and the sound of their rapid breathing. Nothing else.

The real question plaguing him was whether or not to call out to Kenzie. Instinct said no because he would hear the elevator begin to descend, and he would have the element of surprise while whoever was down here would be fixed on the elevator. When he reached the basement floor, nothing was out of order, or so it seemed. He also didn’t see Kenzie.

His approach was stealthy as he followed his intuition and swiftly, albeit carefully, moved in the direction of the elevator in hopes his ploy would work and draw out whatever danger was sharing the space with him. Rows and rows of shelves stacked to the ceiling with boxes of files that told a story of a town and its dark history of crime and mischief. He cleared each row, one by one. No enemy… no Kenzie.

A shuffling footstep masked the ping of the elevator. He wasn’t alone. Someone was tactically positioned, just as he hoped, to take out whatever calvary they thought was on the other side of those chrome doors. The joke was on them as the surprise would be behind them, and he was the surprise, ready to bring whatever threat lay just one steel shelf away to its knees.

When the doors to the elevator opened, he was ready to spring into action, but there was nothing to react to. His enemy was more intelligent than he’d given credit. It wasn’t going to be as simple as he thought because they didn’t fall for his setup. Coy looked around, assessing the space, trying to determine how he would maintain the upper hand without exposing himself. He was out of options. Coy didn’t have a choice if he wanted to find Kenzie –– he had to go toe-to-toe with whoever was on the other side of the last wall of shelves and come out in the open like he was ready to play a game of chicken with an unknown enemy. An armed enemy.

However, Kenzie was still nowhere to be found, and he didn’t see her standing over her assailant or engaged in a fiery battle. That could only mean one thing, and he couldn’t let that thought dominate space in his mind or his heart. All he could do was come out fighting and… pray.

“C-coy?” Kenzie’s voice was choppy and winded.

Shit. He began to move, trying not to give into the temptation that was the sound of her in trouble. This could be a ploy and someone playing with his heartstrings and about to win if he didn’t slow down and reel in the emotions that were nearly crippling. Though a familiar feeling, it was one he hadn’t felt in a very long time, and last time, it didn’t end happily.

“Coy… I hear you breathing.” She said faintly. “And I smell you…”

Weapon ready, he rounded the last obstacle between them and found Kenzie on the floor, her face swollen and bleeding, an arm wrapped around her waist, leaning against a wall.

“It’s clear.” She said. “They went out the back.”

“They?”

“He? She? I don’t know which. I think it was just one person. Had a ski mask on, and they blind-sided me.”

“Deputy!” Coy yelled, looking at the stairwell as if it would throw his voice farther while he knelt beside Kenzie and looked her over. “Where are you hurt? Were you shot?”

“No.” she cringed as he helped her sit taller.

“I heard the shot. They miss?”

“That was me, and I never miss, Stone.” She smiled, then winced and cupped her jaw. “Got me good in the mouth, though.”

“Yeah, you’re bleeding. Lip’s split pretty good.” Coy ripped off part of his shirt and used it to apply pressure to a gash across her forehead just below the hairline.

“Oh shit. Sheriff Gray. What happened down here?” Shanks asked as he slid to the ground beside her, pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, and dabbed at a wound at the corner of her mouth that was bleeding.

“Someone got the jump on me.” She said with a snort.

“How? There hasn’t been anyone here since the last shift change.” Shanks said.

“Back exit,” Kenzie said, pointing to the rear of the facility. He went out that way.”

“The camera should have picked them up. Not a single alert.” Shanks said.

“Unless the camera was disabled or infiltrated,” Coy said, pulling his phone out and tapping at the screen.

“Here? In Coyote Creek? Why?” Shanks pulled his handkerchief away, and her wound began to bleed again. “Shoot, Sheriff. I think we need to call an ambulance. You’re just bleeding everywhere. What else is hurting?”

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