Page 100 of Fire Peak

Then he left her, silently creeping back along the creek toward the entrance. She allowed herself one muffled sob of fear, then stiffened her spine. One step at a time. Grip that torch. Take another step. And another.

A silvery sheen on the wall of the cave caught her eye. The side-cavern! She’d reached it. Solomon had said that she’d see silvery lines off to the right, and there they were. The rocky sides of the cave had been chipped away here so people could get at the vein of the softer mineral. As she gazed at it, she lost all fear because it was so beautiful. Silvery and shimmering in the distant light from the entrance.

She didn’t want to set fire to it. She wanted to wonder at it, marvel at it.

“You there?” called Solomon.

“We’re here,” she hollered back. “Elias is getting up closer to it.”

White lie. Totally justifiable. She drew in a breath of dank air, proud of herself that she’d made it this far and was okay-ish, not freaking out, and they had a plan…ish…and they were going to make it out of here?—

“Go!” Solomon yelled. The word echoed through the cave. Definitely not “no.” It was a “go,” but what about Elias? Was he going to make his move?

She heard a splash and a groan from the direction of the entrance. Elias. Was he okay? She spun around, dropping the torch somewhere in the dark.

“Go,” Solomon yelled again.

Now she was fully freaking out, barely able to breathe. The torch. Where was it? She grabbed it off the slippery rocks and clicked the button to light it. Fire flared at the tip, like a giant metallic match.

42

Up ahead, Charlie saw Solomon, holding that same damn gun, pointing it into the cave. No sign of Hailey and Elias.

“Do you think that gun is loaded now?” muttered Nick as he steered toward him.

“Yup.”

“He must have the kids in there,” Nick said tensely. “Fuck.”

He gunned the four-wheeler to its maximum speed, crashing though every obstacle in their way.

“Hey, Solomon!” he yelled, to pull the man’s attention their way.

Solomon aimed his gun at them. Nick swerved the four-wheeler in a zig-zag pattern from one side of the trail, into the trees, then back to the other side. The bullet missed by several yards. The next one by not quite as much. Charlie held up her laptop as a shield, though it was probably ridiculous to think that it would offer any protection.

“Let the kids go!” Nick yelled. “I’ll set your damn fire. Just let them be.”

“Get out of here! You don’t belong here! This is Fangtooth business!”

Nick veered to the side as Solomon took another shot. The bullet went right into a tree trunk.

“It’ll be federal penitentiary business if they get hurt!”

“April wants to call it off!” Charlie tried another approach. “We have another way to save Fire Peak!”

“We do?” Nick muttered as he swung the wheel the other way.

“Yes, I just thought of it.”

He raised his voice again. “Let’s talk about this, Solomon. Put down the gun!”

They were within fifty yards of him now. The closer they got, the easier it would be to shoot them. Charlie brandished her laptop as if it was Wonder Woman’s shield. With the other hand, she gripped the seat with all her might. “Nick, if we die, I just want you to know I love you.”

“I love you too, live or die. And I plan to fucking live.”

Solomon raised his gun again, took aim, his other arm supporting his firing arm. This was practically close range now. He couldn’t possibly miss. Charlie wanted to close her eyes, but she also wanted to catch every last second of this beautiful world before she went. Trees, sky, Nick.

And then someone leaped from behind and knocked Solomon onto the ground. A large man in a rough fur coat, gray hair flowing wild behind him, bent down to grab the gun from Solomon’s unconscious grip.

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