Page 105 of Counter Attack

Shame burned in her chest. Praying should’ve been the first thing she thought of, not the last. Why did she have to come to the end of herself to realize she wasn’t God? Her plans might sound good, but right now they were futile.

Rest.

Alex stilled. She didn’t want to rest. She wanted out of this cave. Besides, the thought could have come from anywhere. Like her tired body. Her mouth was so dry ... Maybe she would rest just a minute.

Alex jerked awake. There’d been a noise. She strained in the quiet to hear, but only the deafening silence surrounded her. She didn’t know how long she’d slept, but her head felt better. Maybe she could get into a sitting position.

With a grunt, she rolled over on her side and used her elbow to push herself up. Why hadn’t she been able to do that earlier? Didn’t matter. She was sitting now. “Thank you, Lord.”

But could she stand? Once upon a time, Alex could standfrom a sitting position. But it’d been at least twenty years since those days.

She thanked God that her kidnapper hadn’t tied her feet together and managed to get cross-legged. Then she rocked her body forward until her weight was over her feet. Sweat ran down the side of her face as she used the strength in her legs to slowly rise to a standing position.

Her legs trembled, and she feared they wouldn’t hold her up. Alex took deep breaths and flexed her calves, sending blood to her lower extremities. She could do it. Alex kept telling herself that. After a few minutes, her legs grew stronger. Now to break the zip ties—if it was indeed the plastic binding.

If only she could see. This must be how it felt to be blind. Alex was afraid to move one way or the other—the drop-off could be inches away.Focus on getting the ties off.

At the police academy, they’d practiced breaking the zip ties during after-hours. At the time it’d been fun. Not at all today. Alex mentally rehearsed the move, and rehearsed it again. Then she bent over and took a breath and raised her arms as high as she could before she brought her wrists down against her hip.

Nothing except pain in her wrists. She forced her arms higher and then slammed her wrists against her body again. This time the restraints broke loose. She dropped to her knees on the cave floor, and pain shot all the way to her hip. When that pain eased, she was left with a throbbing wrist.

Alex curled her left hand, and pain shot up her arm. No doubt about it, she’d broken her wrist. Too late to worry about it now. Gingerly she felt the cave floor with her good hand, first to the right side, then the left where her fingers touched air. Alex jerked her hand back. She’d been right—the edge was mere inches away.

A strand of hair tickled her nose, and she tried to blow itaway. When that didn’t work, she found it and tucked it behind her ear and then carefully explored the ground in front of her. Solid. Alex slowly crawled, feeling her way with each move.

What if it was the wrong direction? The thought froze her. Earlier there’d been wind, and it should come from the mouth of the cave. But which direction had it come from? Maybe if she raised up ... She did, and pain rocked her head when it collided with rock.

Don’t give up.Alex repeated the words and imagined other caves she’d been in. Often they’d crawled in through a narrow opening that sometimes opened into a cavern. Had to be what happened this time. If it was, how did Phame get her in here? He couldn’t have carried her—not enough room.

Somehow, Alex had willingly come to the cave with him.

55

Nathan’s phone broke into his deep sleep. He rolled over and glanced at the alarm clock. Six? He’d overslept. Still groggy, he grabbed the ringing phone. “Landry,” he growled.

“Nathan, it’s Carson Stone. I, uh, don’t know how to ask this, but is Alex there?”

“What?” Nathan raked his fingers through his hair. Carson wasn’t making sense. “Why would she be here?”

“She isn’t home and she’s not at the office. If she’s not there...”

“I’m on my way.” Nathan hopped out of bed and splashed cold water on his face. Where could Alexis be? After he pulled on khakis and a white shirt, he grabbed his phone and checked the app he’d put on her cell. It showed she was at her grandparents’.

Alex would not have willingly gone anywhere without her phone.

Ten minutes later he pulled into the Stones’ drive, expecting to see deputies’ vehicles, but the drive was empty. He pulled to the back of the house, and Carson met him at the back door using the fancy walker to lean on. Judith stood behind him.

The former sheriff’s gray color worried Nathan. “Have you heard from her?”

Carson shook his head. “And I’m worried.”

Nathan could see that. “Mind if I search her bedroom? I put an app on her phone and it shows it’s here at the house.”

“Look all you want.”

The Stones followed him down the hallway to Alexis’s suite. “Wait out here. Just in case this becomes a crime scene—you don’t want to contaminate it.”

Carson gave him a solemn nod. “How could anyone get in?”

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