Page 54 of Trapped with the Covert Ops Soldier

“This,” she said opening the rickety wooden door. On the floor next to the door was a flashlight. She turned it on.

Inside was mostly for storage. Plant pots, a wheelbarrow, and gardening tools that had seen better days inhabited the space.

“This isn’t much,” JD said peering at the interior.

“Keep looking.” She handed JD the flashlight, then moved the wheelbarrow out of the shed. “Shine the light here.”

The space on the floor where the wheelbarrow had been wasn’t stone like the rest of the floor. It was wood, and it had hinges.

“I thought it was just a root cellar.” She lifted the wooden door. “Turns out it’s more than that.” Stairs led down into darkness.

JD shone the light on the stairs, then glanced at Abby. “I ain’t going down there.”

“I thought you wanted to know where the dynamite came from.”

“I don’t give a shit about that. Ghost is the one who wants to know.”

“You said Ghost thinks this is some hidden entrance to the mine. It’s not. Get down there and confirm it.”

“Ghost can go down there if he wants. Not me. I don’t like dark, dirty places.”

“You don’t like dark, dirty places?” She looked him up and down. “You’re covered in dirt.”

“Not dirt from some hole in the ground dirt. Like a grave. I’m not ready to die.” He shuddered. “Besides, it’s probably full of spiders and bugs.”

“Don’t be such a girly girl JD.”

“I’m telling you, I ain’t going down there.”

“We’re all going down there.”

Abby jerked back a step and whirled to stare at the doorway and the shadow that stood there. The voice of that shadow was deep, dry, and filled with a lifetime of disappointments.

“Ghost, I presume?” she asked.

“Is that what Jack is calling me?”

She knew that voice, but she couldn’t quite place it.

“Among other things,” JD mumbled.

“You first, Jack.” The shadow gestured toward the dark hole in front of them.

“You gonna make me go down there? Man, that’s hard. I didn’t get in your way. Why you gonna do this to me now?”

“But you did get in my way. Get down there.”

Grumbling, JD put his foot on the first step, then the second, and the third.

“You next, doc.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you the one who’s been shooting at me? In town?”

“That piss you off, doc?” The shadow chuckled and she knew. She knew this man.

Unless she and JD were very careful, they were both dead.

“Yeah, it did. You risked a lot of lives, innocent lives by taking shots at me in town.”

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