Page 78 of Trapped with the Covert Ops Soldier

“That the guy who the town hired to keep you from getting hurt?”

“Yeah, I didn’t make it easy on him.”

“Abby, he failed big time.”

“That’s because he had no idea he was dealing with more than me.” She yawned. “Between Jack, the ghosts of lost lake, and Virgil taking shots at me, he hasn’t had a great couple of days.”

She stopped talking, closed her eyes, and let herself doze while the doctor injected the local anesthetic into her back. She hovered there, in the nebulous state just before full sleep, letting conversations flow past her without taking them in.

Until someone asked if it was true Abby had found a way into the mine. It was posed in an almost whisper by one of the nurses.

Mike responded at the same volume he’d been using the whole time. “The sheriff said there was some kind of hole or cave she’d been forced into and that it collapsed.”

Abby kept her eyes shut and her breathing slow and steady. Anything she said would only add to the rumors.

Some time later, a hand touched the back of her head. “Abby, honey, wake up.”

“Hey, mom,” she said, groggy. “Is Mike done patching me up?”

“Yes, and he says you can go home now if you want. He’s given you a prescription for some antibiotics, but you don’t have to start taking them until tomorrow.”

She opened her eyes and saw an IV line in the back of her hand. “I must have been completely asleep, because I don’t remember getting an IV.”

“He said you were dead to the world.” Her mother smiled. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

Abby went to sit up, but paused when she remembered her clothes had all been cut off her. “I need something to...”

Her mom handed her a small bag. Inside was a complete change of clothes.

She got into them, moving slowly because now that she was on her feet, her back felt like it had been tenderized like a steak. The ache throbbed with her heartbeat. By the time she was dressed, she was dizzy and ready for another nap.

They left the exam room and were met by Abby’s father and one of her brothers. She was lucky they all hadn’t come.

They stepped out of the hospital and into a crowd of people who were all shouting questions at her. The press? Really?

“Is it true you found gold in the Lost Lake mine?”

“How many bodies did you find in the cave system inside the Lost Lake mine?

“Dr. Westward, is it true you’ve been offered seven figures for your property?”

She stared at the mob, some were reporters, but she didn’t think all of them were. Not the ones in suits. Only lawyers and law enforcement agents wore suits like those.

“Let me through,” she said, but they pushed back, blocking her way.

A police siren went off just out of sight behind the throng and it startled them enough that she was able to dash through them.

They followed and she sped up, moving around the sheriff’s car toward her dad’s truck. Next to it was Smitty’s Jeep and he was waving at her to join him.

“Abby!” the sheriff shouted.

“I’ll make sure she goes to the station,” Smitty called back.

“Abby?” her mother called after her.

“I’ll call you, mom.”

“Okay.”

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