Page 68 of The Sheriff and the Outlaw

It appeared that she was at least twenty feet down or more. They would need a rope and a horse to pull her out. Just then, she started to stand.

“Don’t move, Josey. I’ll be down to get you in just a minute.” He looked around and Colton, Wyatt, and Harrison were waiting.

“No, don’t!” A look of panic colored Josey’s face. “Don’t try it alone!”

Daxton smiled. “I’m not alone. Colton, Harrison, and Wyatt are with me.”

“Don’t worry, ma’am. We’ll have you out in no time,” Colton hollered down.

Josey nodded as a fresh wave of tears streamed down her cheeks.

Wyatt was already holding a rope when he turned to Daxton. “So, how do you want to do this?”

“Lower me down first. Once I have her secured, then you pull her out. Once she’s safe, then you can pull me out.” Even though he hadn’t had much sleep, he felt energized as relief washed over him. “I’m just glad we found her.”

Colton held the horse steady while Wyatt tied the rope securely in place. Daxton tied the other end tightly around his waist. When they were ready, he stepped to the edge of the hole and leaned back, testing it. “Okay. Lower me down.”

Daxton put his feet at the edge of the hole until he couldn’t touch it. As they lowered him down, Daxton saw that she had fallen into some sort of room. There was a coal bin to the far right against the wall. He cringed, glad that Josey hadn’t hit it when she fell. It’s a wonder she hadn’t broken anything. He just hoped that she hadn’t lost the baby.

“Oh, Daxton!” Josey was shaky as she got to her feet and held her arms out to him.

“Josey, don’t push yourself. I’ll have you out of here in no time.” When his feet touched the dirt floor, he quickly untied the rope from around his waist and pulled her to his chest. “Josey, honey, I’m so glad you’re safe.”

She nearly collapsed in his arms as she burst into tears. “Oh, Daxton! I’m so sorry... I should have told you… I should have told you everything—” she sobbed against his chest.

“Shh....” He gently brushed the hair away from her face and kissed everywhere his lips could reach. “You’re safe now. And I’m never going to let you out of my sight again.” Then he pulled back and looked into her eyes. “Besides, I’m the one who should be apologizing. I should have—”

“Shh....” Josey placed a finger gently to his lips. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“We can talk about it later.” Tears welled up in his eyes, threatening to spill over. “Well, let’s get out of here, shall we?”

She nodded, smiling through her tears. “Sounds good to me.”

He quickly wrapped the rope around her, careful not to hurt the baby, and then yelled up, “Okay, Wyatt! She’s ready! Pull her up!”

“Will do!” Wyatt yelled back down.

The rope became taut and then Josey started rising up toward the hole high above, never taking her eyes from Daxton.

Once she was safely out of the hole, the rope fell back down again. He wrapped the rope around himself as quickly as he could and then tugged twice on the rope. “Okay! I’m ready!”

But no one answered.

Then the rope grew taut, and he started to rise up from the ground, higher until he reached the top.

Colton reached down and gave him a hand up, helping him from the hole. But when he turned around, Austin Slater was holding Josey to his chest with her back toward him... and a gun pressed to her head.

Chapter 17

Josey

Five minutes before….

Relief washed over Josey when she made it to the top of the hole and Colton held out his hand to help her up. “We need to get Daxton out of there.”

“That’s the plan.” Colton smirked, quickly untying the rope from around her. “Step back over there, ma’am, and we’ll have him out in no time.”

Wyatt, Colton, and Harrison immediately went to work, trying to bring Daxton up.

---