Page 60 of Elsie's Strong Shelter

Summoning all her courage, she moved forward. Tiny shafts of moonlight urged her on. The air became a little less toxic, a little less dusty and she struggled to fill her lungs with more oxygen.

Under the mineshaft, she fell to her butt and stared up at the darkness. Shadows and shapes shifted over the opening some ten feet up.

Please God. Please let someone be out there looking for us. Please let someone hear me.

She placed the whistle in her mouth and blew as hard as she could. The shrill noise echoed off the walls and pierced her ears. Energy leaked from her system, but she blew harder. Blew louder.

A shadow shifted above her until a face appeared in the hole.

Hope lifted her to her feet. She waved her arms above her head. “Help! Help me! My friend and I are stuck down here.”

The face disappeared, replaced by something shiny that glinted in the moonlight. The shape of a gun registered in her brain seconds before bullets flew down the opening like rain.

23

Terror pinned Dean to the ground as he stared into the barrel of Paul’s gun. Limited options ran through his mind. He lifted his palms into the air and wished like hell he could get to the weapon tucked at the back of his waistband.

Sadie laid motionless beside him.

“What are you doing, Paul?”

“What I have to do in order to save my family. You’d do the same thing if you were in my shoes.” Paul frowned and kept his gun trained on Dean’s head. “I’m sorry it had to come to this. I really am.”

Dean braced himself for the impact of a bullet in his brain. He’d failed. He hadn’t seen what was right in front of him, and now Elsie might be lost forever.

Elsie. So sweet and kind. After Gina left him, he never thought he’d find someone he’d open his heart to or build a life with. Never thought he’d find another woman to love.

A gun fired, the abrupt sound vibrating his eardrums.

Paul crumpled to the ground, and a moan of pain ripped from his mouth.

Dean lunged forward and swiped the gun still clutched in his hand. Blood poured from the wound on Paul’s chest. Dean checked Paul’s pulse. Still alive but losing buckets of blood.

He whirled around to find Sadie sitting up and clutching her chest, her weapon in her hand. “Holy shit, Sadie. You okay?”

“Thank God Tommy made me put this vest on, but dammit, that bullet still hurt like a bitch. Never been hit at such close range.” She grimaced and climbed to her feet then bent over at the waist, leaning her forearms on her knees. “He alive?”

“Yeah, but he needs medical attention fast if he’s going to stay that way. We need to alert Tommy and call in paramedics.” He studied the unconscious man lying on the ground.

“On it.” Sadie grabbed the communicator clipped to her shoulder and brought it to her mouth. “Tommy, Sadie here. Paul pulled a gun. I handled the situation. He’s incapacitated and needs medical attention as soon as possible. Unsure of Justin’s involvement at this point but be on high alert.”

The sound of rapid gunfire echoed through the forest, stopping his heartbeat. His gaze flew to Sadie’s.

Elsie!

“Go!” Sadie yelled. “I’ll stay with Paul.”

Dean took off at breakneck speed toward the terrifying sound. He weaved through trees, ducking to avoid low branches. Weeds and overgrown brush rubbed against his ankles. Dim moonlight barely filtered through the canopy of leaves overhead.

Bang!

Another gunshot quickened his pace. He tripped over an upturned root, nearly throwing him to the ground. Catching his balance, he kept moving, kept running, tuning his ears to every sound until only the calls of nature surrounded him.

Unsure of which direction to head, he stopped and drew in large gulps of air. His lungs burned and his head spun. Fearstretched his nerves to the limit, but he couldn’t give in to the horrible thoughts clamoring for his attention.

He closed his eyes and brought the map of the property to mind. Paul had taken them northeast of the house. The mine where Tommy had led Calvin and Mr. Sweet was to the west, directly parallel from where they’d headed. Which meant if he kept moving in the same direction, he’d be close to the mine.

If that’s where the gunshots were fired.

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