Page 44 of Trapped

Chapter Nine

Sophia clamped onto Cash’s hand, feeling her fingers dig into his flesh. What was she thinking? She was supposed to be getting him out of here. Phil had already died in the effort. And now she’d gotten the two of them into a hell of a fix.

Just a little while ago, Cash had seemed so distant. Then, after the landslide, when he’d wrapped her in his arms, she’d been helpless to stop herself from kissing him. And when he’d responded, she’d let her craving to connect with him overcome good sense.

Now they were in deep trouble, and she had to get them to safety. Too bad she had only a superficial knowledge of the cavern’s interior, because she’d expected that once they got in here, it would be a straight shot to the other end.

With the voices coming toward them, the logical move would be to go in the other direction. But that way was blocked. Her only option was to take a chance on going back a little way and pray that they made it to shelter in time.

She grabbed her pack, and they each scrambled for a pair of goggles. Staying low to the ground, she slithered a few yards back, so she could wiggle around the ledge they’d been leaning against, when the landslide had struck.

Trusting her judgment, Cash followed, moving like a snake behind her. And she knew he was a lot better at this kind of maneuver than she.

They made it into a narrow vertical shaft just as she saw lights coming toward them.

She had always hated closed-in places, but she kept going down because her life depended on it.

Cash came in after her, wedging himself between her and one of the rock walls.

There was only a narrow ledge for them to stand on, and she hated to think how far a drop it would be if they lost their footing.

It sounded like the men who had come down the tunnel were now where she and Cash had been sitting earlier. There were two of them, and she guessed they were only part of the search party—with other men taking different routes through the cave, looking for the fugitives.

“That’s a hell of a landslide,” one of them said.

“If they’re under that, they’re dead.”

“Maybe they made it to the other side first.”

“I’m going to see how stable it is.”

“Okay. But they could still be over here. I’ll look around.”

His friend made a sound of agreement, and she heard rock crunching.

She felt Cash moving beside her, doing something at his waist, then raising his arm, and she wanted to tell him to stay still. But there was no way they could talk now.

Above her, she could see a light swing around the area, then move closer.

She wanted to duck her head, but she kept looking up, hoping that the man would miss the tunnel.

Then suddenly a blinding light hit her in face.

She gasped as the man above them exclaimed, “Got ya.”

A boom reverberated in the tunnel. Then another and another. Even as her ears kept ringing, she knew what had happened. Cash had fired one of the guns he’d taken from the weapons rack.

The light flicked away from the opening of the shaft, and Cash pushed past her, scrambling up and disappearing over the rim.

She followed him up, where she saw him leaning over a man lying on the ground.

“Buck?” a voice called.

When she heard rocks sliding around, she knew the other guy was coming. Cash pulled her down behind the ledge where they’d been sitting.

The sound of tumbling rocks grew louder, and then she heard a scream that faded away as though someone was falling through space.

“Sounds like he went over the edge,” Cash said. “And this one’s dead.”

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