Page 131 of Wrecked
Those three words had broken Sam. They were the last words his mother had said as she died in his arms.
As Hallene had walked out with W, his heart tried to crawl out of his chest and cling to her ankle.
How was Sam going to function with his heart shattered? He had to get out of here. Scaling Mount Everest with one hand tied behind his back would be more realistic than climbing the wall to the windows.
Where was W taking Hallene?
He listened as all the footsteps trailed away.
Phoebe hiccupped between sniffles. “She told me.”
He realized he still had someone else to protect. He lowered his voice. “Talk softly so they won’t hear us. She told you what?”
Pulling out the colorful scrap of material, Phoebe dabbed at her eyes before putting it back. She stood a little taller and dropped her voice to conspiratorial level. “Hallene said you ’ave a team comin’ to save us then you two ’ad a plan to save ’er.”
Of course, Hallene would say that, so this child did not live with the guilt of Hallene taking her place.
Sam would kill for that to be the truth, but he didn’t know for sure when his team would insert into this building or if their rescue would be successful.
Anything could go wrong.
Just like it had a minute ago with Hallene walking out of here.
Phoebe waited patiently for him to reinforce her belief that Hallene would live.
“She’s right,” Sam said, backing up Hallene’s lie. “But I’m going to need your help.”
“Mine? What can I do? I’m no Hallene.” Her moment of confidence fell apart.
He gently clutched her arm and leaned down until he had her full attention. He needed her strong and ready. “You don’t have to be anyone but yourself. Hallene is her own person, and you’ll never have a better role model than her. I won’t let anyone harm you, but it will take both of us to save her.”
Fear banked Phoebe’s gaze, but she nodded fervently. “Yeh.” Then she took a deep breath and seemed to stand a little taller as resolve crossed her face. “I’m ready.”
“Good girl.”
“Wot do we do first?”
“My team should be here soon. Once we get out of here, I have a plan.” He could lie with the best of them.
“Wot is it?”
Of course, she asked that.
Something tapped the window. He looked up at the window where the drone had flashed him.
Sam caught Phoebe by the arm. “Let’s move over to this side.”
“Why?” She followed Sam’s gaze to the window. “Wot’s goin’ on?”
“I’m not sure yet, but if that window breaks, I don’t want you close to it.” He put her as far from the window as he could and placed himself in front of her.
The sound of a glass cutter was followed by a circular line in the glass two feet in diameter. With a pluck sound, that section of glass pulled out and probably fell to the ground.
Black boots entered, followed by black leather pants, which would protect his legs against the glass edge, and a matching long-sleeved shirt.
Phoebe asked, “Who is it?”
“The freakin’ cavalry.” He walked over as his team member used a rope to walk his way down the wall.
