Page 96 of Tough as Steele

She took careful steps across the field of tall grass. The wind swayed over it, covering any sound she might make. She kept her gaze trained on Holt as he disappeared into a valley. If he knew she was stalking him, he could drop down, turn, and get a bead on her easily. Her only hope was to reach the house.

She bolted, whispering through the grass that threatened her footsteps and tried to take her down. Her legs burned from the effort of lifting them above the grass.

Aching. Throbbing. She forged ahead. Dove into place behind the porch. She lay, breathing hard, and lifted her binoculars.

A hill lay beyond the gully where he’d disappeared. Spruce branches were positioned against the hill, and not in a natural position. More like he’d used them to cover something up. Did he have a bunker with hidden ammo and weapons, and he was retrieving all of it to take with him? Or could Mimi be held there? Now that he had the money, was he going to kill her?

In either event, she had to stop him. Now!

She stowed the binoculars and belly crawled along the back of the house, her rifle over her back. On the far side, she scanned the area with her binoculars.

Holt suddenly appeared in her glass, stomping through the grass down the hill. If he looked back, he would be able to see her with binoculars. Wouldn’t do. She inched back into a narrow space behind a pile of neatly stacked firewood.

His steps, walking through the stalks, sounded like whispers of the wind. He started whistling a song she couldn’t identify.

He cut left in the woods, his song trailing him. He obviously didn’t know she was hunkered down by his house or he wouldn’t be whistling unless he was trying to make her think he didn’t know she was there.

Either way she had to move forward. She waited until his song dissipated with distance and pressed her mic.

“I’m going to check out where Holt is going,” she whispered. “He could be headed for Mimi, and I can’t let him kill her.”

“I’ll go,” Nate said.

“I’m already on the move.” She slid out of the narrow space, the scent of freshly chopped wood catching her attention.

Forget the wood smell. Think about Holt. Only Holt.

She belly crawled in the crushed grass he’d left behind, sliding down the hill. She paused and looked ahead. Steps led down to the wall of branches.Yeah. Yeah. Looked like a bunker, all right. A perfect place to keep Mimi.

Londyn continued on her belly all the way to the branches. She squirmed into position for a clear view and pointed her rifle in the direction where Holt had disappeared. With her free hand, she began pulling down the brush, one branch at a time, until she spotted an old door mounted on a roughly hewn frame. Could be built by him or maybe was an old root cellar. A length of wood crossed over the door to lock it.

She had to stand to unlock it, putting herself in a vulnerable position. She had no choice. Not if she wanted to free Mimi.

Londyn piled up the brush to screen her body then stood. She rested her rifle against the wall and hefted the wood.

The solid timber groaned and creaked, the noise almost deafening in her ears, but she finally pushed it to the top, and the door creaked open.

“Hello,” a weak female voice called from inside.

“Mimi, is that you?” Londyn asked, making sure to keep her voice down so Holt didn’t hear her.

“Yes,” the frail voice responded.

Mimi! Thank you. Thank you.

Londyn grabbed her rifle and took one last look around, then stepped into the bunker.

Nate crouched behind a tree, his binoculars focused on the side of the house where Londyn had disappeared over a hill. He could no longer see her. Not even a hint of her. What was happening? What was she doing? As soon as she got into a safe position to talk, she would tell him what’s going on. His thoughts headed toward panic, something he’d only succumbed to when his mother died. When she said she was going after Mimi, his heart nearly stopped beating. Even if he’d only known her for a short time, he didn’t want to face life without her.

He swiped a damp palm over his pant leg. He’d faced down terrorists. Some of the most brutal men a person could imagine, and his palms had remained dry. But send Londyn into potential danger, and they sweated like the glass with an icy drink in the heat of summer.

He would have appreciated back up, but he was thankful this all came up so quickly and her parents didn’t know what she was up to. They would wring Nate’s neck for letting her step into such outrageous danger. He was sure of it. He felt the same way. But he had to accept that she’d chosen a dangerous profession just as he had and let it be. Didn’t mean he had to like it. If they got together, which after finding out how much she meant to him, he really hoped they did, he had to make sure she knew he could handle it.

“I have Mimi.” Londyn’s voice came over his headset. “She seems dehydrated and weak. I’ll try to get her back to the vehicle, and then we go after Holt.”

He thought through her plan. “There’s way too much exposed area to cover with an incapacitated woman.”

“We don’t have any choice. I sure can’t shoot Holt outright and remaining in here is sure death. He’d take us out.”

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