Page 54 of Confined Space

"You can follow me to the precinct and help me go through paperwork and files, but I need you to stop pushing. You aren't supposed to be involved, but I get it. I would do the same." Logan turns again and walks away.

I walk over to my bike and head for the police station. Before I walk inside, I call my mom and give her an update.

An hour and a half later, we've found property owned by the Steingold family just outside of town closer to Sedona. Neighbors have reported seeing someone there over the last couple of weeks. I rush out of the precinct and race toward the old vineyard, worried it's been too long. If he buried her, she could be running out of air already. We don't know how or where she's buried.

Pulling my bike to a stop in front of the property gate, I hop off and find it padlocked. I don't even think twice. I pull my gun from under my jacket and shoot the lock. I run back to my bike once I push the gates open. There is no sign of anyone around, but I can see fresh tire tracks. I stop my bike and get off to follow them. The tracks lead to the house.

"Rowdy, exigent circumstances are the only reason we are behind this gate," Logan says, and I turn to see Lance getting out of the passenger seat. Soon a firetruck pulls in. "I'm going to go knock."

Logan walks up to the door and does the typical cop knock. The loud bang, bang knock that says let me the fuck in. All cops have it.

No one comes to the door, and I turn my attention back to the tracks. I follow them around the back of the house and into the vineyards that stretch out across the land. All of them dead, nothing having grown here in a long time. I know she's here. I can feel it in my bones and soul.

A team of firefighters follow me and we spread out to search when the tracks stop. Someone yells, and I turn and run over. There is a small excavator that looks new, unlike everything else around here that’s old and weathered. The ground by Andrew, the firefighter who hollered, is freshly turned and there are wires heading into a hole.

"Do we need explosives on hand?" someone asks, and my greatest fear is faced in this moment.

"Call them to come take a look." Logan advises.

"We don't know how much oxygen she had. We need to get to her now," I demand.

"Rowdy, you and I both know those wires could be anything, including a bomb. We are going to get to her, but we don't want to kill her or ourselves in the process. I have Ryker and a crew on the way."

Even though Ryker is on the fire department, he’s only part time or volunteer because he primarily is a rescue and medivac helicopter pilot. He's the best. I know she will be in good hands once we get her out of the fucking ground. Currently Coral has been missing for over five hours, and I worry that she doesn't have enough time. It takes twenty minutes for the bomb squad to get on scene, and another twenty for them to clear it. The wires turned out to be for a two-way radio. That means Davis communicated with Coral once she was in the ground. I can't get to digging her out fast enough. One of the firefighters from day shift jumps into the excavator and carefully starts to dig.

It takes ten minutes before we hear the excavator hit a surface. He buried her in an old wooden fucking coffin. The surrounding area is quickly cleared of dirt so the team and I can have room to maneuver. We stand along the edges of the old box and lift up the lid. I'm down in her face as soon as the lid is off, brushing away her hair.

"We need EMTs. She isn't breathing!" I yell. "Come on, little Mouse, open those pretty eyes for me, baby. Come on back to me," I beg her.

The EMTs slide a backboard under her as one starts chest compressions and another uses an Ambu bag to resuscitate her. I watch in horror as a rib breaks from how hard they do the compressions.

"We got a pulse," they say, and they lift her out and rush her to Ryker in the chopper. He has a team with a paramedic and nurse with him due to the circumstances. I jump in with her even though they ask me not to. I'm not leaving her side.

After another fifteen minutes, we land at the hospital. I'm scared and worried because she never regained consciousness even though they've got heart rhythms for her. I don't know how long she was without oxygen.

A nurse stops me and won't let me go back with her as they whisk her into the ER. I’m pacing the floor an hour later when my mother and Georgia walk in. My mom pulls me in for a hug. Shortly afterward, the whole Murphy clan comes in to wait with me. My cousin Isla, Logan and Ryker’s little sister, walks over and gives me a hug. Firefighters on all the shifts come in to check on me and Coral.

"We got him," Logan says as he walks up to me. "We got Davis. He was about to board a plane to flee the country. He's in custody."

"I wish I could have put a bullet between his eyes. This will never end as long as he's alive." I grit out the words through my teeth.

"You don't mean that. By the way, Lance drove your bike to the fire station and secured your gun in your locker." Before I got on the chopper, I handed over my gun and keys to Lance.

"Family for Pierce," a doctor calls, and I walk up to him with my mother. Georgia has Archer in her arms, playing with him.

"That's us."

"A nurse said you identified yourself as her fiancé?"

"Yes."

"She's going to make it. Her system wasn't without oxygen for too long. She has a fractured rib from the chest compressions. She also suffered from hypothermia, but other than that she is well."

"Thank God," my mom exclaims.

"Can I see her?"

"I'll have a nurse come get you when they have her settled in a room. We are going to keep her for a few days to observe her and make sure she doesn't have any residual effects. Her cast was damaged. We contacted her surgeon, and he's got her in a new one. She's very lucky."

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