If I Should Die_ A Novel of Suspense - Allison Brennan [121]
They regrouped behind an entangled overgrowth of blackberry bushes.
“Voices,” Patrick whispered, nodding his head toward the mine entrance.
The clearing in front of the mine was a semicircular hard-packed area roughly the size of a football field. The mine was cut into the hillside, and based on the elevation of the ventilation shaft Sean had fallen in earlier, the tunnels inside must be graded downward. The building where the C-4 had been stored was on the opposite side of the entrance from where Lucy and Patrick were hidden, built up against the hillside. Above it, the hill sloped up gradually about five feet, then leveled off where the trees began.
The glowing sky behind the mine illuminated the area, but details were hard to identify. Everything was framed by shifting shadows. Distant helicopters and the trill of emergency vehicles broke the silence, but here, at the mine, they had no backup.
“We need to get closer,” Lucy said. She looked around for a way. “We’ll go around the boulder near the entrance.”
“If they see us we’re sitting ducks.”
“We’ll only be exposed for a minute or two. As soon as we step into the mine, we’ll be covered and much closer.”
Lucy didn’t wait for Patrick to concur. She started out, her heart pounding. She skirted the rock face, neither fast nor slow, until she made it to the entrance.
Someone was already there.
Gun drawn, she aimed it at the figure standing flat against the inside of the rough cave.
“Identify yourself,” she demanded, in a coarse whisper.
“Don’t shoot me. I’m Ricky Swain.”
Lucy let out a quiet sigh of relief. “Lucy Kincaid.”
“You’re Sean’s girlfriend.”
“Have you seen him?”
“No. But my aunt Bobbie is outside somewhere and I’m worried. Jon thought—” Ricky shook his head. “I don’t know what he was thinking. No one knows Bobbie better than me, and I told him this wasn’t going to work. But I want to help him. I know how he feels.”
From Ricky’s vantage point, Lucy could see the small building and Jon Callahan’s truck about thirty yards away. Bobbie Swain was on the roof of the building, a gun on Noah and Jon who had their hands up. As she watched, a white-haired man emerged from the shadows. It was Reverend Carl Browne, she thought, though she couldn’t see his face. Browne disarmed Noah and Jon. She glanced around quickly. Where was Omar Lewis? Was he in a position to shoot? He was a sniper, he could take Bobbie and the reverend down immediately. Or had he abandoned them?
Patrick stepped in behind her. “Dammit,” he said when he saw what was happening outside.
“Ricky, this is my brother, Patrick. What is Jon planning?”
“He’s going to kill Bobbie.”
“He already lost his advantage,” Lucy said.
Ricky didn’t say anything for a moment.
“My mom told me if I had an emergency, call Jon. And he would fix it. He’s fixing it.”
“This isn’t protecting you, not now. Jon is no longer the man your mother trusted. Look at his grief—Bobbie killed the woman he loved.”
Lucy glanced into the dark mine. Two tunnels blacker than a moonless night, branched off. One of those led to where she found Victoria’s body.
“Lucy,” Patrick said and pointed to the ceiling.
C-4 had been pressed into the crevices around the mine entrance. Blasting caps were inserted into the C-4 at regular intervals, the wires all coming out to merge into one small box with a blinking red light.
“Does Jon have the detonator switch?” she asked.
Ricky didn’t answer right away. “Aunt Bobbie will come in here. Then it’ll all come down.”
“You don’t want to kill someone in cold blood,” Lucy said. “Not even Bobbie.”
“Don’t talk to me like I’m a child!” Ricky said. He pressed the palms of his hands against his forehead. “She stole everything from me. My whole family is gone. Joe.” His voice cracked.
“She kidnapped Sean. She’s not getting away. Help me stop her without anyone else