If I Should Die_ A Novel of Suspense - Allison Brennan [126]
Bobbie lunged for Lucy. Lucy jumped to the left, her back flat against the wall. Bobbie lost her balance and stumbled. She reached for Lucy, but her foot slipped into the hole.
Her hand wrapped around Lucy’s ankle. Lucy fell hard as Bobbie pulled her down, grunting as she tried to use Lucy’s body to climb to safety. The side of the exploration shaft began to crumble and Lucy felt herself falling.
Sean heard Lucy’s scream. She was closer than they’d thought. They had been following the light ahead of them, their flashlights turned off, because Sean didn’t want Bobbie to know she was being followed. Then the light changed, faded, and there was only one beam.
“They’re at the Hell Hole,” Ricky told him.
“Stay back,” Sean ordered. He checked the harness Omar had strapped on him. The end was secured to the bumper of his truck.
Suddenly, everything went dark and Lucy screamed again. Sean turned on his light and rounded the corner.
Lucy was on the ground, clawing at the rocky bottom of the tunnel. Bobbie had her leg and was trying to use Lucy’s body as leverage to climb out of the exploration shaft.
“Lucy!” Sean reached out.
She grabbed his hand. Her hands were slick with dirt and blood and she began to slip. Bobbie’s weight was pulling her down.
“Ricky! Light!” Sean called out.
Ricky came around the corner and shined his bright light into the tunnel.
There was nowhere to gain traction. Nowhere to gain a foothold. Only his raw strength and the cable that strapped him to the truck held him in place.
He shouted into his radio and prayed they could still hear him, “I need more rope!”
Omar came back with, “That’s it.”
“I need more!”
Sean dropped his own flashlight and grabbed both of Lucy’s hands. The rappelling vest dug deep into his flesh, making breathing difficult, as he strained to hold on to Lucy’s hands.
“I’m moving the truck into the mine entrance,” Noah said over the radio. “I can get you ten more feet, max. Omar, move,” Sean heard before the radio went off.
Suddenly, the slack on the rope caused Sean to slide precariously closer to the edge of the exploration shaft. Lucy screamed as her legs went over the side. Bobbie shouted, “I’ll kill you!”
Lucy screamed again, this time in pain, not fear.
“What?” Sean grunted.
“Knife. She cut me.”
Ricky stood over the shaft with a small .22. Sean didn’t know he had it. “No, Ricky.”
Ricky shined the light into the pit where Bobbie held on to Lucy’s legs. “Good-bye, Aunt Bobbie.”
Ricky fired the gun, and suddenly Lucy was out of the pit and in Sean’s arms on the floor of the tunnel. He scurried away from the edge of the pit, the Hell Hole, and held her close. “God, Lucy, thank God. I can’t lose you.”
Ricky picked up the line, using it to guide him back to the mine entrance, giving Sean and Lucy a moment of privacy.
Noah’s voice barked over the radio, “Report!”
“I have her,” Sean said. “Lucy is safe. Bobbie Swain is dead. Give me a minute.” He needed to just hold her. It had been close, too close.
Lucy clutched Sean, didn’t want to let him go.
“I don’t want to die without you knowing how much I love you,” Lucy said.
She had finally said it, and though her entire body was shaking from fear and adrenaline and shock, her heart was no longer gripped by the fear of loving Sean. Her uncertainty was gone.
“I love you, Sean Rogan. I’ve always known it, but was too scared to say it. Still, you stuck with me.”
They had issues they needed to talk about. Their lives were not safe or simple; they were dangerous and complex, and either of them could die at any time. This week had proven that—trouble found them. But they loved each other, and that had to mean something. It had to be stronger than their differences, more important than their egos.
Sean stared at her, wiping dirt and blood off her face. His expression was almost as if he hadn’t heard her. “Luce—”
“I never want a day to pass where I don’t tell you how I feel,” Lucy said, holding his face in her hands. “You know the truth,