Page 57

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

T he silence and darkness pressed in until Brooklynn could hardly stand it. She’d texted Grant and Jon and Lori Putnam and the number Grant had sent for the FBI.

None of the texts had gone through. She was too deep underground.

With no other options, she prayed, lifting her fears and needs to the Lord who was always close, no matter the dense rocks and soil and roots between her and clean, fresh air.

God was in the cave with her. She knew that, even if she didn’t feel His presence.

Help us, Lord. Bring Forbes back. Please, please…

It seemed he’d been gone an hour by the time she heard quiet footsteps on the rocks.

“Is that you?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Yes.”

She exhaled her terror. He was here. He was safe.

He reached her, still without his flashlight. “You all right?”

“Glad you’re back. What’d you learn?”

“They know.” His voice was tight with worry. “They’re waiting for us at the mouth.”

She gasped. “They know we’re here?” Turning back the way they’d come, she half expected to see enemies approaching. “What should we do?”

“They think we’ll go out by the shore. I’m just lucky I heard them talking. We have no choice. We have to go back to the mansion.”

“But…but they’ll see us.”

“If we wait in here, they’ll eventually come after us. They’ll have us cornered. Our only hope is to get out and hide in the mansion. They won’t be able to find us. We can call Jon’s friends again. We can wait for help.”

But they had to get there. They’d be exposed.

“We have no choice.” Forbes scooted past her and continued up the slope. “Come on. We need to move fast.”

The trek back up toward the house was harder than the trek down had been. The closer they got to the forest beside Forbes’s house, the more she dreaded the moment they’d reach the entrance to the passage.

This was crazy. But staying in here wasn’t a better plan. They couldn’t fight enemies who came from both directions. And Leo and his men had no idea they knew he was waiting for them.

Also, if Putnam had gotten the message, she’d have sent police to the house, not the shore.

Maybe they’d survive this.

For all Forbes’s confident talk, he didn’t turn on his phone's flashlight. He kept his voice at a whisper and moved quietly.

The enemy might be coming toward them right now.

The thought spiked her anxiety.

And then, up ahead, came the tiniest glimmer of light.

Forbes peeked around the final corner, then turned and whispered, “It’s clear. We’re going to crawl out, then run to the door. Can you do it on your ankle?”

It would hurt, but there were no choices. “I…I guess I have to.”

“You remember where it is?”

“Yes.”

“Memorize this. One-three-four-six-five-five-pound.”

She pictured the numbers on a keypad. The top corners, then the numbers on the outside edges, then the center number twice. “Got it. But you’ll be there.”

“I need to watch for enemies. You’ll have to get us inside. You remember it?”

She repeated the code. “I can do it.”

He pressed a kiss to her lips, barely a peck. “I know you can.”

She loved his confidence—and wished she shared it.

“Let’s go.” He continued to the mouth of the cave, stopping in the deep shaft just outside the glow of moonlight.

He didn’t move for a long moment, listening.

Leaves rustled nearby. Somebody was right there.

He leaned close and whispered, “Stay here.” Then, he inched upward and, gun aimed, peered out the entrance.

She had no idea what he was seeing.

He climbed up and disappeared.