Page 49 of The Whispering Girls (Detective Katie Scott #14)

FORTY-FIVE

John was past being hungry and he didn’t think about it anymore, but his thirst was almost unbearable.

If he could make it to the top, there would be plenty of water with the snow.

There was one time when he was on a Navy Seal mission when the team was pinned down for days and the water was severely limited.

He remembered how they had worked together and each had just the smallest amount of water to sustain them.

He had been using the handcuffs to scrape away at the wall. It hadn’t been successful at first, so he kept trying different places. The brightness from midday helped to illuminate just enough light for him to see basic outlines, but not many details.

John had found an area that was loose, getting ready to give way. He focused on what he knew in the moment.

He knew that he was in a well, which meant he must be on some type of farm or ranch.

He knew that the well was old since it wasn’t being used.

He knew that it wasn’t a working well based on the dry and crumbling interior .

It was highly unlikely that anyone would find him and that his only chance to survive would be to get out and reorient himself as to his location.

The noise that echoed all around him was the sound of his heavy breathing.

He seemed to be making headway. The water was more than a trickle and becoming closer to a steady stream. He decided to start several holes in the same area and soon there were several small streams hitting the bottom of the well.

John sat down to recoup his energy. He rested his hands and arms. There was a warm sensation on his hands and he realized his wrists had been injured with the constant pounding and friction of the handcuffs. Blood trickled from his wrists down his hands and spotted his shoes and the well bottom.

John closed his eyes and concentrated on something else for a moment while he rested.

Good memories flooded his mind. Then he rested his thoughts on Katie again, her smile, her tenacity, and her training sessions with Cisco.

He remembered several searches she had done with the German shepherd.

There were so many good times with friends and making new memories.

He knew in his bones that it wasn’t his time to go.

John abruptly opened his eyes and looked up. He estimated the daylight would dwindle in approximately four to five hours—and then he would be shrouded in darkness again, working only by touch. He wasn’t ready to give up yet.

But then weakness and thirst overtook him, and his eyes slowly shut…