Page 118 of The Whispering Girls

“Keep going. You can do this!” said Katie, gritting her teeth. Her muscles were on fire and her hands stung, but she continued. Her back cramped, but she breathed her way through the discomfort.

As soon as she saw John, she gasped at his condition. His face was pale and he appeared older. His anguish was clear as he got his arms up and over the lip of the well.

Katie crawled to him and grasped his arms and pulled until he was to safety. “John,” she barely said.

He got to his knees and met Katie.

“John, you okay?”

He nodded. “I never thought…”

Katie hugged him tight. His body was cold, but he held her tight too, catching some of her warmth.

“I thought no one would ever find me…”

“It’s okay. I prayed that we would find you. But it was all Cisco.”

The dog got up and squeezed himself between them.

“Thanks, buddy,” said John, slowly petting the dog.

“We need to get you warm.” Katie shed her insulated coat to give him. Her two sweaters were still helpful, but she instantly felt the cold invade her space.

“No, you need it.”

“Put it on. We need to warm you up. Are you hurt anywhere? Any injuries?” She pulled her coat around him tighter, zipping it up as they stared into each other’s eyes intensely. “Oh, John, I’m so sorry. I wish I never took these cases and…” She hugged him tight, feeling him shiver next to her body.

He squeezed her harder. “I’m okay.” He took his hand,tracing her face. “Just when I think you can’t amaze me anymore—you do something like this.”

Katie wanted to stay in that moment, but she knew they were out in the open and needed to get moving toward Devin’s place and meet up with McGaven.

“C’mon,” she said. “Can you walk?”

He nodded.

Katie and Cisco guided him to an area to take a break while she updated him as best as she could. She used her right arm to steady him and help him walk.

They sat down on two tree stumps while Katie retrieved water and part of a natural energy bar from her pack.

“Stay here,” she said. To Cisco, she instructed, “Bleib.”

Katie went back to the well and retrieved the rope and carabiners, rolling it all up and stuffing it into her pack. When she turned around to return to John and Cisco, Jack stood in the open area like an apparition with reflector strips down the sleeves of his coat, barely ten feet away from her.

She gasped.

Jack had a shotgun in his right hand.

FIFTY-TWO

Sunday 2135 hours

“Jack,” Katie managed to say, trying not to show her surprise.

“Just as I planned,” he said with a broad smile, swinging the shotgun slightly.

Katie took a step forward.

“Not so fast,” he said, aiming the gun at her.