Page 124 of The Whispering Girls

Clark still held tight to the rifle but she’d made him pause briefly.

Katie didn’t wait and ran as fast as she could with her hands handcuffed in front of her. It made it awkward and slowed her down, but she thought she was making progress, until she was yanked backward by her hair. She had failed. The pain was excruciating, causing her to fall, hitting something hard, a tree stump or another part of an old building.

Rolling to her side, she still wasn’t giving up. She stood.

Katie switched from defense to offense, charging Clark and taking him down to the ground. When they landed hard there was a strange noise in the snow. It sounded like someone groaning, or a howling like the wind, but it was coming from underneath them.

Katie pushed herself upright and saw that the ground had buckled. Within seconds they crashed through to an underground bunker followed by snow and forest debris, which fell on top of them.

Katie heard Clark mumble in pain.

She saw cement markers, some tall, some short and wide. Taking a breath and blinking her eyes to clear them, she saw they were surrounded by gravestones. One of the dates was 1862. This was a historical gravesite, often part of a large ranch, most likely a family plot of generations who had been buried there.

Katie didn’t waste any time and tried to find a way to climb out. It was only about six feet to the ground above. She scrambled to find anything she could use as a step. But when she was about out the top, she was pulled back down, landing hard.

Lying on her back again, Katie looked up and saw Clark, his face bleeding, his arms above his head holding a piece of stone. He was intent on smashing her head.

Before Katie could move, a shotgun blast ripped by her ears once again, and she lost her breath for a moment. It was deafening and she thought she had been shot, but she saw Clark try to stand again with blood seeping from his right shoulder. He couldn’t fight it. He dropped to the ground.

Katie looked up and saw John standing with Clark’s rifle. He staggered, dropped the gun, before he also fell to the ground.

“John,” said Katie as she scrambled to try to get to the top. Pulling herself up, she crawled in the snow to him. He was lying on his back.

Katie managed to push the door popper again for Cisco. It wasn’t usually used that way, but his collar would beep when she pushed it and she hoped it would alert him to find them. “John,” she said. “You saved my life.” Her relief was overwhelming and a flood of feelings swarmed her.

“Sorry,” he said breathlessly, “it took me so long…”

Katie leaned over him. “You were right on time,” she said slowly and then kissed him softly on the lips.

He returned her kiss and something happened between them that changed everything.

“Um, what’s going on?” said McGaven standing over them with a smile on his face.

Cisco ran up and took turns greeting Katie, then John, and then over to McGaven. Then the dog spun a few more times.

“Nothing,” Katie said, hiding her embarrassment.

McGaven moved carefully to the edge and looked down in the graveyard bunker at Officer Clark. “He’s the serial killer, isn’t he?”

“Is he dead?” she said.

“No, he’s moving and covered in blood.” McGaven looked at Katie and John. “I told you I’d be back in about an hour. But…this…I knew would happen one day.” He pointed at Katie and John, trying to make light of everything, but it wasclear he was relieved that everyone was okay—the ones who mattered.

“I will fill you in later,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”

There was the sound of a helicopter approaching and they could see lights flashing through treetops. It would be landing shortly with their reinforcements.

McGaven looked at his watch. “Right on time.”

Katie felt so many emotions hijacking her body she wasn’t quite sure what was real and what wasn’t. But that exact moment, she knew she would remember forever. She didn’t care; her family was still here and they would be okay. That’s what mattered.

McGaven leaned down and took off Katie’s cuffs. “Let’s get this killer in handcuffs instead.”

Katie managed to get to her feet and helped John up. They leaned on each other as they watched McGaven jump down into what was once a family burial plot and arrest Clark.

FIFTY-FIVE

Monday 0145 hours