Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Declan
Bella's scream cut off as she hit the concrete floor, hard.
“Bella!” I lunged after her, and my thigh smashed into the railing.
My boot slid on rust and grit, and I barely caught myself before going headfirst down the steps, too.
I half-fell, half-jumped the last section and crashed onto the concrete beside her.
I grabbed her wrist and hauled her upright. “You okay?”
She sucked in a sharp breath and cradled her palms. Even in the dim light, I saw blood streaking her burned fingers and grit embedding in her burned palms. “My hands—”
Shit.
A bullet cracked above us, and the stair railing near my head spat sparks.
“Move!” I wrapped an arm around her back and forced her forward.
We staggered across the concrete platform at the bottom of the processing plant.
Massive boulders and chunks of ore were scattered everywhere.
Some were garbage-can-sized. One was as big as the quad bike.
And running right through the center of it all was the old rail trench.
The long channel was like a scar cut straight through the earth.
The headlight beam from the wrecked car far above gave off a weak glow, barely enough to sketch the edges of the machinery. The rest of the light came from the bastards' phone lights, darting across the metal bones of the old equipment as they chased us.
Another shot rang out and punched into a metal crate on the other side of the platform.
“Go,” I rasped.
She didn't argue. We ran.
Above us, the assholes thundered down the upper levels, phone lights spearing through the darkness.
“There they are! On the ground!”
Another shot cracked, and Bella ducked with a sharp cry.
“Go. Go!” I dragged her forward.
Dust thickened the air, and a chemical tang burned the back of my throat. Bella stumbled but caught herself.
The narrow landing opened into the lowest level of the old processing plant. A vast shadowed pit of rusted machinery and darkness stretched around us.
I dragged in a breath. My chest burned.
Running parallel to the concrete platform was the long, narrow trench, about chest-deep. An old rail line ran along the bottom, and the rusty steel glinted when light hit it. The pit stretched off into the dark like a monster’s throat.
I'd forgotten how massive it was down here. All those months planning the restart, walking the site, measuring, making decisions with employees, arguing with contractors. The processing plant had been my biggest failure. It had better not fail me now.
“What do we do?” Bella's voice was high-pitched. Terrified.
I scanned the rail tracks in the trench below. Crumbling timber crossties and piles of loose rock and other crap covered the lines. My heart hammered so hard I felt it in my skull.
My eyes adjusted enough to pick out shapes in the darkness. Crates. A collapsed conveyor chute. A hulking green machine with half its panels missing. And at the far end of the trench, half-hidden in shadow where the pit disappeared into the mine entrance, was an old hauling cart.
Yes.
“This way.” I grabbed her elbow and pulled her forward.
We ran along the edge of the trench, crunching over gravel and debris. Above us, metal clanged as the assassins hit the next level of stairs. Their footsteps were getting closer. They'd be down here in a minute. Maybe less.
“Where are we going?” Bella panted.
“Into that cart.”
The steel-sided carts hadn't been used in over thirty years for hauling raw ore from the lower shafts. I hoped like hell that the wheels weren't rusted solid.
At the end of the platform, I grabbed her arm. “Get in.”
Terror flashed across her face, but she didn't argue. She swung her legs over the edge, and her skirt billowed out as she dropped into the cart, splashing into ankle-deep, rust-red water.
“Where’d they go?” A shout boomed from the stairs.
“They're coming.” Bella's shrill voice scraped right through my sanity.
“I know.” My lungs burned as I jumped down into the trench behind the cart.
“What are you doing?” She gripped the rim with her battered hands, peering over at me.
The cart was chest height, bigger than I remembered, and the whole thing was pitted and flaking with rust.
“Declan, hurry.”
Boots pounded down the flights of stairs and echoed off the mine's metal skeleton.
I wrapped both hands around the brake lever and heaved.
Nothing.
“Come on.” Bella's voice cracked. “Declan, please.”
The damn thing had seized in place. I planted a boot against the side of the cart and hauled with everything I had. Old metal shrieked, and the lever shifted an inch. “Move, you bastard,” I growled.
“There they are!” The voice boomed around the chamber like a gunshot.
The brake lever jolted free, and the cart jerked forward.
“Yes.” I threw my weight into the back of the cart and shoved. My thighs screamed. My shoulder throbbed. The cart moved like it was dragging a tractor.
“Declan!” Bella's eyes were huge and wild. “Hurry. Please.”
A bullet cracked into the concrete near my shoulder. Rock chips stung my neck.
Adrenaline exploded through my veins as I roared and pushed harder, shoving with every muscle. The cart rolled forward, wheels squealing over the rusted rails.
Another shot punched the back of the cart, missing my ear and Bella's fingers by an inch.
Bella shrieked and dropped out of sight. “Declan, get in!”
“Not yet.” I kept pushing, my legs burning. “Need more speed.”
The rail line sloped downward. The angle was barely noticeable when I used to walk this track, but it was enough to make the cart roll on its own. Once it picked up momentum, they’d never catch us.
“Declan!” Bella reached over the back edge, arms stretching toward me.
Behind us, boots thudded on the timber crossties. Shit! They were in the trench.
“I'll shoot you in the spine, you bastard!”
The cart pulled ahead, moving faster. I raced to keep up, legs pumping, hands still shoving.
A bullet slammed into the back of the cart.
Shit! That was too close.
I lunged forward and grabbed the back rim. My fingers caught just as my feet left the ground. My ribs crashed into metal. Pain exploded through my chest and drove the air from my lungs.
For a heartbeat, I thought I was going to fall.
“Declan!” Bella's scream echoed inside the cart.
“I'm here.” I hooked my boot onto the coupling bar and clung to the rim as the cart thundered into the tunnel.
Bullets hammered the concrete, cracked into timber beams overhead. They punched the metal cart inches from my hands. Metal rang and sparked.
“Keep your head down,” I shouted.
There was barely a foot between the top of the cart and the low, sagging ceiling. If she looked over the edge, she'd lose her head.
Another bullet hit high. Close enough to make my ears ring. My fingers slipped on the rusted metal.
If I fell, they'd kill me. Then Bella.
Not happening.
I grunted and hauled myself higher to get a better grip. The cart rolled faster, gathering speed as the gradient steepened. The metal wheels screamed.
“Declan,” Bella yelled, “get in. Please!”
“Working on it,” I rasped.
The cart picked up more speed. The tracks curved left. The walls and ceiling felt closer. The cart crashed over rocks, bolts, and timber scraps underneath. One good bump, and I was done.
My arms burned. My shoulder felt like it was tearing apart. The air shifted above us, more open. We'd reached the next section where the ceiling was high enough for a man to stand.
High enough to climb in. I hoped.
“I'm coming in.” I gasped. “Move back.”
“Okay.”
I sucked in a breath, bent my knees, and kicked off the coupling bar. For a moment, I was weightless, half in and half out.
Bella grabbed my arm. “I got you!” She dragged me over the edge.
I crashed into the cart, splashing down hard. My shoulder slammed into her ribs, and my hip cracked against the metal bottom. Pain burst through me everywhere at once.
But I was in.
Above the noise of the wheels, I faintly heard the assholes yelling into the tunnel. Shots cracked again but sounded like they were hitting the rocky walls.
I sat up in the filthy water. Bella came to my side, and I draped my arm over her shoulder. “You okay?”
She clung to me just as hard. “Yes. You?”
“I can't believe that worked,” I wheezed.
She pressed her forehead against my collarbone, her breath coming in ragged bursts. “Me neither.”
The cart rattled on, faster and faster. Every jolt slammed through my bones. Dust rained down in fine sheets. Every wobble threatened to tip us.
“We're getting away,” Bella whispered.
“Yeah.” Yet my brain raced through all the ways this could still go to hell, like us running into that section of the mine that collapsed in a failed detonation that had nearly killed a few of my men.
As the tunnel narrowed, the faint light from behind us shrank to nothing. Total darkness swallowed us, thick as tar. I couldn't see Bella. Couldn't see my own hand. Just felt the shudder of metal beneath us and the warmth of her body pressed against mine.
The air cooled as we went deeper, losing the baking surface heat. It smelled like old rock, rust, and mud.
“Declan?” Her voice was small in the hollow dark. “Is this safe?”
“Not even a little bit.”
“Oh. Okay.”
I squeezed her tighter.
The tracks dipped harder. The cart lurched and dropped into a steeper grade. My stomach tried to crawl up my throat.
“How do we slow down?” she asked.
“Can't. We're at the mercy of physics now.”
She let out a sound that was half-laugh, half-sob. I squeezed her shoulder.
“Just keep your head down,” I said. “Don't want to lose it.”
“Good tip. Thank you,” she muttered.
The air grew colder. Dampness brushed my face. A trickle of water ran over our heads.
Every few meters, another dose hit us, getting heavier each time, pounding our skulls.
That wasn't good. We were deep now, and these tunnels should be airtight.
The cart shot out of the sloping tunnel into a wider chamber. I couldn't see it, but the rattling cart echoed in the open space around us.
The cart slammed to a stop.
A wall of freezing water smashed into us, punching my chest, filling my nose and mouth. Our bodies catapulted forward into the front panel, ribs cracking against steel.
Bella shrieked as the cart tipped up and ejected us like garbage. We splashed into water in a tangle of limbs. The cart slammed back onto the rails with a thundering clang.
I spat out a mouthful of foul water and searched the darkness. “Bella!”
“I'm here.”
We found each other, and standing knee-deep in water, I hauled her to my chest. “You okay?”
She coughed hard against me. “I think so.” Her voice shook. “Everything hurts. But I'm breathing.”
“Good. Still breathing is our new standard for success.” I wiped my eyes and blinked into the dark. I couldn't see a damn thing.
I dragged in a breath that tasted like rust and an acrid heaviness that sat wrong on my tongue. The smell hit me hard. This wasn’t just stale water.
Is that fuel?
“Where are we?” Bella asked, pulling back from my chest.
“My guess is level six.”
“How do you know this mine? I thought you were the accountant?”
Shit. That was a question I'd been hoping to avoid. I didn't need Bella knowing I was a bloody failure, not when I was trying so damn hard to save her. “I am the accountant. I just spent some time down here a while back.”
“Oh. Well, I'm glad you did.” Her voice steadied a little. “So how do we get out?”
“Walk,” I said, reaching for her hand.
She winced.
“Shit, sorry. I keep forgetting about your hands.”
“I'm okay.” She squeezed her palm against mine anyway.
Bella was petite and seemed shy, but there was steel under that pale skin, fiery red hair, and impossibly blue eyes. I wanted to ask her so many questions. The top one being: Who the hell are those assholes? Followed closely by: Why are they trying to kill you?
But the truth was, I didn't care about the answers. All I cared about was getting her out alive. “Come on. Let's see if we can get out of this water.”
“I can't see anything,” she said with a shaky laugh. “Can you use your lighter?”
“No. This water has fuel in it. Or maybe oil.”
“Oh. Fantastic.” Bella's voice went flat. “Because things weren't bad enough already.”
“Yeah, but at least we're still breathing. Right?”
“Right. Thanks to you.” She nudged her hip against mine.
A smile tugged at my lips. I had saved us. So far, at least.
The water sloshed around our calves, the cold soaking through my jeans and into my bones. Feeling in the darkness, I found the cart again, and using the edge as a guide, found the rail tracks at the front. “We'll follow the tracks. Give me your hand.”
Her fingers closed around my forearm, clinging onto me as if I were some kind of hero.
I wasn't. If Mitch were in this situation, or Cassidy, they'd know what to do. Hell, even Kayden would have knocked together a plan by now.
We stood knee-deep in potent water, holding onto each other, breathing hard.
Somewhere above us, two armed killers were probably still hunting us.
Down here, we were blind, soaked, shivering, and surrounded by God-knew-what in a mine that had already failed me once.
The stink of fuel filled my nostrils, and my brain presented a very clear picture of what would happen if I lit the lighter in my pocket. For a guy who’d lived for numbers and puzzles, this was my actual nightmare.
Bella's fingers tightened around my arm. “Declan?”
“Yeah.”
“How do we get out of here?”
I stared into the black. Water dripped all around us. The mine settled with a groan, as if it had old bones. My mind raced, trying to figure out what the hell we could do.
I'd gotten us this far on panic and dumb luck.
Now I had nothing.
The chamber was huge. I could feel it even if I couldn't see it. Sound moved differently in big spaces—every drip and splash had a long tail. But the roof felt lower, pressing down in the dark. I tried to picture what section of the mine we were in. But I had nothing.
A bitter laugh scraped out of my throat. “Honestly, Bella?”
“Of course.” She sounded so hopeful it hurt.
I let out a long breath. “I have no fucking idea.”