She followed the bouncing glow of the small flashlight. They hadn’t taken her ring.
Just her clothes and her dignity.
She still left with intel. She’d done okay and would have gotten Phoebe out if they hadn’t planted a guard inside the dark room.
She had her moments.
Coop would still be yelling that her plan had been nothing short of suicide. He might have had a point, but she’d really expected to be successful, or she wouldn’t have gone in alone.
Would Coop have anticipated the hidden guard?
Maybe, maybe not, but he’d argue that he’d have had someone watching his six as he entered.
Point taken but ... she had no one anymore.
Too bad she couldn’t have had her badass savior on this mission. He would have covered her six and then some.
Coop would be shaking his head at her logic. She didn’t even know that guy. He’d tell her to only take someone she trusted. That narrowed the field to ... no one.
Even if she could ask someone from his team, which she couldn’t, she wouldn’t risk losing any of Coop’s people. They had treated her as family when Coop died and would step in at a moment’s notice for a normal request.
Saving Phoebe was her responsibility. Hallene had sworn to her mother that she’d protect the girl. When she made a vow, she intended to keep it.
She just hadn’t planned on Phoebe being captured by someone who didn’t even ask for money.
Her bouncing light reached the partial ladder as it came into view. Of the original eight steps rising three feet off the ground, only the bottom six remained. Jumping down into this hole earlier had been simpler. She hadn’t really planned to be outrunning a bomb when she came back this way with Phoebe.
Someone had stacked rocks for makeshift steps so long ago, it took her a second to figure that out due to mold and vines crawling over the stones.
She jumped to the top stone, which was just large enough for both feet.
It rocked on an uneven base.
“Whoa!” She waved her arms to keep her balance then landed a hand on the edge of the rotten floor above her. Wood broke free. She danced on the stone again then caught part of the floor with both hands.
The rocks wobbled but not as much as before.
Pulling the ring off her finger, she tossed the light through the opening and hoped it did not break or fall into a hole.
The bright beam glowed over the opening.
A muffled boom sounded behind her. The ground shook and rumbled. She fought to keep a grip on the floor.
Noise boiled through the tunnel, heading her way.
Adrenaline zinged through her body. Hair lifted on her arms.
The rocks shifted back and forth faster.
She bent her knees, dipped down, and shoved up, gritting her teeth against the pain inflicted on her body. Growling for more boost, she forced her body up on exhausted arms and threw a foot over the edge to hold her in place with one leg dangling. Sweat burned her eyes and slid over her skin.
The floor vibrated and made cracking noises.
She took a breath and went for one last push to drag her body over the edge and fell forward. Her face smacked a filthy wood floor.
Partial walls left of the shack leaning over her shook. This should be too far from the mansion for that to happen, right? Maybe not. A house of cards would have been more substantial than what was left of this place.
She mustered another bit of strength and rolled away from the hole, then flipped onto her back. She dragged air through her strained lungs and wheezed, feeling much older than twenty-nine.
