Behind them, the sound of pursuit was faint but growing louder. “He’s through, Gideon.”
“I know.”
“You’re going to have to move faster,” she whispered.
“I can’t see anything. I don’t want to chance stepping into a hole or something.” He pushed out a foot, feeling in front of him, terrified at some point the ground wouldn’t be there and he’d fall, pulling her with him. He shuddered at the mental picture. “How are you doing back there?”
“Trying not to panic and to keep breathing. So far I’m managing. Holding on to you is grounding me. Keeping me from losing it.”
“Then don’t let go.”
Please,God,help me keep her safe.
Twelve
IN SPITEOF HER WORDSof reassurance to Gideon, if she didn’t get out of the dark tunnel, she was going to start screaming. The only thing holding her together was her grip on Gideon’s belt—and wondering what Vance meant about not wanting the ranch. She followed him around a sharp curve and gasped at the faint light shining from above. “It’s a cavern.”
“Correction. It’s a ventilation shaft,” he said. “About three hundred feet to the top.” Almost the length of a football field.
“Which means up is out.” The light above was very faint, but it was there, and it spilled down to them so they could at least see each other’s outline and a little bit of their surroundings.
“We need more light,” he said. “I want a good look around us.”
“Try turning your phone on again. Sometimes you can get it back on for a few seconds after it shuts off.”
He tried and it powered up. He pressed the flashlight icon and quickly shone the light around.
Maya spied a rusted ladder bolted to the wall. It looked ancient, its rungs corroded and bent, but still ... “That’s our way out,” she said.
Gideon powered down the phone once more just in case he needed to save what little juice was left. He grabbed two rungs of the ladder and pulled. It groaned but stayed attached.
Maya moved close enough to be able to see him. “Will it hold you? Us?”
“Yeah, I think so.” He tested each rung he could reach and one broke off in his hand. “I suppose I should be glad it’s only one.”
“Only one of those you can reach,” she said.
“True.” He paused and listened. “Do you hear anything?”
She stilled. “No.”
“That worries me.”
“Let’s just get out of here.”
A flashlight beam bounced on the far wall. “He’s in the tunnel and coming this way,” Gideon said, his voice low, hushed. “How’s your shoulder?”
“Sore, but nothing that will keep me from climbing. How’s your back?”
“Same. Okay then, it’s time to go. Normally, I’d say you go first, but I want to make sure the rungs are safe. I believe it will hold both our weights, but we’re going to be strategic about this. I’m going to climb more to the left and you stay over to the right. That way if something falls, it won’t hit you.”
“Fine. Got it. Climb.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He gripped the first one and started climbing. Maya waited a moment, then followed, staying to the right as he’d asked. It was more awkward this way, but it was better than having a rusting steel bar land on her head.
Footsteps thudded below her, drawing closer.
The ladder shuddered and Maya clung tightly. The higher they climbed the lighter it grew. But the ladder shook and the top left-hand bar pulled from the wall. She gasped and lost her grip with one hand—the one attached to the arm with the sore shoulder.
