Last Chance (Emma Last FBI Mystery Series Book 4) by Mary Stone

Author:Mary Stone [Stone, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mary Stone Publishing
Published: 2023-09-18T16:00:00+00:00

19

Standing at the gaping entrance of the storm cellar, I remained as frozen and still as a statue. The decrepit stairs before me might as well have been a hundred flights down, the way I felt. Sure, I knew I needed to take those poor folks more water. I knew I needed to think about getting them some food probably too. But how?

Not just logistically, but how? Facing them seemed beyond me. Looking them in the eye, knowing I’d left them alone in the cold. They’d judge me and stare at me with hate in their hearts. As I moved forward, their hate would haunt me.

“You comin’ down or what?”

That first old man’s voice echoed up into the snowy wonderland around me, proving I’d not imagined the whole escapade. He was down there along with three others, and all I was doing was letting in cold and prolonging things past…past whatever this moment was. I swallowed down an answer and picked up the supplies I’d set down to open up the locked root cellar.

Time to face the music. At least briefly.

Down the stairs, one step at a time. I could do this because I had to.

Mom’s words echoed in my mind, spurring on my steps. “Always a scared one, aren’t you? Always wanting to shirk your duties? Stop being such a frightened brat, Ruthie, or I’ll give you a reason to cower!”

A step groaned beneath my weight, and something skittered off in one corner, but I kept moving. Kept breathing. I could do this.

“I brought you some water and more blankets.” I gazed around at my four captives, three of whom were awake and glaring back. Cassidy looked terrified, and her daddy slept beside her. The other two just looked pissed. I steeled myself. “Now, y’all don’t fight me. I’m here with water and blankets, okay? You fight, I’ll just go right back up those stairs and you’ll maybe die of exposure.”

I actually sound like I mean it. Good for me.

Morty Williams spat into the corner of the room by way of answer.

I took a deep breath. The old man was all piss and vinegar, but he wasn’t dumb. I narrowed my gaze on him. “I’m coming to you first, old man. You fight, I’ll shoot your daughter.”

Cassidy whimpered behind me, but I kept my gaze on old Mr. Williams. I remembered he’d been in the Army before taking over his daddy’s diner, and I wouldn’t put a fight past him.

His stare remained so fixated that I thought he might recognize me. The girl I’d been way back before I’d escaped this crap county. The girl with raggedy braids done up by her dad, who never quite knew what to say or where to look.

But finally, he nodded, and I crouched at his side, holding the water bottle to his lips. He sucked down about half of it. Then I wrapped a fresh blanket around his shoulders. The man didn’t thank me, but I didn’t expect him to.

You’re imagining things. Ten years ago, you were a hundred pounds heavier with glasses and brown hair.

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