Page 24 of Protecting Kelli
To Flash’s shock, he and Kelli were inside what looked like an old bus with all the seats taken out and the windows removed and replaced with planks of wood. Someone had driven the thing out here, somehow placed it into what had to be a massive hole, then covered it with dirt. He had no idea how they’d managed it, but the how didn’t matter at the moment.
There was a cardboard box in one corner of the otherwise empty space, and that was it. No seats, no blankets, nothing he could see to use as a weapon or a tool to dig themselves out.
Just before the light from above was cut off, the manthey’d picked up from the side of the road looked down at them.
“The plan was to have more of you, so you better hope your people come through with our money and make this worth our while.”
“Andyoubetter hope you’ve covered your tracks. Because wewillbe getting out of here. And you have no idea who my people are. They’ll never give up. They’ll find you. And when they do, you’ll wish you’d never come up with this asinine plan.”
“Fuck you,” the man growled again.
Then the manhole cover slid across the hole, cutting off all light. It was so dark, Flash couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.
This wasn’t good. Not good at all.
CHAPTER SIX
Kelli inhaled sharply when the manhole cover above their heads shut out every scrap of light. She wasn’t usually scared of the dark, but this was…all-encompassing. She couldn’t see anything. She immediately began to shake. It started with her arms, then her legs, and before she knew it, her entire body was trembling.
She’d never been so scared in her entire life.
And now they were…what? Being held for ransom? It was ridiculous and unbelievable, and yet here they were.
Her head throbbed where the guy had hit her, and she could feel the blood still oozing from the back of her head, down her neck, soaking into the coverup she was wearing.
A small whimper left her mouth involuntarily.
“Kelli?”
She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t answer Flash. She felt paralyzed with fear and disbelief.
“Where are—ow, fuck! I’m coming, hang on, sweetheart.”
The touch on her shoulder startled Kelli so bad, sheliterally gasped and wrenched away. Before her brain could process that it was Flash who’d touched her, and not the boogie man in the dark, she was in his arms.
Closing her eyes—not that it mattered, she couldn’t see anything with them open—Kelli held onto Flash with both arms and squeezed him as hard as she could.
“It’s okay. We’re all right. We’re going to get out of here. I give you my word.”
That made her feel better, even if a part of her deep down knew he couldn’t promise any such thing. They’d been buried alive, and it was terrifying.
“Come on, I want to look at your head.”
She couldn’t help it. She snorted. “Look at it?” she mumbled against his chest.
“Yeah, bad choice of words. But we need to stop the bleeding. Head wounds bleed like motherfuckers…Um, sorry. I tend to use more swear words when I’m stressed.”
At that, Kelli’s head came up. She couldn’t let go of the man she was clinging to as if she were a spider monkey, but out of instinct, she tried to look at him. “You’re stressed?” she asked.
It was his turn to snort. “Yeah. Stressed. Pissed off. Confused as fuck. Angry. Worried. Furious. All the adjectives you can think of. Come on, let’s sit here.”
Kelli wanted to ask where, but before she could, Flash was lowering her down onto something metal.
“It’s one of the wheel humps,” Flash told her, as if he could read the confusion in her body language. “I need you to let go of me for just a second. I’m not going anywhere, I’m right here. I’d never leave you alone. Understand? We’re sticking together. Period.”
Swallowing hard, Kelli forced herself to drop her armsfrom around Flash’s body. One hand still gripped the edge of his T-shirt. Even though there was no place for him to go, she still needed to keep contact with him. She couldn’t even imagine what she’d be thinking or doing if she’d been dumped in here alone.
“Does it hurt? Your head? Sorry, don’t answer that—of course it does. Motherfucker clocked you good.” She felt his fingers in her hair, gently probing. “Yeah, it’s still bleeding. Damn, I wish I had my KA-BAR. I’m not sure I can rip my shirt without a knife or something.”
