Page 228 of Valor

Cold metal pressed against her temple.

Oliver halted.

“One more step and?—”

A loud click next to her right ear petrified her.

“Robert!” Oliver put his hands up in the air. “She knows nothing.”

“Of course.” The sarcasm in the man’s voice was tangible. “And that is why you took her on this wonderful excursion.”

“She wanted to see the mill.” Oliver took a step closer.

Suddenly, the pressure against her temple was gone. Before she understood what was happening, Robert shoved her to the ground and aimed his gun at Oliver. “I said?—”

“Run!” Oliver lunged.

A shot rang through the clearing.

Oliver grabbed for the gun.

“Oliver!”

“Run!”

Another shot.

Meghan scrambled to her feet and bolted toward the forest. She ran. Her only hope was that God would hear her as she prayed the shortest prayer of her life:Help.

Her feet pounded the dry needles that covered the ground. She had no sense of direction yet continued. Oliver was right. If they caught her, she may never see her mom and dad again. Meghan needed to hide to buy time. The backup was coming.

More shots rang through the forest, followed by shouts in languages she didn’t understand. She kept running. Her lungs burned.

God?

An old wooden structure covered in moss suddenly appeared to her right. A little barn with a slate-shingled roof. It looked like a hobbit house. Hay stuck out on one side. Perhaps she could hide there.

Meghan glanced over her shoulder. No one was pursuing her. She circled the feeder and found a small side door. It wasn’t locked. When she shone her light inside, the only thing she saw were stacked bales of hay and a few cobwebs. The door shut behind her. If she climbed up and pushed the top bundle of hay a little forward, she could squeeze behind it. As Meghan pulled herself on top of the stack, hay stuck to her clothes and hair. The dust got into her nose. She pressed against the plank wall and pushed the bale with her feet. The entire pile wabbled. If it collapsed and one of the heavy bundles fell on her, she would be trapped. Meghan wriggled herself behind the top bale. If she lived through this, no one would believe her story.

Oliver.

Her stomach twisted. Did he take a bullet for her? Was he okay? Would she find a message from him on her phone? With trembling hands, Meghan swiped at her screen. Nothing.

Tears filled her eyes.

God, please, don’t let him die.

She dried her cheek. Would he give his life for her? For this old WWII story? Why had this been so important to him?

Lord,why am I here?

Questions swirled through her mind. She touched the screen once more. Maybe she could message Mom and tell her what was happening. Out of the corner of her eye, Meghan caught a tiny glint. The light of her phone must have reflected of something. Meghan shimmied all the way to the plank wall and turned to one side. When her light hit the beam above her, she gasped. A short leather string hung down from the rafter. Her breath caught. Was there a metal bead at its end? She kneeled. Keenly aware of the instability of the entire haystack, she moved with caution. Shining her light upwards, Meghan reached up and gently tugged. Nothing. She pulled harder at the old leather. Her weight shifted, and the entire stack leaned to the left. But as Meghan tried to keep her balance, she kept a firm hold on the string. Something above her moved. Then, a heavy bag landed right next to her. Her heart drummed against her chest. Was this what everyone had been looking for? Meghan shone her phone onto the dusty sack. An old notebook and a wooden box. She took the items out. Her heart pounded in her ears as she opened the tarnished toggle latch. The light of her phone caught the glimmer of precious stones set in vintage jewelry. She smothered her gasp with her fingers, her pulse hammering. But before Meghan could recover from the shock of her discovery, her phone pinged. Hoping for a miracle, she peered at the screen.

Where are you?

Her heart skipped a beat. The message came from Oliver’s number. But how could she be certain it wasn’t Robert trying to locate her? She couldn’t let him catch her now that she was in possession of the item everyone had been searching for. But if it were Oliver messaging her, it would mean that he was alive. Meghan bit her bottom lip. Her fingers hovered over the virtual keyboard.

I’m at the

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