Page 7 of Engaging the Deputy

“Yeah, she’s back,” Emery said, sounding like it was no big deal. Probably wasn’t to him, but then, he’d never been engaged to her. “Rob Perkins, Dean Marsh and Jenny Lee.”

“Where was the last time you saw the others?” the deputy asked.

“Cody and Olivia went off that way,” Emery said, waving toward what was left standing of Elden Rusk’s house on the side of the hill. “Jenny Lee and Dean Marsh were here at the truck. Rob Perkins and I and the girls went down by the creek.” His voice broke with emotion. “I thought we were all going to die.”

Jaden looked up the hillside to where Emery had last seen Olivia headed. Even from this distance, he could see that only some of Elden Rusk’s house was still standing, while the one just below it on the hill, where Jaden and his family had lived, was completely gone.

He desperately wanted to go looking for Olivia himself, but three other vehicles arrived. He needed to talk to the EMTs and search and rescue personnel. Too many people were still missing.

* * *

“Did you hear that?” Olivia whispered as she lifted one end of the heavy shelves and turned them to stand against the wall of dirt. “Voices.”

He’d heard the voices and was as anxious as she was to get out of this root cellar. “It’s probably the others.”

“Maybe someone called for help,” she said excitedly.

“Told you we would be found.”

“But we aren’t staying down here until they do, right?”

He shook his head. That was definitely not part of his plan for the night. “I’m going to help you climb out. Just stay low when you get near the top. Lie on your belly and crawl away from the edge so it doesn’t cave in any more than it has.” All he needed was for her to topple this damn hole on top of him.

She looked scared again. “You’re going to be right behind me, aren’t you?”

“Right behind you,” he assured her, hoping that the shelves held enough to get her free. “Once you’re out, head for the road we drove in on. If someone called for backup, that’s where they’ll be.”

“I’m not leaving you down here,” she said.

“Olivia—” He cursed under his breath. How had he forgotten how stubborn she could be?

“No. I might have left you once, but not again. Especially not like this.” She shook her head adamantly. “We’re both leaving here together.”

He didn’t want to argue, so he agreed. He didn’t want to waste the time. The root-cellar walls felt unstable. He didn’t think either of them should stay down there any longer than they had to.

“I’m going to be right behind you,” he told her. “Just climb up and out. Don’t look back.”

She mugged a face at him, and for a moment, he thought she was hesitating because there was something she needed to say to him. “There’s plenty of time to talk when we’re out of here, okay?”

She nodded, grabbed hold of the old shelving and, with his hands guiding her upward, climbed, not hesitating, and was up and out before several of the wood shelves broke apart. The nails used to hold the boards together had barely held with her light weight.

Not a good sign, he was thinking when he realized that she’d just disappeared over the edge of the hole when she appeared again. She’d taken off her coat and, lying on her stomach, was dangling it over the side. “Your turn,” she said, a dark silhouette against the lightening skyline.

“The shelves aren’t going to hold me. I can hear rescuers. Go get some help.” He didn’t mean to snap, but he knew the clock was ticking and she was determined not to leave him. If only she’d felt that way six years ago. “Go! Please. I’ll wait right here for you.”

She hadn’t been gone but a few moments before he moved the last shelving unit over against the wall. He hadn’t told Olivia, but the last thing he planned to do was stay down there if he could help it. He could hear crying and someone calling Rob’s name.

His weight broke the first shelf right away, but he’d gotten high enough that he could see over the rim of the root cellar in time to glimpse a dark figure move past. He started to call out but stopped himself. The person wasn’t going for help—but in the opposite direction, deeper into the nearly-destroyed Starling community.

Just before disappearing from sight, the figure turned, as if looking back in Cody’s direction. Cody dropped out of sight, hoping he hadn’t been seen. He was trapped in this hole. If anyone wanted to harm him, it would be like shooting fish in a bucket.

* * *

Once Jaden gavethe information he had to search and rescue, they began grabbing their gear.

He turned to Emery. “How did you and Rob get separated?”

Emery wiped his nose and looked down the hillside. “Whitney and I went over to that small house by the creek to give him and Tammy some privacy.”

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