Page 30 of Pay Dirt

My breath caught. He’d stopped us at an empty hole already dug in the ground.

He yanked the pendant from my neck and gestured with the gun. “In the hole. I can’t afford you chasing me.”

I slowly shook my head. “I’m claustrophobic. Please don’t. I promise not to chase you.”

Confusion and a hint of concern crossed his face before it was masked. I dropped to my knees. “I’ll stay right here. I promise.”

He shook his head and pointed toward the hole again. “Get in.”

Just when I thought he was going to have to kill me to get in the hole, I realized I was wrong. A single gunshot near my feet had done the trick.

I slid down into the hole and pressed my back to the farthest end.

“Your boyfriend will come to save you, and if he doesn’t, I’ll send someone else.”

That confession confused me. I didn’t care if what he said was true as long as the next bullet wasn’t in my body.

The man tore off in a run without looking back.

I was stuck in a dirt hole, but he hadn’t killed me, but he might as well have. My hand landed on my bare neck. That crystal wasn’t just for decoration, and it didn’t just help me find people and things. It helped keep my energy grounded.

“One problem at a time,” I whispered out loud to whatever worms wriggled nearby.

“Cassie.” Nathan’s yell came from a distance as I tried not once, but twice to find a hold in the side of the packed dirt.

“Nathan,” I yelled back, trying to climb out, but I fell onto my butt.

“Cassie.” His yell was getting louder.

“I’m in a large hole,” I yelled back.

Nathan found me minutes later, and I’d never been so happy to see his face.

“Thank God. I thought he shot you.” Relief flooded his face. “Are you hurt?” He lay down on the ground and held out his hands for me to grab.

“Only my pride that I can’t get myself out of here,” I said, taking his outstretched hands. He pulled me out and held me in his embrace.

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“No, and when I told him I was claustrophobic, he said the weirdest thing. He said if you didn’t find me, he’d make sure someone came back to pull me out,” I answered, rubbing the dirt off my butt.

“A robber with a conscience. That’s a first.”

“He didn’t take your badge either, Nathan.”

“The man held you at gunpoint, Cassie. Tell me you aren’t taking pity on him.”

“No, I’m just saying, who in their right mind would leave an FBI agent alive if he stole all the money? He has to know his time is limited before you find him.”

“Let’s agree to disagree,” he said as he took my hand.

“Any chance there’s a pay phone nearby where we can call your house collect so someone can come get us?”

“There hasn’t been a pay phone around here in a decade, and all of the shops are closed. We’re stuck out here until morning.”

“I’m not sleeping in a cemetery, especially the one we just got robbed in.”

Nathan glanced in my direction. His mouth tilted up in the corner. “I know the perfect place where we’ll be safe and undisturbed to get some sleep until daybreak.”

Thirty minutes later, after walking for a mile, Nathan led me into the stables at the fairgrounds. He walked in like he’d been there plenty of times and knew where to go. He stopped in front of a gate and opened it. Nathan’s last name was written on paper and hung outside the empty stall. Hay filled the area.

“Is this your home away from home?” I asked and gestured to the name.

He chuckled. “Not mine, but Amanda’s. This spot is reserved for her horse.”

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