Page 107 of Betrayal of a Billionaire
“Julia!” This time her sister’s voice sounded as though she recognized her. “This way. I hear her.”
“Ally! We’re in the cave! There was a rockslide. We’re stuck.”
A second later, her heart lifted as Ally’s face appeared at the opening before she stuck her hand through. Julia clasped it, tears welling in her eyes. “Ally!”
“Juju! Are you hurt?”
“No, not really. A little banged up, but I’m okay. I think Sierra may have sprained her wrist, but she’s otherwise fine.”
“She’s with you?”
“Yes, we’re here together,” Julia said as she slid an arm around her stepdaughter’s shoulders. “Can you make this opening a little bigger? I think we can crawl out.”
“Hold on, we have Tony here, and he’s way better at this than I am.”
Other voices, laced with panic and hope filled the air as she waited inside, holding tight to Sierra.
Tony’s face appeared at the hole a moment later. “Hey, Julia. Sorry to meet like this.”
“It’s okay, Tony. If you can get me out of here, I’ll forgive you.”
“Well, the good news is, it looks like I can make this a little bit bigger. Then, I’m going to have you slid–“
“No, Sierra will go first. I’ll come after her.”
“Okay, got it. We’re just going to shift a few of these first…” He carefully picked away a few rocks, his features tentative as he worked delicately, trying not to disturb any other stones and cause a second collapse. “Okay, let’s try that.”
He passed a flashlight to her first, allowing them to see better as they approached the opening.
“Okay, Sierra,” Julia said as she pushed her toward the opening. “Just crawl through, okay? They’ll get you on the other side.”
Sierra hesitated, her features pinching again.
“Go ahead, Sierra. It’ll be okay.”
She flung her arms around Julia. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“I’ll be fine. The faster you go through, the faster I can follow behind you, okay?”
Sierra pulled back and nodded. “Okay.”
She blew out a steadying breath before she inched closer to the hole.
“Stick your arms through first, okay?” Tony said. “Then we’ll tug you forward.”
Julia backed away a few feet to give her room to maneuver as she slid her arms and head through the opening.
She smiled as she heard Grant’s voice, filled with relief at seeing his daughter.
“Daddy!” Sierra shouted as she disappeared through the hole. Her feet kicked to free her the last few inches, striking a stone.
“No!” someone shouted before a rumbling filled the air and shook the ground under Julia again.
The grin slid off her face as she watched the light from outside dwindled to nothing. The faint shouts of the rescuers, their voices swallowed by the mass of falling rocks, heightened her sense of isolation.
The cave, lit only by the small flashlight, now felt like a tomb. Her only access out had been cut off by a second rockslide. She was trapped. And she had no idea if they could free her.
CHAPTER 23
