Her eyes felt sticky, but she forced them open, blinking. Surely heaven was not a cinder block bunker with a dirt floor?
A headache zigzagged across her befuddled mind as she tried to sit up. Suddenly a metallic scratching came from outside. Then the door flew open.
Piper stood in the doorway, holding a gun.
Chapter One Hundred Five
Kiersten
Piper crossed the room and wrapped her arms protectively around Kiersten’s shoulders.
“Are you okay?”
Kiersten squinted through one eye. Her mind felt blurry, like her eyes before she put her contacts in each morning. “Maybe?”
Piper rose and tugged at her hands. “C’mon. We gotta move.”
“Move . . . where . . . ?”
Everything was so hazy ... words drifted and broke apart before they could coalesce into thoughts ... into action.
“Away from here.” Piper put her arm around Kiersten’s waist to support her, which helped because her legs were wobbly, just like her thoughts.
With Piper’s help, they left the fallout shelter, crept through the sliding doors and into Chip’s backyard, where they broke into a hobbling run toward Kiersten’s house.
“Where did they go?” Piper asked once they reached Kiersten’s front porch.
Jo. Mo. Go. Slow. Ho.Kiersten squeezed her eyes shut and tried to marshal her thoughts into some kind of order ... it felt important ... though she couldn’t rememberwhy...
“Aspen’s house.” The words came out thick and mushy, like marshmallows. “They’re making ... a video.”
“Go inside,” Piper ordered. “Tell Rosamund. Call 911. Send the police to Aspen’s house. Keep the kids inside and lock all the doors. Can you do that?”
She nodded and drew a gulp of fresh air into her lungs. Each breath added focus, made things sharper.
“Garrett and Brendan are coming.” Piper’s fingers dug into her arms. “Send them to Aspen’s house.”
“Garrett and Brendan,” Kiersten repeated as the fog continued to lift. “Wait. Where areyougoing?”
“I’m arresting these bastards.”
Chapter One Hundred Six
Piper
Piper ran to Aspen’s house and pressed herself against the vinyl siding. At the corner of the house, she stopped, peering into the backyard.
The Davis family sat on Aspen’s patio, smiling into the phone held by the same young woman who’d shot video at the Harvest Festival.
Piper pulled out her phone and thumbed across the screen. Aspen was live. On Instagram.
There would never be a safer time to take the Davis family into custody.
Taking a deep breath, she strode forward, weapon raised.
“Hands in the air!”
Aspen screamed while the men immediately lifted their hands over their heads.
