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CHAPTER TWENTY
SOMETHING JERKED BINDI out of unconsciousness. A heavy weight draped across her legs. She was lying on the ground, but the weight pinned her down.
“Whaaaa…” she murmured, totally confused. Where was she? Dark shadows swallowed the surrounding area, but a square of bright sunlight hovered high above. Cool earth was gritty beneath her cheek. She lifted her head off the ground to get her bearings. Pain ignited behind her eyes, so excruciating she cried out and raised her hands to cradle her temples, falling back to the earth.
After the pain subsided, she considered her surroundings once more. She must be down one of the old inspection mine shafts. That was the only thing that made sense. Had someone thrown her down here? The idea was horrendous, but it seemed more and more likely. Slower this time, she moved her arms, testing for injuries. Her whole body ached, as if she was covered in one giant bruise. All down her left side, hip, ribs, shoulder and thigh burned with a bone-deep ache. Now she was concentrating, she could feel scrapes on her elbows, and when she raised a hand to her face, there was a nasty graze down the side of her temple. Was the pain in her head from the fall? Had she hit it on the way down? Walking her fingers gingerly over her skull, she found a large lump at the back of her head that might account for her splitting headache. The weight was still pinning her from the waist down, and she had no idea if her legs had sustained any damage, or not.
A loud groan issued from out of the darkness, making her startle.
“Who’s there?” she hissed, still holding her head. No one answered, and she tried pushing at the warm weight on her legs, wanting to struggle free, but it was useless. What was this…? She felt around and then recoiled as she touched skin. Skin rough with stubble. A man. It was a man on top of her. Bindi began to struggle, panic clawing at her throat. She needed to get out from under him, he was pinning her to the ground. He hadn’t moved yet, but…
Another groan issued from the shadows, and there was movement. Some of the suffocating weight suddenly lifted, and a darker shadow moved in the dim light.
Pushing her hand against her temple, she raised up onto her elbows and kicked at the man still lying partially across her legs. Which meant there were at least two other men down here with her. Who were they? The last thing she remembered was running into the old battery shed. Madonna and Melody had been there, tied up in a back room, and she’d run toward them, then… Nothing. She couldn’t remember what happened. Bindi’s breath came in ragged gasps. Had someone hit her from behind? Knocked her unconscious?
“Bindi,” a voice croaked. “Bindi, are you there?”
It was Mack. Utter relief flooded her veins. If Mack was down here with her, then they’d be safe. He’d make sure she was safe. Her eyes were adjusting to the dim light in the shaft, and she could make out the softer shape of the body lying over her lower legs. It wasn’t Mack, because this body was motionless. In fact, hadn’t moved at all. And certainly hadn’t spoken.
“Mack, I’m here,” she said, but was surprised when her voice came out as a squeak. “I can’t move, there’s…someone on top of me.”
“I might be able to help with that.” She heard Mack grunt and the rasp of clothes being dragged over the earth and suddenly her lower torso was mercifully free.
She sat up, testing her legs to make sure they worked. Her muscles complained loudly, shooting sparks of discomfort up and down the length of her thighs, but once that first shock was over, she knew no bones were broken.
“Thank you,” she said, getting onto her hands and knees and crawling toward the sound of his voice. “What about you? Are you okay?”
He was sitting with his back against the rock wall. The light was too dim to make out his facial features in detail, but she got a gleam of reflected light from his eyes when he turned to look at her.
“Not sure,” he answered after a few seconds, and Bindi could hear pain lacing his voice.
“What’s wrong?” she asked urgently, crawling the last few feet to where he sat.
“My ankle isn’t good. Not sure if it’s broken, but it sure as hell hurts.”
“Oh, no,” Bindi whispered, fear wrenching her stomach painfully. If he was injured, how were they going to get out of here? She reached out to touch him, needing to feel the surety of his presence, and his hand clasped around hers, fingers warm and strong.
“It’s okay, we’ll be okay,” he murmured soothingly, pulling her into his chest. She nestled into his muscular, male body, laying her head on his shoulder, and took the comfort he was offering as he wrapped one arm around her. She pushed down the overwhelming urge to cry. Tears wouldn’t help now. She was alive, and Mack was alive, she needed to concentrate on that. Mack continued to murmur soothing words of comfort and Bindi got lost in the honey-velvet tone of his deep voice, his American accent so familiar and calming, now. Drawing in his strength, she stirred after a few minutes, bringing herself back to the reality of their situation. They couldn’t stay here forever, they needed to get out.
Mack felt her move and released her, so that she leaned against the rock wall, too.
“At least I fared better than our mate here. I think he’s dead,” Mack said.
She reared back from the dark lump resting on the other side of Mack. She’d almost forgotten about the other man. “Dead?” she squeaked. “How do you know? And who is he? Why is he down here?”
“It’s the guy from the rodeo. The one who warned me off taking up bull-riding again. His name is Whip, and he all but confessed to the fact that he’s working for Clarissa. I’m betting all my money he was the one who tampered with my car, too.”
“Oh.” Bindi couldn’t find any words.
“Seems like he came back to finish the job,” Mack said dryly.
Her mind turned over these new events. “So, he stole the horses to what? Lure us out here?”
“Looks that way,” Mack answered. “There were two of them. The other guy must’ve ambushed you as you went into the old building. Did he hit you over the head?”
Lifting a hand, she felt the lump at the back of her head and nodded as the pieces of the puzzle started to click into place. That probably explained her headache. “How did he know it’d be us…you…who chased them out here?”
“Don’t know.” Mack lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “But I think I ruined his plans when I pulled him down this hole with me,” he added with a grim smile. Then he tried to shift his position and grunted with pain, reminding Bindi about his ankle.
