AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Come on, man!” Liam shouted. “We need to keep going. Cora needs us.”
That seemed to jolt Finn into action. With a strangled groan, he tightened his grip and jerked himself higher until they were clasping wrists.
“That’s it,” Liam said. “You’ve got this. Now, just hang on.” In slow, strained increments, Liam helped pull Finn up and over the edge until they both lay panting on their backs.
“I’m getting too old for this,” Finn said between raspy breaths.
“You weren’t so bad,” Liam said with a chuckle. “You jump like a March hare.”
Finn grunted, coughed, and began to stand. “We have to keep moving. Which way did they go?”
Liam scooped his phone and stood, shining the light into the tunnel ahead of them. “This way. Stay right behind me and walk where I walk. This path we’re on is narrow, and we don’t want to take another tumble into the abyss.”
They moved as swiftly as they could, staying close to the wall until they came to a large cavern filled with pallets of boxes and metal chests. Liam shone his light in a semicircle. “Cora! Are you here?”
“Just me,” Bear said gruffly. He was lying near a wooden crate with his leg wrapped in a makeshift bandage covered in blood.
Liam rushed forward and crouched by his side. “What happened?”
“Boyd took a shot at me,” he said in a low growl.
Finn knelt near his shoulder and studied the bandage. “You look worse than I feel.”
“Finn.” Bear blinked in surprise. “We thought you were dead.”
Finn’s mouth kicked up at the corner. “Almost. I followed Boyd and Magnus up here last week. They cornered me and threw me into a cavern. Left me for dead. Liam found me.”
Bear glanced at Liam and gave him a begrudging fist bump to the shoulder. “Good man.”
“Where’s Cora?” Liam asked.
“She went after Boyd.”
“Where?” Liam shot to his feet, fear stabbing like an icy blade through his guts. “Did he hurt her? Tell me!” He barely refrained from grabbing the injured man and shaking him like a rag doll.
“She’s okay, last I saw,” Bear said. Finn was trying to check on Bear’s wound, but Bear pushed his hand away. “There’s no time for that. Eli and the guys will be here soon. They’ll help me.” He turned to Liam. “Boyd took the money and left through the back tunnel. He didn’t know Cora was here with me. She followed him out.”
“Tell us where to go,” Liam demanded.
“There’s only one way out through the back. It leads to a ladder up to the surface.” He gave them directions and reached into his pocket, withdrawing the penlight and handing it to Finn. “Take this. The more light you have, the faster you can go.”
Liam was already striding toward the back of the cavern when Finn caught up with him.
“You should stay with Bear,” Liam told him.
“Not a chance.” Before Liam could argue, Finn continued. “Eli and his men will help him.”
Liam opened his mouth to point out that it wasn’t Bear’s health he was concerned about. With a ghostly pallor and sweat breaking out on his forehead, Finn looked dead on his feet.
“Cora could be in trouble,” Finn continued stubbornly. “I’m not going to sit back there and leave her at the mercy of a killer if there’s something I can do to help.”
Liam didn’t answer because there wasn’t anything left to say. He couldn’t waste time arguing with the exhausted man trailing him, and in a way, Liam was grateful for his presence. Finley Walsh was nothing if not loyal. It humbled Liam to know the man was willing to risk himself for Cora. The angels had it right from the beginning. Finn was an exceptional man. Far better than himself. Liam saw that now, and it made his heart crack around the edges. If only it wasn’t too late to make things right.
The rotting wooden ladder was exactly where Bear said it would be. Liam gripped the rungs and began to climb as fast as he could. He had to find Cora before Boyd could hurt her. Adrenaline surged in his body and his muscles screamed as he flew up the ladder. He’d failed to protect Margaret Brady from Boyd in his old life. There was no way in hell he’d let Cora fall prey to that evil bastard now.
When he reached the open hatch, he hauled himself out, surprised to find Finn right behind him. Finn’s face was white as parchment and drenched with sweat. He doubled over and braced his hands on his knees, gasping for breath.
“You have to stop,” Liam said, scanning the tree line. The air was foggy with mist, and he could hear the roar of the waterfall nearby. “You’re going to collapse.”
