AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m sorry, Laney. I never met Nate, but Kit said he was a good guy. Kit was glad you had him to take care of the place.”
I nod, fresh tears welling.
“I’ll get Kit.”
Her footsteps start to recede, when I remember myself and call, “Garrett. Tell Kit to stay with Madison while you bring Garrett.”
“Yeah, no. I’ll stay with the kid.”
She leaves the flashlight on the edge with the beam shining for me. Then her feet tap over the rock as she takes off.
I shift, adjusting as best I can. Rock jabs into my hip, and there’s nothing I can do about that. I’ll be fine.
Nate…
“I’m so sorry,” I say. “If this happened because of me—” I inhale sharply. “Itdidhappen because of me. I brushed off what someone was doing here…” My vision blurs with tears. “I am so sorry. So, so—”
Nate’s arm twitches. I fall back, hitting the rock hard, my trapped leg shrieking at the sudden jolt.
Did his arm really just move?
He’s not alive. There is absolutely no way he’s alive.
What if he is? What if that smell is his arm, the torn flesh rotting. What if he’s comatose—
With his eyes open?
Is that impossible? No, it’s not.
I force myself to creep toward him, look past that arm and see Nate, the young man I knew. If there is any chance he’s alive…
Are you listening to yourself, Laney? His hand has been sawed off.Sawed off.If that happened, he’d bleed out. There is no way he’s alive. You’re crying, and it’s night. Your vision is swimming—
His arm twitches again. I stare at it, my heart slamming against my ribs. Then, very carefully, I reach out and press my fingers to his chest. The cold creeps through his T-shirt, and no heartbeat pulses.
Because he’s dead, Laney.
I swallow hard. There’s another explanation for what I saw. A mouse or bug burrowing through the dirt, making his arm move.
I find a stick that’s blown in the crevice. Using it, I lift Nate’s arm.
Holding his arm away from the wall, I peer under it. Rock. That’s all I see. Solid rock. Nothing could have—
The stick vibrates in my hand, and I fall back with a yelp. Nate’s arm drops, thumping against the rock wall. His body starts to slide my way, and I scramble back with a shriek as pain rips down my trapped leg.
“Laney!” a man’s voice calls, shoes thumping overhead.
I want that to be Kit. God, how I want it to be Kit, even when I can tell it’s not.
Garrett’s face appears over the edge. He sees Nate and blanches.
“Shit,” he whispers. Then his hands fly up. “Stay calm.”
“I am calm,” I snap. “I slipped, and my fucking leg felt like it was being ripped off, okay?”
“Can you move it?”
“No, because it’s trapped.”
