After the Fire (25 page)

The elevator came and Jason staggered into it, struggling to raise and lower the gate. He leaned against the side of it, gritting his teeth as it jerked, rising slowly. It reached the surface. He left the elevator and moved across the concourse. The whole place was deserted.

Outside, rain poured, lightning flashed and thunder echoed. He glanced around and noticed three men loading crates into a lorry. “Help.” The wind whipped his cry away. He limped over to them, clutching his ribs. “Please help.”

With a jolt he stopped dead, their voices audible now.

Nick wiped his forehead. “It’ll take months to re-drill those tunnels.”

“It’ll be worth it.” Edwin smiled. “We’ll make newer, more direct ones. Bring in new equipment. It’s not like we can’t afford it. The income from the guest house is a nice little earner. You said they never even suspected Helena Bowman of being involved.”

“Nope.”

Hannah came over, holding an umbrella over her head. “The second explosive went off, trapping them down there. The rock fall will prevent water from reaching the mine.”

“Good.” Edwin smiled at her. “Maybe I should marry you after all.”

“I don’t think my husband would approve.”

“Certainly not. Did I ever thank you for getting the pendant back?”

“Yes, Nick, but feel free to thank me again.”

“Not on my watch, you don’t.” Edwin headed into the office with a clipboard.

Freddie was Jason’s priority. The others could wait. He pulled his phone out. He had a signal.
Thank you
. He dialed quickly and raised the phone to his ear. “This is Jason Bryant. I’m at Baldhu mine. There’s been a cave in...Part of the tunnels between the cave and Jueve Island. My partner is trapped—” He broke off in a hiss of pain as a gun pushed sharply into his side.

Archie’s voice spoke in his ear. “End the call. Tell them it’s a mistake. Or I kill you now. You die and she dies.”

Jason closed the phone, knowing they’d trace the call and send someone, anyway. For a brief moment he wished he had a weapon. But he didn’t need one because actually, the deck was stacked in his favor. He had God on his side.

“I have to get back to Freddie. If I don’t, she’ll die.”

“She’s dead anyway, or will be soon.” He raised his voice and pushed Jason to the ground. “Hey, look who I found.”

“You! How did you get out?” Nick spoke first.

Jason stood. “Never mind that. It was you who took the pendant, then. Why?”

“Because Ms. Flynn, being the genius that she is, would have worked it out sooner, rather than later. Your names didn’t fool us for a second, by the way.” Nick’s fingers lifted the pendant from Hannah’s neck for a moment. “This pendant is pure firestone. It’s worth more than the whole shipment put together and should never have found its way into the store. It’s worth somewhere in the region of six million.”

How’s that for irony…oh I wish Freddie could hear this. She’d laugh until she cried
. “It cost Freddie three pounds fifty. I want it back.”

“I don’t think so. Now, how did you get out? Where’s Flynn?”

Jason struggled to keep his voice level. “She didn’t get out. The rocks landed on her when the first charges blew. I got out before the second lot came down.”

“Then you’ll die here.” Archie aimed the gun.

Jason rushed him, knocking the gun from his hand as it fired. Jason heard Hannah scream, but focused on fighting Archie. Every blow he took added insult to his already injured body. Luck or divine intervention, he wasn’t sure which, resulted in a left hook knocking Archie senseless to the ground.

Jason cradled his chest with one arm and glanced around.

Nick knelt on the ground a few meters away, cradling his wife’s body in his arms.

Edwin was nowhere in sight.

Nick looked up, tears rolling down his cheeks. “She’s dead. You’ll pay for this.” He aimed his gun at Jason.

Here we go again
. Jason pulled the umbrella from the pack and hurled it at Nick. The improvised weapon sent Nick to the ground. A swift blow followed to ensure he stayed unconscious.

Jason straightened up, grunting in pain. “You were right about the umbrella coming in useful, Freddie.”

He removed the pendant from Hannah’s neck and slid it into his pocket, to give back to its rightful owner. He pulled out the phone.

No signal.

Jason limped to the entrance, hand on his ribs. He held the phone up and sighed in relief as he got a signal. He tapped in the first number.

A bullet ricocheted past.

This is getting beyond a joke. Please, I can’t lose her
.

“The next one will kill you.” Edwin’s cold, calculated voice sent shivers of fear though him. “Now, drop the phone and turn around, slowly. Put your hands in the air where I can see them.”

“I trusted you. I loved you like a father, and you betrayed me.”

“No. I played you, groomed you. You could have run this whole operation with me, but you’re too straight.”

“One of us had to be.” Jason took a small step.

“But now you know too much. I can’t let you leave. You’ve turned from an asset into a liability.”

Jason took a deep breath, letting his hands fall as he walked towards Edwin. “If you’re going to kill me, just do it. I can’t fight anymore.”

Edwin aimed the gun at Jason’s chest. “Keep still.”

“If you were going to shoot, you’d have done it by now.” Jason reached for the gun. “Just give it up.”

“Don’t make me do this, Jason.”

“I’m a liability for you now. Do it. If shooting people makes you more of a man than gun running, drug smuggling and hitting defenseless women does, then get on with it. If Freddie dies because of you, I have nothing to live for, anyway.” He grabbed the gun, pointing it in the air.

Edwin pulled at it, the gun firing. He looked at Jason. “I’m hit.” He dropped to his knees, blood oozing from his foot.

“It’s a flesh wound. You’ll live.” Jason picked up the phone and dialed. “Now if you don’t mind, I have a phone call to make.”

“Operator, which service do you require?”

“I rang just now from Baldhu mine. We need police, cave rescue and paramedics...” He sank to his knees, adrenaline fading. Pain started to kick in hard and fast. “My friend...she’s hurt bad...trapped in Baldhu mine...Please hurry...”

28

Jason closed the phone and shut his eyes.
Lord, please give me the strength to go back down and dig Freddie out. I don’t know how long the rescue crews will be, and I don’t know how much longer she has. I’m leaving her in Your hands and I trust You to work this situation the way You want it to go. But I need to get down there. Help me
.

He took a deep breath and pushed to his feet. Ignoring Edwin’s pleas for help, Jason limped past him and back to the elevator.
Keep Edwin, Archie and Nick here until the police arrive
. He repeated the same prayer over and over again.

Freddie had to be all right, she had to be. He loved her. Surely that was enough. He’d wasted so many years when they could have been together. The past week had shown him that he needed her, that he wasn’t complete without her. She was the missing link in the life that God had given him. The soul mate he needed, that God had set aside for him. And he wasn’t going to lose her again.

The rock fall loomed and he started to move the rocks. Jason called her name over and over, but there was no answer. His chest heaved with effort and sweat mixed with his tears.

“Someone called cave rescue?”

Jason turned, happy to see someone who could help. “My partner’s buried behind this. She’s asthmatic and bleeding badly. I have to get to her.”

Strong arms gripped and pulled him away. “Leave it to us, now.”

Jason tugged free. “You don’t understand…I have to get to her. She’s dying. She’s pinned down about ten yards beyond this fall. I’m not leaving until we get her out.”

“You look like you’re in pain.”

“It’s nothing.” Jason found himself moved firmly to one side. “You have to let me help.”

“The best way for you to help is to let us do our job. Someone will take you back up top and get you checked out. You can wait there.”

“But…”

“Are you Jason Bryant?” Someone asked.

“Yes, but I don’t see what that has to do with—”

“The police are looking for you. Let’s get you to the surface. We’ll get the lady out, I promise.”

Jason let the man lead him back to the surface and put him in the elevator.
Freddie…please, God.

****

Freddie struggled to open her eyes. Pain assailed her, but she could breathe. She looked at the ceiling and closed her eyes again. It wasn’t heaven, as her vision was still blurred. She always imagined having a perfect body in heaven, and that meant being able to see. Someone took her hand and she opened her eyes, seeing a blur next to her.

She squinted up, trying to work out who it was. The blur pressed her glasses into her other hand and she put them on, the face next to her coming into sharp focus.

He made it. Thank you, Lord
. “Jason.”

“Hey.”

“Am I dreaming?”

“No, you’re not. You’re back in hospital, with me sitting here waiting for you to wake up. This is getting to be a habit.” He smiled at her. “Though I think I prefer the scenario where you open your door to find me standing there with my hand raised ready to knock.”

“I guess I do, too.” She tried to sit up. Her face creased in pain and she gritted her teeth. “Why can’t I move?”

“Keep still. They’ve got your legs in traction until you’re stable enough for surgery.”

Freddie leaned back against the pillows.
Traction? Surgery? How much damage have I done?

“How long have I been here?”

“A week. You’ve been in and out of consciousness. This is the first time you’ve actually made any sense. By the way, chocolate sandwiches melt.”

“Huh? What do chocolate sandwiches have to do with anything?”

“You kept asking if you should go and make them now, or wait until morning. I told you not to bother as they melt, but you didn’t listen.”

“I see. What about you? How badly hurt are you?”

“I’ve been here when not confined to my own bed. I busted a couple of ribs. Doc said to take it easy for a while.”

“Jason.”

“Don’t look so worried. I’m fine.”

“What happened after you left?”

“The short story is I sorted out the bad guys, called the police and cave rescue and made a pain of myself until they got you out.”

“And the long story?”

“Much the same as the short story, only it’s longer.” He winked at her. “Once I got through on the phone, I went back down and started digging you out. I refused to leave, so they had to drag me back to the surface to let the paramedics check me over. I would have gone back down afterwards, but they wouldn’t let me. So I sat up top, and waited for you.”

“My hero,” she whispered.

“You were barely breathing when they found you. You lost a lot of blood.”

“I couldn’t breathe. The torch went out, left me alone in the dark.” Freddie gripped his hand tightly and closed her eyes, groaning as the pain peaked.

Jason reached over and rang for the nurse. “I’ll go when she comes in.”

“No. Don’t leave me.”

Freddie answered the nurse’s questions in a haze of pain, barely noticing the morphine flooding her system. After a moment, she opened her eyes.

“Better?” The nurse smiled at her.

“Yeah. Am I going to be able to walk?”

“Of course. Once you’re stable, they’ll operate and make you as good as new.”

“Is it just my legs?”

The nurse listed her other injuries and Freddie listened without comment. The spleen she could do without, and only having one ovary didn’t make a difference. After the nurse left, she closed her eyes. “Are you still there?”

“Yes.”

“You said you got them.”

“Hannah died. The rest are in custody.”

“So it’s over.”

“Yeah, it’s over.”

Freddie shut her eyes. Shock stabbed through her, pinning her to the bed. “I...I see.”

“Freddie?” His thumb ran over the back of her hand.

She didn’t look at him, keeping her face averted.

Jason cradled her face with his other hand, gently turning it towards him. “What’s wrong? Isn’t it a good thing?”

“I guess so. What about the company?”

“It’s been closed. I figured I’d start up on my own, with people I could trust. Although there’s a mission society who needs a pilot and I’m more than qualified for the job.”

So much for that idea, Lord. He’s picking You over me again. I really thought...I wanted...
Tears ran down her face. “Then you’d better go.”

“Go where? Freddie, what’s wrong?”

I survived once, I can do so again
. “I don’t want it to be over.”

“Surely you don’t want them back on the streets, trading guns for drugs?”

“No. I mean us. You said you loved me and here you are...talking about leaving again.”

“I’m not leaving you, hon.”

“Oh…I was lying there in the mine, thinking what a fool I was to let you go fifteen years ago and not fight for you. I was so alone in the dark after the torch went out, but He was right there with me.”

“I told you. Once God is with you, you’re never alone, no matter how dark it gets.”

“Yeah.”

He kissed her fingers. “I would hug you, but I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t. I’m more likely to hurt you and your broken ribs.” His arms enfolded her and she hugged him back as tightly as she could.

“Jace, can we start over? I don’t want to go back to being without you. I love you and want to be with you. I know I can’t have kids and understand if that’s a problem and you don’t want to get involved with a—”

“Hey, whoa, slow down. First off, I believe I told you that having children wasn’t on my agenda. I don’t look at a woman or decide to marry her on her ability to give me a child.”

“What do you look for, then?”

“Red hair, green eyes, glasses that keep sliding down her nose and the cute way they get pushed back up again. Most importantly, I want someone who loves me for me, not what I can give her.”