Ellen's Arc

Chapter 12 of 45

Ellen crouched behind a rock ridge and watched the hotel. Smoke still leaked from the tunnel mouth. She had traded Cade into a hole and could not follow. Below her, the six women waited in the flats, safe for now. But safe meant nothing if Brennan's men came up out of that drain and started hunting. She had to know. Alive or dead, one of them would climb out. She just did not know whose face it would be. Gunfire cracked underground. Muffled. Then a shotgun blast, deeper, that shook dust from the drain lip. Ellen counted the shots the way Cade counted exits. One shotgun. Two pistols. Then a long silence that felt worse than the noise. She crawled closer. The drain outlet sat low in the dirt, black and quiet. She gripped the knife from the cellar cache and waited. If Brennan came out first, she would have one strike before he saw her. It was a bad plan. It was the only one left. A hand slapped the drain edge. A coat sleeve, dark and torn. Ellen raised the knife. Then she saw the low hat, knocked crooked, and the worn coat she knew. Cade dragged himself out into the dirt. Blood ran down his side. He held the sawed-off shotgun in one fist, empty now. "Cade." She dropped the knife and caught his arm. He rolled onto his back and breathed hard. "Tight room," he said. "Worked." "How many?" He held up his other hand. Fingers spread, then two more. "Seven. Down." He swallowed. "One got behind me. He's still down there." Ellen looked at the drain. The dark stayed still. No boots. No breathing. But one meant Marcus Brennan. "Which one lived?" she asked. Cade's jaw tightened. "Didn't see his face." He pressed a hand to his side. "He'll come up. Not today." She pulled his arm over her shoulder and lifted. He was heavy, and his boots dragged, but he stood. Together they moved off the ridge toward the flats where the women waited. Ellen kept glancing back at the drain. It never moved. At the bottom of the ridge, Cade stopped. He looked at the black hole one more time. "Bind this," he said, touching his side. "Then we don't stay near here." Ellen tore her sleeve and wrapped the wound tight. He was alive. That was the answer she came for. Seven of Brennan's eight were dead in the tunnel. The hunt that chased Cade across Ashplain was nearly broken. But one man remained below. She had led the women out to safety, and now the worst of the eight knew their route, their fire, her face. He would come up hurt and alone and certain. Ellen took Cade's weight and walked into the flats, already knowing the tunnel was no longer a door she could use.