“Police!” he yelled. “Legittel, drop your weapon!”
Behind him, he heard footsteps, then Morrisette’s voice barking instructions. “Siebert, call for backup,” she yelled. “Reed, don’t do anything stupid.”
Reed didn’t listen. Eyes fixed on the open grave, he ran forward.
“Reed!” Morrisette screamed. “Don’t! Stop! Oh, crap!”
He knew he was taking a chance, but didn’t care. Nikki’s life was being smothered from her and he had to do whatever he could.
“Police,” he yelled again, advancing on the pit. It was so dark. He should wait for backup, should wait for a flashlight, shouldn’t sacrifice himself nor put himself into a potential hostage situation, but he didn’t have time to think of anything but Nikki.
He flung himself into the pit and saw the Grave Robber huddled in one corner. At the instant Reed jumped in, Joey sprang and Reed saw it then, the glint of a knife.
Pain jarred up his shoulder.
He fired, careful to aim level and not downward, not toward Nikki.
“You bastard,” he growled as Joey hacked wildly.
“Kill me,” he taunted, breathing heavily, teeth flashing, blood visible. Reed cuffed him with the gun. Joey gave up a yelp, but fought back, surprisingly strong, muscles honed, dark eyes flashing with rage.
“You promised,” he squealed as Reed placed the gun to his head and pulled one hand behind his back. “You lying bastard, you promised to come back and you didn’t.”
“Get up, Joey. It’s over.”
“Shoot me.”
“No way, you piece of shit. Put your hands on your head and—”
Joey flung himself away, his wet clothes slipping through Reed’s fingers. Whirling on his good leg, he slashed wildly with his knife.
A gun barked. Joey’s body jerked and the knife clattered away.
“I’ll live with it,” Morrisette said. “Now, let’s get that piece of shit out of here.”
Reed was already on his knees. Digging frantically with his hands. “Nikki!” he yelled. In a scene of déjà vu he pulled at the dirt with his bare hands and heard something…scratching? Coughing?…from inside the buried coffin.
“Nikki? Oh, God, Nikki, hang on.” He was digging furiously, flinging mud over his shoulders. “I need help here!” His fingers touched solid wood, then splintered wood and a small hole in the casket from the bullet that had incapacitated Joey Legittel. Another officer jumped into the pit with him. Together they scraped off the mud, found the microphone and tore it out, allowing air into the coffin.
“Get me out of here!” she cried, gasping and coughing from inside. He thought it was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard. “For the love of God, Reed, get me the hell out of here!”
Within minutes he’d scraped the mud away, pried the coffin open and Nikki, frantic, eyes wide, body shaking, flung her naked body into his arms. She was gasping and crying and choking and screaming.
Reed looked into the casket and cringed.
The other body was that of her father, the Honorable Ronald Gillette.
Christ, what a mess.
Throwing his wet coat over her shoulders, he carried Nikki through the mire to his waiting El Dorado. How close he’d come to losing her. How damned close.
EPILOGUE
Nikki
sipped coffee and stared out at the gray light of dawn. The sky was cloudless, the coming morning in sharp contrast with the dark events of two weeks earlier and that harrowing night where she’d nearly died. If she thought too closely about it, she would feel the fear again. The darkness. But she wouldn’t allow herself to go there. At least not yet.
She’d healed physically and mentally she was improving daily, enough to gain some perspective about the rest of her life.