Page 21 (1/2)

He shook his head "You do so much to protect others and then are so vehement that they not do the sa everything are over"

She jerked her gaze back to the road "There, just ahead Take the turnoff to the right, away from the coastline"

They pulled onto a narrow dirt road that quickly tapered to what looked like an old ATV trail

"Pull up so we aren’t seen We’ll have to walk the rest of the way"

Nathan maneuvered off the trail but then turned the jeep around and backed farther into the woods so they’d have a fast exit if they needed it

He turned off the engine but put his hand over Shea’s leg when she would have opened her door

"Not so fast We need to be clear on a few things first"

He shoved a clip into a Glock and handed it to Shea Then he reached into the back for another handgun and an assault rifle He ru for a uns He handed two to Shea and she shoved them into her pocket

Then he turned to face her "This is going to be a quick in and out We go in, see what there is to see and then we’re getting out Stay behind me at all times unless I tell you differently If I tell you to shoot, start shooting If I tell you to run, you get your ass out noUnderstand?"

She nodded, sing back her nervousness

"If for any reason we get separated, you get back to the jeep and haul ass"

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to her

"My brothers’ numbers are in there Labeled Sam, Garrett, Donovan and Joe You’ll be able to reach at least one of theo bad, do not wait around forand you call ot it"

Nathan nodded and then opened his door "Okay, let’s do this"

CHAPTER 21

SHEA led Nathan through the trees and into a particularly dense section of vegetation She kicked aside a piece of ca to reveal the cap that sealed the tunnel entrance Nathan handed her his rifle before squatting down to pry open the lid He stared into the darkness for a oing first and then I’ll call up for you"

He hopped over the side, his feet finding the rungs of the ladder and then he rapidly descended, his head disappearing from view

A moment later he called softly up to her and she lowered his rifle She tucked the pistol into her waistband and then went down into the tunnel after hi, he wrapped his hands around her waist and lowered her to the concrete floor

"Stay close," he mur lights on the left and right The air was stale and aze was riveted to Nathan’s back and her foot collided with an object on the floor, pitching her forward

She bu a hand back to steady her

"You okay?"

She frowned and looked down at the offending object to see it was a small, leather-bound book She squatted to pick it up and leaned it toward the light

Her pulse ratcheted up when she opened it to the first page It was herthe fah the other pages and realized it was her mother’s journal Shea hadn’t known she’d kept one

Nathan bent down to look over her shoulder "What is it?"

"My ot here I didn’t even know she kept one"

How had it gotten here? Unease prickled up Shea’s spine It seemed likely now that this was the way Grace had come just recently Had she dropped it? Had she been pursued and caught? Had she left it for Shea to find?

She rose and shoved the small volume in the front waistband of her jeans so that it was crarip on the pistol and nodded at Nathan "Let’s go I’ll look at it later"

They continued down the long corridor until they reached the door leading into the panic room

Nathan examined the key pad and then turned back to Shea "Do you have the code?"

She stepped forward and punched in a series of numbers "It’s 32724824 Just in case you need it and I’m not here to do it"

He frowned at that statement, but it would be pretty damn stupid not to plan for the worst

The lock snicked and Shea started to push the door open, but Nathan stuck his arm out and shoved her behind hi the interior

Helike a complete fraud and not at all sure of this stealth un and followed Nathan in She just hoped to hell no one jumped out at them, because she couldn’t be entirely sure ould happen

She was a good shot At the range Which was entirely different fro at an actual person when under enoret posed no threat You could take all bloody day to aim You could breathe normally No stress Just point and shoot

Not soThere were videoone ith a view of each room in the house as well as the front, back and side views of the exterior What Shea saw aze riveted to the sheer destruction evident on the monitors

"My God," she whispered

Nathan studied theover each one as if searching for any threat

The living roo had been left untouched or undaed The furniture was destroyed Picture frames lay broken on the floor Vases, artwork, dead plants, her lass curio cabinet where they’d been housed were all in pieces, scattered through the room

The entire house had been ransacked Not just ransacked, but completely and utterly destroyed as if the person responsible had been in a rage Or they hadn’t found what they were looking for