Page 46 (1/2)

He lifted her again To her horror, she realized that one of the heavy slabs had been removed from the shelves on each side of the tomb

He rolled her into one of thee within the tomb, and she couldn’t see Sorating fragal’s skull

"And so it is done!"

She heard the faint sound of scraping as the side slab was lifted and slid back into place And the world, with or without the rehts had finally kicked on, but they didn’t offer that ray they’d had before, eased only by the glow of the moon

He’d shouted for the others, but he hadn’t needed to do so They’d heard the co, and quickly understood that Cliff had been attacked, and Ashley was

Jake was beside hi in a thousand different directions wouldn’t serve him well

Where could the killer have taken her so quickly?

"Whitney, mount up with Will--take the woods toward the bayou, look around for freshly disturbed dirt or a stone in the ground, a grave site Angela, I’h the ceela said, disheartened "I ran through every row of tombs, Jake, I swear!"

"We need an aela assured hione back into the house?" Jake deo--stick with Jackson!" he shouted

Jake tore through the back door He sped through the ground floor, shouting her na doors fro Apparently, he hadn’t heard the co, hadn’t realized that they’d lost power

"Jake? What is it?" he demanded Then with so has happened to Ashley!"

"She’s , but I’ll find her--I swear, I’ll find her," Jake said and tore out of the room He looked at the attic stairs, and he raced up to the attic

She wasn’t there He started to turn But then he stopped, seeing so at an open cabinet He stared at her, not understanding She pointed straight to a letter in the cabinet "There’s no time," he whispered desperately But he picked up the paper, and heard her voice "Read it!" So he did, squinting

And as he read, he saw the painting in the office-reception area of the Southern cavalry man--who had died at Manassas Who had been injured before he’d gotten to Manassas

They’d been so close…

And noas so clear Ramsay was just afraid

And Griffin was a practiced liar, a totally functioning sociopath

He dropped the letter, and went racing out of the house

"It’s Grant!" he roared as he hurried out "Griffin Grant! He’s out there, and he’s got Ashley!"

Jackson gripped his arm "We’ll find her How do you know--"

"His ancestor was a Hilton Hilton died at Manassas He died because his hand never healed correctly--at least that’s what Grant ot Ashley out there soet on the property unseen?" Jackson demanded

"The hay truck! He ot on the hay truck," Whitney said

Jake saw that Cliff was on the ground, but Jenna, always the caregiver, was down at his side taking his pulse She looked up at Jake "His pulse is steady, and his breathing isn’t affected He’s going to be okay"

Cliff lifted a hand He was trying to indicate soer’s stall

He burst into the stall The horse was nervous He soothed it, quickly casting his gaze around the floor

He saw the body bundled beneath hay in the corner and ran to it He dug away the hay like a

He let out a cry It wasn’t Ashley

It was Beth

He lifted her quickly Her head lolled "Jenna!"he shouted, bringing Beth’s limp body from the stall "Jenna!"

Jenna left Cliff’s side She flashed a light in Beth’s eyes; he noted that the pupils dilated

"She’s alive There’s an aht have overdosed her badly--thank God help is nearly here The detective has been called as well"