"We've got troops on the ground and in the air outnumbering and outgunning your men. The base has been secured, and teams are searching for Sara. The tunnel has soldiers at the entrance and exit." Or it would soon, but he'd once been told his stone face could out-bluff a psychic.
"Nola couldn't have known about the tunnel exit," Chavez insisted even as his hand wavered.
"Are you sure?" Lucas tensed every muscle, prepping for the right second to—
Chavez raised his gun. Lucas sprang forward. Chavez shot. In the air?
And smiled.
Dirt rained from overhead, pattering down faster and faster, dust filling his nostrils, choking him. Crap. The old tunnel was seconds away from a cave-in.
"Run," Lucas ordered, yanking Sara by the arm and turning back toward the cellar.
The ceiling collapsed on top of Chavez.
No more time to think. He could only hope the soldiers hadn't ventured into the tunnel after all. The damn thing was every bit as unstable as the Cartinian security forces had warned him.
His hold tight on Sara, Lucas raced in the opposite direction. In total darkness, no choice but to dash blind and pray they wouldn't trip. He tried to grapple for his flashlight tucked in his vest... but it must have fallen out during the fight.
He glided his free hand along the wall as a guide. No telling how long they would have to run or whether the whole thing would smother them first. But there wasn't another option as dust chased them, the earth still shuddering behind them. . .
"Lucia?" Sara gasped for breath as she sprinted alongside him, holding tight to his hand so they wouldn't risk losing each other in the dark.
Her head had to be throbbing from that fall. But he also knew she wouldn't give up as long as she had a heartbeat.
"Lucia's safe. With the crewdogs. All of them. And I was telling the truth when I said the base is secured." Dirt pattered on his head in an ominous premonition.
She squeezed his hand. "Gracias."
They would make it out of here together. Sara was every bit as determined as he was. Every bit as strong— even stronger perhaps because, hell, she was the first person to stand up to him.
A rumbling sounded again. Followed by a thud. More collapsing tunnel.
Then silence. Dusty air, but no smothering weight of dirt.
A respite.
He wouldn't delay telling her how he felt any longer, especially when the roof could cave in on them any second now. He didn't have to scavenge for the words he hadn't been able to give her in the past. Love for Sara— his wife—was the only thing that mattered to him right now. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Her breathless vow echoed along with their pounding footsteps and thumping clods of dirt.
He followed by touch around a corner and God, were those stars ahead? Not straight ahead, but above.
A wave of fresh air filled his lungs.
"Lucas!" Her voice echoed with hope.
"Got it. Hang on." They reached the end of the tunnel and the opening about six and a half feet overhead. "Up you go, wife."
He planted a hand on her perfect bottom and shoved upward. She hooked her elbows on the dirt and hefted. With a final boost, he propelled her out. She scrambled around to extend a hand for him.
Lucas started to tell her to back up, that his weight might pull her down. But he knew better now. He could never down this woman.
She wriggled her hand. "I'm not an idiot. I'm holding on to a vine with my other hand."
Of course. Smart and strong. He was a lucky man.
Lucas clasped her hand in his, braced a boot against the wall and walked up the hard-packed earth. Her face and arm went taut but he didn't even consider letting go.