Authors: Leighann Dobbs
A metallic sliding sound came from above and Morgan realized it was the round metal sewer cover moving aside.
What now?
she thought, bracing herself for the onslaught of sewer water that would wash her five hundred feet to her death.
She glanced up, shocked when a face appeared looking down at them from up above. She felt the last spark of hope leach out of her. The face belonged to the last person she wanted to see—someone who would love watching their defeat at the hands of Bly.
Sheriff Overton.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Need some help?” Overton smirked at her, a toothpick bobbing up and down between his teeth.
“Not from you!” Morgan shouted up at him. Beside her, Jolene glanced up, a frown creasing her face when she realized who Morgan was talking to.
“Look out!” Morgan shrieked, pointing to a guard who decided to take advantage of Jolene’s distraction by aiming at an unprotected blind spot with his dark energy gun. Jolene moved the amulet to protect herself while aiming a sizzling gold energy spark at the guard.
“I don’t think you are in any position to argue,” Overton pointed out. “I can get you out of here.”
Morgan stared in wonder as a rope ladder dropped down from above them. Her eyes ping-ponged between Overton and the guards who seemed to have gained a few inches in the battle. Her sisters stole quick, nervous glances at her.
Looks like she’d have to choose between two evils. Her gut instinct told her to go up the rope, especially since it was looking like it was either that or die at the bottom of the hole.
“We have to go up!” Morgan yelled for the others’ attention pointing at the rope.
They nodded, backing up while continuing to fight off the guards. Morgan didn’t have to use her intuitive gifts to see this wasn’t going to work. Once they took their attention away from fighting the guards to climb the rope, the guards would just rush right in.
As if reading her mind, Fiona raised her hand with the last red crystal.
“Looks like it’s a good time to use this,” she said, and launched it toward the opening.
Her aim was perfect. The energy knocked down the guards, but the best part was that it also dislodged the rocks from the top of the opening, temporarily closing it in.
“Let’s go!” Morgan could hear the guards already trying to dig out the opening to get to them as Mateo scooped Johanna up in his arms and scurried up the ladder.
She shooed her sisters up and then Luke made her follow them before he, Buzz, Jake and Cal climbed up themselves, pulling the ladder up with them.
From the top, Morgan glanced through the hole to the rocks below, her heart twisting as she looked at what was left of Eliza, then Overton slid the cover back in place and they all stood there staring at each other.
Morgan glanced around the small room. Lengths of different sized pipes ran along the perimeter, leading out of the room at all angles. She guessed it was some sort of service room for the piping that fed into the facility up above.
Her gut flooded with a sense of urgency as she heard the guards yelling below. They must have broken through the debris caused by Fiona’s crystal and were in the room. They wouldn’t be able to climb up without a ladder, but surely, they would know another route to get to the room they were in. She guessed they didn’t have long before Bly and his minions were breaking down the door.
Sheriff Overton looked different without his brown sheriff’s uniform. He wore a stained white tee-shirt over tan slacks. The t-shirt was a little tight, bringing unwanted attention to his overstuffed belly. He hitched up his pants, switching the toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other.
“Well, I didn’t expect to see you girls again so soon.” His smug gaze drifted from one girl to another.
“What do you want?” Jake cut in. “I’m sure you didn’t pull us out of there out of the kindness of your heart, so let’s just get down to business.”
“You always were uppity,” Overton said to Jake. “But you’re right. It seems like you have something I want and I have something you want.
“What could
you
possibly have that
we
want?” Jolene stood protectively in front of Johanna who leaned against Mateo on one side and a section of pipe on the other.
“I have a boat that can get you people out of here.” Overton’s lips curled in a mean smile and he nodded to a man who had been standing unobtrusively next to some sort of hatch. The man pushed the hatch open and Morgan leaned over to see a steep ramp leading down to a good-sized boat.
“We have our own boat,” Morgan crossed her arms over her chest, “and rafts to take us to it.”
“I don’t think so.” Overton pointed to another hatch, which was opened by another of his minions. Morgan’s heart sank when she looked out to see the remains of their rafts deflated on the rocks.
“You didn’t!”
Overton shrugged, switching the toothpick around in his mouth. “Better hurry up and make your decision. It won’t take long for them to find us here.”
Another explosion rocked the floor and Morgan thought she heard voices outside the room. Luke looked around at all of them, each giving a nod of the head.
“So, you’ll take us to our boat?” Luke asked.
“Yep.”
“And what do you want in return?” Fiona narrowed her eyes at Overton.
He leaned forward, his beady eyes drilling into hers. She shrank back as he reached toward her, grasping the meteorite locket in his hand and holding it up between them. “This fancy locket and asylum.”
“Asylum? From what?” Luke asked.
Overton dropped the locket and stepped back. “I’ve been pursued by both sides of the paranormal community. Goldlinger is after me because of my little um … indiscretion regarding your treasure and, well, you goodie-two-shoes people have always hated me.”
“Hated
you
? You’re the one that harassed
us
,” Jolene said.
Overton shrugged. “That was just business. Anyway, obviously you girls have a lot of clout and now that you have your mother back, I want you to get the community to promise to protect me from Goldlinger and Bly.”
Jake snorted. “It looks like you’re in pretty good with them. After all, you are
inside
of Bly’s complex. I think this is some sort of trick.”
“Inside the underground sewer system—not the main complex.” Overton spread his hands at his sides. “If Bly finds me in here, I’m as dead as you are.”
Jake narrowed his eyes at Overton. “Then how did you get in in the first place?”
Overton smirked. “I still have my contacts in the organization and it turns out contacts will do lots of things for money. They got me in, but we better get out while the gettin’s good.”
Morgan stared at Overton, wondering where he’d gotten money to pay anyone off. Had he nabbed some of the treasure from their house? She didn’t see how it was possible. For all she knew he’d never been inside, but maybe he’d been up to things she didn’t know about.
“We aren’t part of any community,” Fiona said. “And even if we were, we certainly don’t have any influence to get anyone to promise to protect you.”
“I do.” Mateo spoke from the corner where he’d been leaning against the pipes with Johanna. Everyone swiveled their heads to look at him.
“What are you talking about?” Jolene asked.
Mateo glanced uneasily out the door.
Were the guards out in the hall?
“I can explain later, but for now we need to hurry. I say we take him up on it.” Mateo’s face turned grim. “It looks like it’s our only chance.”
The girls glanced at each other, then at Johanna, who nodded.
“Okay, but I don’t trust him.” Fiona reluctantly handed the locket to Overton.
Overton took the locket with a smirk and nodded to the man, who opened the hatch.
“After you.” Overton gestured toward the hatch.
Morgan still had her reservations. She hesitated, not sure if they should really trust Overton, but before she could think more about it, the sound of something heavy battering the door to the room jolted her into action. Mateo swooped Johanna up in his arms and they all ran for the boat.
It turned out that Overton could be trusted—at least long enough to take them to their boat that was waiting several miles away. Apparently, Bly had been too busy trying to put his eye back in the socket and never even suspected and they were able to make a clean get-away. Still, Morgan didn’t let her guard down until they were all safely ensconced on the boat, watching Overton’s boat disappear into the horizon.
“I can’t believe he didn’t double-cross us somehow,” she murmured as she watched the moonlight dance across the tops of the waves from the cabin window.
“There’s still time for that.” Jolene slid along the bench seat to sit next to Johanna. Johanna looked tired. Morgan’s heart pinched at how she’d aged, but when her mother looked up at her and smiled, warmth flooded her chest.
“He won’t double-cross you. He needs you too much now.” Mateo brushed his hand through his dark brown curls and Morgan’s mind whirled with all the questions she wanted to ask. What was Mateo even doing there? What had happened to Jolene inside that compound? And last but not least, where in the world had her mother been all these years and why hadn’t she contacted them?
Before she could ask any of the questions, Luke appeared in the doorway. He leaned against the doorjamb, his broad shoulders spanning most of the opening and asked the question for her.
“Does anyone want to tell us what the heck was going on in there?”
Epilogue
Jolene stood, hands on hips, in the east sitting room staring at the TV.
“…
In world news tonight, alternative energy expert Dr. Mortimer Bly’s Caribbean compound on Fury Rock suffered massive explosions
.” The television screen flashed various aerial view pictures of damage to the research complex.
“…
Dr.
Bly said the explosion was related to a new alternative energy he’s researching.
” The television switched to a film clip of Bly talking. Jolene almost laughed when she saw the big patch on his eye.
“…
Bly himself was injured saving his research notes, but everyone else escaped with only minor injuries. He will rebuild and continue his research.
”
Jolene snapped the TV off and turned to face the others. “Can you believe that?”
“He has the perfect cover,” Morgan said from her place on the couch in between Fiona and Celeste.
“The world will probably never know what his real motive is … but we do,” Johanna said softly from the overstuffed chair she’d been tucked into, a fuzzy white blanket wrapped around her despite the warm summer evening.
She was still weak, but managed a radiant smile as she sipped a cup of tea. Belladonna, who had ignored all four sisters and gone straight to Johanna upon their arrival home, purred contentedly in her lap. In the two days that they’d had their mother home, she’d improved immensely. Her skin was losing its deathly pallor and she’d even been able to walk a few steps on her own without the wheelchair they’d rented to help her get around.
Would she ever get back to her old self?
Jolene had no idea, but it didn’t matter. She was glad to have her mother back home in any capacity.
“I’m just glad we got out of there in one piece,” Fiona said.
“Yeah, but I wonder about Overton. I still don’t trust him and now he has that locket,” Morgan said. “What do you think he plans to do with it?”
Jolene shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe build his own paranormal army.”
“I hope not,” Celeste said. “You guys never located the woman who brought it to your shop?”
Fiona shook her head. “Nope. I guess she’s another mystery.”
“Maybe she was part of this paranormal community and brought it to you on purpose,” Celeste suggested.
“Maybe. I guess there was a lot going on in the paranormal community that no one told us about.” Morgan bristled.
“Because you weren’t ready,” Mateo said.
“Actually, we didn’t even know there
was
a paranormal community,” Celeste chimed in.
“Yeah, but now I guess we’re part of it … whatever that means.” Morgan pressed her lips together.
“And what do Dorian Hall and the government have to do with all this?” Fiona scrunched her face up at Luke.
Luke shrugged. “She’s pretty tight-lipped, but the government has a vested interest in making sure Bly doesn’t gain any more power. Apparently, she knew that you girls would eventually be able to help her. I think that’s why she hired me—she knew I could get close to you because of my relationship with Morgan.”
“So you didn’t get fired?”
Luke laughed. “No. I kind of think she actually wanted us to go there, she just didn’t want to give the order officially.”
“You’d think she could have warned us before all of this started so we could have been honing our skills,” Celeste said.
“You know the government. They like to keep people in the dark.”
“That’s for sure,” Cal said and everyone chuckled.
Celeste turned to her younger sister. “Well, Jolene, it turned out your instincts about something not being right with the investigation into Mom’s death was spot on.”
“I’ll say,” Johanna chimed in, setting off another round of laughter.
Jolene’s heart squeezed thinking about what her mother had suffered at the hands of Bly … and she’d submitted to it in order to keep them safe. But she did feel a little bit of satisfaction in knowing that she’d been right to be suspicious about Johanna’s death—Maybe Morgan wasn’t the only one with intuitive gifts.
“Yep,” she said. “Turns out that photo I found in Barnes’ storage unit was actually a photo of Mom being grabbed from the cliff the day she supposedly died. She never jumped off—she was kidnapped—and they paid off Earl Whiting to say he saw her jump!”