Maybe it was just that Sylvia''s words sounded too na?ve for them to take
seriously.
Steven didn''t care about the dust on the ground-he nted his shiny leather shoe right next to her.
"Sylvia, you''re Edwin Garcia''s stepdaughter on paper. No one''s gonna bat an eye if youe check out the Garcia family''s mine. If there''s a cave-in? Bad luck for you, sweetheart. Who do you think we''re supposed to answer to?"
“Edwin? Please. The guy''s nothing. Even if we got rid of him too, his precious Tristan wouldn''t dare say a word."
"And those miners? You really think a bunch of broke townsfolk are gonna stir up trouble? I tried to settle things the nice way, but they refused to sign off and admit they were at fault. Now they wanna mess with the Garcias? They''ll be next-ten grand, tops. Not even worth my time."
Charles, who''d been quiet until now, interrupted with a frown. "Why are you wasting breath on her? Get it done."
Right then, Sylvia realized-Charles was the real shark here, not Steven.
She looked up and met his cold eyes as he narrowed them at her.
"Hold up. Knock her out before you throw her in there."
Sylvia''s heart skipped a beat. Her hands, tied behind her back, clenched instinctively.
These old bastards were pros.
They weren''t taking any chances—afraid she might fight back, or somehow survive.
Her body ached as she struggled, but the bodyguard was huge and easily overpowered her, tossing her like a sack of potatoes into the mineshaft.
Before she could even process what was happening, darkness swallowed her and she hit the ground, everything going ck.
Outside, one of the henchmen checked his watch. "We need to clear out. This ce''ll copse again any minute."
Charles and Steven shared a smile, then disappeared into the night.
...
Maybe fate wasn''t done with her yet. A falling pebble smacked Sylvia awake.
She raised her hand to shield her face from the trickle of dirt, coughing as she blinked into the darkness.
Behind her, a massive boulder was held in ce by nothing but a single wooden beam. Beyond that, a mountain''s worth of rubble loomed, ready toe crashing down.
The air was thick, suffocating. Panic chilled her veins as she tried desperately to get up.
She could barely budge. A look down revealed that, while she''d been unconscious, enough dirt had poured in to bury her legs.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The pausested only a second before more rocks started raining down.
She looked up-she couldn''t see a thing, but she could feel it. This ce was about to give way.
Her heart thundered in her chest as she wed at the dirt, frantic to free her legs.
Just as she managed to wiggle her knees free, the wooden beam groaned. She heard the splintering snap The boulder wasing down—and she was too scared to even scream.
At thest possible moment, a pair of strong arms yanked her free and pulled her
close, shielding her from the falling rocks.
She heard a man''s muffled grunt above her.
Sylvia, still in shock, nced up and caught sight of her rescuer.
It was Rupert.
He shoved her forward, his voice strained. "Crawl that way. Now. Go!"
She hesitated. "What about you?"
"I''ll cover us. Don''t make this harder, Sylvia!"
That was all the encouragement she needed. She crawled as fast as she could.
Behind her, she thought she heard Rupert say her name.
"Sylvia..."
She faltered, turning back just in time to see the rocks crashing down, Rupert standing motionless amidst the chaos.
She had a choice: keep going and leave Rupert to die, or stay and risk everything.
Logic screamed at her to run. Rupert brought this on himself, didn''t he?
She turned away, crawling faster.
But then, behind her, Rupert winced and squeezed his eyes shut.
At that moment, a loud screech
echoed through the shaft. Sylvi
summoning every ounce of strength, wedged an old mining cart into the crack, blocking the oing rocks.
Turns out, Charles and Steven''s
crew
de had set up a nasty trap-a
d copse, rigged with el
boulder, to make sure it finished the job.