Hustle (Book 1 in The Hunted Hearts) - SYTYCW Winner #action #comedy #romance

Hustle | Chapter 19

Copyright 2013 - All Rights Reserved

Hustle By Claire Chilton

19

Revenge

"I—I didn't know."

Jacob frowned at Ellie as she stammered.

What the hell is wrong with her?

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I fell. I didn't know..." She shook her head, appearing unable to form a coherent sentence.

Jacob flicked his eyes over the small chamber she had fallen into, surveying the scene. He briefly glanced over some rocks, but he froze when he saw bones and rusty blood spatter beside a shaking Ellie.

He stared at the skeleton, noticing the cracked skull and bullet holes in the breastbone of it. His first instinct was to get her out of there. The cavern was musty and cracked. It certainly didn't appear stable. Having her trapped in there with a crushed corpse wasn't making him feel any more secure.

He frowned at the body. Someone had been murdered here. That much was certain.

He shook his head, reaching down through the opening. "Take my hand. You need to get out of there."

When she didn't respond, he stared down at her. She was shaking, and there were tears in her eyes. "You'll be all right, but I need to get you out of there. You need to help me, okay?"

She nodded, gulping for air.

Come on. Don't lose it now. The last thing we need is you having a girly fit in there.

He reached down again, offering her his hand. He felt her small fingers slide past his as he gripped her wrists. He leaned back, pulling her up through the opening. When she was half way though, he gripped her under the arms and hoisted her out of the hole, hauling her shaking body against him.

She was cold and trembling. He wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair.

Jesus, what happened to her?

"It's okay. You're safe now." He used his most soothing voice.

She shook her head, burying it into his chest. Much as he was enjoying the physical contact with her, he couldn't understand why she was such a mess.

Hasn't she ever seen a skeleton before? Didn't she take biology in school?

He pulled back and looked at her face when her shivering abated. She was staring at something in her hand.

"Did something happen?" She was starting to freak him out. If there was something bad in this cave, he needed to know what it was.

She shook her head, refusing to look at him and continuing to stare at her left hand.

Beginning to lose his patience, he lifted her hand to see what she was holding. It was a plastic card, gripped so tightly by her fingers that it was cutting into her palm.

"Hey, stop that. You're hurting yourself." He tried to pry the card out of her hand. "Come on. Whatever it is, it's not worth it." He tried to make her let it go.

She lifted her chin to face him. He felt a shiver shoot down his spine. He'd never seen her look so empty and emotionless before. There was usually fire in her eyes of some kind, but they were cold and dead right now.

He heard the card clatter onto the stone floor as she dropped it. "I'm sorry," she said. Her voice was hollow. She released him and stepped back, turning away and walking towards her bag.