Learning to Stand (30 page)

Nothing.

Alex pointing Troy and Raz to the wall. With
Colin at her back, she pulled the door open.

Shock registering on her body. She stopped
moving. Colin gasped.

Unconscious, but alive, Cody and Kyle Joiner
were duct taped to wooden chairs. The undercarriage of each chair
was filled with Tovex 800 explosives. The Tovex sausages were wired
and set for explosion. The wires from the explosives went toward a
computer, hooked on the opposite wall, for remote detonation. There
was enough Tovex to bury them forever in this mine.

Alex held Colin back. She pointed to a
corner where a webcam broadcast the children to the Internet. Colin
moved again to rescue the children. Alex leaned into him to keep
him in one place. She let go of the door and it swung shut.

Alex signaled for Troy, Raz and the two
remaining Texas Rangers to follow her into the mine. Once there,
she closed the door to the office. She held up one finger for them
to wait. Turning on her pocket computer, she weighed her options in
her mind.

There was no way to know when they would
detonate. Keeping everyone underground was a terrible risk. They
would definitely detonate if they thought Alex or her men were
inside the room.

“
The boys are alive,
Alexandra,” Jesse said in Spanish. “The computer is counting
down.”

“
How long?” she signed to
Jesse.

“
Eleven minutes. Give or
take.”

“
Do you know where they
are?” Alex set her watch to mark down eleven minutes.

“
I’ve been with you,” Jesse
said. “If you shut the power it will go off immediately. If you
remove the boys, you have two minutes before it blows. There’s also
a battery charge... I can’t tell what it will do.”

“
More bombs,” Alex signed to
Jesse.

Colin pressed passed Troy and Raz. Signing
to Alex he asked, “Who the fuck are you talking to?”

Alex made Jesse’s angel sign.

“
Oh, you can talk,” Jesse
said.

“
What about cell phones?”
Alex asked out loud in Spanish.

“
Ma’am, you will have to go
to the surface for a signal,” the leader of the Texas Rangers
said.

“
What he said,” Jesse said.
“I’m going back to the kids. Get going lazy butt.”

“
Ok, we have a little less
than nine minutes before this blows,” Alex said. “The children are
alive. If we cut the power, the bombs will blow. If we move the
boys, it blows.”

While her eyes watched the men react, the
wheels in her head kept moving.

“
Colin, Raz and you guys,”
she pointed to the Rangers. “I need you to go to the door – just to
the door. Wait for my signal.”

The men started to move.

“
Before you go, you should
know there’s a risk of explosion.”

“
There’s a risk now,” Colin
said. “Plus, you’ll get us out of here.”

Alex wished she had his confidence. Nodding
to Colin, she looked down at her pocket computer.

“
Troy, I need you to get
this pocket computer to the top. When there, click the icon marked
‘pulse’ twice. That’s an electromagnetic pulse so be sure to put
the cover back on the computer.” Looking at her watch, she said,
“You have seven and a half minutes to get there and get to Trece.
He’ll know what to do.”

Troy took her pocket computer and sprinted
the half mile to the mine entrance. Letting out a breath, Alex
entered the mine office.

“
We can speak but softly. We
aren’t sure what the webcam will pick up,” she said. “We are going
to pulse the area. The pulse will disable all electronic equipment
including anything you have on your person.”

“
We didn’t bring any,” Raz
said.

“
Good,” she said. “The boys
are hooked to the Internet. My guess is they planned to blow them
with Joiner watching. I have a lead shielded electromagnetic pulse
safe satellite blocker. Raz, you will have to disconnect the
children from the battery in the computer.”

“
Got it.”

“
Colin, grab the
boys.”

“
Sure,” Colin
said.

“
Sirs,” Alex addressed the
Texas Rangers. “I need you to get in the room. Fast and dirty then
help Colin get the children out of the room.”

“
Consider it done,” the
Rangers gave her a two finger salute.

“
This is the order of
things, electromagnetic pulse, disable satellite, grab the boys,
and hope for the best. I will wait in the tunnel for the
signal.”

Alex stood facing the entrance of the mine.
The eerie silence and damp wind sent shivers up her spine. The dark
seemed to surround her.

“
Don’t go there,” Jesse
said. He appeared at her side. “You’re not in the room.”

“
I’m in a mine in Texas. My
name is Alexandra Hargreaves.” She began the technique she used to
keep herself from going into PTSD flashbacks. “I’m a Lieutenant
Colonel in the US Army.”

A loud catcall echoed through the tunnel.
Trece’s signal. She flicked the satellite blocker and ran into the
office.

“
GO!”

The Rangers smashed the door. Raz ran to the
computer and Colin rushed to the boys. Dropping to her knees, Alex
grabbed the wires which connected the boys to the computer and cut
through them with her Leatherman Freestyle knife. By the time she
had cut the last wire, Colin and the men were lifting the boys from
the chairs. The Texas Ranger’s carried the boys out of the mine.
Colin helped Alex to her feet.

“
Got it,” Raz
said.

“
Let’s get out of here,”
Alex said. “We have three minutes until original detonation. I
don’t want to risk it blowing.”

They raced through the mine. With Colin
ahead, and Raz in the middle, Alex followed as fast as her grinding
hip would allow. They were almost to the second mine shaft when Raz
turned, as if to catch a football, to look for her.

A large explosion rocked the mine shaft.

F

CHAPTER TWENTY-five

The force of the explosion blew her forward.
Out of training and experience, more than thought, Alex landed in a
plank position on her hands and the balls of her feet. Her ears
rang in an eerie silence of explosion induced deafness. Falling to
her stomach, she belly crawled forward to where Raz lay in a
crumpled ball. Colin crawled toward her.

Colin pointed to his ears. Confirming she
couldn’t hear either, Alex pointed to her ears. She pointed to Raz
then leaned back. A Special Forces trained medic, Colin began
looking over Raz. He pointed to Raz’s legs. Raz’s legs pointed in
opposite direction.

Raz’s back had gone out.

Using American Sign Language, Alex
instructed Colin to help her turn over Raz. Colin was clearing
Raz’s mouth when Jesse flew toward them.

“
Another bomb! Right here!
Go, go, go!”

When Alex grabbed Raz’s arm, Colin looked up
at her. She pointed to the side tunnel. Colin shook his head. He
didn’t want to move Raz.

“
Another bomb!” Alex
signed.

Colin’s face registered shock. He grabbed
Raz’s other arm. They half carried and half dragged Raz’s body into
the side tunnel. They were twenty yards into the tunnel when they
were blown off their feet by another bomb.

Alex, Raz and Colin fell forward together.
Alex managed to catch herself with her arm cast and elbow. Colin
landed on his right shoulder. Raz landed on top of Alex and Colin.
They skid forward along the dirt floor until they came to a
halt.

Debris rained down on them. The air choked
with dust. Alex counted to sixty before daring to look up. Raz
groaned when she moved out from under him. Rolling to her side, she
saw Colin was checking Raz from his side.

Another earth shattering boom and everything
went dark.

FFF

Forty-five minutes later

Saturday morning

March 29 - 3:12 A.M. CDT

Inside the Mariscal Mine

Not quite unconscious, and not awake, Alex
groaned. Breathing, she lay face down.

One breath in.

One breath out.

She heard nothing more than the ringing in
her ears. Rolling onto her side, she felt a small hand on her
shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Zack’s girlfriend Bestat
Behur.

“
Do not move quite yet,”
purred Bestat.

Alex pointed to her ears.

“
Yes, Alexandra, you cannot
hear. We don’t need to speak out loud.” Bestat smiled.

“
Did you transport through
all this dirt?” Alex asked.

“
I am not able to do that,”
Bestat said. “There is an opening up ahead. Small, but enough for
me to get through. I thought you’d rather see me in my more…
familiar form.”

Alex nodded. She had only seen Bestat in her
‘other form’ one time. They were flying fast over Egypt when a ray
of sunlight sparkled off this gorgeous purple and yellow flying
serpent gliding next to the chopper. The vision was a gift, a thank
you, for rescuing someone Bestat cared about deeply. Usually, Alex
saw Bestat as she appeared now, a golden skinned beautiful woman
with waist length dark hair and large almond-shaped, rust-colored
eyes. She was dressed in stylish linen pants and a silk blouse.

“
I always thought this
shape was an illusion,” Alex said. “Your clothes are never
wrinkled.”

“
That is an illusion,”
Bestat laughed. “I spend most of my time in this form now. Zackery
can be so frisky. This form is such fun.”

Alex smiled. Remembering Raz and Colin, Alex
jerked up to look. Unconscious, Raz was face down with his right
arm underneath him. Colin lay next to him on his side. They were
both breathing.

“
Your Rasmussen’s vertebrae
has compressed his spine. I’ve been able to strengthen him and
protect his spine. He will survive. And probably walk. His right
arm is also broken near the wrist. He will need your brother’s
help.”

Alex moved to get up then groaned.

“
Give yourself a moment. I
have healed your bleeding.”

“
Thank you,” Alex
said.

“
Your arm is...”

Bestat shook her head. Alex lifted her left
arm to look at it. Her fiberglass cast had collapsed near the
break. Looking into the cast, she saw her arm had a two inch divot
where her ulna had collapsed toward her radius. So much for her
simple fracture.

“
I don’t think the cast was
made for all of this.” Bestat gestured to the tunnel. “I’ve blocked
your pain. I am happy to fix this little break but how will you
explain it?”

“
Better leave
it.”

“
Alexandra, your
brother...”

“
Colin? What?” Alex asked.
She reached over to touch Colin. He groaned.

“
His mind... He will not
tolerate being down here,” Bestat said. “I cannot overcome all of
the grief... “

“
He’s never dealt with
being a hostage,” Alex said.

“
You will have to watch
him. I’m sorry. I wish...”

“
I wish I could too,” Alex
said.

“
Yes, the dragon and the
fairy. We are useless against human grief.” Bestat touched Colin
and he dropped unconscious. “You have your pills?”

“
The ones John always makes
me bring?” Alex asked.

Bestat nodded. Alex patted her pockets until
she felt the packet of pills.

“
You will need them for the
men,” Bestat said.

“
My arm?” Alex
asked.

“
As I have before, I will
block your pain from a distance,” Bestat said. “There is enough air
for fire. After your brother helps your Rasmussen, get him to find
water. That will help keep his mind busy.”

“
Then what?”

“
Use your pills to put him
to sleep. He will take them because he doesn’t want to
feel.”

Alex nodded.

“
They are working to free
you,” Bestat said. “But it will be a number of hours. Your little
band of men were able to get out with the children. They are very
anxious without you.”

Alex nodded.

“
I must go,” Bestat said.
“Will you be all right here? Can your mind handle the dark? Your
Jesse was unsure.”

“
I think so,” Alex
said.

“
Alexandra, this cloud that
surrounds you,” Bestat said. “You know what it is, don’t
you?”

Alex shook her head.

“
Your fairy instincts
inform you that you’ve been tragically betrayed.”

“
By everyone.” Alex’s smile
dropped and her face clouded with sorrow.

“
This is your error,”
Bestat said. “Yes, your friends have been… human. The betrayal is
deeper, bigger. Somewhere inside, you know who. You knew this
before, and you’ll know it again.”

“
You won’t tell
me?”

“
I will not tell you what
you’ve purposely forgotten,” Bestat said. “You will have time,
while you wait, to think on this.”

“
On what?”

“
On the reason you feel
powerless to deal directly with this betrayal.”

“
I don’t feel powerless.
I’ve spoken to every single person. I dealt with John, my parents,
Ben. I... Oh.” Alex closed her eyes. Pushing out a frustrated
breath, her eyes popped open. “You’re saying the betrayal is
someone other than the people around me.”