Page 57 of Child In Jeopardy

Slater turned it on, and the powerful light illuminated a good portion of the space under the seats. Still no sounds or signs of anyone, though, and just when Slater had started to believe that maybe someone had escaped with Pamela, he heard something.

Movement out in the arena.

They all pivoted in that direction, and in the darkness, Slater shifted the flashlight toward the woman. Pamela. She was running across the massive stretch of dirt that made up the arena floor.

And her hands were tied in front of her.

“Help,” she shouted.

Slater moved so he could get a better look at her and check to see if she was armed. After all, her hands might not be tied at all. Pamela shouted out a call for help again and kept running.

He, Duncan and Lana moved out from the bleachers, and Pamela must have seen them because she started running toward them. She didn’t get far, though, because the gunshot stopped her.

It slammed into the ground right in front of her, causing her to skitter to a stop.

And the shot hadn’t come from Pamela, either. It’d come from the bleachers. Slater turned the flashlight in the direction of the shooter and cursed.

Marsh was standing there.

LANAHADKNOWNMarsh most of her life, but she’d never seen him with a gun. Nor had she ever seen that expression on his face.

The expression of a killer.

She caught just a glimpse of him before he ducked down out of sight. Marsh hadn’t been smiling or gloating as Buck had done. No, Marsh’s stare had been pure ice, and the shadows created by the flashlight had made him look like the monster that he was. In that moment, Lana realized Marsh was a cold-blooded murderer.

Slater must have realized that, too, because he pulled Lana back, and while he kept both his gun and flashlight aimed at Marsh, he and Duncan kept cover of the bleachers.

“Stay put, Pamela,” Marsh ordered when her mother started to struggle to get to her feet.

Marsh was peeking over one of the bleacher seats, his head barely visible. He didn’t fire another shot. So, what was he waiting for? Maybe he had hired thugs on the way to help him. But she, Duncan and Slater had their own help in the form of backup that she hoped would be there soon.

“Marsh grabbed me and dragged me in here,” Pamela sobbed. “He punched me, but I got away.”

Despite the troubles that she and her mother had had, Lana was sorry that had happened to her. But Pamela was alive, andthat was more than she could say for Alicia, Stephanie and Taylor.

But had Marsh been responsible for their murders? Lana wanted to shout that question, but she knew it could turn out to be a distraction that Duncan and Slater didn’t need. Their goal right now was probably to get her mother out of harm’s way and to make sure they weren’t attacked.

At the thought of that, Lana turned to make sure her father was still in the stall. He was. They hadn’t shut the door, and she could see him cuffed, gagged and sitting on the floor. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought maybe he had slipped back into unconsciousness.

In the distance, Lana heard a welcome sound. Sirens. And she hoped it would prompt Marsh to surrender.

It didn’t.

She heard the footsteps on the bleachers and braced herself for an attack. It didn’t come. There was a thud as if someone had dropped to the ground. Several seconds later, the footsteps resumed and got a whole lot faster.

Marsh was running away.

Lana saw the split-second debate Duncan and Slater had about what to do. No way could they just leave her parents here, since Marsh could circle back and kill them. And they couldn’t wait for backup, either, because Marsh could be long gone by then.

“Slater and I can go after him,” Lana said.

She hoped it sounded much stronger than a mere suggestion. Because it was the best option. Duncan and Slater wouldn’t want to leave her there while they went in pursuit, and whoever did go after Marsh would need backup. Duncan must have decided the same thing because he nodded.

“Go,” Duncan ordered.

She and Slater took off running with Slater automatically moving in front of her again. Thankfully, they could still hear the sound of running footsteps, but they were on the other side of the arena so that’s where they headed.

The fog was still slithering around the ground, so Lana couldn’t actually see where their feet were landing, and she hoped they didn’t trip over something. Hoped, too, that this wasn’t a trap, but she had to accept that’s exactly what it was.