Trapped in an Iron Cage by His Outlaw Brother, an Ex-Con Tracker and His Wife Risk $2.5 Million in Underworld Gold and Their Lives through Explosive Hidden Traps and Paternity Betrayals
Eli took a step closer, his eyes narrowing. He was still processing the mention of Croft and the gold.
“You think you’re clever, Silas?” he snarled, the rifle digging into Maeve’s temple now. “Trying to buy time with a dead man’s name?”
“He’s not dead, Eli. He’s just… careful.” I forced a pained grin. “More careful than you, maybe.”
That stung him. I could see it in the clenching of his jaw. He hated any suggestion that someone might be smarter, or more prepared, than him.
My eyes met Maeve’s for a split second. A silent signal passed between us. She had the detonator in her palm, a small, crudely fashioned device connected to the hidden charge.
A thin wisp of smoke, acrid and sharp, began to curl from beneath the cage. It was the delayed fuse. Just a few more seconds.
Eli’s nostrils flared. His gaze dropped from my face to the ground. “What in hell is that smell?”
“Surprise, brother,” I choked out, and Maeve slammed her thumb down.
The ground erupted.
Not a massive, leveling blast, but a sharp, localized explosion directly beneath the cage. A roar of sound, a blinding flash of orange light, and then a cloud of gritty, red dust billowed upwards, obscuring everything. The rusted lock on my cage shrieked and tore itself free.
The force of the blast threw me backward, but my shackles were gone. Maeve screamed, more from surprise than injury, and I lunged.
My shoulder hit Eli’s midsection like a battering ram, knocking the rifle from his grasp. He went down hard, wheezing, as I grabbed Maeve’s hand.
“Run!” I roared, pulling her to her feet.
Gunshots rang out, wild and disoriented, from the saloon porch. Eli’s men were reacting, but the dust cloud was our shield. We dove headfirst into the nearest gulch, the dry, rocky earth scraping against my skin as we scrambled for cover. The taste of dust and gunpowder filled my mouth.
More bullets whizzed past, kicking up dirt just behind us. Eli’s voice, hoarse with fury, echoed from the plaza.
“Get them! Don’t let them reach the town!”
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