Free DumbAtHeart.epub by Amarinda Jones Page A

with the mother of all headaches. She tried to sit up but hit her
    head on what appeared to be a very low ceiling. “Where the hell am I? She rubbed her
    head and squinted above her. It looked like solid oak. It was then she realized where
    she was. In the trunk. And the headache? “Someone hit me hard right after I found
    what could have been a map and a compass.” She muttered to herself as she scrabbled
    her hands around in the confined space. She could feel the map and compass under
    her fingers. “And frig, there was a key. A big, old and ornate one.” In the musty,
    confined space she couldn’t or feel anything else. The key was gone.
    Cass pushed up on the lid. It was firm. She thought of the latch and the padlock
    she had seen earlier. “The bastard must have locked me in!” Part of her wanted to
    panic while her more rational self told her to calm down, shut up and think. She
    couldn’t get out. Whoever hit her must have taken the map, compass and key and then
    locked her in. “When I find them, I’m going to kick their ass.”
    She pushed again on the lid. It was sweaty hot inside the trunk. Suffocation
    wasn’t an issue though. Enough air seemed to be getting in through a join in the
    wood. “So, I just have to contemplate heatstroke. There’s a bright side,” she muttered
    to herself as she banged her fists against the wood. “Do not panic. Stay calm.” Despite
    this she yelled out. To her surprise, a voice yelled back. She screamed in relief.
    “Cassie!
    It was Evan. The sound of running feet were heading toward her. “Evan! I’m
    here. In the trunk!” She kept banging her fists on the inside of the lid. She heard Phil
    ask, “How did she get in there for Pete’s sake?”
    “Please get me out,” she wailed. Any illusion of being strong and in control had
    rapidly diminished with the rising heat in the trunk.
    “I will. I promise,” Evan called out to her. “I just have to get the lid open. Damn
    it! The key broke.”
    “I saw an axe in the old barn outside,” Phil told him.
    “Get it!” Evan ordered.
    Cass heard the sound of running feet. “An axe?” She was awfully close the top of
    the lid. She tried to scrunch down to make herself smaller.
    “I’ll be careful. I promise, Cassie.”
    She knew that. “Evan?”
    “Yeah?”
    “I’m kinda scared.”
    “I know. You’d be crazy not to be,” he responded, frustration evident in his
    voice.
    “And, I’m sweating like a pig.”
    “I will get you out.”
    Phil pounded back into the room. “I have the axe!”
    “Don’t destroy the trunk!” Cassie implored.
    “What?” Evan sounded agog.
    “It’s a beautiful thing.” It would be a shame to ruin it.
    “You’re more beautiful to me than it will ever be.”
    The next sound she heard was the axe crashing down and wood splintering. Cass
    covered her head with her hands. Another blow followed and suddenly there was
    daylight and hands started pulling the splintered wood apart. Cool air rushed in. She
    looked up at Evan. “Hello.” She had never been so relieved to see anyone. Phil even
    looked good.
    “You’re right,” Evan reached his hands down to her. “You are sweating like a
    pig.” He pulled her up and out.
    “What happened?” Phil asked her.
    Cass leaned against Evan, relieved to be out and in his arms. She told them about
    the possible map and the compass “—and then I blacked out.”
    Evan touched her hair. Her hat was no longer on her head and there was blood.
    “Looks like someone whacked you. We need to get you to hospital. Phil, get the car.”
    “Right!” He raced out.
    Evan pulled Cass into his arms and kissed her. “God, I was so worried.” He
    leaned his forehead against hers.
    “Me, too.” She turned to glance at the trunk. It was then she saw it. “Hey, wait a
    second, the key is still here. I must have been lying on it and whoever knocked me out
    didn’t realize. Do you think it’s the key to the Throcker gold?” That could be the