Free Spiral (The Salzburg Saga Book One) by D. U. Okonkwo Page A

that.”
    “You’re right,” Jake muttered. He could pummel the twerp another time. They had several rooms to make, and no shovel, which would have made this job easier.
    “You guys need help?” Angela called.
    “I’ll start building the front rooms,” Justin muttered and stalked to the other side of the deep hole.
    Angela peered down into the dark hole, eyes wide. “What do you need us to do?”
    “You can start building the corridors,” Jake replied. “I’ll show you how. The corridor will make it possible for us all to move around the cave. I’ll help, along with building the sleeping platforms. You okay to do the roof, Neil?”
    “Sure but you’ll need to show me how; I’ve never done this before.”
    Under different circumstances, this could have been almost cathartic, Nina decided as she and Angela began scooping up large armfuls of snow. As it was, with bodily aches and pains and not as much as a sniff of any potential food, it was tough and muscle numbing work. Nina worked on autopilot, hardly taking note of what she did, simply doing as Jake instructed. She couldn’t help grunting as she lifted each armful of snow. Beside her, Angela panted as she worked, her eyes semi-closed against the cold damp wind battering them.
    “Think Hazel will get anxious when you don’t call tonight?” Angela suddenly asked.
    Nina paused with an armful of snow and met Angela’s gaze. “I don’t know.” She tossed the snow aside, watched it land beside their feet and meld into the snow already covering the ground. She let out a slow breath. “But then what?” She took a deep breath. “What about your Derek?” She searched Angela’s tense face. “Will he suspect anything out of the ordinary when you don’t call him?”
    Angela bit down on her lower lip as she punched out a ledge of snow. “Unlikely. I’ve taken a trusted private jet with my biggest client. He’ll no doubt think I’m just too busy working and have forgotten to call.”
    Nina grimaced at the truth of that.
    “Plus,” Angela continued, “Des has a big presentation coming up in New York in a week.” Her voice hitched, became a fierce whisper, and Nina reached out to squeeze her arm in comfort. “I’ve got to get back in time to look after Jessica.”
    Thinking of Angela’s five-year-old daughter made Nina’s heart ache.
    “Des can’t look after her and go to New York, too.” Angela began to weep softly then.
    “Ssh, it’s okay.” Miserable, Nina drew Angela into a loose embrace, mindful of both their bruises. “It’s okay; we’ll be out of here by then.” She willed herself to believe it, even as her conscious mind told her that there were no guarantees. “We’ll get a signal and be able to call everyone,” she insisted, wanting to comfort them both.
    “There’s no phone signal here, Neen.” Angela’s voice was muffled against Nina’s cheek.
    “Is she all right?” Neil called out. Dumping the truckload of snow he carried, he moved toward them with Jake following him. Neil placed a comforting hand on Ange’s shoulder.
    “She’s worried about Jessie,” Nina told Neil.
    He nodded grimly. “Jessie is her young daughter,” he explained to Jake.
    Jake winced.
    Several feet away, Justin sent Angela a quick look before continuing to dig without comment.
    Jake slid a glance back to where Hugh was now sitting up, leaning heavily on Parker.
    With a deep sigh, Angela pulled away from Nina, wiped her eyes, and visibly pulled herself together. “You’re right, Neen. We’ll get out of here. We’ll get through this.”
    Nina smiled as the fight came back into her friend. “Definitely.”
    Angela gave a wobbly smile. “When have we ever been wrong about anything?”
    “Hardly ever,” Nina agreed, “that’s why we win all our cases. Let’s get back to work.”
     
     
    An interesting trio , Jake mused as he worked at digging out a straight line for the corridor. These lawyers weren’t a bunch of pampered soft-handed