“Did you know Mr. Brennaman would be here?”
“Sure. We planned to meet up.”
“Did you know that he’s a killer? That you were bringing Sean into a dangerous situation?” she asked him. She flexed the hand on her injured arm, testing to see if she could grip. Though it set up shock waves of pain, she was relieved to find that she could make a fist.
Tommy shrugged. “I figured he killed Mike. Didn’t know and don’t care about Grace.”
“Shut up, Tommy,” Brennaman said with a sly smile on his lips. “Well, Mattie Lu, what do you think?”
“I think you’re a murdering coward who gets his jollies from harming children, but that’s probably not what you were asking about.” She paused briefly. If she could get him to turn away, even for a moment, she could use her baton on him. “Yeah, I’ll go with you to where you left Sean.”
A scrabbling sound from Robo turned everyone’s attention his way. He’d evidently pawed the floor of the mine in an attempt to stand. Even as they watched, he tried again, this time managing to rise up enough to lie chest down. He shook his head, spattering drops of blood on the rock around him.
Brennaman shouted at Tommy. “Take out that dog! Use your knife. Slit his throat.”
Tommy tugged up his pants leg and reached for his knife. Mattie slammed the baton down on his arm, hearing the smack when it hit. He yelped and pulled his arm away. With her injured hand, she grabbed the knife and turned to take on Brennaman.
Robo launched himself off the floor, hitting Brennaman from the side. He buried his teeth into the arm that held the gun. The weapon flew, and Mattie heard the heavy clunk of metal skidding across the rock floor. Brennaman shouted in pain and lifted his flashlight to strike Robo. Eerie shadows flitted across the rock walls of the tunnel. Mattie sprang, drawing back her baton and slamming it onto Brennaman’s wrist. The flashlight fell to the floor and rolled, stopping against the wall.
Brennaman fell to his knees, screaming at Tommy. “Get the gun!”
“Stay where you are, Tommy. I’ll take out your other arm if you move.”
Tommy stayed put, sheltering his injury, sobbing with pain.
By this time, Robo had pulled Brennaman down and was dragging him across the floor toward the gun. Mattie jumped into the middle of the man’s back, stopping his momentum, feeling satisfied as the air went out of him. She straddled him, grabbed his injured left arm and pulled it to his back, causing him to scream out. Her own arm hurt like fury and seemed to have only half its strength, but she could still use it.
“Quit fighting and I’ll call him off,” she said, her voice gruff.
It was hard to tell with Robo still tugging at him, but Mattie thought she felt the fight go out of him. “Robo, out.”
Robo dropped Brennaman’s arm and the man lay still beneath her. “Guard.”
Her dog loomed over Brennaman’s head, saliva and blood dripping from his mouth. He couldn’t have looked more terrifying.
“Stay still or he’ll attack you again. That goes for you too, Tommy.”
Tommy’s sobs had subsided, but he sounded utterly defeated. “I ain’t goin’ no place.”
She took the cuffs from her belt, tightening one on Brennaman’s injured arm first, and making him groan. She grabbed the arm Robo had bitten, brought it around to the man’s back, and put the other cuff on that one. Only then did she feel she could take a breath.
“Don’t move,” she told Brennaman. She stood on shaky legs and patted him down. He carried no other weapons, but she found a roll of duct tape in his jacket pocket. She picked up the gun and put it in a pocket on her belt. Then she picked up the flashlight. “Robo, out.”
Brennaman lifted his head to watch.
She used her most authoritative voice. “I said don’t move.”
He put his head back down on the floor.
She called Robo to her. Shining the flashlight on his head, she could see that his wound was about an inch long and still bleeding. She stroked the fur at his throat and told him what a good boy he was. She moved the light away from his eyes and then flashed it into them quickly, feeling relief to see his pupils constrict evenly.
Many times, she’d cursed the weight of her K-9 utility belt, but now she was grateful to know that her supplies were complete. With fingers still trembling from pain and adrenalin, she took out her first aid kit. She placed a sterile gauze pad on Robo’s wound and secured it with elastic tape around his head, forming a compression bandage. The white bandage contrasted with his black fur, making her give him a small smile. “There, that should fix you up until we can get you to a doctor.”
“What about me?” Tommy said, sounding forlorn. “I think my arm’s broken.”
Mattie took a deep breath and stood. Pulling a set of plastic tie cuffs from her belt, she said, “Hold your hands together out front, Tommy.”
He whimpered. “You’re not going to put those on me, are you?”
“You can steady your arm with your other hand. That’s why I’m not making you put them behind you. Now, do as I say and put them out front.”
He complied, and she placed the cuffs, trying not to hurt him more than necessary in the process.
“Now I need to find Sean,” she said.
“You lost your chance,” Brennaman said from his place, face down on the ground.
“I don’t need you, John Brennaman.” Mattie took a short length of utility rope from her belt and bound his feet tightly. She made sure his cuffs were secure on his wrists. “I’ll be back to get you later. Tommy, you’re coming with me.”
“I can’t walk.”
“There’s nothing wrong with your feet. I need to keep an eye on you. Get up.”
It took a few more precious moments, but Tommy managed to get to his feet.
Mattie hoped that Robo would remember the scent they were trailing before they were attacked. She didn’t bother putting his leash on again; her arm was hurting too much to deal with it.
“Come with me,” she said, taking Robo farther down the tunnel in the direction from which Tommy and Brennaman had come. “Tommy, follow me, but don’t touch me. If you do, this dog will bite you again, do you understand?”
Tommy followed meekly, indicating that he did.
A few yards down the tunnel, Mattie said, “Robo, find Sean. Search.”
Robo put his nose to the ground and moved forward. One more branch in the tunnel system, and he led them into a hollowed-out, open space containing railroad ties, chunks of wood, lumber of various lengths, and some barrels. Robo bounded over to one of the barrels, rising up to place his paws on top. Muffled cries came from inside the closed barrel.
“Sean,” Mattie cried as she rushed to it and began tearing at the top. “Sean, it’s Mattie. You’re safe now. Robo found you.”
Pain shot through her arm as she used both hands to work off the wire rim that bound the barrel shut. When she finally got the lid off, she shone the light inside. Sean peered up, blinking in the light, a strip of duct tape over his mouth, his face dirty and tear streaked. His hands and feet were also bound with duct tape. A chill passed through her as she realized this child was never meant to be found in the mine. She and Tommy wouldn’t have been left alive to be found either.
Reaching into the barrel, she gently worked the tape off Sean’s mouth. His nose was stuffy from crying, and she could tell his ability to breathe was compromised. He sobbed as she pulled off the tape. She wanted to pick him up but lacked the strength in her right arm to lift him. “I’m going to tip the barrel so we can get you out, okay, Sean?”