CHAPTER 19: THE SHADOW ON THE RIDGE
CHAPTER 19: THE SHADOW ON THE RIDGE
The sound of hydraulic drilling began to grind against the iron hatch above our heads.
Sparks began to shower through the seams of the metal, illuminating the concrete vault in a terrifying, erratic strobe light.
“We have to go, Evelyn,” Chelsea said, her voice rising in panic as she pulled Maisie toward the back of the cellar.
“There’s no other exit, Chelsea,” I said, staring at the ceiling.
Then, I remembered Grandpa’s final sentence from his property deed: Every soldier deserves a place where war cannot follow him home.
I turned back to the military chest. Beneath the leather ledgers sat a secondary false bottom made of reinforced steel. I pressed the vintage brass rivet in the corner.
The back wall of the concrete vault slid open silently, exposing a narrow, stone-cut tunnel that sloped upward into the pine woods behind the ridge.
“Go,” I whispered, handing Chelsea the flashlight. “Take the 1974 ledger and run toward the ranger station on the north ridge.”
“I’m not leaving you behind to face him alone, Evy!” she cried out.
“I’m not alone,” I said, looking up as the first deadbolt on the hatch above snapped with a loud metallic crack.
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“I have the truth. Now move!”
I pushed them into the dark tunnel, clicked the stone panel shut, and turned to face the ladder as the iron hatch was violently ripped open from above.
