Buried (Bailey Roberts Trilogy #1) Editing

29: Breakeven [3rd Draft]

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Breakeven

"Absolutely not! It's too dangerous," Damien shouted as he reached over and grabbed Bailey's arm.

"Let me go. We have to look," she said, trying to grab at the door handle.

The lock sounded and Damien chucked his seatbelt off to better reach for her. He clutched her shoulders tightly and jerked her around, forcing Bailey to look at him. "What are you going to do against two grown men, Bailey? Huh?"

"Mattie's been teaching me..."

"Not enough. You can't do this half-cocked. Stop and think! Because if it is Sheriff Lambert then we're gonna need a lot more help!"

"I don't care!" Bailey cried out, tears spilling down her cheeks as she tried to break free. "She's all alone now!"

The rough feel of Damien's calloused hands cupping her face silenced Bailey's sobs. He touched her forehead with his and she focused her blue eyes on his watering green ones. "I know but we need to get help."

"We don't have time. He'll panic and he'll kill her! He'll kill her!"

"He won't! He won't panic. He's a psychopath. He's meticulous. He won't," Damien whispered, brushing at her tears with his thumbs. "We need to go now, okay?"

Three minutes later, Bailey was eerily calm as Damien started speaking again. "We should wait until Sam wakes up."

"We don't know how long it could be..."

He held a hand up. "Here me out! Sam could give us information, Bailey. What if she meant something else when she said it was Lambert? It happened too fast and she was already almost out. What if we make a mistake? We can't accuse an innocent man of this."

Bailey shook her head. "He isn't innocent. I kept seeing mean, familiar, blue eyes, and I'd never seen his eyes emotionless like that so I didn't think it was him, you know. When she said his name it was like a key fitting into a lock. I've been having nightmares about this man for months! I know what he's been doing to them," Bailey paused and clutched the side of her head, "all those sick things. I-I thought there was something wrong with me! I mean, who dreams of stuff like that?"

Bailey turned to Damian and sniffled. "It was Sheriff Lambert all this time and I-I should've known because I--"

Bailey never finished because they pulled into the driveway, and Damien, after Bailey insisted on helping with Sam, made an inappropriate joke. Damien always made jokes at the wrong time but it had calmed Bailey down enough to think more clearly when she called Deputy Wilson.

--

Bailey wiped at the beads of sweat accumulating on her forehead. Her chest heaved, gasping for breath as clutched Sam's arm. Bailey was sweating so much her hands slipped down and her fingernails dug into Sam's skin.

"For someone so tiny you'd think this would be easier to do," Bailey said, her voice raspy as she struggled for air. "I'm glad we didn't take her to your place. Too many stairs."

Damien's green eyes lifted and his lips curved. "You know, Bailey, you don't have to help. I could just pick her up..."

Bailey inhaled and exhaled, taking a moment to lean against the wall of the stairwell up to her room. "That's right, brag about your manly muscles! Tsk."

"Manly, huh?"

Heat flooded her face and she jerked on Sam's arm, pulling her up the stairs. "Stop flirting with me. We need to get her upstairs."