The Sacrifice
Page 24
Taylor stood stunned, unable to move.
His niece, who had been motionless under the control panel for the aquarium, moaned and pulled herself to a sitting position. She stared at Tom.
The fire alarm blasted off and two seconds later the sprinklers came on. The guests began to scream and in this moment, Susan struggled and managed to push the button on the control panel above her head that would fold the platform and slide everyone on it into the tank.
Father Bob shot at the shackles on his wrist, but it did not come free. He had to fire again.
The platform slowly began to tilt. The whir of its motor added to the din of shouts and screams. The guests, in their hurry to grab the railing, slammed into each other. The old Russian screamed as he hit the water and the sharks were on him.
Cami shrieked and grabbed the railing as the platform began to tilt. The guests yelled and charged the cowboy, running like lemmings, as he stood in the way of their only escape route; but they slipped on the now wet, shiny metal grating, and as hundreds of pounds of flesh fell into the water the sharks went into a feeding frenzy. Susan slipped in with the others, but she was so near death and so weak that she sank to the bottom unnoticed, not nearly as appetizing as the other squawking, flapping fish food.
Taylor pulled the gun and fired towards the cowboy, but the bullet cut into Billy’s side as he tackled Taylor and plunged the needle into his neck, delivering the muscle relaxant into his system. Taylor slipped partway over the edge, the gun dropping from his fingers.
Cami held on by sheer will, and then Father Bob was at the edge of the tank taking Landon from her. Tom pulled her up by her arms.
“Let’s go!” Father Bob called as he carried Landon down the steps. “Maybe it really is burning down!” They could smell smoke, and sirens accompanied the fire alarm.
“Not yet!” Tom shouted. He walked to where Taylor clung to the side of the tank, slipping slowly into the water.
He almost didn’t shoot, thinking of the horrid death Taylor would face, but he wanted to be sure about this. “Burn in hell.” He made sure the bullet went between his eyes and watched as he splashed down into the carnage in the tank. Then he wrapped Cami in his shirt, gathered her into his arms and carried her out of the burning casino into the twilight of Vegas. Father Bob, carrying Landon and supporting Billy, who was leaning heavily against him, followed slowly after them. “Farley bring!” Tom called over his shoulder. Farley picked up the police horse’s reins and led him after the little group.
The same paramedics who helped Tom earlier stared at the odd little group, complete with horse and dog that trudged up the ramp from the Azteca’s basement.
“I’ll be damned,” said Joe. There was the man and the dog that had commandeered the ambulance earlier.
Tom felt their stare and couldn’t help laughing at their expressions. He carried Cami towards them. “Cami, I want you to meet some friends of mine.” He staggered and almost collapsed as the EMTs gently took Cami from him.
“Easy, man, we’ve got you. I guess you were really telling us the truth.”
Tom nodded, fell-sat down and looked up at the burning casino. “Holy shit.”
Father Bob helped Billy to another ambulance and then handed Landon to Tom and sat down beside him on the sidewalk. They stared at each other and finally the priest said, “About time you got here.” Tom laughed and winced in pain.
“Come on, Tom. We’ll take you to the hospital this time.” Tom handed Landon back to the priest and the EMT helped him up.
Tom and Cami held hands from their separate gurneys in the ambulance, and Father Bob, Landon and Farley squeezed into the corner. This time the paramedics didn’t say anything about the dog.
“Thank you. I don’t know how you did it, but thank you …” Cami stared at Tom’s bloodied shoulder.
“Someone was looking out for us I think. I can’t believe I made it here in time.” Tom’s eyes teared. “Thank God.”
He turned to Father Bob. “Is it over?”
Father Bob looked out the window at the burning casino. He did not answer.
The ambulance pulled away from Azteca; the building appeared to be fully engulfed. Down in the basement, Susan had managed to pull herself up to the edge of the tank, unnoticed by the sharks. She gasped for air. The smoke was so thick that it seemed only a little better than the water to breathe. The ladder out of the tank was so far away. She didn’t have the strength to pull herself up and now the lights were blinking like they were about to go off…
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my tireless editor, Laurie Boris, who has an amazing amount of patience and tact.
Thank you to Shayne, she was full of good advice and kindness for a beginner in this process. Cover design by Wicked Good Book Covers
Thank you to John and Lauren, your kindness and encouragement means so much. Travis and Tyler, thank you for encouraging me as well.
The biggest thank you goes to my husband, Rex. Only because of your unflinching support for my work and pushing me forward does this book exist.
About the Author
Sandy J Hartwick is an emerging author of paranormal fiction. Sandy grew up in rural Nevada, where the highlight of her summers was the Bookmobile. In grade school she liked to sneak into the high school section of the school library and check out scary stories during lunch hour. She has always had a love for writing and reading and has to admit that her worst vice is her book collection. Sandy has won awards for her fiction and non-fiction writing and sold some of her poetry. The Sacrifice is her first novel.
Sandy lives in rural Idaho with her amazing husband Rex and assorted spoiled animals, including a small cat herd.
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About the book
I started writing this book many years ago. There was a contest for screenplays based on Nevada locations. I didn’t know how to write a screenplay, so I decided to write a book and then figure out the screenplay part.
The opening scene is place I saw when we were horseback riding in the mountains south of Sweetwater, Nevada. There was no altar or flat rock of course…that I could see.
The basement of the ranch house was a real basement in one of the houses we lived in when my husband was a ranch manager.
The mineshaft was one of the many I have seen scattered across Nevada.
Everything else came from my crazy imagination.