It was dark by the time the train pulled into the small station in Vedaranniyam. It had also started to rain heavily, making the surroundings impossible to see. The lone bulb on the platform revealed nothing but the heavy downpour and the sound of crashing raindrops buried all other sounds.
Sam squinted into the darkness, trying to make out the form of the town or a building or... something. It was too dark and the shadows of swaying trees made everything eerie. He didn't even know where their hotel was. It was supposedly close to the station, but he honestly had no idea which way to turn. The rain was a severe nuisance.
"Which way?" Kay asked.
"I think town is behind us," Jerry answered, trying to read the map under the lonely light bulb. "And the beach in front of us."
"We don't need the beach yet. Not in this downpour," Sam said. "We'll wait for the rain to stop and search for a way to the island tomorrow or whenever. Going out to sea on this weather would be suicide."
The other nodded and Jerry actually sighed in relief. "Thank God. I thought you'd get all adventurous and insist we did it now."
"Don't be so sure we won't, Jerry," Jimmy mumbled.
Sam turned to him, his teeth gritted, ready to tell him it was about time they stopped winging and rushing everything, but froze. Jimmy was surveying the area through a pair of infrared binoculars so he wasn't just talking for the sake of it.
"Snitch Gravel's men?" he whispered.
"Yup. A shitton of them," Jimmy answered.
They all moved closer to each other, looking around warily. Sam still couldn't see anything, but they were in the light, making them a very visible target.
"Where?" he asked, even if he didn't really want to know.
"Everywhere."
The word sent an electric shock through Sam's body. Lightning flashed, illuminating the scene for a second, and that's when he saw them. Jimmy had been right. They were surrounded, the men approaching quietly, carefully. The light bulb flickered and died, leaving them in darkness. Thunder rolled above as if announcing the end of the world. Then the only sound left was the crushing rain splattering on the sidewalk.
Sam felt Tom and Jimmy on his sides and looked behind him. Jerry, Kyle and Billy had joined them to form a circle around the girls. But this wasn't a solution. It wouldn't save any of them from being taken away. And Sam was convinced that if they shot, so would Snitch Gravel's men. They were sitting ducks at this point.
"Any bright ideas?" Tom whispered in his ear.
Another lightning flashed, revealing the men much closer. They all had their guns out and pointing, stepping cautiously even if by now they must have known that they had been discovered. And in that moment Sam realized he missed vital information to formulate a plan. It all depended on if what Kyle assumed was true. And there was only one way to find out.
Sam straightened out of the combat pose he'd assumed out of reflex and waved his hand. "Yeah, stop sneaking, we know you're there. We also know you're ordered not to shoot us, so you can put your guns away, too."
Deathly silence followed his words. The roaring of his pulse was louder than even the rain. He could hardly hear the thunder rolling above them.
"Not shooting you doesn't mean we can't hurt you," a familiar voice finally said.
Sam relaxed at Eye Patch's words, half glad the man was still alive after Kyle's punch. He took a step back and merged into the protective wall around the girls, satisfied with the confirmation. Now they actually had a shot to escape. All they needed was a distraction that would break the circle around them.
YOU ARE READING
Lost Stars (The Jewel Project #3)
Adventure"You youngsters are stupidly adorable with your stubborn obsession with love. Love doesn't lift you. It destroys you." For Sam Grant, his family has become his sanctuary and the team that joins him on death defying adventures. But after everythi...
