He Waited She Wilted (Ottilie and Yorath) novel Chapter 159

It was a white hiking boot. Brand new, barely worn. The sole was still mostly clean.

It was a size six. Ottilie's exact size.

The scout pointed at it, his voice trembling slightly. "Look. The body is trapped under there. Mr. Fordham... you said whoever found Ms. Sewell gets a million dollars."

Jevon was furious. "Shut your mouth!"

Yorath raised a hand, signaling for calm, and said to Jevon, "Give him the million."

Then, he stepped onto the jagged gravel, walking toward the trapped boot.

He barely took a single step before he stumbled, pitching forward face-first.

"Yorath!"

Jevon launched himself forward, throwing his own body underneath Yorath to break his fall and prevent him from slamming into the sharp rocks.

Yorath steadied himself, pushed Jevon aside, and continued walking toward the shoe.

He moved painfully slow, but his strides remained eerily composed.

Reaching the massive boulder, he knelt down. His fingertips lightly brushed the canvas of the boot.

The shoe didn't move.

He immediately began clawing at the crushed gravel packed tightly around it.

The weight of the colossal boulder above had compacted the sharp, jagged stones into a dense, unyielding wall. The moment human flesh scraped against it, skin tore.

Yorath's impeccably manicured, privileged hands began to bleed, the crimson drops soaking into his fingertips and staining the grey stones.

He seemed entirely devoid of pain, continuing to dig frantically.

Jevon dropped to his knees beside him and started clawing at the dirt, too.

But after clearing the loose top layer, they hit an impenetrable wall. The stones beneath were wedged far too tightly; human fingers couldn't possibly pry them loose.

"Get the tools!" Jevon yelled.

The search and rescue squad was highly professional. Several team leaders stepped forward carefully. "Shovels won't work here. Even if we pry out one or two rocks, not only will we fail to extract the... person, but shifting the pressure could severely damage the..."

They didn't dare say the word 'corpse' out loud.

"Then how the hell do we do it?" Jevon demanded.

"We can use heavy logs as levers," the team leader explained. "If we carefully shift the main boulder's center of gravity, we can extract Ms. Sewell in one piece."

Jevon looked back at Yorath.

Yorath gave a curt nod of approval.

Within minutes, the rescue crew orchestrated the safest, most efficient method to maneuver the stone via human strength.

With Yorath's permission, they wedged thick timber beneath the rock and threw their weight against the ropes.

Her bright, sparkling eyes had constantly, relentlessly screamed that she loved him.

She was the first person brave enough to look him in the eye upon their very first meeting and declare she wanted him.

He had never met a girl so fearlessly bold.

And now, at twenty-six, she had been reduced to a pile of crushed, perhaps even dismembered, remains.

Yorath took one final drag of his cigarette and said, "Stop digging."

He turned around and started walking away.

The entire crew stared at him in sheer bewilderment.

*Crash!*

The sky ripped open, and the torrential rain began to fall in sheets.

The violent downpour instantly turned the compacted earth into loose mud. Because the ravine sat at a low elevation, the rushing water rapidly pooled, surging toward the makeshift dam.

The sudden floodwaters washed over the half-buried shoe, violently dislodging it from the dirt.

Someone screamed, "Mr. Fordham! It's out! The body is out!"

Yorath had already reached the higher ground. He slowly turned and looked down.