CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
HER HEART POUNDED so intensely, it felt like it would burst out of her rib cage. In just a few seconds, she and Jack were racing down the ladder, trying not to slip. It must have been a garbage chute into which the rebels had dug a secret passageway, and placed a ladder.
The guards’ shouts came through the thin walls behind them as they continued down the corrugated steel tube.
Jack’s feet hit the ground softly below.
But in the darkness, it sounded disturbingly far away.
Grace hastened down.
Her foot missed a rung.
She let out a gasp.
Hanging from the ladder with only one hand, she tried to keep silent while struggling to regain her footing.
The guard’s shouting outside stopped.
Jack said nothing.
Had they heard her?
Why wasn’t Jack talking?
Carefully, she found a rung with her foot.
Her left hand met her right on the cold ladder.
Taking a long, silent breath, she resumed her descent, taking better care not to slip or make a sound.
First her right foot.
Then her left.
“Jack,” she whispered.
He made a tiny hissing sound telling her not to speak.
Carefully, she made her way down another rung.
It was quiet outside.
Good, they probably left.
The air grew colder as she climbed further down.
All she could hear in the stillness were her own shaky breaths.
Almost there…right?
A sudden detonation of sound and light ripped through the darkness just above her.
“Grace!”
Above, she could only see the blinding light invading the opening in the wall—an access panel kicked open by the guard, most likely.
A pair of ruthless hands clutched her forearms.
They pulled so hard, her shoulders screamed with pain.
Grace let out a startled shout. Struggling to free herself, she thrashed to the left and right, but the grip on her arms was too tight. She couldn’t break free. She hooked her feet under a rung, trying to resist the SS guard pulling her out.
“Hang on!” Jack shouted, the thumping of his feet travelling through the ladder’s frame.
Grace’s feet slipped out from under the rung.
She let out a cry as the guards pulled her up with sudden force.
Now she could see the black uniform, the Swastika on the armbands, and the cold cerulean eyes, glaring right into hers.
And then, a look of recognition and triumph.
“It’s her!” The guard shouted back. “I’ve got her!”
A sudden rush of motion came from beneath her, then over her head.
In an instant, something struck the guard.
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THE FÜHRER'S DAUGHTER
Mystery / ThrillerNew York Times and USA Today bestselling author Joshua Graham teams up with bestselling author Jack Patterson for an alternate history saga that will rock your mind. "A clever, imaginative tale of what if, rooted in secrets, believable and evocative...
