The car jerked. London wasn’t the only one who screamed.
“What the hell was that?” she whispered, looking around them frantically before staring at Natasha.
Natasha looked at London wild-eyed, damn near panting as she fingered her hair, making a show of trying to make sure it was in place. London instinctively patted her head, having twisted her hair into a bun before they’d left to drive to the ghost town. Her hair was suddenly no longer a concern when the car jerked again.
“We’re sinking!” London grabbed the gearshift, shooting panicked looks at the mirrors and over her shoulder as she tried to figure out what to do.
“Wait!” Natasha grabbed London’s shoulder.
“What do you mean?” She held on to the steering wheel hard enough to hurt her hand yet still felt it turn against her grip. Dirt flooded the beam from the headlights. “Natasha!” she yelled, unable to see a thing outside and panicking as the car was being moved by some force other than her. “What’s happening? The car is driving itself.”
“I’m not sure.” Natasha was breathing hard when she stared ahead of her while gripping the dash. “I think we’ve found the entrance.”
“The entrance?” London did her best to see through the cloud of dirt flooding her headlights. “Oh my God!” she whispered when the dirt started clearing.
“Drive,” Natasha ordered, gripping London’s arm but letting go of her just as quickly. Natasha grabbed her laptop before it slid to the floor. “Okay. This is it. We’re going to get them out.”
London tried blocking Natasha out as she spoke to herself under her breath. “It’s okay. You can do this.”
She could barely see when the headlights beamed on a dark entrance into some kind of underground tunnel. The car was on a steep incline and her seat belt dug into her chest painfully.
“We can do this. The guns are loaded. Where are the guns?” The laptop fell to the floor at Natasha’s feet when she twisted to reach for the weapons they’d loaded and packed in the backseat under blankets and every emergency supply they could think of. “Oh shit!” she cried out, flinging to the floor of the front seat to save her computer. The seat belt prevented her from grabbing it. “We need the guns. We’ve got to do this!”
“Natasha!” London cried out, no longer able to maintain her cool as they descended into the darkness. And it was dark, too. She could barely see the cement walls that loomed up on either side of the car. “God. Please!” she wailed.
“Sorry. Shit.” Natasha managed to grab her laptop and slapped it closed as she blew out a loud breath. Letting it slide again to her feet, she rubbed her face with her hands. “I’m sorry,” she said again.
This wasn’t the time for either of them to fall apart. There wasn’t any turning back. London doubted she could make the car back up the steep decline onto the ground if she tried.
“Get the guns.” London strained to see ahead of her, riding the brake as they continued descending into darkness. Marc, her parents, and his family were down there somewhere. It couldn’t all be pitch-black in this underground hideout. “We need to be armed now.”
“Right.” Natasha managed to grab the handguns from the backseat and checked each one before handing one to London. “Have we hit bottom?”
London strained to see when the car leveled and suddenly moved on a flat surface. She hit the brake and stared at what looked like a warehouse. From what she could see through the headlight beams, they were in a very large garage with another car parked ahead of them. It was some kind of SUV.
“Well, we’re here.” Her heart hurt in her chest and claustrophobia kicked in as the darkness seemed to close in around them. “I don’t think I can handle sitting here waiting for whoever to come find us.”
“Okay.” Natasha took off her seat belt. “We’re getting out. There’s a door over there. If my equipment will work down here I can figure out what kind of security system they have.”
London sucked in a breath, nodding, and shut off the car. “I don’t know how long we can leave the headlights on without draining the battery.”
“Turn them off. We have a flashlight and we need the car to get out of here.”
“I’ll leave them on long enough for you to search for any kind of alarm.” London held her gun up in her hand, checking the safety. “I’ll watch your back.”
Natasha nodded and blew out a breath. It was a nervous release of energy. “Scared?” she whispered.
“Terrified,” London admitted.
“Me, too.” Natasha reached between her legs, putting her laptop on the floor and picking up a small black box that looked like a walkie-talkie. “We’ve got to do this,” she muttered under her breath.
“There’s no turning back,” London said, trying to look everywhere at once. “Let’s get our families.”
She held her gun in her free hand like a lifeline. And in truth that was exactly what it was. There wasn’t any doubt she and Natasha would need to shoot to kill. London hadn’t had time before to consider how she would aim her gun when the men showed up at the motel and took Marc and Jake. Everything had happened so quickly. Now, though, time seemed to move at a snail’s pace. Natasha was taking forever getting out of the car and holding up the black gadget in her hand that scanned their surroundings and told her what kind of alarm system was being used. She’d explained how it worked earlier when they had prepared to leave, but London only understood half of what Natasha told her. The small box picked up on different types of signals being used within a certain parameter and would tell Natasha what type of security system or any other type of machinery was activated around them.
Natasha moved around the SUV and London stepped out of the car when she lost sight of her. “I can’t see you,” London whispered. “Should I turn off the headlights and join you?”
“There’s a panel on the wall over here.” Natasha didn’t answer her but instead was quiet for a moment. “I think this button pad needs a code to open this door. The rest is a security system. They’ve got to know we’re here. I don’t see any cameras in here, though, do you?”
London turned, staring at the walls and ceilings. There weren’t any obvious cameras fixed to the walls like someone would find in grocery or department stores. The ceiling was high and the entrance was a deep incline. The ceiling angled into the entrance and London was surprised to see the steep road disappearing into the ceiling. She hadn’t heard it close.
“You might want to learn how to open the door so we can get out of here when we want to,” London said, daring to speak a bit louder, although looking around again nervously when she finished talking, especially when there was a slight echo.
“This is the only panel I see in this garage. Anything that can be controlled in here has to be done from here.”
“I’m shutting off the headlights and joining you.” London reached into the car, gripping her gun as she shut off the headlights.
The darkness quickly closed in around her, increasing her claustrophobia and making it hard to breathe. London straightened, jumping at the sound of her car door closing when she pushed it shut gently. Her nerves were so shot she’d be lucky if they made it out of here alive, let alone rescued anyone else.
“Hurry up,” Natasha ordered, waving the beam of the flashlight.
London moved around the cars, coming up behind Natasha.
“How do we get out of here?” she whispered.
Natasha put her hand on the doorknob. It clicked when she turned it, confirming they were locked in the garage. “Hopefully this won’t take too long. Be quiet.” She didn’t elaborate as she held up the black box in front of the panel and began pushing each button on the panel.
Something sounded on the other side of the door and both women stared at it, wide-eyed.
“I don’t think I need to figure out how to open the door,” Natasha whispered, putting her arm out in front of London as she backed away from the door.
London backed up with Natasha, moving her fing
er closer to the trigger as she gripped her gun. Sweat broke out over her body, making her itch, and her eyes burned as it seemed to take forever for whoever was on other side of the door to open it.
The doorknob turned. The moment had arrived. London stepped to the side suddenly, trying to figure out whether the door would open toward them or not. Natasha followed her lead, also moving so she stood alongside the wall and out of view from whoever would step into the garage. When the door opened, the flashlight turned off.
London was momentarily confused when light flooded the garage from the other side of the door. More than one man entered the garage and gunshots burned her ears as they echoed off the walls and high ceiling. She jumped when the first man crashed to the floor.
“Son of a bitch!” the man behind him howled, almost falling over the first guy.
London raised her gun, fighting not to close her eyes as she fired. She and Natasha had more bullets on them, but London wasn’t sure she fired repeatedly with that in mind. Her body and mind went on auto-drive, the only thought in her head being that if she continued firing the men wouldn’t be able to capture her.
“Come on.” Natasha stepped over a man lying on the ground, the metallic smell of blood growing thick in the air. “Let’s go.”
“We need to reload,” London argued, but ran into the hallway behind Natasha.
They didn’t have a clue where they were going and she couldn’t run into more trouble without knowing her gun was loaded.
“Get the bullets out.” Natasha looked over her shoulder at London for only a moment before focusing ahead of them.
Following Natasha and struggling with the box of bullets in her pocket, London looked behind them. The bodies in the doorway, just inside the garage, lay lifeless and tangled over one another. It was a sickening view and one London was positive she’d never get out of her head.
“This is insane,” she muttered, unable to accept how many deaths she’d caused in the past couple days. Everything she’d vowed never to be involved in she was now in so deep it was overwhelming.
“Dealing with criminals often is,” Natasha agreed. “Okay. Next door. Something tells me they won’t come barging in after us this time.”
“They’re going to wait until we enter and start shooting at us?” London froze, feeling trapped in the hallway with dead bodies at one end and a closed door at the other.
“Load the guns.” Natasha shoved her handgun at London.
She took it, struggling with both weapons and the box of bullets. It took all her focus to slide bullets into each chamber and not drop either gun, or the bullets. Her hands shook so hard and were so sweaty she could barely finish her task. All the while she was positive she and Natasha would be fired at before she finished. Natasha stood with her back to London, not saying anything.
“What are you doing?” She finished loading Natasha’s gun, shoved it at Natasha, then hurried to load hers. Her hands wouldn’t quit shaking and perspiration dripped down her body. It was too hot. They were too closed in.
“We’re in luck.”
London didn’t understand but looked up, searching Natasha’s backside, as a glimmer of hope made her lightheaded. She would grab any amount of luck thrown their way. If she could get to Marc and he wasn’t hurt, he would help find her parents. It was an odd thought to pop into her head but one she held on to. Having a particular goal in all of this madness helped her keep her thoughts straight.
“There isn’t anyone on the other side of this door,” Natasha explained.
London fought to close the box of remaining bullets. A few fell loose and she stuffed bullets into her pocket, then gripped her gun with both hands as Natasha turned the doorknob.
“The door isn’t locked,” she whispered.
It was as if they entered a different world when they walked through the doorway and it closed silently behind them. Soft, thick carpet muffled their footsteps. London stared at the beautiful oil paintings hanging on the walls and the many bookshelves housing books of all kinds. Each wall was painted a glossy pale pink, which offset the dark, bloodred carpet. There was a large, heavy-looking wooden desk to her left, with two chairs facing it. There were more chairs to the right of her on the other side of the room. Although there weren’t windows, which of course there wouldn’t be since they were well underground, the paintings gave the illusion of a bright, sunny room. She didn’t know a lot about art but these paintings just looked like they should be hanging in museums.
“What is this place?” she muttered, staring in disbelief at the office someone had put effort, and money, into decorating, and not something recently thrown together.
“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out.” Natasha walked around the large desk and began opening drawers. “We just seriously scored,” she added a moment later.
London edged closer to her, but there were two more doors to the office other than the one they just came through. She doubted anyone would come after them through the garage, and if they did, they would have to get around all those bodies, which would create some noise. Just thinking about that made London cringe. Telling herself not to dwell on the fact that she’d killed at least one more person now didn’t make the images go away. There was no way she could leave her parents here. And in spite of worrying she and Marc might not be compatible, she ached to be in his arms again, to know he was all right, to have him with her so they could get through this nightmare together. London glanced repeatedly at the two closed doors on the opposite side of the office from where they entered. Her hand was starting to cramp from holding the gun alert and ready, but she couldn’t lower her defenses for a moment. And Natasha grew more excited as she continued looking through the desk.
“We’ve hit the mother lode. Someone was just on this computer. I bet they ran when they heard the commotion in the garage.” Natasha looked up at her, grinning. “I don’t need to worry about passwords.”
“Will it tell us where everyone is?” She prayed this office was an indication that Marc and her family were at least comfortable. “Can we figure out what this place is and what they planned on doing with Marc, and everyone else?”
“We’re going to find out.” Natasha glanced around the office. “Make sure you’re covering me, London.”
“I am.” She gripped her gun, fighting panic with each slight sound she thought she heard.
Natasha started typing, grunting to herself every few seconds. London glanced at the screen, but Natasha flew through pages too fast for London to keep up. She focused on her surroundings instead. There could be something to learn about this place by what was around her.
The few items on the desk didn’t help her much. She lifted the top page of notes on a legal pad only to find the rest of the notebook blank. London kept her eye on both doors and both doorknobs, watching and listening while trying to fight off a panic attack. The words on the notepad kept drawing her back to it, though.
“I wonder who Evelyn is,” London mused, staring at the printed name that was underlined several times. “Looks like whoever sits here doesn’t trust her.”
“Huh?” Natasha glanced at the notepad.
Someone had written: “Follow up on Evelyn’s work. There are obvious discrepancies. It makes no sense one pawn resists.”
“Look here.” Natasha pointed at the screen. “Here are Marc’s and Jake’s names. Uncle Greg and Aunt Haley,” she continued, and ran her finger down the screen at what appeared to be some kind of schedule and checkoff sheet. “It seems they’re being run through some kind of boot camp. See this legend?” she asked, pointing to the corner of the screen. “These marks indicate if they’re meeting the requirements.”
“Requirements for what?”
Natasha didn’t answer right away. She clicked the mouse, moving around on the computer as if she used the programs on it every day. “It appears they’re being trained to be some kind of army. But along with the amount of calisthenics and combat exercises they’re putting them
through, there is also this side chart.”
“What’s it for?”
“Apparently they’re documenting how much drugs they’re administering to each of them.”
“Drugs?” London stared at the screen. “What kind of drugs?”
Both of them looked up at the same time when there was a sound on the other side of the door. Footsteps sounded quickly, as if someone was running. They stopped without notice, just as they’d begun and London watched the doorknob turn. She was frozen in place, watching in horror when the door opened. Even if she’d had time to think it through, there wasn’t anywhere to hide. Other than the desk, there were the bookshelves flush against the wall. There weren’t any windows. Going back the way they came wouldn’t help them. They were trapped.
A tall, thin man with black hair hurried into the room, coming to a halt and looking at London and Natasha. His shocked expression turned to one of disdain as he narrowed his beady gaze on them.
“You’re not going to ruin everything I’ve worked so hard to accomplish,” he informed them, his cold, sinister tone enough to chill London’s blood. “I’m going to win and no one will stop me.” The man raised a gun he’d been holding out of sight, aimed, and fired.
Chapter Fifteen
Marc stepped out of the shower and swore he heard gunfire. He shot a worried look at the bathroom door, which was still slightly ajar. There it was again. Someone had just fired a gun, and it was nearby.
“Crap,” Marc hissed, rubbing the one rough towel that had been folded on the back of the toilet—there were no towel racks—over his body too fast to dry himself off. Not that the thing would have been able to dry him thoroughly if he’d tried. He shoved his damp body into the clothes he’d had on before showering.
He twisted and yanked until he heard threads pop in his issued clothing. Marc was struggling to zip and button them when the third shot went off, this one louder, closer, and leaving no doubt as to what he’d heard.
Get Lucky Page 27