“We’ll help you keep looking for her,” Frost offered.
Ty nodded, both grateful and still wary. He pointed the way he’d come. “We’re a straight shot from the stairs up. That way. If you need to get out. Small spaces, man.” He patted his chest, then held his breath, waiting to see if they’d make a move or if they were on the up-and-up.
English came forward, his light aimed toward the ground. “Got anything to mark it with when we come back this way?”
Ty breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t going to be turning his back on these men anytime soon, especially not with one arm out of commission, but at least for now they’d passed his test. He bent and picked up a small rock, marking on the wall with it. It made a faint chalky line on the stone. Ty did it again harder, trying to make sure they’d see it.
“I can’t go back up those stairs,” English said to Frost and Park. He indicated his massive shoulders and arms. “I damn near got stuck coming down them. Maybe we can find an exit on this level.”
“The kitchen has an exit,” Deuce said. He turned his flashlight back on and handed Ty his gun. English and Frost both jumped when he spoke, then calmed immediately when they realized it was him. Riddle Park didn’t seem surprised, though. He was hanging back, probably for the same reasons Deuce had been. Ty met English’s eyes, shrugging.
“I hear you, man,” English said. “Can’t be too careful.”
“Especially since Kline . . .” Frost glanced from Ty to Deuce.
“This was her first run with the company,” Park told them. “She wasn’t us.”
English was nodding. “She’s on me and I’ll take responsibility for that. If you don’t want to trust us, I don’t blame you. But these fuckers killed Hardin, and he was our brother. We want this. We’ve got your back on this, Sidewinder.”
Ty stared into his eyes and saw nothing but truth and anger and pain. “I’m sorry for your loss. He died protecting five young lives. Man’s a hero.”
“Yes he is.”
Ty filled them in on what they’d learned, and where they should be searching for Amelia and the other children.
“What about bringing O’Flaherty down here?” Frost asked. “Can’t he lead us to them? Is he okay?”
Ty winced, hesitant to admit he had knocked their only solid lead unconscious during a fit of anger. “He was wounded, but when he wakes he’ll be the first one down here searching. The problem is he said he was going so fast, he’s not sure he knows where they are. He also said he gave the oldest boy a gun, so we need to be careful.”
“Are there any more Tangos to be worried about here?” Frost asked.
“We don’t know. Fraser’s alive,” Ty answered. “So we’ll get it out of him. But we have to assume someone else was leading this thing. To be able to reach your girl and turn her, it couldn’t be a local in charge.”
“Guys,” Deuce said, his voice shaking. “Can we please find my baby girl?”
Ty gripped Deuce’s shoulder and squeezed. “We’ll stick together, when we come to a split, we’ll divide into groups. Cover more ground that way.”
“Why not just call to them if they’re down here?” Frost asked.
“If someone’s down here looking for them and they answer our calls, there’s no guarantee we get to them first,” English answered before Ty could respond. “We should look first.”
Ty nodded and glanced at Deuce again. “That’s your call, bud.”
“That’s my baby girl out there. I’m not letting anyone get to her before I do. We’ll look for them.”
Ty gave him a curt nod. He hadn’t expected any other answer. He turned to English and the others. “What did you see the way you came from?”
“There are storage rooms,” Frost answered. “Some of them look like they were once jail cells.”
Ty and Deuce shared a look. “Definitely part of the castle complex,” Deuce grumbled.
“Castle?” English asked. “It’s on the other side of the island.”
Ty nodded. “You see our problem.”
“Son of a bitch,” English snarled.
“What information do we need right now?” Kelly asked Zane. When Fraser had regained consciousness, they’d tied him to a dining chair, and Earl was now standing with a shotgun aimed at his face.
“We need to know how many, and who. The whys and hows can come later,” Zane whispered. He was watching Kelly work, fascinated. Kelly was patching Nick’s side up, with Nick laid out on a table, his face turned away from them. The bullet had grazed him, skipping off a rib. It had been just enough to knock him over the edge of the cliff and draw blood, but it hadn’t done any permanent damage. Kelly had cleaned it and was using some sort of skin glue from his medical kit to close it up.
“As soon as we get what we need from him, I’m going into the walls to find Ty,” Zane told them. “He’s been gone too long, something’s wrong.”
“The passages open up when you go down a level,” Nick said, his voice having returned to his usual soothing, sedate tone. “It’s a maze down there, natural caves and lava tubes mixed with man-made tunnels and rooms. They probably go all the way over to the castle ruins.”
Zane felt the blood draining from his face. That was a lot of territory to cover. “Can you find those kids, O’Flaherty?” Zane asked, his voice coming out rougher and more accusatory than he’d intended.
Nick turned his head and met Zane’s eyes. “Yes.”
He sat up when Kelly was done. Kelly had cut his tattered shirt off him, so there was nothing for him to put back on. His green eyes were hard when they landed on Jockie Fraser, and his jaw was set. “Give me five minutes with him first.”
Zane looked from Nick to their prisoner, who was staring at them with wide eyes. Earl glanced over his shoulder when he heard Nick’s words. He met Zane’s eyes, then nodded. They’d already tried asking him questions. It hadn’t been very effective, with Fraser repeatedly refusing to answer and demanding legal counsel. It was time for a new tack.
Earl and Zane picked Fraser’s chair up, carrying him between them into the game room next door, where the billiards table took up most of the space. Nick followed them, still shirtless. He grabbed a towel from behind the bar and threw it over his shoulder, then he sat to unlace his shoes and pull them off.
“What’s he doing?” Fraser asked when they set his chair down, eyes still wide. Earl checked his bonds, refusing to answer.
Nick took one of his socks off, then stood and strolled over to the billiard table. He glanced over at Fraser as he reached into one of the pockets, then pulled one of the billiard balls out and dropped it into his sock. His expression stayed completely blank the entire time.
Fraser began to shake his head. “You’re insane. You can’t do this!”
“This can be avoided if you tell us what we need to know,” Zane said. “Who paid you?”
Fraser glared at Zane. His hawklike nose was badly broken and his eyes were swelling shut from the beating Kelly had given him.
“Start talking, Fraser, or I let him at you,” Zane said with a jerk of his head at Nick.
“You’re bluffing,” Fraser spat.
Zane shrugged. “I may be.” He glanced over his shoulder at Nick, who was standing and staring at Fraser with the same dead-eyed expression he’d awoken with. “But he’s not.”
Earl patted Zane on the shoulder and headed for the door. Zane lingered, giving Fraser a last chance to talk and watching Nick with a sinking feeling in his stomach. Nick met his eyes, letting the heavy billiard ball swing in its sock, demonstrating just how effective it would be as a weapon.
Fraser jutted his abused chin out, refusing to speak again.
Zane didn’t say anything more before retreating through the door. When he turned to pull it shut, he got a glimpse of Nick standing in front of Jockie Fraser, his feet shoulder-width apart, his bare back covered with a Celtic cross tattoo that followed his spine from the base of his neck to the small of his back. Three whiplike
scars crisscrossed his muscular back and shoulders. The makeshift ball and chain hung from his hand, swaying as Nick wrapped the end around his fingers.
Zane lowered his head and pulled the door shut before the first scream could tear through the great hall.
Ty turned the corner and almost smacked into a brick wall before Deuce could follow with the flashlight. He held his arm, trying to keep it from throbbing as they stood in the dead end of the corridor, fuming and desperate.
“Backtrack,” Ty murmured, and they made their way back to the last intersecting corridor. Ty made a large X on the wall, and they continued to retrace their steps.
“Will you let me at least tie your arm down?” Deuce asked.
“I need it. It’s fine,” Ty insisted, and he slid his hand into his waistband as a makeshift sling.
They met up with the other three at what Ty had deemed the crossroads, a large section of tunnel that appeared to have been cut from a natural cavern.
“Anything?” Deuce asked the others. They all answered with negatives, and they all looked sympathetic to Deuce’s increasing desperation.
“We’ll find her,” Frost assured him. He even put a hand on Deuce’s arm to offer him a little comfort.
Ty ran his hand through his hair, sucking in a ragged breath as the walls edged closer and closer to him. The weight of the earth pressed down from above. Even though he knew they were no longer under the mansion, they were still under tons and tons of dirt. What if they were under the hill? What if the lighthouse ruins were up there, weighing down, crumbling, threatening the integrity of the stonework?
“Oh God,” he whispered, grasping at his chest.
“Ty?”
“I can’t breathe, man. We need to double-time this.”
“What’s going on?” English asked.
“He’s claustrophobic,” Deuce told the others.
“So let’s fucking call for them and get out of here.”
Ty shook his head, but he looked at Deuce almost desperately.
Deuce met his eyes in the light of the flashlights, his jaw jumping. “You promise me you’ll get to them first.”
Ty took a deep breath. “We’ll get to them, Deacon, I swear to you. I swear.”
Deuce handed Ty his flashlight and stepped toward one of the tunnels, cupping his hands around his mouth and calling out for the kids. His voice shook as it echoed through the tunnels.
Each man held his breath, waiting. The blood was beginning to roar in Ty’s ears when a small voice echoed along the corridor. Deuce gasped.
“Go!” Ty whispered harshly. He pointed at English. “Go, go!”
The three men started down the corridor in pursuit of the child’s call. Ty took a moment from his panic to admire their precision. He really hoped none of them turned out to be bad guys, because he liked all three men, and he hated killing people he liked.
Deuce tugged Ty’s good arm. “Come on, Ty, hold on a little longer.”
Ty ran with him, helping Deuce on his bad leg and relying on his brother to lead him through the obscure, cramped spaces.
A silenced gunshot boomed through the passages ahead of them, followed by shouts and cries that seemed to echo and multiply. Deuce cursed and quickened their pace. Ty had no idea how his leg was keeping up. He supposed the concern of a parent overrode everything else. Their flashlight bounced off beams from the Snake Eaters’ lights, and they came upon all three men taking cover at an intersecting passage. The muffled wailing of a baby came from around the corner.
“Who’s shooting?” Ty called.
“Kid shot at us when we tried to open the door,” Frost answered. “They’re locked up in a room, looks like an old root cellar.”
Ty glanced at Deuce and nodded for him to go around the corner. “Call out, tell them who you are.”
“Cooper! It’s Deacon, buddy, we’re here to take you back. Open the door, okay?”
Ty heard the boy’s muffled response through the hole he’d shot in the thick door. “Nick told me not to open the door unless someone gave us the password! You might be with someone who’s making you say it’s okay!”
Deuce looked back at Ty, eyebrows raised.
“Goddamn it, Nick,” Ty grunted. He closed his eyes against the thought of the narrow passages pressing down on him. “Fucking password.”
“Smart kid,” English said. He was still crouching against the wall, his gun and flashlight in his hands, his large body stooped and hunched to fit into the narrow corridor.
Ty closed his eyes. He was beginning to hyperventilate, struggling for the breath to stay calm, to keep his mind clear. He’d never make it out of these fucking tunnels if he didn’t leave soon. Now. They had to get those kids out and moving right now. “Cooper, open the door!” he shouted. “It’s Ty and Deacon, kid, we need to get you back to your parents!”
“What’s the password?” Cooper shouted back.
“Damn it,” Ty hissed.
“That’s not it!”
Frost and Park both covered their mouths to muffle their laughter.
Deuce took Ty’s good arm. “Come on, Ty, you know Nick better than anyone. What fucking password would he give these kids?”
Ty shook his head, gasping for breath. He groped at the stone walls, searching for something solid. Cool and solid and immovable. Something strong enough to hold up the thousands of pounds of dirt and rock above them. “Oh God.”
Deuce grabbed him and pulled him toward the door, grasping Ty’s face in both hands. “Breathe, brother, come on. Calm your mind. Think. Please, Ty, my baby is in there.”
They could hear Amelia wailing inside the room. The gunshot had come from the silenced weapon Nick had taken off the nanny, but it had still probably been incredibly loud and frightening in that enclosed rock room.
Enclosed and locked.
Enclosed, locked, and under tons and tons of rock.
Ty rested his forehead against the thick wooden door and fought the urge to be sick. Deuce’s hand was on his shoulder, squeezing, keeping him grounded, but his head was swirling with panic and terror.
What word would Nick give them? One word to let them know they were safe. One word he would trust someone else to say to them in his absence, since he’d fully expected to be killed or at least maimed by Fraser when he left them. One word. One word that, in Nick’s mind, meant everything.
Ty took in a deep breath. “Oohrah.”
Zane and Kelly sat together on a bench seat in the great hall, watching the door to the game room in silence. The walls were so thick, they couldn’t really hear anything from inside. Zane was thankful for that much.
“I should be down there helping look for Amelia,” Zane insisted.
“You should be right here,” Kelly said. “When Nick gets answers, we’ll need you here. Ty’s a big boy, he can handle himself.”
Zane glanced at him, trying to convince himself Kelly was right. If Fraser gave them information, Zane was the only one who had enough pieces of the puzzle to do anything with it.
He cleared his throat. “When Nick gets answers. You really think he’ll be able to?”
“Nick has extensive experience with, uh . . . enhanced interrogation techniques,” Kelly said, his voice flat.
“What?”
“The alternative set of procedures?” Kelly said, turning his head to meet Zane’s eyes. He wasn’t smiling.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Torture. Nick was trained to torture.” Kelly returned his gaze to the door, his expression unchanging.
Zane stared at his profile for several seconds before turning his attention back to the door.
Darkness had fully set in, but they’d lit every fireplace, candle, hurricane lamp, and lantern they could gather. It made the mansion feel truly gothic, with flames flickering everywhere, shadows being cast in all directions, and the fireplaces crackling and giving off enough warmth to make walking into a room feel like coming in out of the cold.
; Zane would have really enjoyed a blackout like this, in a place like this, if it weren’t for all the dead bodies piling up in the freezer.
There was a bang and crash from the kitchen, and voices began to echo up the steps. Zane and Kelly both stood and started toward the stairwell, shining flashlights down and holding their guns at the ready.
The first person to come into sight was John English, a frightened child in each of his massive arms, clinging to his neck. He raised his head when the lights hit him.
“You found them, they’re all safe?” Zane blurted, lowering his weapon.
English nodded and continued up the steps. Frost and Park followed behind him, the two older boys between them. The kids were all smudged with dirt and spiderwebs, their clothes dusty and covered in some sort of white rock dust. But they were all safe.
English and his Snake Eaters headed for the dining hall, where they could reunite the children with their parents. Deuce and Ty were having a harder time mounting the stairs, mostly because Deuce was clinging to Amelia and refusing to use the hand railing to help him up the steps, and Zane instantly recognized Ty in the throes of a very real panic attack.
He and Kelly darted down the stairs to assist.
Deuce refused to let his little girl out of his arms, so Kelly helped him up the steps, taking his weight.
Once Deuce and Amelia were in safe hands, Ty slid down the stairwell wall and refused to move. Zane knelt in front of him, setting his light on the step above them.
“You’re okay, doll,” he whispered. He gently touched Ty’s cheek.
Ty gasped in breath after breath, shaking his head. He wouldn’t open his eyes, so Zane simply leaned in and kissed him. Ty wrapped his arms around Zane’s neck, clinging to him, unable to even speak.
Zane didn’t know how he’d made it out of those walls without breaking down completely. He slipped his arm around Ty’s waist and hefted him to his feet. “Come on. Big and open upstairs.”
Ball & Chain (Cut & Run) Page 26