The screaming abruptly stopped, which only caused Mayer to run harder.
Seng kept the girl down, her face still below the water. He was thankful for her struggling. He had very little time now and it would make the end come faster.
What Seng didn’t know, what he couldn’t know, was that Dennis Mayer was fast. Having been a hurdler in high school, he could still outrun some of the department’s new recruits, even in his forties. And now at full sprint, he was closing the distance quickly, praying that nothing was in his way.
The shock on Seng’s face came within seconds as he realized just how quickly the silhouette was moving toward him. He could see the splashing of the water with every step and the outline of a large man barreling down. He immediately let go of the girl and stood up.
He was out of time. He had to get out. He turned to run and stumbled over the object which had tripped both him and the girl. It was too late. The large figure was now practically on him, and with a final leap forward, he sailed over the girl and hit Seng like a locomotive. In one violent collision, they both crashed to the ground.
Behind him, Evan reached Katie where she kneeled, coughing and trying to regain her breath. Her wet hair was plastered to her face, and she shielded her eyes from Evan’s flashlight. Her condition left her almost unrecognizable from the pictures he’d seen, but he knew it was her.
In front of them, Dennis rolled onto a knee and stood up to face Seng, who was already on his feet. Despite his flashlight being on the ground and half submerged, he could still see Seng’s hand disappear behind him and reemerge with a long knife.
Dennis quickly reached for his gun and found an empty holster. He stepped back, searching the ground for it. Nothing. He quickly backed away and frantically searched again. There was nothing but water at his feet. He looked back up at the eerily shadowed face of Seng and the gleaming knife in his hand. The Cambodian’s mouth spread into a wicked grin.
“Evan!” Dennis called over his shoulder. “Get her out of here!”
With some effort, Evan pulled Katie up to her feet and looked back into the dark void from which they’d come. He wasn’t sure he could find the way back out, and even if he could, the water was rising rapidly with the hundreds of streets funneling rainwater into the tunnels.
Dennis knew what Evan was thinking and without looking back, answered his question. “This way!” he exclaimed, pointing past Seng.
All at once, Dennis sprang forward, closing the distance between him and Seng. He saw the glint of the knife flash just before both men collided. With a grunt, Dennis grabbed Seng’s arms and threw his weight forward, smashing him against one of the concrete walls.
Evan was already moving. He ran past them pulling Katie, who was stumbling behind him.
They ran quickly in spite of Katie’s attempts to clear the wet hair from her eyes. She struggled to see the ground as they splashed forward through the running water, eventually tripping only to have Evan pull her back to her feet.
It wasn’t until Evan wriggled through and pulled Katie past that she looked back and recognized the broken barricade. She immediately panicked and dug her feet in, trying to stop. “No! NO!”
Evan searched the makeshift room and spotted the open hole above. Rungs ran up the wall to the surface. “Come on!” he cried. “Hurry!”
“No!” Katie resisted and dug in harder, crying desperately. “There’s more! There’s more!”
Already halfway across the room, Evan stopped and looked at her. “More what?”
“More of them!” She pointed to the opening above them. “Up there!”
He allowed Katie to pull him back a few steps as he hesitated and peered upward. “There’s more? Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
“How many?”
“Two. They already took Deena and Brooke. If they see us, they’re going to get us too!”
Evan’s eyes grew nervous. They were trapped. They couldn’t get out. They would never make it past Mr. Mayer and the other man again, and even if they could, they might drown trying to find their way back through the tunnels. But now their only alternative was to climb up where two more men were waiting for them. To make matters worse, Evan was still weak and doubted he could fight one, let alone two.
He tried to think as Katie continued trying to pull him backward. Maybe he could fight long enough for her to escape. But then what? They would just finish him off and then get her again.
He turned back and shined his light on the barricade. What about Mr. Mayer? Was he okay? If he was, then he could help. But if he wasn’t…Seng could be coming for them.
Evan wearily abandoned the manhole and faced the barricade. He had a better chance of fighting one man than two. Even if it was only long enough to allow Katie to make a run for it. It was the best chance they had.
At that moment, a frightening realization washed over him. He was not going to make it out of there. He was probably going to die tonight in those tunnels.
He heard the sound of splashing footsteps approaching from beyond the barricade. Someone was coming.
He handed his flashlight to Katie and rushed forward, wrenching a piece of board free from the barricade.
“Can you run?” he asked, in a low voice.
“Yes.”
He nodded and took a deep breath, gripping the board tight with both hands. This was it.
“EVAN!”
He quickly glanced around and looked expectantly at Katie’s face, staring up at him from the darkness. It took only a moment to realize she hadn’t said anything. After that, it took only a split second longer for Evan to place the voice that called his name.
A voice that was impossible.
32
He heard it again and looked up at the manhole’s dark ring.
“Evan! Where are you?”
As the voice grew nearer, a burst of light found the manhole and suddenly shone down through the opening, searching. Evan yanked Katie back around and ran to the light. With squinting eyes, he peered up through the large hole to see a silhouette behind another flashlight.
“Tania?”
“Evan!” Her eyes opened wide with excitement. “Thank God!”
“Wha…” Evan began to speak but stopped at the sound of the splashes in the tunnel growing nearer.
“Climb up, Evan!”
He took a step forward but felt Katie’s grip stop him again. He paused and peered up with one eye closed. “Is it safe?”
Neither could see the smile on Tania’s face. “Yeah, you could say that.”
He quickly grabbed Katie and lifted her up to the first rung on the wall. “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “She’s with me.”
Without another word, Katie gripped the rungs and climbed up toward the light. Evan followed closely behind her.
He reached the top as Katie was lifted out of the hole. He popped his head out and looked around. Piles of what appeared to be garbage surrounded them. “What are you doing here?” he cried. Tania grabbed his free hand and pulled him out. “And how did you know where to find us?”
Tania motioned past the garbage. Curiously, Evan peered over one of the piles. He could see the top of a car roof, but when he stepped closer, he almost couldn’t believe his eyes.
Two cars were parked side by side, sitting silently in the dark. One looked old, and the other new and expensive. But it was what he saw on the ground that really surprised him. A man’s figure was lying alongside one of the cars. Further back, the legs of the second figure were protruding out from behind the car’s back bumper.
In front, sitting quietly on the ground and leaning against the car’s grill, was the last person Evan expected to see.
He looked half dead, his arms resting on the ground on either side, trying to keep himself up. In his right hand, Dan Taylor held what looked to be a tire iron.
Taking Katie’s hand again, Evan began to approach but stopped at the sound of someone climbing the rungs below.
Evan glanc
ed worriedly at Tania. He steered Katie toward her and desperately looked for a new weapon. A dark head emerged from out of the large hole, searching for them. Upon spotting them, the figure raised the large knife, covered in something dark, and prepared to climb out.
“Run!” Evan shouted, backing up.
The figure watched them for a long moment before shaking his head. “Well, I’m sure as hell not gonna chase you.”
Evan gasped. He ran forward until he could see Mayer’s face. “You’re alive!”
“I hope so,” he groaned. Dennis slowly reached his arms out of the hole and practically pulled himself out. With a wince, he rolled onto the ground and stared at Katie. “Please tell me you’re Katie.”
“Yes.”
“Thank God,” he said, and rolled onto his back. “Now get me to a hospital.”
Evan spotted blood coming from Dennis’ shirt and quickly took off his own jacket. He balled it up and pressed it hard into Dennis’ side. Clutching it with his own hand, Dennis peered up into the night sky and tried to slow his breathing. After a minute, he turned his head and looked at Tania.
“How the hell did you get here?”
She grinned and looked back to the cars where Taylor was still sitting on the ground, exhausted. “He made me drive him.”
With some effort, Dennis managed to stand up enough to see Taylor. “I’ll be damned.”
“What about Deena and Brooke?” Katie asked Tania.
“They’re hiding in one of the cars. We didn’t know who else was down there.” She turned to Evan. “But Mr. Taylor was sure you were here.”
33
Anne Keyes lifted her head off the sofa at the sound of the doorbell. After clearing her head and noticing what little sunlight there was outside, she checked her watch. It was 7:30 a.m.
The doorbell rang again.
Keyes blinked and slowly stood up. Who would be at her door this early? There was no search today. As she walked forward, she glanced back at the couch and recalled the previous evening. The depression was taking its toll.
She reached the front door and unlocked the deadbolt. When she pulled it open, she was surprised to see a woman standing alone on her porch.
“Ms. Keyes?”
“Yes.”
“I’m from Social Services. I wanted to come by and introduce myself and ask you a few questions.
Keyes sighed. More questions. “Isn’t it a little early?”
“It is. I’m sorry about that. I was in the area and was hoping it wouldn’t be a problem. I know you’ve held several early morning searches and wasn’t sure if you were coordinating another today.”
“No. Not today.” Keyes shook her head and pushed the screen door open. “Come in.”
The woman pulled the screen door the rest of the way open and stepped inside. She quietly closed both the screen and front door behind her. She then watched a tired Anne Keyes return and sit back down onto her couch.
The living room was very nice. Clean and well decorated. Many women in emotional distress fell back to cleaning their house, almost as a form of mindless therapy. Something that allowed them to remain productive, keeping their minds on something else. Anything else.
The woman approached the couch, examining some pictures on the wall. “Is this your husband?”
“Yes,” Keyes replied, wearily. “He died two years ago.”
“I’m sorry.” The woman took a seat across from her. “Ms. Keyes, I know this has been a terrible time for you, but during an ongoing investigation, we like to check in on the family. To provide emotional or any other kind of support we can. It’s not uncommon for family and friends to suffer from various forms of emotional trauma, so we try to look out for any symptoms. Things that might allow us to avoid looming problems.”
Keyes almost laughed. “Now you want to check on the family? I’d say you’re a little late. You might try helping the families when the trauma actually occurs. Before they lose months of sleep. Or before they can’t eat for weeks at a time.” Keyes’ eyes became solemn. “Before they’ve lost hope,” she added under her breath.
The woman frowned and gently adjusted her rectangular glasses. “I’m sorry. I know the timing is not ideal. Unfortunately, the county is pretty understaffed.”
Keyes stared at her for a moment, and then looked away with a shrug.
“Are you on any medication, Ms. Keyes?”
She almost scoffed. “No. I’m not on any medication. I probably should be.”
“Have you been experiencing any symptoms like sweating, dizziness? Maybe trembling or shaking hands?”
“No.”
“Upset stomach?”
“No.” Keyes stopped as if just realizing what she was saying. She examined the woman in front of her curiously. “What was your name?”
“My name is Shannon. Shannon Mayer.”
Anne Keyes didn’t know that the woman in front of her wasn’t sent by Social Services. And she wasn’t there as part of her daughter’s investigation. Instead, she was there to try to assess Keyes’ current mental and emotional state. To gauge whether, after what she had been through, Keyes was prepared for another emotional shock.
Shannon understood better than almost anyone the strain which Anne Keyes had been through. She also understood that while some people possessed a certain innate emotional resilience, others did not. And what Anne Keyes was about to experience could be as traumatic as anything experienced so far.
It took several seconds for Shannon’s last name to sink in for Keyes. Shannon watched the recognition form in the woman’s eyes.
“Mayer?” she asked questioningly.
“That’s right.”
Keyes stared at her, thinking. Was the name a coincidence? If so, she had sworn secrecy to the man and had to be careful. She cleared her throat and chose her words deliberately. “Do you know anyone named Dennis?”
Shannon smiled. “He’s my husband.”
“Your husband?!”
Shannon nodded and stood up, before calmly crossing the living room. She returned to the front door and flipped on the switch for the outside light.
The woman’s gaze followed Shannon with a puzzled expression. Anne Keyes returned to the other side of the room and remained standing.
“And you’re with Social Services?”
The corner of Shannon’s lip curled. “Actually, I’m not. I’m sorry I lied to you.” She watched Keyes grow increasingly confused.
“I don’t understand.”
“Ms. Keyes, I’m not with the county. But I am here to assess you. I’m a psychiatrist.”
“Assess me. Assess me for what?”
“For this.”
Shannon turned and glanced out the front window as a small car stopped at the curb. Keyes turned and followed Shannon’s eyes through the wide pane of glass just as two of the car doors opened: one on the driver’s side and the other on the rear passenger side nearest to her.
“What’s going…?” She stopped midsentence when she recognized the driver of the car: the teenager she’d met just a few days before. Her eyes darted to the passenger door where an attractive teenage girl stepped out. But it was when the third person got out of the car that Anne Keyes suddenly gasped and brought both hands to her mouth.
The young girl stepped out of the car, dressed in new clothes. She looked briefly at the house before spotting her mother through the front window.
Inside, her mother gripped Shannon’s arm, the counselor having quietly stepped closer to her. “OH, MY GOD!”
Shannon sensed Anne’s knees begin to buckle and quickly wrapped an arm around her waist. “Deep breaths.”
On the front lawn, Katie took a tentative step forward before bursting into a run as fast as her legs could carry her.
“KATIE!” her mother screamed. “KATIE!” She stumbled toward the door with Shannon still at her side. She only made it halfway when her daughter threw the door open.
Katie immediately darted across the room, di
rectly into her mother’s open, trembling arms.
Anne collapsed onto her knees with Katie still tight against her and began sobbing uncontrollably. “My baby! My baby!”
Twelve-year-old Katie never looked up. She simply pressed her head into her mother’s chest and cried. At that moment, no one else in the world existed.
No one.
34
It took a long time for them to finally separate. When they did, Anne wiped her eyes with her hands and looked around the room, finding Shannon at the front door, smiling. Evan and Tania stood behind her on the doorstep.
“I…I don’t know what to say. I…”
“You don’t need to say anything,” Shannon said. “Just remember our deal.”
She spoke to Evan, who was smiling at her and her daughter. “Not a word.”
Shannon watched her silently lay a cheek back down onto the top of Katie’s head before stepping out and closing the door behind her.
Of course, Anne Keyes would have to say something. The Bakersfield police would arrive soon, along with a swarm of reporters. But before that, she would receive a phone call explaining exactly what to say and what not to say. It wasn’t foolproof, but it was the best they could manage.
As for Katie, it would be a long time before she realized that the word “heaven” sounded almost exactly like Evan.
On her way home, Shannon would also make an anonymous call to one of Bakersfield’s local support organizations. Anne and her daughter were going to need a lot of counseling. Their recovery was just beginning.
She thought about Dan Taylor. It was true that helping was fraught with danger. Putting yourself out there meant there was only so much you could control. She wondered what would happen if Taylor could witness the experience of delivering a child home safely. Would he then accept that perhaps the risk was worth it?
Later that day, the extra-wide door opened inward, and Shannon stepped into the hospital room. She glanced briefly at the single chair and white cabinet when she came around the corner. She found Dennis asleep in his bed. An IV was attached to his left arm and bruises covered his face.
The Unexpected Hero Page 12