by Cynthia Eden
Just so they were clear.
Then he eased away from her because if he didn’t, he’d fucking try to take her there in the cave.
The glow from the flashlight hit him in the face. He hadn’t even realized she still held it. “When we get out of here,” Cadence said, her voice husky, “you’ll be mine.”
Damn.
But first—I have to get her to safety.
Cadence shone the light around them. He was afraid they’d just traded one chamber for another, but no. There was a corridor there. Curved, heading back to the left.
A way out?
They hurried toward it in the same instant.
Kyle put his hand in front of the corridor.
The faintest stir of air slid over his fingers.
A way out. Hope could be a fucking beautiful thing.
They headed into that tunnel and they didn’t look back.
There was nothing to see. Only the darkness. So total and complete.
Lily’s breath came slowly from her nose, as slowly as her heartbeat. The gag didn’t taste odd anymore. Actually, she couldn’t taste anything.
Couldn’t see.
Couldn’t taste.
Couldn’t feel?
I was going to let you have an easy end. Just the darkness. His words wouldn’t stop running through her mind.
He’d told her to stay quiet. She had. If she stayed quiet, then maybe he wouldn’t hurt her. Maybe he’d let her go.
I was going to let you have an easy end.
Carrie’s image flashed through her mind, a spark of life in the darkness that faded too quickly.
Lily thought she heard the sound of her daughter’s laughter, but it was gone in the next instant.
Everything was gone.
Only the darkness remained.
An easy end.
But then, she heard something. Finally, something…
Footsteps?
The faint whisper of a voice.
It’s him. It’s him testing me. Trying to see if she would stay quiet. Stay still.
The footsteps echoed.
I don’t want an easy end. I want my Carrie. She’s the only thing I want.
Were those her captor’s footsteps? Or could it be someone else? A person who could help her?
Hadn’t he said something about someone being close? Her hands jerked in the binds. Her wrists were bloody, so they slipped, just a little, in the rope.
If help were close, somewhere in the darkness, and she didn’t call out, then she’d never see Carrie again.
Pancakes for breakfast.
With smiles.
She tried to cry out. The gag swallowed the sound.
Walking to school. Holding hands.
She twisted her body. The small movement seemed to take so much effort. Lily didn’t understand why moving was so hard. She tried again, twisting, and her hip slammed into something hard and heavy.
Thud.
She froze, expecting to feel his knife on her skin. Expecting to hear the deep voice whispering, “Lily.”
I didn’t scream.
She shifted her hip again, moving hard to the right.
Thud.
Again.
Thud.
Again.
Cadence froze. “Did you hear that?”
His footsteps stopped. “Another cave-in?” They’d been walking for at least twenty minutes. The corridor had narrowed. Branched off. Twisted. There’d been a few times when Kyle had barely scraped forward in the tunnel.
“I don’t think so.” Cadence tilted her head as she tried to catch the sound once more. “It sounded like a hammer.” A steady thud.
But she couldn’t hear it now.
“I don’t hear anything,” Kyle said. His fingers brushed lightly over her shoulder.
She didn’t move, not yet. Kyle was behind her, shining the light.
“We need to keep going.”
She knew he was right, but…
Thud.
“I hear it again,” Cadence whispered. Was it Anniston and his men? Coming to rescue them? Digging through the rocks?
Thud.
“Hell, I do, too.”
They started moving as one then, going forward, following the sound.
Then the corridor opened. Split in two.
One way, she could feel a breeze blowing on her face. Sweet, fresh air hit her and she drank it greedily. It was the way out. Another way to freedom.
The other way, to the left, had been where the faint thud had come from.
They should get out. Call in their location. Get backup and then investigate the sound.
Cadence knew it was the protocol to follow. The right thing, the safe thing to do.
Kyle had already turned to the left.
“Kyle!”
She grabbed his hand.
“Use your phone,” he told her, voice hard. “Use the light from it. Get out of here and get us help.”
“We’ve been over this.” Her own voice trembled. “I’m not leaving you, remember? Where one of us goes…”
The other followed.
The thuds had stopped once more.
“Someone else could be trapped down here. Hell, it could be Lily,” he said. “I can’t just walk away. I leave now, he could kill her before I get back.”
They’d both worked plenty of cases that taught them just how valuable time could be. And in this place—this dark pit that reminded her too much of hell—the walls were already unstable. Another cave-in could come. If the thuds were from a victim…she needs help, now.
“I can’t walk away,” he said again.
Neither could she. Cadence hadn’t joined the FBI so she could play things safe.
“I don’t have my gun.”
“I’ve got a knife,” he told her, his voice was low and grim. Determined. “The one that was strapped to my ankle.”
Just in case those sounds hadn’t come from a victim.
Just in case this was another trap, just like the wire had been.
“Then you go first,” Cadence said. The one with the weapon should be ready for attack.
Just as she’d be ready to jump in and fight in any way she could.
They entered the branch on the left.
The fresh air drifted behind them.
It wasn’t dark anymore.
Lily stopped twisting on the bed. She was so tired.
But it wasn’t dark. He’d said she would have darkness at the end.
She didn’t have darkness.
She could see Carrie. Carrie with her beautiful, blonde hair. Carrie smiling.
Holding out her hand.
Lily wanted to reach for her daughter, but she couldn’t.
She tried to call her name.
A ragged groan slipped past the gag.
Carrie.
Carrie was there, surrounded by light. A light that grew and grew.
Such a beautiful light.
Kyle advanced slowly. His right hand gripped the knife while the fingers of his left hand curled around the flashlight. The light shone across the rough walls of the cave, pushing back the darkness. The stone was heavy and sharp and—
A door.
The light fell on the rough, wooden surface of an old door. His breath stilled in his lungs even as he found himself rushing forward. The last thing he’d expected to find in those caverns was a door. He tried to open it. It wasn’t a fucking good sign the thing had been locked.
He shoved his shoulder into it. Once, twice, three times, ignoring the stab of pain that pulsed through him, and finally, it swung inward.
And revealed another room full of darkness.
There were no sounds from the darkness. No more thuds. His flashlight cut around the area. Moving carefully. He kept his body tense, prepared for an attack to come at any moment.
Something—someone—had been in that room.
The light drifted over a piece of wood.
Frowning, he started to advance.
“Wait!” Cadence’s hand tightened on his arm. “Look down.” She had her phone out, using it as a flashlight and shining it on the ground.
In the glow of her light, he could just make out the length of the trip wire.
Fuck.
He’d tried to be so careful. Sweeping out with his light and checking constantly as they escaped through the corridors. When he’d seen this room, he’d gotten sloppy.
You thought you’d found Lily.
His breath slowly eased out and his light left the heavy piece of wood to join instead with Cadence’s. He checked the ground carefully.
Kyle had no doubt the wire was rigged to set off another explosion. Positioned just past the door to stop someone from racing inside the chamber.
Or racing out?
His jaw locked.
Thud.
His flashlight flew right toward the sound. He saw the heavy piece of wood again, but his light trailed to the right as he realized—
The wood is part of a bed.
And, fuck me, someone is in that bed.
Her blonde hair was in the circle cast by his light.
His first instinct was to run to her, but he held back. He knew she might not be alone.
Where are you, you sonofabitch?
Cadence’s breath caught on a gasp behind him. She’d seen the blonde, too.
What else was there to see? His light cut around the room, slowly. Cadence’s began to do the same. But dammit, if someone was hiding in there, he could just move, easily avoiding the lights.
Get the blonde. Get her out.
Why hadn’t she responded to them?
His light went back to her. She’d turned her head, and now she stared at them, eyes wide, face pale, with a gag stuffed in her mouth.
“The rest of the floor’s clear,” Cadence said. “Let’s go.”
They cleared the trip wire and were at the bed in seconds.
Lily—yes, it was Lily—didn’t so much as blink. Her hands were tied, the rope binding her deeply and securing her to the wooden bedposts.
He sliced through the rope, freeing her.
Cadence pulled the gag away from Lily’s mouth. “It’s okay,” Cadence whispered to her. “You’re safe.”
Lily didn’t speak. She didn’t even blink.
“We’re with the FBI,” Cadence told her, voice soothing. “We’re going to help you.”
Lily’s eyelashes began to flutter.
Kyle pulled her into his arms. He wanted her out of there. When he lifted her, Lily’s body was slack in his arms. Her head fell back.
Her eyes closed.
“Cadence!”
She checked the woman’s pulse and ran her hands quickly over Lily’s body, searching for injuries. “Her heartbeat is too low.” Fear threaded through her words. If Cadence was afraid, then he was, too. “We need to get her to a hospital!”
They needed to get her out of hell.
Cadence led the way, shining the light as Kyle carried Lily. “Hold on,” he whispered to her. “You’re almost home.”
Alive. They’d actually found her alive. Lily’s heartbeat was too slow, and his was about to burst from his chest.
He followed Cadence’s light, watching it cut quickly across the room.
Her light froze, locking on the wall to the right.
To the tally marks carved into the cavern’s wall.
There were thirteen marks carved into that wall. Fucking thirteen. His heart stopped when he saw those marks and realized just what the hell they meant.
Her light swept away from the marks to the floor.
He eased over the trip wire.
Lily barely seemed to breathe in his arms.
The sound of his and Cadence’s breathing was far too loud.
Was the SOB here? Was he watching them in the dark?
Cadence turned. They were outside of the door. They just had to backtrack, go to the fork, and then make their way toward the fresh air.
They were close to freedom.
So fucking close.
Then he felt the trembles shake the ground beneath him.
“Kyle…”
Cadence was afraid again.
“Hurry, Kyle,” Cadence said.
He clutched Lily tighter.
“Hurry!” Cadence screamed.
There was another blast. They hadn’t stumbled into a trip wire, he knew they hadn’t.
Was he watching?
Trying to kill them all?
Kyle started running, with Cadence right in front of him. The light bobbed and weaved, and rocks bit into his shoulders as he forced his way through the tunnel toward freedom. Behind him, the sound of falling rocks roared.
Faster, faster…
They were at the fork.
Cadence’s light hit the right tunnel.
Safety.
If the cave walls would just last.
But the shaking, the reverberations, were everywhere.
The light began to weaken.
“Straight ahead!” Cadence yelled. “We’re going to make it!”
There wasn’t any other option.
He could taste the fresh air. His hold tightened on Lily. A rocky outcrop slammed into his side. He pulled her closer, shielding her head, making sure he took any impacts.
Then he heard it—the rushing sound of water. Thundering.
Like a waterfall.
Yes, fuck, yes…he could even see the flow of water in the cave, could see light.
His feet slipped in the water. It wasn’t a trickle of a stream, not like before.
It was deeper.
A few more steps, and he saw it. A wall of moving water, right before him.
Cadence glanced back at him. There was blood on her beautiful face. What looked like the dried tracks of tears. “There’s a ledge,” she said, voice rising to be heard over the blast of the falls. “Stay close to the rocks. We can walk around the falls.”
He shifted Lily in his arms. She felt cold, and she still hadn’t spoken. Carefully, he followed Cadence’s orders, moving as gingerly as he could. One step. Two. The ground was wet and covered with thick, green mold. He didn’t want to risk crashing into the water with Lily. He didn’t know how deep it was, and he wasn’t even sure Lily could survive a plunge like that.
One step. One slow step. Not running anymore because they were free.
Almost.
Inch by precious inch, they went.
Water sprayed against him, soaking his clothes.
They were skating around the rocky edge.
Every heartbeat seemed to echo in his ears, even as the falls thundered around him. The sunlight was bright, banishing the darkness of the caves. Lily was in his arms. Alive. Free.
We saved her.
He searched the area and found a safe spot for Lily. Then he put her down as carefully as he could.
“Lily?” Cadence bent over her. “Lily, open your eyes, look at me.”
Lily wasn’t stirring.
Kyle yanked out his phone. A signal. Hell, yes! He called for help.
Cadence was holding Lily’s wrist. Kyle saw the flash of her eyes, heard the harsh inhale of Cadence’s breath. “There’s no pulse.”
She’d been alive. Back in the cave, Lily had said—
“Nine-one-one, what is your—”
Cadence’s hands pushed against Lily’s chest. Started chest compressions.
“This is FBI Agent Kyle McKenzie. Get a lock on my phone. We’ve got Lily Adams. We’re next to some damn falls.”
Cadence kept working. Talking, whispering, “Stay with me, Lily. Don’t go. Don’t leave your daughter. Carrie needs you.”
“There’s a search party in the area!” The operator’s voice cracked with excitement. “They’re looking for you. Detective Marsh called in the accident.”
What fucking accident? It had been a trap. A deliberate attack by the SOB who’d taken Lily and all the other women.
“They’re searching for you right now.”
<
br /> “Her heart isn’t beating.” The words were torn from him. “Get an airlift out here. Get help!”
Lily Adams had survived hell, and he didn’t want her to die just when she’d been brought back into the sunlight.
Bastard.
He watched them from the cover of the trees. They’d made it out. They had Lily.
But Lily was dead. He saw the way the female agent was working on her. Lily lay there, sprawled, her eyes closed.
Gone.
She wouldn’t be able to tell.
The agents should have died in the cave. He’d planned so carefully, to make certain any visitors would never get out once they’d stumbled in.
To make sure Lily would never get out.
The falls crashed behind the agents.
The female agent was still pressing her hands into Lily’s chest. Trying to save a dead girl.
There was no point in that.
No point…
Lily was gone. You lost her, too, McKenzie. How does that make you feel?
He smiled. At least Lily hadn’t been a total loss. And McKenzie wasn’t a freaking hero anymore. The big agent who saved the day.
You lost another girl, McKenzie. You didn’t bring down the killer. You won’t get the spread in the papers for this.
All you’ll get…is death.
“Come on, Lily,” Cadence urged as she kept up the chest compressions. “Stay with me!”
Kyle crouched beside her. Help was coming. Would it get there in time?
He reached for Lily’s hand. So cold and limp. His fingers curled around hers. Held tight. “Carrie needs you,” he told her. Cadence’s voice had been low. Beseeching. His was hard. Demanding. “Do you want to leave your daughter on her own? Because I don’t think you do.”
Cadence pushed down.
“I think you want to get back to her.” How much time had passed?
Cadence was frantically checking Lily, working to bring her back.
“Don’t leave your daughter, Lily,” he told her. “Don’t let that bastard win. Get back home to Carrie. Get back—”
Footsteps rushed toward them. Kyle’s head jerked up.
Cadence never stopped working on Lily.
The search team spilled toward him. He saw the familiar uniform of two EMTs. Captain Anniston and a battered Jason Marsh were running with them, as Heather Crenshaw and Randall Hollings trailed close behind.
“I’ve got a heartbeat!” Cadence yelled.