01 Only Fear

  She gritted her teeth against the urge to give in to panic. Not yet. She had to keep it together for Julia.

  I am in control.

  It was only fear, after all. An emotion. She could control it—or at least her reaction to it.

  It was just darkness. She imagined herself lying in the dark on a featherbed with Ethan’s arms wrapped around her. They were making love. Slowly. And he was whispering words of love and encouragement in her ear.

  She wanted that so badly. That future with Ethan. She had so much to live for. And Julia would be proud of her for choosing to reach out for it, she thought, choking down a sob.

  “I’m not giving up hope,” she told her sister.

  She had to get Julia out of here. The regular rise and fall of her chest as she breathed had turned irregular.

  Maggie squinted into the bright light that appeared as the metal door squeaked open again. Ethan? Her heart leapt, then plummeted as she recognized the lantern Fearmonger had held before.

  He was back to finish the job.

  She continued applying pressure to the wound at her sister’s side. The bleeding had slowed, but she still needed a hospital, fast.

  “Time to go, Maggie. It’s time for the next lesson.”

  “No. I’m not leaving her.”

  Fearmonger held the lantern up a little more, throwing his features into frightening patterns of light and shadow. “Then I’ll finish her for good.” He stepped forward and the blade of the knife caught the light. Parts of it were dark, and Maggie realized it was her sister’s blood that stained it.

  Saying a silent prayer for Julia, Maggie rose on shaky legs and held out a hand protectively over her sister, as if she could ward off evil. “No, wait. I’ll come with you.”

  He glanced down the tunnel as they heard a noise that seemed far away. Another door? Hope soared, even as the knife in Fearmonger’s hands had her heart pounding harder. He’d used it on her sister, and she had no doubt he’d use it on her. Or, worse, on Ethan.

  “Walk.” He waved his lantern toward one direction of the dark tunnel.

  Was it the direction from which the noise had come? It was hard to tell. The acoustics in the tunnel distorted sound and other sensations. But somehow she doubted he was leading her toward safety. No, it was more likely he was setting the trap for Ethan. With her as bait.

  Was that a flicker of light ahead?

  Ethan motioned to Becca to stand still behind him, then switched off his flashlight to hide their location and stood still, holding his breath as they listened. The light farther down the passageway seemed to grow stronger, but then it went out completely. The tunnel was deathly silent.

  A long, low, bone-chilling laugh replaced the quiet. “E-than. I know you’re out there somewhere,” a voice said. Fearmonger. The way sound carried in this place, he could be anywhere. “We’ll be waiting.”

  Ethan said nothing, only walked a little faster, a little less cautiously as the man spoke. He heard Becca’s light footfalls right behind him, her hand resting lightly on his elbow so she could feel when he moved. Choosing speed over stealth, he risked turning his flashlight on, realizing it could be more dangerous to them to run in the dark.

  “What’s that?” came Becca’s whispered question.

  Guns drawn, they approached the metal door that stood ajar. No light, no sound came from within. There was only the stillness of a tomb.

  Ethan signaled to Becca to stay back as he checked it out. His flashlight swung across the interior, then lower. It stopped when he spotted a still form on the ground. His breath caught and held until he stepped forward and realized it wasn’t Maggie. But Julia was in obvious trouble and needed medical attention fast. He knelt and felt the bleeding wound his flashlight had illuminated, and immediately applied pressure.

  “Do you get reception here?” he asked Becca, keeping his voice as low as possible in case Fearmonger was nearby.

  She checked her phone and shook her head. “Not enough, but the tunnel entrance from the medical building wasn’t too far back.” Every second counted, for both Julia and Maggie.

  “Go back and call Damian. Tell him where Julia is and that we need an ambulance. Then get back here. Fast.”

  Becca took out her own flashlight from a loop at her belt, switched it on, and took off at a run. Ethan was left with the warm, sticky feel of Julia’s blood under his fingers, wondering what Fearmonger had in store. The killer knew Ethan was here. Had called him by name. Which meant Fearmonger must have guessed how important Maggie was to him.

  The question was, how did the monster plan to use that information?

  Maggie stumbled and Fearmonger cursed, kicking her in the leg. Her cry of pain echoed down the silent, dark tunnel.

  “Shut up and keep walking. Faster.”

  She didn’t know what was better—the calm, philosophizing Fearmonger, or the tense, desperate Fearmonger. She fought to keep her breathing and pulse under control as she continued along the tunnel, pressing her hands against the walls every so often for balance. And to leave a handprint in Julia’s blood. He seemed to believe her fumbling act. Either that or he didn’t care if Ethan tracked them. He’d already admitted he had plans to kill Ethan while she was forced to watch.

  Like Julia.

  She hoped to God Ethan was getting help for Julia at that very moment. The rest of the SSAM team couldn’t be too far behind. Even her captor had known they were coming, taunting Ethan. But that also meant he had something planned.

  “Through there.” Fearmonger nudged her with the point of his knife toward the door on her left. For good measure, she stumbled again, using the door to pull herself upright. “Now!” He pulled the door shut tight behind them.

  “Good girl, Maggie,” Ethan whispered, finding her handprint on the door to his right. Forcing himself to slow down and be more careful had paid off. Sweeping the flashlight from side to side had revealed a bloody handprint. He was sure Maggie’s hand had left it—with Julia’s blood. At least, he hoped Maggie wasn’t bleeding as well. With Becca’s return after her phone call to Damian for help, which she’d assured Ethan was only seconds away, he’d relinquished his position at Julia’s side to her and taken off after Maggie. Still, he estimated he was about ten minutes behind them. Of course, Maggie might be slowing Fearmonger down.

  Becca had cursed at him as he stepped back out into the tunnel, telling him to wait for backup, that it would be there any second, but he hadn’t listened. How could he, when every second that passed, every heartbeat, meant risking Maggie’s life?

  The squeak of rusty hinges sliced across Ethan’s taut nerves as he pushed open the ancient door. The maze of tunnels beyond the door wasn’t marked on the map. And he could deduce why. This tunnel appeared unfinished. It didn’t have the echoing concrete of the other passageways. Instead, a warm, moist earth smell swamped his nostrils as he tentatively poked his head around the doorway, listening carefully for any sign of a human—or in the case of Fearmonger, perhaps nonhuman was a better description—presence. Something dripped and echoed in the distance.

  Cautiously, Ethan entered the tunnel, one step at a time. Instead of the sound of footsteps, his foot met soft dirt. Definitely an unfinished tunnel. Would his backup be close behind? He hoped to God they’d found Becca and gotten Julia to safety first.

  A whistle of air brushed past his head, lifting a lock of hair, then stopped. Someone had opened a door on the other end of the tunnel, creating a brief draft between the ends. And now the door was closed again.

  Deciding to go with his instinct and throw caution to the wind in favor of speed, Ethan’s long strides ate up the distance as he broke into a jog. His flashlight, in one hand, pointed straight ahead. In the other, he held his gun.

  A minute later, he halted, his light bouncing off another metal door. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he holstered his gun and dug the tunnel blueprints out of a pocket, aiming his flashlight beam at it as he tried to judge where he was. But the darkness
had been so disorienting, he couldn’t be sure. He thought he’d jogged due west, toward the edge of campus, but at some point, the floor had sloped and curved gently. He couldn’t be certain he wasn’t just linking up again with the same tunnel, with Fearmonger creeping up behind him. But it didn’t matter what danger awaited him if Maggie was on the other side. He’d walk into certain death for her.

  “Holy shit,” Ethan breathed. “The radio station.”

  If he was right in his calculations, that he’d headed due west, he was now near the building on the edge of campus that housed the radio station. It made sense that Fearmonger would take her there. It was meaningful to him since their dialogue about fear had begun in that setting, but what if he guessed wrong? Time was of the essence.

  Heart racing, he stuffed the map back into his pocket and drew his gun again, pushing open the door and finding himself with a choice to make. Right or left. There was no sound or light from either end.

  An examination of the floor gave him his answer. The moist dirt from the older tunnel had stuck to someone’s shoe, just enough to leave a faint outline of a shoeprint. It had to be Fearmonger’s. Leading toward the left. Toward the radio station, he surmised.

  Adrenaline pumping through his system, he raced in that direction.

  A few minutes later, the oiled door at the end of the tunnel didn’t squeak as he pushed it open. It had clearly been used more recently. He entered a cement room in a basement he didn’t recognize and halted when he heard voices ahead, just past a doorway.

  “And what are you afraid of, Fairy Princess?” That had to be Fearmonger, only this time his voice wasn’t echoing off tunnel walls. Ethan had finally caught up to him.

  Fairy Princess?

  “I guess I’m supposed to be afraid of you,” the princess returned, sounding breathless. Becca.

  Shit. Somehow she’d found Fearmonger first. She must have run across campus the moment help arrived for Julia, guessing where Fearmonger was headed. Was Maggie there, too? He couldn’t see around the edge of the doorway without risking exposure. Ethan edged forward quietly until he could see the room. Fearmonger had Becca in a corner, a gun aimed at her head. Her gun? How had he gotten it? And how had she figured out which building he was in?

  He tried to see Maggie, daring to peek around the edge of the doorframe as Fearmonger’s back remained to him, not twenty feet away.

  There. Maggie stood near the wall, not five feet from Fearmonger and Becca.

  “I’m the King of Fear,” Fearmonger said, leaning toward Becca. “I’ll help you face your fears, embrace them. I’ll set you free.”

  Ethan felt some pride for his trainee. Even in her trapped position, she was staring the guy down. Blood now streamed down her temple past the bandage that had once been white, as well as from several scrapes on her arms. She had put up a hell of a fight, but somehow the monster had gotten hold of her gun.

  “Dr. Levine is the healer,” she said. “You’re just some little boy playing with fire, pouting because he didn’t get into med school. I figured out you were heading to the radio station. How long do you think it’ll take Ethan and the others to find us here?”

  “That’s so sweet. You’re worried I’ll get caught.” Fearmonger laughed.

  “Hardly.” Becca’s chin jutted out.

  “Let her go,” Maggie said, stepping toward them. She swayed a bit and clasped a hand to her chest but kept going. Ethan stifled the urge to run to her and hold her back. “It’s me you want, anyway. She has nothing to do with this, with your lessons.”

  “It’s Ethan you really want,” Becca added. Ethan thought her glance flickered his way ever so subtly, but he couldn’t be sure. Did she know he was here, flat against the wall on the other side of the doorway, under the cover of darkness?

  “And where is the man of the hour?” Fearmonger asked, glancing up the stairs just beyond Becca.

  “Right behind me. I just run faster. Once help arrived for Julia, I took off,” Becca said, effectively letting Ethan and Maggie know that Julia was safe. “But he’ll be here. And you’re going to jail. You may take one of us down, but you’ll never get us both.”

  Ethan winced at her taunt. She was keeping her cool, but he wished she wouldn’t push Fearmonger’s buttons. Of course, he probably would have done the same thing in her situation. It would keep the man’s attention on her, and allow Ethan to take a shot.

  But could he take that shot?

  Fearmonger stood almost squarely between Becca and Ethan, but what if Maggie moved to the side, even a couple inches? Or what if the bullet went slightly right and hit Becca? Or what if it wasn’t enough to stop Fearmonger, and he got to Becca or Maggie before Ethan could save them?

  As the old doubts plagued him, the image of the little girl he’d failed filled his mind. Her eyes looked up at him as she lay on the grassy lawn where she’d fallen. His fault. He’d made a choice and defended Mallory, and Bethany had paid the price. What would this choice cost him?

  “You’re right, you know,” Maggie said, stepping a little closer to Fearmonger.

  Ethan bit back the urge to shout at her to stay put. Her comment, and the way she seemed to approach him rather than cower, drew Fearmonger’s attention—and kept it away from Ethan and Becca. She didn’t think twice about drawing the danger to herself if it meant helping others. His chest filled with love for this brave woman. His woman.

  Fearmonger tilted his head in question.

  “About fear,” Maggie continued. “You were right when you said it can take over your mind, your heart, your soul. My panic attacks are proof enough of that. But you’re wrong about something else.”

  The gun shifted a bit, ever so slightly off of Becca. Unfortunately, it shifted toward Maggie. “No,” Fearmonger said, his voice hard. “I’m not wrong.”

  Maggie shook her head, and the gun inched just a little more toward her. “If there’s one thing you’ve taught me, it’s that people can take control. They can face their fears. If not, why else are we on this earth? God gives us what we need to cope. He gives us the strength to deal with our fears.”

  It was as if she was speaking to him, Ethan thought. About his past. Did she know he was there? Was she ready to get to safety if he moved in?

  Her next words confirmed it. “Your theories are bullshit.”

  Fearmonger’s roar of anger snapped Ethan into action as the killer swung his gun to aim it directly at Maggie. Ethan caught the flash in Becca’s eyes as she signaled to Ethan. It was now or never. And they were counting on him. Ethan took a step forward, feeling the comforting, familiar grip of his gun in his hand.

  Fearmonger shook his head, his body quaking with his fury. “You can have this conversation with God, if He exists, shortly. You won’t be on this earth for very much longer. But first…” As Fearmonger moved to aim again at Becca, she ducked and Ethan put the man in his sights and fired.

  “Get down!” Ethan yelled to Maggie as Fearmonger fired his gun, the loud report reverberating off the thick basement walls and drowning out his warning. But she’d already dropped to the floor and was rolling away from the danger. Ethan’s bullet connected with Fearmonger’s back and he crumpled to the ground. Fearmonger’s bullet slammed into the concrete where Becca’s head had been just seconds before. Ethan propelled his body forward and kicked the gun away from Fearmonger’s hand, sending it skidding into a corner. But there was no need.

  “He’s dead,” Becca said, checking for a pulse and taking the knife from the scabbard at Fearmonger’s belt as Ethan kept his weapon trained on the monster.

  “It’s okay,” Maggie said.

  She had risen and come to his side, but he hadn’t noticed. He didn’t want to take his eyes off the bastard. She guided his hand down, lowering his weapon. Holstering his gun, he reached out and grabbed her to him, loosening his hold only when she moaned slightly. He pulled back and ran his hands over her, searching for wounds. If that maniac had hurt her, he’d shoot him again.

&nb
sp; He cupped her face in his hands—hands that had been steady only moments ago but now shook with emotion. “Did he hurt you?”

  She shook her head, but her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “Not me. But Julia…”

  “Damian’s got her to the hospital by now,” Becca said. “I’m sure she’ll be okay. I’ll go upstairs and make a few calls. See if I can find out the latest.”

  Ethan turned to Becca. “You did good, Agent Haney.”

  She grinned. “Thank you for noticing, Agent Townsend.”

  “But how did you figure out where Fearmonger was taking Maggie?”

  Her grin widened. “There were only four places he could exit the tunnel he was in. One was the medical building and we knew he didn’t go that way since we came from there. Another was the area he’d parked his van, which he had to suspect had been discovered since we’d tracked him down. When I saw one of the other exits was the radio station, I knew that was a logical place to take Maggie. It was a place that linked them.”

  “Great work.”

  “Except…” She hesitated. “He got the jump on me. Got my weapon.”

  “He threatened to slit my throat unless you tossed the gun to him,” Maggie exclaimed. “What else could you have done?”

  Becca grimaced. “I should have been prepared. I should have had a Plan B.”

  “Next time.” Ethan clasped her on the shoulder. “This was your first big assignment. You survived. You learned. And next time you’ll be more careful.”

  She nodded but was clearly still contemplating how she could have been better. “I think I’ll give you two some time.” She jogged up the stairs and out of sight.

  “I guess that means we have her stamp of approval now,” Maggie said with a grin.

  Unwilling to go any longer without her body against his, he pulled her close, wrapping both arms tightly around her. His throat worked as he swallowed the lump there. “God, Maggie.”