All I've Ever Wanted - Adrianne Byrd [74]
Chapter 33
Tommy clutched his great-grandmother’s hand as she led him farther into the dark tunnel. She’d sworn that they’d be safer down here; the problem was that he didn’t feel safe. In fact, he couldn’t remember ever being so scared in his life. He almost preferred to face the boogeyman that lived under his bed. Surely it couldn’t be as bad as this.
“Maybe we should go back,” he suggested. His voice trembled as he edged closer to tears.
She didn’t stop pulling him forward. “We’re almost there,” she said.
Hadn’t she said that before? He sniffed, then with his free hand wiped his eyes dry. The last thing he wanted to admit was that he was scared—that would mean he was a ’fraidy cat. At least that was what Jimmy had always teased. Tommy took another worried glance over his shoulder. How could she be so sure that the bad man wasn’t going to come after them?
Keenan scrambled around the basement, cursing the fact that the cramped quarters had very little lighting. But the harder he searched the angrier he got. They had to be down here somewhere. He double-checked all the windows. They were painted closed. Was there another way out of there?
His foot caught something hard and his body pitched forward, but he caught himself before landing face-first on the floor.
“What in the hell?” He turned and edged back toward what appeared to be a metal rod in the middle of the floor. “What in the hell is this?” The moment he voiced the question, the answer swirled inside his head.
“No, goddamn it.” He tugged on the rod only to have his suspicion confirmed. He muttered another stream of curses. How long had they been gone? Did it matter? He had to find them before it was too late.
He stared down into the dark tunnel and wondered where it led. Well, there is only one way to find out. Certain that he had no other alternative, he tucked away his gun and crawled down the cramped space.
Kennedy burst out of the FBI’s mobile unit like a bat out of hell with Max close on her heel. When he finally caught up with her, he swung her around to face him.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going to save my son,” she shouted, then tried to pull away.
He shook his head. “Come on, Kennedy. You’re not thinking. If you go out there alone, the only thing you’re going to do is get yourself killed.”
She clamped her jaw shut and glared at him.
It took everything Max had not to shake some sense into the woman. In fact, he had to mentally count to ten before trying to reason with her again.
“The right thing to do is to go back in there and have one of the agents radio for Agent Hagan and Mason.”
Kennedy jerked out of his grip, determined to do things her way. “Fine. You call them. I’m going to see if I can find the entrance hatch.”
Agent Mason watched as Hagan and his men took their positions around the house when out of the corner of his eye he saw Kennedy and Max running toward the woods in the opposite direction.
What is she up to now? he wondered. He took another glance at Hagan, but his curiosity returned to the couple racing off into the woods.
Keenan pried his way through thick cobwebs while periodically erupting into coughing fits. He may as well have crawled into a coffin, he assessed.
He stopped and allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness before plunging further into the unknown.
Kennedy scrambled around the pond, desperate to locate the entryway into the underground tunnel. “It’s got to be around here somewhere,” she mumbled.
“I can’t let you do this,” Max said.
“Maybe it’s on the other side,” Kennedy said, ignoring him.
“Are you listening to me? There’s a better way to do this, Kennedy.”
“Maybe you’re right.” She raced over to the other side.
“What are you two doing up here?” Mason stepped from behind a small wooded area and into the clearing.
Max breathed a sigh of relief.
“There’s a tunnel that leads into the basement,” Kennedy said, without stopping her search. “If only I could remember where.”
“Then we need to go back and tell Agent Hagan. He can get his men out here—”
“I found it.