Violets Are Blue - James Patterson [81]
“You’re sure the brothers weren’t out front with the others?” she asked. “Two blonds? Ponytails?”
“If they are, Kyle has them by now. I don’t think so. Let’s check the smaller shack. You know what’s in there?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t get the grand tour when I arrived. Just straight to the dungeon. Then they left me hanging, so to speak.”
I threw open the door of the shack and saw heaters and a water pump. The room smelled strongly of urine. A mouse scooted into a hole in the wall. I winced and shook my head at what I saw next. Two bodies lay sprawled and spread-eagled against the far wall. They were teenagers, males. Both were naked except for a few face and chest rings.
I bent over them and took a closer look. “Look like street kids to me. The blood’s been drained from the bodies.” There were bite marks — not just on the necks but on the faces and limbs. The skin of both was as pale as alabaster.
I looked away from the clouded eyes that stared up at me. There was nothing we could do for them now. I noticed a reddish-brown hatch cover among the dusty machines that provided water, heat, and probably air-conditioning to the ranch.
I moved across the room, bent down low to get a better look. The cover was loose, so I was able to pull it off.
Darkness. Silence. What else was down there? Who else?
I looked at Jamilla, then I shone a flashlight into the hole. The hole was wide enough for someone to get down inside. I saw metal stairs. A tunnel.
Then I saw footprints in the dirt below. Several pairs.
“Go tell Kyle.” I turned to Jamilla. “Get some help.”
Jamilla was already heading out the door. She started to run. I stared down into the abyss and wondered if anybody was looking back at me.
Chapter 89
I WAITED as long as I could, then I lowered myself slowly into the black hole. I fit easily and started to climb down the sturdy metal ladder.
There were several steps, steep and precarious. I pointed the flashlight around. I could make out a dirt floor, corrugated tin walls. The ceiling bulbs had been broken. A narrow tunnel stretched out before me.
I didn’t hear any sounds up ahead, so I began to make my way down the tunnel. I moved slowly and carefully. I had the flashlight in one hand, my Glock in the other. I kept looking back for Kyle and Jamilla. Where were they?
I saw a discarded carcass a short way down the tunnel. I took a breath, focused my light on it.
A single eye stared back.
What I was looking at had been a small deer. Only the head and shoulders remained. I remembered reading that tigers eat their prey starting at the rump. They consume bone and all. There were more smudged footprints in the dirt. It looked like two pairs, but I couldn’t tell for sure in the dim light. There were smaller animal tracks that might have been the cat’s. Oh, Jesus.
I kept moving, trying to adjust my eyes to the semidarkness. There were shards of glass all over the dirt. Someone had purposely smashed the overhead lightbulbs.
I heard the tiger roar and almost dropped the flashlight! It wasn’t the smoothest move of my life, but I’d never been in a closed-off area with a tiger before. The big cat’s roar inside the tunnel echoed off the tin walls. It was unexpected and terrifying. I didn’t know what to do next.
The cat roared a second time, and I found that I couldn’t move. I felt nailed to the spot. I wanted to turn around and go back, but that wasn’t an option right now. I couldn’t outrun a tiger in this tunnel, or anywhere else for that matter.
Somewhere in the inky blackness of the tunnel up ahead, the cat was watching me. I debated shutting off the flashlight, but I kept it on for now. At least I would see the cat coming. I concentrated, stared out into the darkness, kept very still, as if that would help me. I had the Glock pointed straight ahead. I wondered if it was possible to bring down a big cat with a handgun, even a powerful one. No way of knowing; no practice range for this kind of shooting. I had my doubts, though.
I couldn’t see the cat, but I could almost