What is it?
Its the mixer. I can probably jerry-rig cameras, VCRs, and monitors, but a mixer is sometimes spe-cialized and more difficult. I may not
Never mind. Forget I asked. He picked up the mixer and put it in his duffel. Anything else?
She shook her head. Just grab Bens case. Ill get Mandy.
Mandy?
You have your priorities. I have mine. Mandys just as important to me as Ben Chadbourne.
Take whatever you like. Just get out of here.
Gil met them at the front entrance. Sorry, Ive got only one bag for you, Eve. With this shoulder, I cant manage anything else.
It doesnt matter. She started for the front door. Lets go.
Wait. Theres another Shit.
She heard it too. A low throbbing, becoming louder by the second. Helicopter rotors.
Logan went to the window. Theyll be landing in a few minutes. He ran toward the kitchen.
Eve followed him. Wheres Margaret? Weve got to
She and Mark left over an hour ago, Gil said. They should be at the airport by now. In three hours theyll be at a safe house in Sanibel, Florida.
Where are we going? Shouldnt we try to get to the limo?
No time. And theres bound to be someone watching outside the gate. Logan was opening the door of the walk- in pantry. Come on. He reached under one of the bottom shelves, lifted up a trapdoor, and tossed his duffel bag into the darkness. Dont ask questions. Just climb down the ladder.
She scrambled down the ladder and found herself in some kind of cellar with an earthen floor. Logan followed. Close the pantry door, Gil.
Done. Theyre in the house, John. I heard them at the front door.
Then get the hell down here and close the trap-door, John ordered.
Stand aside. Im tossing down the suitcase. A moment later the light was blocked as Gil closed the trapdoor and bolted it.
Running footsteps on the wood floor above them.
Shouts.
Where are we? she whispered. A cellar?
Yes, with a tunnel. Logans voice was almost inaudible as he set off down the passageway. You asked why I bought this particular house. It was used by the Underground Railroad to smuggle slaves out of the South before the Civil War. I had the beams rein-forced. The tunnel leads a half mile north and under-neath the fence to the woods. Stay close. I cant risk a flashlight until we get around the next curve.
He was walking so rapidly, she and Gil were al-most running to keep up with him.
They must be away from the house. She could no longer hear steps above them, she realized with relief.
Logans penlight suddenly illuminated the dark-ness in front of them. Run. Theyll be searching the house, and it wont be long before they find the trapdoor.
She was running, dammit.
Her breath was coming in labored pants.
She heard Gil cursing softly behind her.
He was wounded. How much longer could he keep up this pace?
Up ahead Logan was opening a door. Thank God.
Up the ladder.
Daylight.
A thick screen of shrubs hid the door, but light filtered through them.
Fresh air.
Outside.
Quick, Logan said. Just a little fartherhellip;
They followed Logan around the shrubs and deeper into the woods. Behind another screen of bushes, a car, an older model Ford with the blue paint beginning to chip.
Get in back. Logan placed Chadbournes case on the floor of the passenger seat and climbed in the drivers seat.
Eve sank into the backseat beside Gil and set Mandys case on the floor at her feet. She barely had the door shut, when Logan started the car and it began moving over the bumpy terrain. Jesus, what if they got a flat tire? Where are we going?
Theres a back road three miles away. Once we reach it, well circle the woods and head for the freeway. The car hit another bump. That should buy us a little time. Theyll probably use the heli-copter to try to spot us, but even
