‘‘A very gifted amateur.’’
‘‘Well, pardon me.’’
Diane had a plan, and it seemed like a good one, but it was looking less feasible now that she was alone with him. If she could just play for time. Keep him talking. Slow the pace.
‘‘How did you escape from Everett?’’
‘‘Being the last in line for the hanging. Wait a min ute. I’m not recognizing any landmarks.’’
Diane pulled the map from her pocket. ‘‘Would you like to lead?’’
‘‘No. Just don’t shit with me or I’ll just cut my losses and shoot you.’’ He grabbed her hair. ‘‘I might fuck you first right here in the cave before I kill you, and I won’t make it fun for you.’’
‘‘I’m trying to get us out of here as quickly and safely as I can. Remember, I have friends I’m trying to save too.’’
‘‘
‘‘I will. Tell me the rest of your story.’’
‘‘Why? You like to hear me talk?’’
‘‘I just want to know what happened. Will it kill you to satisfy my curiosity?’’
What Diane desperately wanted was to distract him. So far, he proved to be a talker, but it wouldn’t last forever.
‘‘Everett Littleton was Judge Roy Bean with a Rube Goldberg device. When we got to Georgia he zapped us, drugged us until we were practically zombies, and stuffed us like sardines in the backseat of his truck. He unhitched the trailer, drove the truck into the woods. First thing he did was tie all the nooses around different tree limbs. Shit, the guy was crazy—all those ropes. He seemed to get some kind of satisfaction out of tying knots. He had this routine he did.’’
They came to the There Be Dragons Here passage and Diane turned down it and looked at her compass.
‘‘What are you doing?’’ He pulled at the compass cord on her neck.
‘‘I’m checking the compass reading. You want to get out of here, don’t you? I’ve been doing this the whole time we’ve been walking.’’
He let go of the cord. ‘‘Why the hell you think this kind of thing is fun is beyond me.’’
LaSalle continued talking and hadn’t noticed the change of route. She didn’t think he would. All the passages probably looked alike to him. She guessed he had followed their voices and lights to locate them—and he obviously got his hands on a map that had the route marked on it. LaSalle struck her as resourceful.
‘‘Everett pulled the first kid out and told her why she was being executed,’’ LaSalle continued. ‘‘Then he cut off her fingers and hauled her up with a winch, her screaming like a wild animal. While she was dan gling in the air, kicking and screaming, he climbed on top of the cab and put the noose around her neck, took off the rope from around her chest that he pulled her up by, and let her swing by the neck. Sick bastard said a prayer. He did the other two kids, one at a time. Each one of them having to watch what he did to the ones before them. By the time he got to me, I’d sobered up and managed to cut my rope on a file he had in the back of the truck. While he was doing the last kid, I got out of the truck and ran for the woods. He looked for me for a long time, but I found the road and got the hell as far away from there as I could. I jacked a car from somebody’s front yard and got back to town. I got even with the son of a bitch, though. I got to slice his throat.’’
Diane was looking for a place that would put her at an advantage. She would have no more than one chance, and it had to work. She had to surprise him. If she didn’t do it right, he’d kill her and the others. She wasn’t under any delusions that he would let her go. He’d get the diamonds, kill her and come back and kill them. But she needed just the right place.
This tunnel was looking very different from the ones they had passed through. It was larger, with more breakdown littering the floor. The hydrology that had created it was different, and the shape of the tunnel was different. Would he notice? Diane searched for more conversation.
‘‘What happened to Steven Mayberry?’’
‘‘Bastard almost got away—still trying to steal my diamonds. He’ll be found by hunters one of these days.’’
‘‘How did you know about Chris Edwards and Ste ven Mayberry?’’
‘‘I got lucky. I saw them being interviewed on televi sion. I knew that Everett threw the pouch with the rest of the diamonds into the woods. I went back there to look for it, and it was gone. I figured maybe these guys found it. I discussed the possibility with them.’’
LaSalle stopped suddenly and looked around the tunnel, shining his flashlight on the walls and floor.
‘‘Are you trying to distract me? I don’t recognize this place. None of the tunnels were this big. Damn you, bitch, I told you not to shit with me.’’
He slapped her in the jaw with the side of the flash light. Instead of recoiling, Diane lunged into him with her shoulder. Off balance, he stumbled over a rock, fell and hit his head on the floor. The gun and the flashlight went flying. The cave had done for her what she was searching for a way to do.
Stunned, he rose to his knees, shaking his head. She switched off her headlamp. He scrambled in the dark for the thing that was most important to him, the thing he thought he couldn’t live without—his gun. Diane scrambled for the thing he needed most in a cave— his flashlight. She got to her prize first and switched it off. They were plunged into absolute darkness. Diane silently picked a path several feet away to a large rock near the entrance to the passage, crouched behind it, and listened. She could hear him feeling for his gun.
‘‘Okay. You’ve had your little laugh. Get the fuck over here with the flashlight.’’
Diane said nothing.
