bulkhead’s locked from the outside.”
“Carter, cover me.”
Rainy pressed her back up against the wall and used the door as a shield when she flung it open. She popped off the wall, spun around, and sank down into a crouching position. She trained her weapon into the dark stairwell.
“Mitchell Boyd,” Rainy called into the black. “If you’re in the basement, I need you to show yourself now. Keep your hands where I can see them.”
“Mitchell,” Adriana echoed from behind Rainy. “Do what she says. Please, just come up and let’s talk about this.”
Rainy whirled around. She hadn’t realized Adriana stood so close behind. “You’ve got to get out of here,” Rainy said.
“I’m not leaving my son,” Adriana snapped.
Rainy refocused on the stairwell. She stood, took a single step down into this vast darkness, feeling the walls for a light switch. She flicked the switch on. The stairwell remained dark. She flicked it again. Still no light.
“Do you have a fuse box down there?” Rainy asked Adriana.
“Yes,” Adriana said.
“Carter, go get a flashlight from Mrs. Boyd.”
Rainy took another step down, her body halfway between the light and dark.
“Mitchell, you’re not in any trouble,” Rainy said. “But you’re creating a threatening situation for federal agents. This is not a smart choice. You need to show yourself right now.”
Rainy stopped to listen. She heard a soft creak, knew the sound well.
Rainy turned on the flashlight. She shone the beam down the stairs. The beam cut through the darkness and illuminated Mitchell Boyd, standing on a stair landing many steps beneath her.
Rainy thought the boy looked exceptionally frightened. She took a cautious step backward. As she did, Rainy focused her flashlight beam on Mitchell’s hands and found the reason he looked so afraid.
“Gun!” Rainy shouted. “He’s got a gun!”
A burst of flame erupted from the barrel of Mitchell’s weapon. Rainy fell, smashing her lower back hard against the unforgiving sill. The bullet whizzed over her head. Her nostrils filled with the acrid stench of gunpowder. The fall and blow to her back took Rainy’s breath away.
Stunned, Rainy couldn’t control her slide down the stairs. She bounced down each step, slamming her back against one stair’s edge, sliding to another, and repeating the painful pattern a dozen times over on her way down. Even with her ears still ringing from the gunshot, she could hear the flashlight clattering as it tumbled into the darkness.
The dark of the stairwell turned bright again, but only for brief flashes. Rainy heard two quick pops. The bullets fired from Mitchell’s gun slammed into the stairs where Rainy’s sliding body had just been. Splintered wood peppered her face and hair. Rainy aimed her weapon at the flashes of light and pulled the trigger. Her unsteady hand jumped with the gun’s recoil. She heard a grunt, followed by the sound of a body falling. Rainy finished her slide down. She expected to slam into the stairwell wall, but Mitchell’s body cushioned her impact.
Rainy felt around in the inky darkness for his weapon. Soon her fingers brushed against something steel. Rainy pushed the weapon down the remaining stairs. Still fumbling in the dark, Rainy felt something wet and sticky to the touch. A flashlight beam lit Rainy from above. Behind her, Rainy heard a woman’s scream. She turned to see Adriana hurrying down the stairs, her flashlight beam jostled wildly with each unsteady step. The light danced back and forth, creating a miniature strobe.
Rainy could see what had made Adriana scream. Mitchell lay slumped on the landing with his back pressed up against the wall. Blood pooled around him.
Adriana reached the landing and fell to her knees. She caressed Mitchell’s cheek, shining her flashlight on his face.
“Baby! Mitchell! Can you hear me?” Adriana put her ear to Mitchell’s chest. “He’s breathing! Call an ambulance. Hurry!” she shouted.
“I’m on it,” Carter yelled from above.
“Give me your flashlight,” Rainy said. “I’m going to check the fuse box. We need light.”
Adriana handed Rainy her light. Rainy used the flashlight to look around. She could see the distraught mother stroking her son’s face with blood-covered hands. She checked Mitchell, making sure he wasn’t still armed. She also could see where she’d shot him in the shoulder. Another few inches to the right and he’d probably have been paralyzed, more likely killed.
The kid was hurt, but he’d live.
“Where did he get a weapon?” Rainy called to Adriana as soon as she reached the basement.
“It’s probably Roland’s gun,” Adriana shouted back. “Mitchell knows where he keeps the key to the gun safe.”
Rainy needed only a couple minutes to locate the fuse box. She flicked the breaker, and the basement was engulfed in light. Rainy stood in place, waiting for her eyes to adjust. She walked back up the stairs to the landing where Mitchell lay groaning. Adriana knelt by his side.
“He’s not going to die,” Adriana said, her voice desperate.
“No,” Rainy said. “He’s not.”
“You’ll make sure he’s taken care of?”
“Of course,” Rainy said. “The ambulance is probably on its way.”
Adriana walked back up the stairs. To Rainy, it looked as if she were in some sort of trance, almost floating.
“Good,” Rainy heard her say. “My boy will be all right.”
Rainy checked Mitchell’s pulse, pleased it felt so strong. Carter raced down the stairs, carrying a first aid kit.
“Found this in the kitchen,” Carter said.
“Can you hear me, Mitchell?” Rainy asked.
Mitchell just groaned.
“You’ve been shot twice. I’m going to administer first aid. You’re going to be all right. Stay with me, okay? You stay with me now.”
Rainy cut away Mitchell’s bloody shirt with scissors she found inside the kit. She protected her hands with latex gloves, then used a wad of gauze to apply pressure to the wounds. Rainy and Carter both looked up the stairs as soon as they heard a door slam.
“Go check it out,” Rainy said to Carter.
Carter bounded back up the stairs, returning moments later. He called down to Rainy. From Rainy’s vantage point, the outline of Carter’s figure standing in the doorway’s threshold looked aglow.
“It’s Adriana,” Carter said breathlessly. “She’s gone.”
Chapter 81
Moonlight danced across the rippling quarry water. Roland was somewhere in the dark woods. Jill was nearby, too. A waterproof duffel bag rested on the quarry bottom, some sixty feet beneath the water. Roland had given Tom his flashlight. Even with the moonlight, Tom needed that light to locate the bag.
“I’m going to have to come up another way,” Tom said. He could hear Roland but didn’t know where he was standing. “The cliff is too steep for me to get back up here. I’m going to have to take the longer way out.”
“That’s fine, Tom,” Roland said. “I’ll watch your light. You just get the job done and come back to the Spot.”
