Then Daniel gets an idea that might just work but he needs to act fast. He grabs the water jug on the nightstand and smashes it against the corner of the unit, quickly secreting away a chunk of glass beneath his blanket. Daniel waits a beat until the nurse’s and guard’s heads jerk around, then fakes a fit, contorting and flaying his body, mimicking a beastly full-on grand mal seizure. The pain is almost unbearable because of his wounds but he pushes through it, using the agony to heighten his performance. But the commotion does the trick and the guard and nurse come rushing in. When the nurse gets close enough, Daniel grabs her, hooking his arm around her neck, holding the piece of jagged glass to her throat.
“Don’t move,” he says.
The nurse gasps in broken English, “Please don’t kill me.”
He can smell her fear. She’s ripe with it. It’s the same smell as the mothers in the camps had, the ones with babies about to die.
The guard draws his gun. “Release her.”
Daniel tightens his grip and the nurse begins to sputter.
“Put down the gun or she’s dead,” says Daniel.
The guard hesitates.
“Do you really want to be responsible for this?” says Daniel, pressing the glass to her throat.
The guard stares at him for a beat then places his gun on the floor and slowly backs up.
“Good man,” says Daniel. He lifts his wrist and rattles his cuffs. “Unlock these too, please.”
The guard removes the key from his side-belt and unlocks the cuffs.
Still holding the nurse, Daniel gets out of bed and retrieves the gun. “Move back.”
The guard does as he’s told and Daniel releases his grip on the nurse. He instructs them both to move to the left-hand corner of the room, furthest away from the door, and tells the nurse to lie flat on the floor with her hands on her head.
After that, he points the gun at the guard. “Take off your clothes,” he says.
Then Daniel puts on the uniform and slips out the door.
79
“What do you mean he’s gone?” cries Julia. “I thought he had an armed guard with him.”
Detective Muhtar looks grim. “Daniel took a nurse hostage. He forced the guard to give
him his gun.”
Julia’s hand flies to her chest. “Oh God, are they all right?”
Detective Muhtar nods. “Both are unharmed.”
Julia lowers herself to the end of the bed. In the minutes prior to being woken by Detective Muhtar, she’d been dreaming of a flood. She can still taste the brackish water now.
“He stole a car,” says Detective Muhtar.
“A car? In his condition? That’s crazy. He’s just had major surgery.”
“All is not lost,” says Detective Muhtar. “I have been doing some research about where he may have hidden Toni.”
He pulls a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolds it. It’s a printout of a map.
“I suspect he has taken her here, to the Derinkuyu underground city.” He points to a section of hills to the left. “It is a thirty-minute drive from Göreme so it fits with the timeline.”
Julia studies the map. “You really think there’s a chance Toni could be there?”
Detective Muhtar nods. “I do. Derinkuyu was closed to the public two years ago after a partial collapse of a tunnel nearly killed a tourist. The area is quiet and isolated. The perfect hiding place.”
Julia nods. “Yes, yes. This makes sense.”
Leo appears in the doorway, hair mussed from a rough sleep. “What makes sense?”
Julia picks up her jacket. “We’ll fill you in on the way.”
80
The Derinkuyu underground city was discovered in 1963 during the renovation of a local man’s house. A wall caved in and the man was astonished to find a tunnel that led to an entire subterranean city made up of thousands of rooms and corridors. Researchers later confirmed that the city had a depth of more than two hundred and fifty feet and eighteen distinct levels, with the capacity to house up to twenty thousand people. Each level contained kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, food storage rooms, oil and wine presses, wells, weapons storage areas, churches, schools, tombs, and domestic animal stables. Fifty ventilation shafts brought in air from above, while water was drawn from internal wells. For all intents and purposes, Derinkuyu was a completely functional and self-sufficient city.
“Across the centuries various persecuted groups such as the Christians and Greeks have taken shelter there,” says Detective Muhtar. “Only the first eight levels were ever opened to the public. The other parts were never excavated because the government ran out of money.”
Detective Muhtar turns off the main road and takes a dirt road to the left. A tiny village comes into view. No more than three shops and half a dozen houses. He continues on until they reach a small rundown prefab building with boarded-up windows. Out front, parked at an angle, the driver’s door wide open, is a red car that does not look like it belongs there.
Julia’s heart thuds. “That’s got to be Daniel.”
Detective Muhtar cuts the engine and they get out and inspect the car. There’s blood on the seatbelt and more on the driver’s seat.
“He’s bleeding. He can’t have gotten far.” Julia lifts her eyes to the entrance. “Is that the only way in?”
Detective Muhtar nods.
“And no electricity, I take it?” ask Julia.
“Correct.”
Detective Muhtar opens the trunk and hands Julia and Leo each a high-beam flashlight he’d commandeered from the Cappadocia First Hotel utility room. They head for the entrance and find the rusty steel grate door wide open, padlock broken in the dirt. Next to the opening is a giant, water-stained
