At least the others were safe.
Then he looked back at the hotel. One corner hadn’t come all the way down. He felt a start and knew why. One or more of the bombs hadn’t detonated.
FINN FELT THE ground shift beneath his feet. One of the boards holding up the ceiling dropped down, grazing his shoulder painfully. He shoved it aside and pushed through the din, even more frantic to get to Casey. He’d been right. The booby trap had been a bomb. Or a series of bombs, he thought as the ground continued to shake.
He didn’t realize that he was calling her name until he heard it echoing around him. “Casey!” He had to get to her. He couldn’t lose her. Not after he’d just found her. All these months reading about her and her grandmother. He’d been half in love with her even before she’d appeared like a ghost outside his shower.
It couldn’t end like this, and yet he felt as if everything was coming to a point of no return. All these months of looking for a killer, and now he feared the killer had Casey, and if he didn’t reach her...
The earth seemed to shudder even harder. He feared the tunnel would cave in on him. On Casey. More dirt fell from overhead. He could barely see a step in front of him, but he kept pushing forward, determined to get to her. “Casey!”
The tunnel seemed to never end. Yet he feared at some point he would reach a wall of dirt where there’d been a cave-in. He told himself he’d dig through it with his bare hands if he had to. His heart pounded as he fought not to breathe in the dust still sifting down from overhead.
But he thought he could see the light growing brighter ahead.
Behind him, he heard the tunnel begin to cave in.
CASEY SCREAMED AND tried to push herself up from the chair. Her legs felt weak, from the drug, from sitting for so long in the same position. But she wasn’t able to stand anyway. The ground beneath her feet shook, knocking her back. Dirt fell like dark rain from the cracks between the boards over their heads.
There was a ringing in her ears. Over it, she thought she heard Finn calling her name. Her eyes burned from the dust in the air. Finn?
“Casey!” His voice was faint, but there was no doubt. It was Finn.
As the earth continued to shake, she thought for sure the tunnel would cave in, killing them both—and Finn. Because she’d heard him calling her name. She’d known he’d come, and now it was going to cost him his life.
The air had darkened. She could barely make out Emery’s hulking shape. He had fallen, apparently after one of the overhead boards had come down and hit him.
Casey tasted grit in her mouth and tried not to breathe too deeply as she pulled her shirt up to cover her mouth and pushed to her feet.
For a moment, she thought Emery had been knocked out and all she had to do was run—in the direction of Finn’s voice calling her name. Just run.
But as she started to take a step, the ground shaking again, Emery groaned and sat up, shielding his head from the debris plummeting down on him.
She realized running wasn’t the answer. He knew these tunnels. She didn’t. He would catch her—and Finn. She couldn’t chance that. Nor could she wait to be saved. She was on her own. Reaching behind her, she groped for something she could use as a weapon.
Her hand closed over a cold, heavy cylinder. It felt greasy, as if it were part of a piece of machinery. It was heavy and fit in her hand, and right now it was all she had, because Emery was struggling to his feet.
Casey took a step forward and winced as she swung the weapon. The heavy metal connected with his skull. Emery grunted and grabbed her wrist. He twisted her wrist so hard she thought he would break it, his grip was so strong. But she stubbornly held on, kicking him as hard as she could as he tried again to get up from the ground to give himself the advantage over her.
Once he got to his feet, she wouldn’t stand a chance.
One kick made him howl in pain before he jerked on her wrist, throwing her off balance. She lost her grip on the weapon as she hit the ground next to him. He was grabbing for her, trying to pin her down, when she heard her name called again—much closer.
Emery heard it, too. He hesitated, and Casey saw her chance. She elbowed him hard in the stomach and rolled away from him. She was on her hands and knees, trying to get her feet under her, when, from behind, she heard Emery lumbering to his feet. He grabbed for her, catching the tail of her T-shirt. She heard it rip, but he didn’t let go. She was trying to run but he still had hold of her shirt. He jerked her back. She stumbled and fell, but quickly crab-crawled away from him.
Emery had blood running down his face from where she’d hit him with the makeshift weapon. But it was the look in his eyes that told her he was no longer even pretending to protect her. She was now one of his victims and would be added to his book if she didn’t get away.
FINN CAME AROUND a bend in the tunnel and saw the giant looming over Casey. He reacted on instinct, letting out a roar as he charged the big man. As he did, he saw Casey pick up something from the ground. He plowed into the man, catching him off guard and throwing him back against the shelves along the tunnel wall. The man seemed to shake off the
