Chapter 14
“Ineed to make a call before we go in there.” Every muscle in his body screamed at him to dive down the rabbit hole and screw protocol. But he needed to do this right. He couldn’t afford another fuck up.
He glanced down at his phone and a moment of hesitation kept him from dialing Eric’s number.
Would Eric call Harper and feed him a line of bullshit?
He hated not having complete trust in his partner.
But he had to call someone. He’d already called for backup from the local police department…
twice. Eric was his best option right now.
Hell, Eric had never given him a reason not to trust him before.
And if he called Eric to let him know he’d covered his bases, it might tame the tingling shred of guilt gnawing into his conscience telling him to wait for backup and keep Mickey away from the crime scene.
Hitting the send button with his thumb, he brought the phone to his ear and waited for his partner to pick up.
One, two, three rings sounded in his ear before Eric’s voicemail picked up.
Not enough rings for the phone to take him to voicemail on its own.
Eric had declined the call. Maybe he was busy with the case and couldn’t be disturbed. That would make the most sense.
“Hey, man. I found something interesting in the house. I’m waiting for backup, but I have to check this out now. I’ll fill you in later.” He clicked off his phone and faced Mickey. “How’s your battery? It’d suck to be wandering around in there with no light.”
She glanced down at the screen. “Not great. Thirty-one percent. It should be fine. What about you?”
“Sixty-four percent.” He flicked his thumb across the screen and clicked on his flashlight. “Ready?”
Mickey nodded and took one step behind the bookcase.
A door slammed and Mickey whipped around, her hands gripped his shirt, her eyes wide.
Heavy footsteps made the floorboards above their heads shudder.
Dirt drifted down and Mickey swiped it off the matted strands of her still-damp hair. “Someone’s here.”
Graham lifted a finger to his lips and tilted his ear toward the ceiling.
“Chicago Police Department. We have a warrant to search this house, and backup was requested by Agent Grassi.”
“Backup’s here.” His gaze stayed glued to the ceiling and indecision warred within him.
He should alert the Chicago PD to what he’d found and help them clear the rest of the house.
They’d be pissed if they discovered Mickey with him, her fingerprints marking up their crime scene.
But he was in the mouth of the tunnel and the girls could be on the other end.
Besides, Mickey would throw a fit if he tried to get her out now. He dropped his gaze to ask Mickey if she wanted to wait upstairs, but she’d already disappeared into the pit behind the bookcase.
Shit.
He turned sideways to squeeze into the dark space in front of him. He lifted the phone and shuddered. The light washed over the sides of the stone walls that stood on either side of him and his head brushed against the ceiling. “Mickey?”
“I’m right in front of you. I didn’t want to wait. Come on.”
He quickened his step to catch up to her. “I hope you’re not claustrophobic,” he said in her ear. She slowed her pace and her body pressed against his.
“This is my worst nightmare come to life. Is it getting tighter? I think the walls are getting closer together.” Her words tumbled out of her mouth along with her ragged breaths. “I should have waited for you to go first.”
“Too late now.” He fought the urge to stop and comfort her and pushed her forward. They needed to get to the end of this damn tunnel. If there was any chance of finding whoever wrote that note, they needed to hurry. “Actually, I think it’s getting wider the farther we go.”
“God, I hope so.”
Dust rose in the air with every step he took, filling his lungs and coating his throat.
Sweat trickled down his back and his shirt clung to his skin.
The heat was unbearable. He concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other.
Time passed slowly, but he didn’t check his phone to see how long they’d been down there. It’d probably depress him.
Shrill squeaks and low whistles vibrated through the walls. Bats. Mickey stopped moving and he crashed into her back. He strained his ears, trying to recognize the sound. “I think we’re almost to the end. Nothing would echo back here if the walls continued to stay so narrow. It must open up soon.”
“Glad to hear it, but I don’t want to know what’s making that noise.”
A blast of cool air whipped down the narrow corridor, blasting him in the face and combatting the heat.
He sucked in a deep breath and savored the sudden reprieve.
His pace quickened and the walls spread farther and farther apart until the ceiling opened up a couple of feet.
Mickey stepped into the opening and turned in a wide circle.
He lifted the light and sucked in a breath. “Holy shit.”
Mickey stepped up beside him, her light joining his as they surveyed the area in front of them. “What is this place?”
He stepped through the archway and walked into a large, open area.
Three tunnels, each slightly larger than the one they came from, led in three different directions.
Old tracks led down each tunnel, like an abandoned mine.
He turned toward Mickey, lifting the light to see her face.
“Do you remember when a bunch of buildings downtown experienced flooding in their basements and they didn’t know why? ”
“That was over twenty years ago,” Mickey said as her eyes darted around the deserted space. “I remember my dad being annoyed by it, but I was too young to care.”
“Same here. I was eight, but I remember my parents bitching about it. Do you remember what caused the floods?”
“No. I don’t think anyone ever told me.”
“The Chicago river flooded, and the water breached a bunch of old utility tunnels most people forgot were even under the city, tunnels that had been shut down in the late fifties.” He stepped toward the opening of one of the narrow tunnels and crouched down to study the tracks.
“I’m guessing these are some of those tunnels.
They were built in the early 1900s so carts could carry out the debris dug out to install telephone lines.
I’m surprised the one from the house ran into these. They must have connected them somehow.”
Mickey crouched down beside him. “How many tunnels are there?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m sure there are miles and miles of track laid down here.”
“We’ll never find them.” Her voice trembled.
He stood and studied the tracks of the other two tunnels with his light. “I can’t tell which track they used. At least not with this shitty light. If I come back down with better equipment, I might find footprints or something to lead me to them.”
“Can you get equipment tonight?”
“Let’s head back the way we came and I’ll call my partner when we get back to the house. We’ll figure out the best plan to lay out to my boss. He has to get on board after this.”
Graham stepped back into the basement, and his sudden appearance had the two officers downstairs lifting their weapons in his direction. He held both hands in the air and dipped his head in greeting. “I’m Special Agent Grassi. I’m going to grab my badge slowly.”
The guns trained on him didn’t make him break a sweat, but they had Mickey trembling close behind him.
He reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled out his badge, lifting it high for the officers to inspect.
The closest officer took a couple steps forward, studied his badge, and nodded his acceptance.
Graham reached behind him until his hand found Mickey’s. He wove his fingers between hers and led her out from behind the tunnel and next to him.
“I’m Officer Fisher,” the young man who’d studied his badge said.
“We’ve cleared the house and are combing through for fingerprints, paper trails, and anything else we can bag for evidence.
” A smile touched his face and his gaze flickered to Mickey.
Jealousy burned Graham’s veins and he cleared his throat to gain the man’s attention. “Sorry, but who’d you find?”
“This is Ms. O’Shay. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get her upstairs. I’ll be back down after I fill my lieutenant in on what I’ve found.” He made a beeline for the stairs and pulled Mickey along behind him.
Controlled chaos greeted them at the top of the stairs.
Curious glances slid their way, but Graham ignored them as he passed through the kitchen, through the hallway, and escaped out the front door.
The moon still shone bright and the rain had passed.
A sprinkling of stars littered the sky and humidity hung in the air like a blanket.
Graham briefly wished for the coolness of the tunnels to chase away the suffocating heat.
“You need to go inside and work. I’ll go home.” Mickey’s small voice floated through the quiet night. Red and blue lights twirled through the dark sky and highlighted the paleness of her face.
“You need a minute to calm down. The adrenaline’s leaving your body.” He led her to the porch step and sat down beside her.
“We have to find them.” Her breaths came out in short gasps and her chest rose and fell rapidly. “We have to find Becca.”
Not knowing how else to comfort her, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. Her body shook and he rubbed his hand up and down her arm. “I’ll figure it out. This isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve taken down bastards like this before, and I plan on doing it again. I won’t give up.”
“I just…it’s all…I can’t” A sob broke free and her words become a jumbled mess. Tears streamed down her cheeks, mixing with the dust that had clung to her face from the tunnels.