Chapter 16 #2
He took the stairs two at a time, the flashlight beam cutting across the cold stone walls. The basement smelled of earth and damp wood. Everything looked undisturbed—the full wine racks that neatly lined one of the walls, the food shelves that were stocked with jars and canned goods on the other.
Nothing was out of place.
But the air felt off.
If Ted had found out about the other tunnels, maybe he knew about the one in the basement that led to an old storage area. He remembered it from Max’s hand-drawn map.
Swinging the storage rack slowly, he stepped behind the hidden wall and ducked his head to pass through the narrow tunnel. When he stepped into the small storage area, he swung the light around. There was no movement, no sound. The room was completely empty.
Then something caught his attention—faint impressions in the thin dust on the floor. It was small, barely there. He wouldn’t have noticed it had he not been looking.
Wet footprints.
He followed them across the floor until they stopped at a section of wall near the back corner. He frowned. There was no mention of another passage in Max’s maps and notes. Still, he brushed his hand over the stone until he felt a faint seam.
“Son of a…” he muttered. He pressed and the hidden latch gave with a click.
Another narrow tunnel opened up before him.
When he stepped inside, the air grew colder, and the tunnel stretched deeper than he expected.
It reminded him of the other tunnel, the one he’d found Peterson in. His heart skipped a beat.
Not Charlotte. There’s no way in hell Ted would kill his own daughter. Right?
Snow had blown in through somewhere ahead, leaving a wet trail with a fresh pair of boot prints leading both ways.
He heard crying in the distance.
“Charlotte,” he breathed, his pulse hammering as he followed the footprints that led deeper into the tunnel.
He drew his weapon and clicked off the safety as he pushed down the pathway.
The passage turned sharply before widening into a small chamber that was lined with old wooden support beams. His light caught motion, a flash of fabric.
“Ted!” Joe barked when he spotted the man holding Charlotte as she kicked and cried.
Ted froze. One arm was locked around his daughter, the other was holding a gun that he jerked up to Charlotte’s temple when he spotted Joe.
Charlotte’s sobs echoed sharply off the walls.
“Let her go,” Joe said. He kept his voice low and steady and his gun trained on Ted’s forehead.
“I can’t,” Ted snapped back as his eyes searched the darkness beyond them. The man only had a small flashlight.
He looked like hell. His hair was wild, eyes bloodshot, and snow was melting off his jacket and boots.
“She’s my ticket out of here,” he rasped, clutching Charlotte tighter.
“You don’t understand, they’re everywhere, watching me, listening!
If I have her, not only will Ally return to me, she’ll give me what I need.
” His voice cracked, half fury, half fear.
“She has access to the accounts that I set up years ago. The Feds have frozen everything, but she, she has everything else. Once I get to the money and Ally, we can disappear before they find me.”
“She’s a child,” Joe growled, moving a fraction closer. “If you hurt her, you won’t make it three steps,” he promised, moving slowly toward him.
“I don’t want her. Once I have Ally and the money”—he glanced down at his daughter and sneered—“you can have her.”
“Joe,” Charlotte cried, and reached for him.
“It’s okay, baby, I’m here,” he said calmly.
“She’s just a damn brat,” Ted screamed, almost dropping her. His grip tightened as Charlotte whimpered in pain. “Back off!” Ted screamed.
“Okay,” Joe said, raising his hands slightly. “I’m not moving. If you want to get out of here, you’ll need help. The storm’s too bad outside and the roads are closed,” he easily lied. “Let her go, and I’ll help you get whatever it is you need.”
Ted laughed bitterly. “You think I’m that stupid? You think I don’t know you’re fucking my wife? You took everything from me—my wife, my kid, my life!”
“You did that yourself,” Joe shot back.
“No, Ally did that. Once I have her back under my power, along with my money, things will go back to how I want them.”
“Put the gun down before this ends the only way it can,” Joe said calmly, knowing everything the man was saying was deranged.
“I can fix everything!” Ted yelled. “When I get her to come to me. This brat is the key. That bitch deserves to pay. All I need is what she has access to.”
“Joe!” Charlotte sobbed as she reached for him, still struggling against her real father. Then she called him “Daddy,” which broke his heart at the same time it warmed it. “I want Mommy!”
That broke everything in Joe. His vision tunneled, and every instinct screamed for him to end this. He shifted his stance, angling his body, waiting for an opening.
Then he heard movement behind him. It was the soft sound of someone who was carefully stepping behind him.
“Ted?” Ally’s voice was low.
Ted’s head snapped to behind Joe, and he grew even more angry. “Ally.” He grinned, and Joe swore he’d never seen anything that evil in his life.