Chapter 37
37
Grey
Grey knew about this passageway from the blueprints he’d studied. He knew the tunnels and dips and secret veins of the property like a skilled surgeon knew every major artery. But he’d never been inside this one.
The wine-case tunnel ran longer than the others, its cool grey stone illuminated by the blueish light of Ariana’s phone. Despite the fact that her boyfriend had likely been blown to pieces, the girl hadn’t fought too hard against Grey as he’d pulled her down the passage after Frankie lifted the lever.
Grey was grateful Frankie had been able to keep her head. He’d kept some of his too – leaving the watch Luca gave him just below the entrance to the tunnel. Max would find it, if she was stupid enough to run back to them. Which she wouldn’t, after what he’d said. He’d protected her, he supposed, and he was grateful Forrest had provided her with an excuse to run.
Grey knew she’d be smart enough to leave Forrest and get herself out. Her police training would equip her to know what to look out for, like trip wires. She was the one who’d spotted the backpack, after all. None of them would be alive right now if it wasn’t for her.
And now she was gone.
Safe , he corrected. She wouldn’t be stupid enough to come back after what he’d told her. That’s all he knew. So now he could focus on his true duty.
Grey kept to the back of the group, hand around his pistol, turning every step to check they hadn’t been followed. The cold darkness of the tunnel eventually morphed into a peachy, dull light that was flickering slightly. Grey walked backwards the rest of the way, pistol raised. When he turned, they were in a large room he’d never seen before – it definitely wasn’t labelled on the plans, but a lot of Emilio’s secrets weren’t. A wine cabinet stretched along the eastern wall and a king-sized four-poster bed without the curtains was the main feature. The covers had been stripped and there were four people sitting on it.
It took Grey a beat too long to realise the four people were Tom, Nella, Jett and Kaine Skinner and that their mouths and hands were bound. The door to the tunnel slammed shut behind him.
Ariana, who’d been at the front of the group between Frankie and Luca, lay motionless on the floor. How had they taken her out so quickly? Grey ran to her, his hands frantically searching for a wound.
The dawning realisation that this was a trap didn’t get a chance to rise inside him before a voice, the last voice on earth he would have expected, came from behind him.
‘If I’m being honest, that was a little too easy, Greyson. Step away from her, or I’ll shoot your little girlfriend. I can hear her outside the door.’