Anguish and growing anger showed on Mike’s face, “I’m not siding with anyone. But I do want to know the truth, and the whole story. Vincent was my brother, and I loved him.”
Ellis said, “Boo-hoo. Poor little rich boy loved his brother. Too bad, you worthless piece of shit.” He moved closer to Winston.
Before anyone else could talk, Winston said to his son, “You are, you know. A piece of shit. We’re related by blood, and I wish we weren’t. Even so, you are nothing in this home, in this family. Ellis is more of a son to me than you.”
Hunter saw Mike Hart’s shoulders sag.
Raymond thought he had had about enough of the talking, especially with Adan still being held. He raised the BAR and sighted on Ellis’ face, right between the eyes. “Let the boy go.” They weren’t fifteen feet apart.
Norma moved several steps to the side, “Mister, he means it. Let the boy go.”
Winston stepped in front of Raymond. “Here now, there is no need for weapons.”
Ellis shoved Winston from behind and the elderly man fell into Raymond, sending them both falling to the floor. Norma raced to help Raymond as Ellis spun fast, swinging Adan’s feet off the floor while still holding him by his neck.
Hunter tried to duck but was struck by Adan’s legs. She also went sprawling on the floor as Ellis sprinted away, still using Adan as a shield.
Mike Hart reached down to help Hunter from the floor and said, “We have to get him!”
Hunter asked Raymond and Norma, “You two all right?”
“Go get that guy.” Norma said, and tossed Hunter her phone. “For the light,” she said. They wrestled with Winston, as Hunter and Mike departed. Winston proved to be surprisingly strong.
Hunter and Mike trotted down the hall to the open door where Ellis had entered. It was the room where the big fans pushed air from the caves into the home. The grate over the fans had been flung open, and the fans turned off. Hunter saw a set of footprints going into the cave.
Mike said, “There’s no exit from these.”
“The air has to come from somewhere.”
“I guess so.”
Hunter touched his shoulder, “Before we go in there, I want to tell you something.”
He told Mike about finding Vincent’s skeleton in the mine, and the message Vincent left. He also handed him the skeleton’s finger. “That’ll be DNA proof.”
Mike held it a moment, then put it in his pocket. “I’ll protect Adan.”
“He’s your nephew. I hope you do.”
They went deeper into the cave, stopping where it forked. Hunter couldn’t find any tracks in either tunnel on the rock floor.
“We’ve got to split up.”
“Okay. I’ll go down the right. You okay with that?”
Mike nodded and took the left tunnel, soon disappearing in the dark as the light on his phone faded.
Hunter took the right tunnel at a fast jog, until the floor and walls roughened, then she slowed to keep from breaking an ankle.
Ten minutes later, she saw a pile of rubble by the right-hand wall. Slowing to look at the pile of stones showed the wall where the stones came from. A mine entrance had been dug into the cave. When she spotted the portion of a footprint, Hunter didn’t hesitate and entered the mine.
A bullet smashed into the wall by her face and sprayed her with stinging fragments. The report echoed down the mine and cave as it reverberated several times before fading.
Ellis called out from the mine, “I won’t miss again! Go back!”
“Let me have Adan, and I will!”
“He’s my insurance.”