Ball & Chain (Cut & Run 8)

Earl came up beside Zane and looked down at the unconscious Scot on the table, then around at the people gathered and gawking. “Someone get some rope.”

Ty took the steps two at a time, racing up to the third-floor nursery. Every step jarred his shoulder, but he knew putting the damn thing back in by himself would just risk permanent damage. He was out of breath and his arm was on fire by the time he reached the door. Deuce and Livi both stood when they heard him coming, their eyes wide and hopeful. They clung to each other as Ty stepped into the room.

“Anything?” Deuce asked.

“We found Nick. He’s the one who took the kids. He hid them to keep them safe.”

“Why?” Livi asked.

“He heard the nanny here trying to take Amelia. She was working with the groundskeeper.”

“Jockie?” Livi asked in horror. “But Maisie and Jockie have lived on this island all their lives! Her mother was my nanny, and his father was the groundskeeper before him. We played with them when we were little.”

“I don’t know the whys,” Ty said impatiently. “I don’t have any answers yet. All I know is Nick couldn’t tell us where he hid the kids, just that he did, and then he went running to lead Fraser away from them. I need to get into the walls and find them.”

Livi glanced at the entryway, gaping open beside the fireplace. “Daddy’s men went in there ten minutes ago to look. They said my dad insisted.”

Ty jerked toward the opening, alarm streaking through him. One Snake Eater had already been proven to be a traitor. And one Snake Eater was dead. How the hell could they trust any of the ones left?

“What’s that look, Ty?” Deuce asked.

Ty met his brother’s eyes. “I don’t know who the f**k to trust out here. I’m at the ‘shoot first and feel bad later’ stage.”

Deuce nodded, then brought Livi’s hand up to his lips and kissed it. “I’m coming with you.”

Ty thought about arguing, but he knew from the look in Deuce’s eyes that he’d never keep him out of those passages. His baby girl was in there. Ty nodded. “You take the flashlight. I’ll take the gun.”

Livi held on to Deuce’s hand when he took a step toward the fireplace. “I’m coming too!”

Ty stopped and watched them, eyebrows raised.

Deuce opened his mouth to protest, but Livi pointed her finger in his face. “Don’t you tell me I can’t come ’cause I’m a girl. I’m smaller and more mobile than either of you; you might need me in those passages.”

“I wasn’t going to say you can’t come because you’re a girl,” Deuce said soothingly. He reached into the passage and grabbed a handful of spiderwebs, complete with desiccated bugs and one very pissed-off spider. He held it up to her face. “I was going to say you can’t come because of this.”

Livi barely restrained a scream, but she did manage to smack Deuce in the face before hopping away and doing a little “get it off me” dance. “Fine!” she cried.

“Head downstairs so you’re not alone,” Deuce told her, then followed Ty as he ducked into the passage, aiming his powerful flashlight toward the curving stone steps near the exterior wall of the house.

Ty could already feel himself panicking a little over the closeness of the walls.

“You going to be okay in here?” Deuce asked softly.

Ty nodded. “If a bunch of kids can follow a crazy guy with a Boston accent and a gun down here, I can do this.”

Deuce chuckled almost desperately. When they got to the stairs and Deuce pointed the light down, Ty’s breath left him in a rush. It was so narrow they would both have to turn sideways to get down it. Ty’s shoulders might not even fit. He certainly couldn’t lead with his gun. “You’ve got to be five-finger f**king me,” Ty muttered.

Deuce patted him encouragingly. If his brother could be calm and supportive when his toddler was down here, in danger, with nothing but a ten-year-old with a gun and this maze of darkness to protect her, then Ty could deal with his claustrophobia.

He started down the steps, cussing the entire way, scraping rock and dust off the walls with his shoulders, wondering if it would be easier just to miss a step and ride down the damn things like a slide at a waterpark. It was certainly steep enough. The walls were so tight Deuce didn’t even have trouble with his bad leg. All he had to do was flex his arms and the walls held him in place as he took each torturous step.

It seemed like an eternity until they reached the next floor. The passages went off in three directions. They followed the outer walls, but also went into the heart of the house, probably between two bedrooms.

Deuce shone the light down each passage, cursing under his breath.

“He’d have kept going down until they couldn’t go anymore,” Ty said, echoing Kelly’s advice.

“Why do you think that?”

“Because it’s Nick. Nick always took his sisters to the basement to protect them from his dad. Then he’d go back up and push his dad’s buttons so he’d be the target instead of them. It’s the way he works.”

Deuce was silent, nodding sadly. They continued down the winding stairs. Ty had to take deep breaths to keep himself calm, but whenever he did, he’d get mouthfuls of dust, cobwebs, and musty air. He had to fight not to start coughing and alert anyone to their presence. Concentrating on the struggle was the only thing keeping him from panicking.

Eventually they’d have to start making noise, calling out for the kids, risking unfriendlies being drawn to them. The Snake Eaters were down here somewhere, and friend or foe, if they startled those men, blood would be spilled. Ty wanted to go under the radar for as long as possible.

When they finally reached the bottom of the staircase, there were only two passages to choose from: right or left. Ty should have been able to breathe a sigh of relief, but there wasn’t enough room in the subterranean hallways to even puff out his chest. He closed his eyes, bringing his gun up to rest the cool barrel against the bridge of his nose.

“You okay?” Deuce asked, his whisper harsh in Ty’s ear.

Ty nodded and swallowed past the knot of panic in his throat. “Okay, Nick would have been leading them, acting on instinct,” he muttered, trying to put himself into the mind-set Nick must have been in. He’d rather be in Nick’s mind-set than his own right now anyway.

“Is he a lefty or a righty?” Deuce asked.