Deep Woods

Rufus led me back to the library for the third time, then woofed, looking confused. Two guards ran in and I knocked one out with my rifle butt and punched the other in the face. The mansion fell silent. The guards and members were all lying injured or unconscious and the house itself was in ruins. The walls were peppered with bullet holes, antique tables and chairs lay in pieces, smashed apart in the fighting and the Persian rugs were soaked with fish tank water. The floor was covered with a carpet of crunching fragments: what used to be cut-glass decanters and priceless Ming vases. I’d torn the damn place apart. But I hadn’t found her.

I hunkered down and scratched Rufus’s ears. “Talk to me, boy. Where is she? Where’s Bethany?”

He sniffed the floor, turned a circle and woofed, as frustrated as I was.

“C’mon, boy.” There was pleading in my voice. “C’mon, Rufus, she needs us. Where is she?”

Rufus lowered his nose to the floor and sniffed. For a few seconds, he seemed to follow a trail, but it ended with his nose against one of the book-lined walls.

I sighed. Goddammit! “It’s okay,” I told him. “C’mon, let’s check outside.”

But Rufus didn’t move. In fact, he sat down. And let out another woof, right at the bookcase.

“Rufus, c’mon!” I even patted my thigh.

But he just looked at me, then looked at the bookcase. And gave an enormous, room-shaking woof.

I narrowed my eyes and walked over there. It looked normal enough, just thick wooden shelves and big, leather-bound books. But Rufus didn’t bark for no reason. I put my hands on the bookcase—

And felt it move. Only a fraction of an inch, but it probably weighed the same as a small car. It shouldn’t move at all. I pushed it and it rocked, very slightly. Like it could move, but didn’t want to at the moment.

All the shelves were crammed full except for one that had a few books missing. I thrust my hand into the gap and felt a hole in the back, hidden by the shadows. And in the hole was a metal handle, worn smooth with age. I pulled and there was a click as the bookcase came loose. I pushed...and the whole bookcase slid smoothly back into the wall. It went back a full six feet, revealing a bare stone floor and a yawning darkness to my right. As my eyes adjusted, I saw stone stairs, leading down.

Rufus shot down them, back on the trail he’d been trying so hard to follow. I was right behind him, bringing the assault rifle up, not knowing what we’d find. We turned a corner and—

The roar of a shotgun, deafening in the confined space, and I felt shotgun pellets tear at one arm. Most of it missed, though: the person holding it had panicked and fired high. But the next shot would get us. I staggered back and tried to find the shooter, but it was almost pitch black and the flash of the shotgun had blinded me—

There was a crash and a cry of pain as Rufus took the shooter down. I finally found the light switch and the whole basement lit up. A man in a suit was flat on his back, coughing and groaning, pinned down by Rufus on his chest. As I walked closer, I recognized the face. The attorney general. The coward must have hidden down here when I arrived.

I was about to ask him where Bethany was when I saw the door. Metal, thick and heavy, like something out of a prison. I pulled the bolts open and then, heart racing, I swung it wide—

A hallway, and along its length were twenty or more doors leading to tiny, six-by-eight rooms. Cells. My stomach twisted. Cells to keep women in, until they were needed. But all of the doors were open. All of the cells were empty.

Bethany was gone.

66

Bethany

I SCREAMED as the floor suddenly lifted under my feet. Earthquake! Oh Jesus, and we were in a hidden room in a basement, we’d be buried and no one would ever find us!

The floor twisted and tipped and I went sideways into the wall. I bounced off it and went down on my ass, suddenly glad that everything was padded. Everyone was yelling and panicking, trying to find a handhold on the padded walls.

And then suddenly, there was a jolt, like when you’re on a train and it stops moving and you have to fight to keep your balance. Just as I got up, the floor started to slip under my feet, like I’d stepped onto an escalator sideways. I tottered to the side and hit the wall again. What the hell is going on?!

Another jolt, and then my stomach shot up into my mouth, like when an elevator starts to descend. And suddenly, my whole perception realigned.