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“Sure.”
“Break down the door if you have to.”
“I’d better get my Sirs.”
Dante’s hands were in fists so tight, his nails were cutting into his flesh. “What the hell is going on?”
Travis growled as he stared at the tablet. “Watching Blaine forwarding it, the Binx dot moved farther than just west. It was going too fast to be walking or even running. It stopped, and it’s been unmoving for ten minutes now.”
Dante asked him, “Can you check to see where Selestino’s tracker is?”
“It’s at the farmhouse. All those supposed to be there are there. Your lawyer’s been calling.”
“Blaine, call Sel’s phone, please,” Dante whispered to his husband.
“Dex was watching,” Barry said as he came over to them. “My cousin is not answering his phone. I’ve tried three times now. He knows how important it is to pick up. All their trackers are there, where they are supposed to be.”
Dante was still waiting for word on Sel. “Call Marius. Call everyone and have everyone that you can get ahold of come back here. We need to count heads and regroup. If you can’t get them by phone, take groups to go get them. Everyone, now!”
Just then, Nathan Lee was on the phone. “Dante, Lonnie? Sel’s not in his room. He’s nowhere in the house, and Mal’s hoodie and gun are missing from the breezeway.”
Dante sat hard at the table. “My god. My god, he switched trackers. He’s…out there.”
Blaine sat with him and soothed, “Binx’s tracker is still there. It’s not offline like the others. He might have followed, well, whatever is going on.”
Dante found he could barely breathe. “Get Victoria on the phone. We need the police. Tell her it’s time to call the federal agents. My nephew and others are missing.” To Bonita’s phone, Dante pleaded, “Nathan, please stay close and call Jet, too. We may need doctors.”
*****
Inside the concrete tomb, Sel felt himself begin to shake. There was a long, descending hall on the other side of the door that Brooks had gone through with Indio. He’d waited until he heard no more footsteps. He descended the long slope until he came to a hall and once he looked, saw a door on either side of the hall.
Sel did not know which Brooks had gone through, or if there was a turn at the end of the hall. The place was only lit dimly with halogen lights on either side of the hall near the doors. He held the gun in his hand, but that hand was shaking like an alcoholic who hadn’t had a drink in days. As tough as he wanted to be, he was scared right through to his bones.
Sliding down one side of the hall, making himself less of a target in case Brooks came back through, he inched his way to the first door, which was metal and locked. Across from it was the other door and Sel hurried to that side, and tried that door, and it was unlocked. He turned the knob all the way, quietly, and pushed the door, praying that it wouldn’t make a noise.
It didn’t.
Pushing it open, he saw the room was dark, but the little light from the hall showed him tall metal shelves filled with boxes. Wishing he’d kept the tablet with him to use the screen for light, he searched the wall next to the door for a light switch and found one. He closed the door and turned on the light to investigate the room, hoping for more weapons, a phone to the outside, anything he could use against Brooks.
There were a dozen shelves or more, each holding boxes marked MRE, 5 Gallons Dehydrated Meals, or Water-Drinking-5 Gallon Glass Jugs. Food and water for…years.
Sel saw more boxes with markings for medicine, water tablets, emergency glow lights, and other things any survivalist would collect. There were no guns, however, and no ammunition. Sel thought of the other room, how it was locked, and knew that was where those were kept. Just in case a prisoner got out, Brooks couldn’t have them easily accessing weapons.
He turned off the lights before opening the door again, peeking out to ensure he was alone. When he got to the end of the hall, he saw a turn and the continuation of the hallway.
There were pipes and thick cable lines running the length of the ceiling and the gentle whirring of motors. Figuring they were air vents and filters, he ignored them, trying desperately to hear any movement or voices.
Alex Brooks sure liked to talk it up while taking Indio hostage, so Sel figured he’d continue his diatribe. Sure enough, as he got to the only door down the shorter hall, he heard Brooks.
“When your new friend wakes up, I’ll let you all decide who’s going first. By the time I’m done with all of you, those mobsters will abandon my land.”
Sel’s eyes narrowed, his gun clutched in his hand. If he rounded the door, surprising him, he should be able to get a round off before Brooks could react. Still, if he missed…
He had to do it right. He couldn’t risk Indio and whoever else might be in the room with Brooks. If he hit any of them, he’d never be able to live with himself.
On the other hand, if he didn’t try, and someone died because of his inaction, it would be worse.
“I’m going to go get one more, unless they realize you’re all gone and have called everyone back to whatever place they’re gathering. I’ll find out, and when I do, they’ll all die.”
