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She could sense the killer moving in the darkness ahead,the air in front of her disturbed by his passage. And then, as if the world hadshifted under her feet, she realized that that killer had turned right. Thiswas odd, as she didn’t remember seeing an off-shooting passage on the waythrough. But that’s exactly what she thought had happened. She could sense themotion of his movement in the musty air. She reached out with her right hand,stepping a few feet in that direction. Sure enough, there was an opening there.Somehow, probably because of the direction the flashlight was shining, she andDerik had missed it on their way in.
She took the right, a small voice telling her it was amistake, and went running deeper down into the darkness.
The killer was quick, and Morgan had to sprint at fullspeed to keep up with him. Her heart was pounding, the sound of her own breathsechoing in her ears. She was so focused on following the man that she didn’tnotice the uneven terrain beneath her feet. She tripped over a rock and fellhard on the ground.
Pain shot through her left shoulder and she gasped, strugglingto get back up. She could hear the killer’s footsteps getting further away, andshe knew she had to act fast. With a shout of determination, she pushed herselfup and started running again.
Her shoulder throbbed with every movement, but she pushedthe pain aside and focused on the task at hand.The sound of her footstepsfollowed her, echoing off the walls. She felt as if she was running down anever-ending maze. The only thing keeping her going was the thought of catchingthe killer. She thought of all the people he had killed, all the families hehad destroyed. He had to be stopped. He was so close, in the darkness ahead of her,and she may never get another chance.
But then she came to an intersection within the cave. Shesensed it rather than saw it, though her eyes had basically adjusted and couldpick up the different shades and contours along the wall. She stopped, lookingto her right where another tunnel veered off at a harsh angle. The passage shewas currently in bent to the left in a lazy sort of curb.
She did her best to steady her breath, trying to listento the passages. She could hear the killer’s footsteps sure enough, but it wasimpossible to tell which way he’d gone. The sounds down here in the darknesswere hard to follow, hard to—
“Morgan!”
It was Derik’s voice, coming from behind her. He soundedworried, not just in pain. In that moment, Morgan realized that she had to makea decision: she could continue venturing down tunnels she wasn’t familiar with,or she could go back to make sure Derik was okay.
And for a terrifying moment, the decision was much harderthan it should have been.
Morgan’s gut told her to go back to Derik. She had neverbeen one to leave anyone behind, especially not someone she cared about. Butthe thought of the killer getting away again made her hesitate. In the end, herloyalty to Derik won out.
She took a deep breath and turned back toward thedirection of Derik’s voice. She ran as fast as she could, trying to ignore thepain in her shoulder.The sound of Derik’s voice grew louder as hecontinued to call out for her. Her heart burned with the decision of lettingthe killer go but as she approached the area of the original tunnel where she’dleft Derik, it subsided a bit. When she arrived, she saw that he was sitting upagainst the wall, holding his head in his hands. The flashlight was trapped inthe fork of his legs, pointing up and slightly back toward the entrance.
“What is it?” she asked. “Are you okay?”
“Woozy. Dizzy. Jesus, my head hurts. He…he hit me, didn’the?”
She then understood that he’d called out for her withsuch urgency because he was confused. The whack to the head had himdisoriented.
“Yeah, he got you.” She saw the blood coming from hishairline, a nasty cut starting the flow. “Got you good from the looks of it.”
“Did you catch him?”
Morgan shook her head, feeling a pang of guilt. “No, Ilost him. But you’re hurt, we need to get you out of here.”
Derik nodded, wincing as he tried to stand up. “I think I’llbe okay.”
“There’s a gash on your head that says otherwise.”Already, though, she was thinking of what to do next. Even if there werealternate entrances and exits to these old mines, someone must know where theywere. A call to the bureau or local PD would probably reveal those answers.Maybe there was still a chance they could nab the bastard on his way out.
Morgan helped Derik to his feet, keeping a reassuringhand on his back as they made their way back out through the tunnel. Thedarkness seemed even more oppressive now that they didn’t have the adrenalineof the chase fueling them. She held the flashlight with the hand that wasn’thelping to keep Derik steady. Thankfully, it was the hand of her right arm, whichshe’d banged up in the tunnel. If she’d had to keep Derik up with that one, they’dboth be screwed.
After what seemed like forever, they came to a littleblanket of sunlight on the floor. And then, about two minutes later, theystepped out of the mine’s entrance.
“I think I’m good now,” Derik said. “Feeling sleepy,though. I bet it’s a damned concussion.”
“And at least a dozen stitches,” she said, already takingher phone from her pocket. When she realized she didn’t have any contacts savedin it, she shoved it back in.
“Can I use your phone?” she asked.
He nodded as they slowly made their way back along thetrail that would lead them to the side of the old railroad bridge. But as hereached into his pocket for it, Derik swayed on his feet and fell. Morganreached out for him, but missed, her busted shoulder screaming in pain. He wentdown in a cluster of weeds, his eyes fluttering closed.
She took his phone right away. Instead of calling thepolice for information on the mines, she once again put Derik’s best interestat heart. She called 911, waited for the connection, and reported a potentiallyseriously injured FBI agent.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
That was close.
How had he been so foolish? He’d been so careful to coverhis tracks, to make sure he left no traces. Well, only the traces he wanted.They had to know who he was somehow, after all.
