Standing next to his assistant in the boardroom, discussing their current predicament, Harvey raised his eyes from a file in front of him to see what the fuss was about. The long table was covered by papers that contained his defense against the civil case.
It had only been five hours since Harvey sent a request through to his investigator, but Jack Grayson was good like that. Broke codes, broke noses and broke records for turnaround. That was why Harvey didn’t mind paying his high fees.
“A few homes in the area had bunkers built in the 60s. There’s a record of building permits or extensions for the address you gave me. The application is for a large, concrete basement to be used as a bunker. I was surprised because I didn’t think that there would be any records for Monty’s house, but it appears the original owners were quite the rule followers. Having said that, a lot of the bunkers were filled in over time, but I did find a website dedicated to photos of basement bunkers in California.”
“There’s a website for everything,” Harvey added, moving from the back of the table, closer to Jack.
“There’s probably even one dedicated to handsome lawyers.” Kate smiled as she closed a file on the table. “And they’re invaluable, very intelligent assistants.”
“You would be at the top of that list, Kate.” He sat down at the end of the table, and Jack followed his lead, eager to tell him what he had found.
“There is no exact address listed for the photos of the website, but it’s listed as a bunker near the forest near Wrightwood. The description says that it’s on a ‘very private property’. It sounds like his place.” He brought up the photo on his smartphone. “And this is what the bunker looks like on the inside.”
Harvey studied the photos, flicking through the three photos on the device. “Just enough room to store something important.”
“You hope,” Kate added.
“I saw Monty’s reaction when I looked at the basement entrance. He’s hiding something valuable, and it has to be in that basement. That’s our key. That’s where he would store the black books from his days in Kevin Wu’s prostitution racket. And that’s how we put Kevin behind bars.”
“What if it’s nothing?” Kate moved around the table. “Didn’t you mention that you also saw a basement at Terrance’s house? Isn’t it more likely that he has the black books stored down there?”
Harvey stared at his assistant, the thoughts crashing through his head.
“And there’s something else you should know,” Jack added as he sat down. “Monty Lee was in the city today.”
“Monty Lee? Are you sure?”
“I am. I went to stake out Terrance’s house again, and saw a suspicious car at the end of the road. When I went closer, it was clear that the man in the car was Monty, and he was staking out the house. He was trying to be discrete, but he wasn’t very good at it.” Jack leaned forward in his chair. “He’s a lot bigger and rougher than the photos I’ve seen of him, but I’m sure it was Monty Lee.”
“How can you be sure?”
“I saw him with my own two eyes.” Jack picked up his smartphone again and flicked through more photos. “And my camera.”
He turned the phone around, and Harvey studied the picture. “There’s no doubt that’s the man I saw the other day. But what was Monty Lee doing outside Terrance’s house?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m going to assume that he was looking for a chance to settle a score.”
Harvey studied the photo of Monty sitting in the front seat of his pickup truck. “I mentioned two names when I met Monty: Kevin Wu and Terrance Marshall.”
“You must have pushed the right buttons when you went and saw him. He must have been angry enough to risk everything and come out of hiding.”
Kate squinted. “But why’s he come out of hiding now?”
“I think he’s going to try to finish things once and for all,” Jack stated. “He must be tired of always looking over his shoulder—always wondering when Kevin or Terrance is going to find him, and pay him back for what he did to Amy Wu.”
“We have to move on both those basements tonight. Either of those places could store the things that we’re looking for. If we don’t, then Monty Lee might be planning to do something stupid. If he goes after Terrance and kills him, then we lose any chance of getting a testimony, or finding that stolen footage.”
“Which means that we lose any chance of forcing Kevin to withdraw the case.”
“Which basement are you going to start with?” Kate sat down next to them.
“Hopefully…” Harvey drew a long breath. “… the right one.”
“If Monty Lee is monitoring Terrance’s house, then that leaves his place open. You could—”
“It has to wait until tomorrow,” Jack replied to Kate. “We’re not going at night.”
“It’ll be the only time we get the chance to do it, Jack.” Harvey moved closer to his friend. “We have to go tonight. We can’t break into those places during the daytime.”
“It’s too dangerous to go at night. There could be anything in those basements. There could even be an armory.”
“Or a burial ground,” Kate added.
The investigator squirmed as he looked around the room, running his hand over his short-cropped hair.
“What’s wrong?” Harvey questioned. “Afraid of the dark?”
“I’m not scared of the dark.” The concern in Jack’s voice was clear. “I’m afraid of what’s hiding in it.”
Chapter 29
She could hear him coming.
He made quite the noise as he opened the basement door. Mumbling, she could hear that he was studying the broken door from her escape attempt last week.
Even with the ability to leave, she didn’t exit her basement again. Every time she even went near the door, her heart rate went up. The outside world filled her with fear and terror.
Tonight, his tone sounded aggressive. As he approached, the fear drenched her, anxiety crippling her movements.
Her shoulders tightened. Her eyes closed tight.
As he came closer, she pretended to be asleep under her dirty blanket.
“Why did you try and escape?” He moaned. “Why? You have everything here. Everything. The world out there isn’t what you think it is. Your life is so much better in here.”
She didn’t move in the hope that he would think she was asleep and leave her alone.
“Why?”
She could hear the desperation in his voice, the pain.
He dropped the bag of food on the floor; it was heavier this time. More bread. More luxuries. Perhaps even apples. A small smile escaped her lips.
“I went to the library and got you three new books to read,” he said, grumbling. “Don’t know if you’ll like them, but they say they’re for girls your age.”
New books? Lying on her side, facing away from him under the blanket, her smile broadened.
Life was pretty good here. Why would she consider running from this?
“Listen,” he said. “Like I said, things around here are going to change shortly. I don’t know exactly when, but some things are going to happen soon. Really soon.”
She pushed the blanket back and sat up.
“So you are awake.” He came to sit at the edge of the bed. “Our time here is coming to an end, and I don’t know what’s going to happen next. But I just want you to know that… well, I will do everything to make sure that you’re ok. You’re going to be fine.”
Without a word, she sat forward and wrapped her arms around the man.
She held him for a while until he patted her on the back. “Don’t get all soppy on me. I don’t know how things are going to change, but they will. Someone else is going to look after you.”
Desperate to avoid the emotion, he peeled her arms off his shoulders, stood and trudged away.
As he walked away, she cuddled her arms around her chest, memories getting the best of her.
She remembered the day she was taken; the da
y they came and grabbed her from her home. She was sleeping in her room at the time, and in the middle of the night, two people grabbed her, a man and a woman, and they tied a cloth around her mouth before dragging her out the window.
At first, she was sure it must have been a nightmare, she was sure it was just a dream, but the pain quickly made it real. She was tumbled into the trunk of a car, then received a hard slap across her cheek, and driven away at high speed.
She didn’t cry. She didn’t even make a sound. She was too scared to even move. She lay in the pitch-black, trapped in the trunk of the car, for what seemed like hours, until the car eventually stopped.
That was when the arguing started. Lying in the dark, scared out of her wits, she listened to two people argue about her fate. She recognized both voices.
They were screaming just outside the trunk.
“She has to die!”
“This has to happen!”
“You signed up for this!”
But all the while, he defended her. “I won’t let you do it,” he had said. He wouldn’t let it happen to her. He couldn’t let it happen to her.
That was when she heard the physical fight break out. She heard a body smack against the car, the loud crunch echoing through her confined space.
The car started again, and they began to drive away, but that was when she heard the distinctive sound of gunshots.
Three of them.
The last shot was followed by the sound of smashing glass.
The back window of the car had been blown out, but the car didn’t stop. The car only raced away faster.
When they finally stopped, he opened the trunk and held out his hand, leading her to the concrete basement. There was nothing there then, not even a bed.
But over the years, he built everything she could need: a flushing toilet, a comfortable camp bed, a bookshelf and a desk. He even gave her a purple beanbag last year.
When she first came to the basement, she asked when she could go back home. All she wanted was to go back to her grandmother, feel that warm hug one more time.
“A number of problems have to be sorted out first,” he would say, before becoming angry. Even at seven years old, she learned not to ask the question again.
She had learned a lot over the years, entertaining herself with her books, along with the benefit of her vivid imagination. She felt like life had been good to her, and the basement had taught her to appreciate even the smallest things in the world—the dash of sunlight on her skin, the taste of a crisp apple, the first moment she opened a new book.
But she could feel that things were changing, and she wouldn’t let her fate be in the hands of others.
She would be in control of her world.
She wouldn’t let someone else dictate her fate.
She couldn’t let another man take her.
Tonight had to be the night that she faced her fears and ran to freedom.
Chapter 30
Three flashlights. Two backpacks. One gun.
The two men set off into the night, walking to their destination under the shroud of darkness. The wind howled around them, covering any other sound of the reserve.
Definitely not what Jack wanted.
“It’s not a well-maintained track,” Jack complained as he pushed a bush out of his face.
He walked forward, through the scrub, through the reserve, along the back of the yards. Numerous dogs barked and yapped as the men passed, but they continued down the track, looking for the entrance to their destination.
“I’ve seen you beat four men into the ground in a bar fight, I’ve seen you take on gangs in a shoot-out, and I’ve seen you walk into hostile rooms full of knives, but never, ever, have I heard you this scared.” Harvey laughed. “It’s just the reserve. There’s nothing out here.”
“There is, Harvey. There are all sorts of things out here—animals, traps, criminals. I would much rather be walking through ‘Death Alley’ with a backpack full of hundred dollar bills than walking through here. At least out there, you know how the people are going to react. Here, you have no idea. It’s all the unknown out here.”
Harvey laughed again. “I never thought I would see the day when I’m braver than you!”
“Just remember, I’m the one with the gun. I could bury you out here.”
“You couldn’t do that.” Harvey laughed. “You’d be too scared without me here.”
They continued through the woods, past the hooting owls, along the tracks, up the hills, and past the trees.
“It shouldn’t be far away.” Jack slowed his walking. “There. Just ahead.”
They peered over the six-foot fence, looking for any movement in the house. There was a light on in the living room, the flickering of a television left on, but at two o’clock in the morning, there was no other movement.
Harvey drew a deep breath as the moonlight bathed the area in front of them.
Careful not to make any loud noises, they jumped the fence, sneaking up to the house.
“The door to the basement has been used recently.”
“How can you tell?” Jack’s hushed voice sounded panicked as they knelt in the shadows, behind a small bush.
“Look how well-maintained the trapdoor is. There isn’t a weed overgrowing any of it. This isn’t a forgotten-about place. Someone has just placed a few branches over the top of it in an attempt to hide it. That basement is well-used by somebody.”
“Which means that person could come back at any moment.”
“Come on, Jack. It’s not like that. Now is not the time to be scared.”
“No, Harvey. It is. We could be shot out here, and our bodies would never be found. Never. No one would ever find our bodies, and no one would know anything about our deaths.”
“I’ve got a GPS on my phone.”
“That’s not much good when we’re dead,” Jack complained. “We’ve found it now. We know it’s here. Let’s go back to the car, and come back during daylight.”
“Not a chance.” Harvey stepped forward into the clearing, flashlight ready. “It’s time to go in now.”
Chapter 31
He didn’t lock the door again.
But that didn’t matter. She had figured out a way to open it without his forgetfulness. She could lift the handle from the inside, pushing the door upwards.
Gathering a loaf of bread, a bag of apples, and three books into her sack, she made the steps towards freedom.
This was it.
She wouldn’t turn back for anything. Even if he came at her, she would run. He had gotten old, and she had gotten faster, and if out of reach from his long arms, he would never be able to catch her.
With the sack slung over her shoulder, she stepped up towards the door, pushing gently against it. With peering eyes, she popped her head out to see her surrounds. No movement. No one there.
Judging by the location of the moon, he would be asleep now. She was sure of it.
Still on the inside, she let the door close for a few moments. She took one final look at her surrounds, blowing a final kiss to her home.
This time, she wouldn’t run from the noises.
She could take whatever was out there.
She could be brave, strong, unrelenting.
She had to be.
Whatever wickedness was out there; she would challenge it. She could punch it. This was her turn now. Her time to be free. Her time to feel the sun on her skin.
Whatever the world had to throw at her, it had to be better than waiting for another man to take her.
She pushed the basement door open again, slow enough to not make a sound.
She stepped out, hoping for the cover of darkness.
But a flashlight shone in her eyes.
Chapter 32
“Who are you?” the male voice whispered to her.
The girl didn’t answer.
Too shocked, too blinded by the light blaring in her eyes.
“Is anyone else here?” Jack Grayso
n stepped forward towards the girl almost pinned to the outside door of the basement, stunned by the flashlight.
She didn’t answer.
It was the first time she had heard a new voice in a long time.
“It’s ok,” Harvey whispered as he stepped towards the girl. “We’re not going to hurt you. We’re your friends.”
Jack Grayson’s hand moved to his hip. No young girl would be down in a basement by herself. Harvey rested his left hand on Jack’s arm, calming him, urging him not to draw his weapon.
“We’ve come to look in the basement.” The girl before them was unwashed, dirty, and her hair was long and frazzled. She looked like she hadn’t washed in years. “We’re not going to hurt you, but you need to be very quiet.”
Harvey’s index finger went to his lips; trying to keep the conversation discreet. He knew something in the situation wasn’t right. She looked too wild, too unkempt, to be a girl who just stumbled upon the basement. He stepped towards the silent girl, holding his arms out wide.
Jack followed, one hand still on his hip, the other holding the flashlight, studying the house for any potential movement.
As he stepped closer to the girl, the first thing to hit him was the smell.
“How long have you been here?” he whispered, but the girl didn’t reply, still too shocked by the presence of the men.
“I don’t like this, Harvey,” Jack muttered over his shoulder. “Something isn’t right here. This isn’t normal.”
With his flashlight, Jack leaned down into the open door, scanning the inside of the basement.
“There’s a bed,” he whispered, then turned back to the girl. “Is this where you sleep?”
The girl nodded.
He drew a deep breath; the situation was becoming bleaker by the second.
“Harvey.” Jack nodded towards the small basement home. “We have to go.”
“What’s your name?” Harvey whispered, hands still open, stepping closer to the girl.
The girl stared at him. The only person she had talked to for years was her captor. It crossed her mind that these were the men that were going to take her, and her entire body stiffened.
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