Prey for Us

by Geoffrey Neil

  “No, I’ve made up my mind. What did you call it? V-1? I’m committed and won’t squander another opportunity. The only thing that could change my plan is if you keep your word to take care of Waylon beforehand while keeping Gus safe.”

  “Thane, this could backfire,” Morana said. “You shouldn’t take him on alone. He’s dangerous. If things go wrong, he could take much more from you than a school lunch. He’ll kill you.”

  “Not if I’m prepared,” Thane said, putting his hands on his hips.

  “I admire your confidence, but what if your plan doesn’t work?” Morana thought for a moment, and added, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to give him misinformation about your secret. What if he asks for a demonstration?”

  “Are you suggesting that I tell him the truth about it?”

  “Maybe not completely…”

  Thane gave her a quizzical look. “You’ve gone from telling me to kill him, to giving him at least a portion of the real secret? What changed?”

  Morana thought for a moment and then said, “It was Gus. Gus changes everything. Before I didn’t care how your decisions made Waylon feel. But now, if he really does have Gus then enraging him will be tragic.”

  “You’ll have to trust me that I’ve minimized my risk,” Thane said. “When I have Gus safely home, Waylon better hope that a tiny tuft of fur is all that Gus has suffered.”

  “Do you mind sharing your plan?” Morana asked.

  “Follow me.” Thane led her toward the entry door. “Wait there,” he said, pointing to a place just outside the edge of the entryway and trap floor.

  Morana did so, and after planting her feet, she looked up and noticed the additional notched block hoisted near the ceiling, parallel to the floor. Except for one wire connected from the block’s corner, that ran across the rafters to the black box in another part of the ceiling, she couldn’t determine what suspended it in midair. “What is that new block for?” she asked.

  “It’s a trap floor improvement.” He pointed to a bent nail protruding from the wall just inside the door. A keyring loaded with many keys hung from it. “This nail hook is actually a weight-sensitive lever.” Thane pinched the keyring and gently lifted it. The nail hook moved up. He handed her the keyring.

  Morana took it and frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand…”

  Thane pointed to the new, blue throw rug that covered the entryway. “The trap floor is now activated and calibrated so that anything heavier than a shoe will trigger it.”

  “But if the door is blocked, how will the trap floor ever be used?” Morana asked.

  “That’s the point,” Thane said. “I’m not going to obstruct this entry door with a block. The locked doorknob will protect law-abiding people from any danger. Any person who breaks in will deserve what they will experience.”

  Morana said, “That’s a beautiful thing. But do you honestly think that if Waylon were to break in, he would go anywhere near this trap floor again?”

  “If that memory keeps him away, great. But this isn’t just for Waylon. You said he has connections. This way, I’ll be prepared to defend myself against him, or anyone he sends to break in.”

  “Sweetheart, if you trap another person that’s another potential lawsuit.”

  “Like you told me before, that’s only true if that person is ever found.”

  “Wow,” Morana said, stepping back. “You are serious, aren’t you?”

  “I’ve never been more serious.”

  “But what if you trap someone and they send a text or make a call?”

  Thane pointed up to the notched block and said, “That block automatically drops to seal the trap floor shaft within eight seconds. I’ve tested this, and although it’s enough time to press a speed dial, it isn’t enough time to complete a connection. The panic and confusion experienced by the trapped person will make it virtually impossible for them to compose and send a text message in less than eight seconds.”

  “Unbelievable,” Morana said, moving for a better angle.

  “And there’s something else.” Thane walked across the shop toward his work countertop.

  “Wait! The keys,” Morana said. “You didn’t deactivate the trap floor.”

  “I know. Be sure not to step on it.”

  Morana backed away from the area rug and dropped the keys into her bag before following Thane across the garage to where he stood beside his cabinets.

  He grabbed the corner of a second new area rug that covered the Gateway block and flipped it back, revealing the Gateway block’s seam. He pointed to the faint outline of a new square at its corner, the depth and width of a phone booth. “Stand there,” he said.

  Morana positioned her feet on it.

  “Do you see the seam?” he asked, tapping the edge of the square with his toe.

  “Yes.”

  Thane moved close enough to her so that their stomachs almost touched. He tapped his toe near the corner. “Stomp your heel there.”

  “Will something fall?” Morana asked, looking up into ceiling rafters.

  “Yes, trust me.”

  She tapped her heel on it. Nothing happened.

  “Harder,” Thane said.

  She stomped harder. Nothing.

  “When your heel comes down, keep more weight on it.”

  On her third stomp, Morana shrieked when the square they stood on sank into the floor. She reached for the edge and Thane grabbed her hand, stopping her. “Don’t touch the shaft wall.”

  “What happened?” Morana asked as they dropped, descending into the darkness of the shaft.

  “Your heel, and knowing where to stomp it, is your sub-lair entry key. Rather than having to raise the Gateway block on every descent to the sub-lair, I cut a smaller lift through it. Now the sub-lair is accessible while the Gateway block remains in place.”

  “So, you’re going to allow me to operate the lift?”

  “We’ll see how it goes.”

  Through the opening above them, they heard a smooth whirring of air. “Thane, you forgot to crack the garage doors,” Morana said.

  “It’s okay, I installed a new venting system in the ceiling,” Thane said. “Now I can keep the garage doors and windows locked while going below.”

  Morana took his hand as they sank into the darkest portion of their ride.

  Thane pulled a flashlight from his pocket and turned it on. He instructed Morana to press each shaft wall panel they came to as they continued their descent.

  When they finally slid down into the sub-lair’s lift chamber, they stepped off.

  “How do I go back up?” Morana asked.

  “With me.”

  “What if I’m alone?”

  “I don’t expect you to be. But if that happens, you’ll wait here for me.”

  “Every time?”

  “Yes.”

  “But— why don’t you show me how to make the lift go up? It seems that having to escort me each time would be inconvenient for you.”

  “It’s not. I’ll take you to the surface whenever you need to go.”

  “So, essentially, if I’m down here alone, I’m trapped until you free me?”

  “That’s one way to look at it.”

  “Sweetheart, as wonderful as it is, being in the sub-lair with no way for me to get out on my own makes me uncomfortable.”

  “Then you don’t have to come down.”

  “But I want to. I was just hoping that you would—”

  “Why don’t you respect me?” Thane snapped. “I will take you to the surface when needed. It won’t be an inconvenience, and it won’t be difficult.”

  “I’m sorry,” Morana said. She squeezed his hand. “Please don’t be angry. It’s just that I worry about what would happen if something happened to you down here.”

  “We’ve talked about this. What could happen to me?”

  “Nothing—I hope. But accidents are—”

  “
I don’t have accidents. No one is more careful than me,” Thane said, letting go of her hand. “The one-way access you have is best for you.” He spread his fingers on the chamber wall. “These rocks are unforgiving. Unless you understand them, being alone in the sub-lair is dangerous.”

  Morana looked around the chamber, considering Thane’s ominous words for a moment and then in a subdued voice said, “I’m fine with being here only with you.”

  “Good.”

  The empty lift slid upward into the shaft, followed by its solid rock base that accelerated. Morana watched Thane, carefully noting his every move. She studied his hands each time they went into his pockets. She memorized the precise areas of the walls that he touched and every place he stepped. Nothing he did seemed to be a trigger for any mechanical action that occurred in the sub-lair.

  They left the elevator chamber and walked the corridor to Thane’s bedroom chamber. Thane plopped onto the edge of his mattress and folded his hands. The tension in his face hadn’t subsided since the moment he opened the shop door for her when she first arrived.

  Morana dropped her bag on the floor beside the door and came to him, kneeling in front of him. She took off her jacket and draped it on the mattress. She rested her hands on his legs and said, “You look so stressed.”

  “Waylon gone forever would be the ultimate relief.”

  “Yes, and I want you to know I haven’t given up. I’m confident that between the two of us, that will happen. Meanwhile, I want to talk to you about something else.”

  Thane looked at her suspiciously.

  “Your stack of blocks in the trap floor is fine, but I think we should further reduce your vulnerability up on the surface.”

  Thane leaned back on his elbows. “How?”

  “I’m going to suggest something, and I don’t want you to be upset at me for it.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “I think we should introduce Clay to the sub-lair.”

  Thane looked at her in disbelief. “Are you crazy? After you admitted that you don’t trust him?”

  “I can explain if you—”

  “You go from telling me you have a way to reduce my stress, then you suggest bringing in an untrustworthy person into my most private world? That’s the opposite of easing my stress.” Thane pushed her hands away and got up. He went to the doorway of the aquifer room and leaned against it.

  Morana said, “When you are down here, you are totally unaware of what’s happening up in the garage or anywhere else on your property.”

  “That’s by design. I want to be fully disconnected while down here. When I’m on the surface, I crave the privacy of my sub-lair.”

  “But you have no way of knowing what is happening in your garage until you literally slide up into it.”

  “That’s not necessarily true,” Thane said. “If I want to hear what’s happening in the garage, I can install a vent for that purpose.”

  “And listen to it constantly? You need a notification system. A phone down here or some way to communicate would enhance your security, not take away from it.”

  Thane stared at her before coming back to sit beside her.

  She put her arm around him. “What if you were down here when Waylon made his visit? You could have known about it the moment it happened. If Clay had installed cameras, you’d have irrefutable proof of his visit and trespassing. You could have told me sooner, giving me the advantage to end this nightmare for you.”

  “Why do you suddenly trust Clay?”

  “I can make it worth his while to keep your work secret. He’s a useful asset for you.”

  Thane sighed and fell back onto the mattress and rolled to his side.

  She laid beside him and gently rubbed his back and then pulled a green flower stem from his hair. “I didn’t know you had plants in here.”

  “It’s from the new flowers in front of the house.”

  “I thought I noticed something different in front. You planted those?”

  “Yes.”

  “What were you doing outside? Thane, that was dangerous!”

  “I had no choice.”

  “But I told you to stay locked away. That was a risky move with Waylon on the loose.”

  “My uncle told me to plant them.”

  “That couldn’t wait a few days?”

  “No. When he wants something, he wants it immediately.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t understand the connection between flowers and your uncle.”

  “My uncle calls all the shots. He owns the property.”

  “I thought it was yours.”

  “Originally, it belonged to my mother. She died when I was 18 years old. I inherited it but couldn’t afford to continue making her mortgage payments. My uncle helped me keep it for a while and eventually had me sign papers to update the title. What I didn’t know was that the papers he told me to sign transferred ownership to him. He told me I could live here on the condition that I maintain every inch of the property to his satisfaction.”

  “You don’t pay him rent?”

  “He says I don’t make enough to pay him what he would charge. He said upkeep and chores were enough, and at first, that was true. I mowed the lawn weekly, kept the house clean inside, and took care of any necessary maintenance. But he’s become more demanding. He wants all the outside windows washed inside and out weekly. I scrub every inch of the house’s interior. He began to have some of his mail delivered here, and he makes me sort and neatly stack it on the table by the front door. I take restaurant delivery food to him at least twice a week, and I clean up the bedroom each time he visits with one of his… guests.”

  “So, you get to live here in exchange for being a slave.”

  “I have to do what he says. If I complain, he threatens to evict me. He doesn’t know about the sub-lair, but he knows how desperately I want to stay here, and he has leveraged that to his advantage.”

  “Have you considered finding work to make enough money to pay him rent?”

  Thane thought for a moment. “My uncle prefers the current arrangement. If I tried to change it, he would make the rent higher than I could pay. I think he enjoys the power my situation gives him.”

  “Do you have any other source of income?”

  “I told you I don’t have much money. That was the whole reason for helping me with the Everett case.”

  “What about the car washes at the office?”

  “I don’t get the car wash money. Sometimes I get tips, but my uncle collects payment from the staff and pockets it. He says those earnings still wouldn’t cover rent.”

  Morana scooted closer to Thane, laid down and slipped her arms around him. She kissed the back of his neck and said, “My feelings are rarely wrong, and I have a feeling we’re going to solve all of your problems. Meanwhile, let’s get you relaxed.”

  Chapter 27

  THE NEXT MORNING, Thane woke up with Morana’s arm draped over his bare chest.

  Morana caressed his neck with the back of her fingers while he stared up at the ceiling. “You are so much more relaxed, but I think you could use some more relaxation.”

  Thane said, “I have a lot on my—”

  “Sh, sh, sh,” she touched his lips. “Don’t bring back the stress.” She gently kissed his ear and then his lips.

  Thane got up and picked up a towel from the floor. He went into the aquifer room, knelt, and washed his face.

  When he came back, Morana had put on her jeans and was lacing her boots.

  “I need to go up to the surface a few times,” Thane said. “I have some projects I want to finish today.” He removed a shirt and trousers from a plastic bag in the corner and put them on.

  “Do you mind if I stay with you?”

  “I expected that you’d go out to look for Waylon. Don’t you need to find out if Clay has reestablished contact with the tracker?”

  “We both know that Waylon will look for us here.
It makes more sense for me to be here with you.” She stood from the mattress and came to him. “My priority is to keep you safe.”

  “Some of the work I need to do is private,” Thane said.

  “I won’t disturb you—I promise.”

  “It would be better if you just came back later. I need privacy because—” Their conversation was interrupted by a sharp jolt in the floor, followed by the hiss of rushing air outside the bedroom.

  “What is that?” Morana said, backing to the wall. She spread her arms out on it.

  Thane ran to the open doorway and leaned out into the corridor. The hiss subsided. He looked at Morana and said, “The trap floor dropped.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” Thane disappeared into the corridor.

  “Thane, wait!” Morana said, running after him.

  As they entered the lift chamber, the rock column supporting the lift was already sliding downward in the wall. Morana had watched Thane carefully all the way from the bedroom. She had lost sight of Thane for only a few seconds after he ducked out of the bedroom. Now, his hands were at his sides. He hadn’t concealed them or pressed any surfaces on the wall on their way, nor did he step or stomp on any particular area of the lift chamber floor. It was as though the chamber sensed Thane’s approach and automatically began lowering the lift for him. They stood, watching the sliding rock.

  “How did you activate the lift?” Morana asked.

  “I told you—that’s not something you need to learn.”

  When the lift slid down into view, he stepped aside and motioned for Morana to board first.

  “Why are we going to the surface?” Morana asked. “Wouldn’t it be safer to remove whomever from the sub-lair chamber like we did before?”

  “I need to secure the garage and verify that the trap floor isn’t still open. Let’s go.” Thane pointed, urging her to the lift.

  She backed onto it, watching his hands and his feet.

  “You’re staring,” he said as he joined her.

  “Sorry. What if there was more than one person and they weren’t all trapped?” Morana asked.

  Thane put his finger to his lips for her to be quiet. He looked up through the darkness at the shaft’s opening, a tiny square of light 100 feet above them. He froze for a few moments, cupping his ear.