by Cherry Adair
The butt of the rifle struck him across the forehead and his knees buckled as he went down, seeing a galaxy of stars. “Finn!”
"Get him on his feet, secure him well. We have to go."
Two men grabbed him under the arms and hauled him upright. Finn's head swam and saliva gathered in his mouth as they wrenched his wrists behind him, and secured them with a zip tie.
"Don't hurt him - Damn you, Theo. What's wrong with you?"
Núñez grabbed her by the upper arm to prevent her from getting too close. "Do not harm her. Use this if it becomes necessary." He threw something over her head, and it was caught by one of his men."
Finn blinked all of them into focus. Peri's eyes said it all as she looked at him with stark fear and a false bravado that ripped at his heart. The dull scrape and creak of the elevator returning to the top floor warned Finn that reinforcements would be on their way down at any minute.
Needing a visual wellness check, he took her in at a glance. Her hair was partly in a braid, the rest a loose tangle around her shoulders. Her cheek was swollen and had a runnel of partially dried blood on it. Her arms were secured behind her back. His eyes met hers. An encyclopedia of silent messages went back and forth between them.
She might be afraid, but clearly, she was damned if she'd show that to Núñez. She was stubborn, infuriating, and brave. He intended to keep her.
"If he tries anything," Núñez ordered as he grabbed her arm, "go ahead and shoot him somewhere that won't kill him, but that will inflict maximum pain. He's leverage. Shoot him. Either she'll get us the tablets, or they'll be blown out of existence soon enough. We'll keep him until he tells us where they are." Turning on his heel, he led the group deeper into the cave. The bright beam of his flashlight illuminated the uneven roughness of the walls in patches of light and shadow ahead of him.
"Asshat." Peri, directly behind Núñez, aimed a kick in his general direction. It didn't connect, but Finn gave her props for trying. They continued in single file, two men behind him. The rocky area echoed their footsteps and amped their voices.
The man behind him, who'd been given a taste of power, prodded him every few feet with a hard, fucking unnecessary slam of his weapon. Finn tolerated it because it kept the guy too busy to look down to see what his hands were doing.
It took some maneuvering, but as he walked, Finn pushed up a thin blade hidden in a double layer of fabric sewn imperceptibly inside the waistband of his pants. It had been designed and placed there with just this kind of scenario in mind – hands tied behind his back by a kidnapper.
He'd never needed any of the life-saving tools designed to go undetected inside his clothing. But he and McCoy had weekly practice runs to make sure that he could extricate himself in most situations. He was grateful for the proficiency now.
Finn's shoulders almost brushed the walls of the narrow corridor as he sawed at his bonds only a few feet from the man following in his footsteps. It was a slow, frustrating process. Especially since he was racing against time.
Right now he only had the two guys behind him to deal with. He had no idea what awaited them when the cavern opened up to where Case had told him Sea Witch was docked. They were unlikely to kill him. Not until he told them how to access the tablets. But there was a risk he'd be shot. Worse, Núñez could use Peri to leverage the information out of him. The fucker had already proved he was unscrupulous and sadistic.
He palmed the four inch, mini, carbide hacksaw. While narrow, the blade was flexible, and razor sharp. It was made to cut through metal. A plastic tie was nothing. After nicking himself several times, he sliced through the zip tie. The binding dropped way.
Finn's rage was ice cold as he whipped around, and stabbed the small blade into the jugular of the man directly behind him. He put his weight into it, felt the hot spill of blood over his hand. The guy gurgled, then dropped.
The second man started to shout out, but Finn slashed out blindly at about throat height. Without a sound, the guy dropped, falling over his friend. Finn wiped the bloody blade on the guy's shirt, then did the same for his hand.
Strike two.
He kept an ear open for the creak of the elevator indicating more of the Bad Guys coming down. "How badly are you hurt?" Finn eased up behind her as she limped a few feet ahead of him. Her bleeding wrists were still strapped behind her back. She'd worked at that plastic they'd used to control her until her wrists bled. Red-hot fury, knowing the pain she'd endured, almost derailed the calm he needed to maintain.
"My ribs where the son of a bitch kicked me, and my neck where they shot me with an animal freaking tranquilizer," she said softly. "And my pride for falling for Theo's bullshit. Other than that I'm peachy." She looked at him over her shoulder, her eyes widening, as he sliced her hands free.
"I'll kiss every inch of you better when we get out of here." There was a hitch in her step, but she didn't cry out to alert the others. "Any other way out?" Case hadn't known of one, but Peri had built the house, the elevator shaft, and the tunnels leading to the ocean.
"Main entrance. But they're sure to be watching that."
If there was no other way out, it had to be through. So be it. Through it was.
Núñez's flashlight bobbed, casting long, weird shadows up ahead as he yelled, "Keep them the fuck quiet back there."
"You know something, Theo?" Peri’s voice echoed eerily. "You're not only a psycho, you're a complete dick. How the hell do you think you can possibly get away with this? We have friends. Family. They'll alert the authorities."
"They'll never find us. After you provide my heirs, they'll never find your body."
Peri raised her voice. "I'll kill you before I let you touch me."
"I'll kill you before you touch her again," Finn assured him at the same time.
"There are ways to make you compliant, Ariel. Drugs are just one method." He paused. "Imagine being paralyzed but completely aware the entire time. As for you, Gallagher, once I have the tablets your usefulness will be at an end."
"Don't hold your breath. Unless I deactivate that electrical charge and defuse the bomb on the chopper, no one is getting their hands on those tablets. Impasse, dick for brains." The charge would kill anyone who touched the doors of the chopper.
"You'll change your mind about giving me the tablets when Ariel has my cock in her. I'll make you watch, Gallagher. She likes it rough, don't you, cariño? She'll beg me for more, and you'll beg me to stop. You'll give them up to me quickly enough." Núñez resumed walking. "Hurry up," he told his non existent men in Spanish. "My destiny is waiting."
"You aren't the only person in the world who can read those tablets, Núñez." Finn sped up. "You know Dr. Vadini read them, too."
"He bought into the shit he pretended to read," Núñez scoffed. "He can no more read all that text than I can. I, as Supreme Leader of the Chosen, have thousands of devout followers. Followers who will kill for me. Die for me. These followers have expectations. I'll show them the tablets, and "read" Blackstar's words to them. They have no idea what the tablets say. The Chosen know what Blackstar's prophecy is. The tablets just confirm what the seer predicted.
"Eleven thousand of the Chosen will be saved from Armageddon. We will populate the Earth with fresh ideas and innovative technologies. It will be a new era of enlightenment."
“You can’t create a legend that doesn’t exist. You can’t change the language on the tablets to suit your myth.”
"Read the news, watch television," Núñez sneered, clearly talking with his hands as the beam from his flashlight jerked across the rough-hewn walls with his movements. "Our world has gone mad. The Chosen will bring it back into the light. Purify it. Vadini claims to be a Protector, even though we know there are no longer any living Protectors. And he isn't living either," Núñez laughed. "By now the ship and all hands on board are nothing more than a large oil slick."
Núñez wasn't aware that the bomb had been found and sent out into the middle of the ocean. But even Blackstar's
safety paled in comparison to Peri's safety. She was everything. Anything else could be replaced. His staff and crew were trained for all emergencies, notwithstanding a bomb. Even though it had been discovered in time, everyone would've evacuated the ships by now.
Núñez turned a corner. The light of his flashlight dimmed, faded and then plunged them into complete darkness.
The dull creak of the elevator descending spurred Finn to move even faster. He touched her shoulder, and at the same time cupped his hand across her mouth before she could cry out in surprise.
"Elevator's on the way down. More of Núñez's men. And he'll realize we've dropped back in a minute. Other tunnels? Anywhere to hide?"
She felt for his hand in the dark, and when she connected, wove her fingers with his. Her hand felt ridiculously fragile for a warrior. "This way."
"It's here somewhere. . ." Peri ran her hand lightly along the wall, searching for the narrow opening into another tunnel. The tunnels connecting the caves were riddled with branches and offshoots. Some leading to other caverns, some dead-ending into a solid wall of granite.
"What are we looking for?"
"There's a huge cavern somewhere around here where we can hide out for a while. He'll never find it. Hell, I only discovered it when I was exploring down here during construction of the house." But that had been with the lights on. Now it was pitch dark, she was under duress, and she had no idea if it was back the way they'd come, or forward and closer to Theo and more of his gun-wielding henchmen.
Her heart throbbed in her throat. How long would it take Theo to realize that his entourage was no longer behind him?
"Stop for a sec and orientate yourself. We're heading back toward the elevator, right?" His warm breath lifted loose hair around her face to tickle her check. Peri wanted to bury her face against his chest. Wanted to wrap her arms around his waist, hold on, and never let go. She made do with finding his hand in the darkness, linking her fingers with his.
"There's a split, about two feet wide, just big enough to slip through down one of the branches. Most are dead ends and I don't want to get stuck with no way out." Her heart knocked against her ribs so loudly she was sure it was echoing like a drumbeat through the entire length of the tunnel and someone would hear it. With every thrum of her heart, she expected Theo and/or his men to come charging back to find them.
Hurryhurryhurry. "It should be here-"
The familiar creak of the small elevator descending caused a jolt of panic, making her stomach flop. "Oh, damn, the elevator is about quarter the way down. Where the hell is it?"
Finn clasped her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "We'll find it."
"I've never been down here in the pitch freaking dark before. Damn, I think it might be back the way we came a bit."
Finn turned around. "Be careful where you walk, there are bodies and assorted debris scattered about."
With her left hand in his, Peri felt her way along the right-hand wall. But every second, she anticipated the men who'd come down, to round a corner and see them. Or for Theo to backtrack with his bright flashlight. More men, more guns.
Her foot bumped one of the downed men, and she shuddered as she cautiously stepped over him.
About six, agonizing feet later, she felt a narrow opening which would lead- hopefully- to the right branching tunnel. "This way. Duck!" She led him in. This smaller tunnel was narrower, the ceiling barely over their heads. With the walls and low ceiling so tight, it was claustrophobic. The air here felt cold against her warm skin, and it smelled danker than the main tunnel.
"Is this-?"
Please don't let this be a dead end. "We'll soon find out." The rough granite abraded her hand as she brushed her palm along the walls, searching for the opening. "Yes!"
Another ten feet and she felt the narrow, angled gap in the granite. Peri sucked in a shaky breath of relief. "Here." Thank God. "Think of this as the eye of the needle, and we're the thread. It's extremely narrow. You'll have to slip through sideways. Be careful once you're on the other side. There are a couple of feet just inside the opening that are flat, then there's a sharp slope down to the water. It's slick, and hard to get a decent foothold because it's always wet. I'll go first."
"No, I'll-"
"I know what to expect," she assured him." Trust me."
"I do," he said, voice low, as he caressed her cheek. God, she wished she could see his face. She knew he rarely said that to anyone. There was more in those two simple words than most men ever said in a lifetime. "Be careful." His fingers dropped away, his warmth gone. Turning, she slipped between the rough walls into the large cavern. Pausing inside, she was met with the same stygian darkness as was in the outside passageway. The air here felt heavy, and smelled musty and strongly of salt. Unlike the corridor, there was no feeling that the outside was nearby. No fresh air. Just stale, still, cool air.
She squeezed his hand before releasing it. "It's about ten-ish feet down to a wide flat area. Then a narrow 'path' goes about a quarter the way around a lake on the right-hand side. From there it's sheer rock face. Go down on your butt, it's easiest. Ready?"
Finn made his way through, and together they sat, legs extended. Side by side, they hip-walked down the slope. At the bottom, he pushed to his feet and gave her a hand up. "It seems to be a bit lighter in here." Even his whispered voice echoed.
Her wrists and ankles burned like fire ants were eating her abraded skin, but adrenaline had fortunately wiped out the last of the tranquilizer. Now her rapid heart rate began to slow as she put distance between herself and the imminent danger.
Peri barely moved her lips when she responded. "Maybe, but I still can't see much of anything." As her eyes adjusted she realized that she could see darker shapes. Rocks, high walls, and the extremely faint glint of light on the vast area of the black water of the indoor lake.
"I explored in here -as far as I could at least, a couple of times over the years. I had no reason to want to climb and had plenty of excitement with my salvage. Not to mention I didn't fancy doing that alone. The lake fills with water at high tide and the rocks pretty much stay wet and slippery. This flat part goes about a quarter the way around to the right before it drops off. But there are a few deep depressions in the rock about fifteen or twenty feet down that way, that'll keep us out of sight if necessary. Keep your hand on the slope on the right, it changes to a sheer face a couple of hundred feet in. Not sure how to get around the other side of the lake other than swim across. Don't fall in. The water is icy cold, and at least fifty feet deep."
"Ocean's got to come in somewhere. That means there's a way out."
"I presumed there's an aquifer feeding the lake. I didn't see any opening the last time I was here, and I had a strong flashlight. But that doesn't mean there isn't one somewhere." Finn grabbed her arm to steady her as her foot slipped.
He made sure she was steady before he let go. "Let’s get away from the entrance, out of view until Núñez gives up looking for us. There's some kind of light coming in, we just have to find the opening."
"Núñez won't give up, you know. He sees me as a vessel for his future progeny. I'm apparently part of his twisted destiny."
"Like hell."
"Yeah, well," she smiled at his vehemence. "I'm not thrilled about the prospect either." When she fell silent, the barely perceptible sounds of yelling and the pop-pop-pop of gunfire carried inside the cavern. "Hear that?"
"Yeah." He cocked his head. "No idea of distance or direction. Let's presume they're on their way. If there's no way out to the beach from here, we shouldn't have long to wait. We sit tight until your brother and the Cutters get here. They're either en route or already here. They have enough firepower to keep Núñez’s people busy."
Peri stopped walking. "How—You contacted my brother?"
"You were kidnapped. Of course, I called your brother."
"I'd love to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation." Peri flattened her hand on the wall beside her as her f
oot slipped on the slick rock again. "I'll take all the help I can get right now. I don't normally need rescuing, but this is over and above crazy."
"Kidnapping was one thing, but your psycho ex-boyfriend brought a fucking army with him. We're talking several dozen or more heavily armed, trained soldiers. He's not dicking around. Hell, we'll both take all the help we can get."
"Thanks for reminding me what poor judgement I had. Be careful here, the footing gets narrower." The slope on the left became a sharper drop. The good news was her eyes were adjusting, and unlike the tunnel, this area had some source of light. Her heart leapt at the prospect of getting out of the caverns before Theo found them.
The flat area abruptly narrowed to nothing. "I think this is about as far as we can go without swimmi—" Again, Peri's feet skated on the smooth, slick rock and it was only Finn's quick reflexes that stopped her from falling. He held her tightly against his chest and rested his chin on top of her head.
The achingly familiar scent of his skin was comforting. His strong arms encircling her made her feel invincible. Closing her eyes, she rested the back of her head on his chest, and clasped her arms around his to pull them more tightly around her.
"This is neither the time, not the place, but I have to tell you-I was an ass," he whispered, turning her in his arms, holding her securely. "And sorrier than I can ever say."
"Which time?" she smiled up at him as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
"All times you deem appropriate," he said wryly. "But specifically this afternoon. I was insensitive, and reactionary when I heard what you told to the Cutters. I reacted from emotion, not rationale. Then while I was processing that, I got a text from my attorney telling me my ex partner, Derry had been released from prison- I was so pissed, I forgot the most important person. You."
