by Lisa Harris
“What are you thinking?” she said.
“I’ve been assuming that this is just another safe room, but what if it was actually modified for another reason?”
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it. We’ve already talked about how a safe room typically is a place to go in the event of a burglary when your life is at stake. People also use them as a place to go during bad weather, but you always need a way to communicate with the outside.”
“And that’s what’s missing.”
He worked through his thoughts out loud. “We know that most rooms like this have a dedicated landline or, at the least, a cell phone. There should also be a radio—some way to communicate to the outside world. But for some reason, we haven’t been able to find any of those things.”
“Okay.”
“Clearly, King could have taken any form of communication out, but that’s not the only thing missing. There should also be a way out. A way to unlock the door from the inside in case someone was accidently trapped inside.”
“So how did you get all of that from a Scrabble game?
“The word seal makes me think of something that’s been concealed or hidden.”
“And how does that get us out of here?”
“Something else is missing. If the purpose of a safe room is to keep you safe inside, there should always be a release handle that bypasses the locking mechanism—”
“So people don’t get locked in.”
“Exactly. And while I looked for one, and couldn’t find one, that doesn’t mean it isn’t here. This room has been upgraded or modified recently. Don’t get up, but can you see the paint here?”
He pointed to a section near the door.
“Yeah…it looks like it was sloppily done.”
“The color doesn’t quite match the rest of the room. There’s also some spackling under this trim here.”
“They were covering something.”
“Exactly.” He grabbed a Scrabble tile and started chipping away some of the paint.
“All of this makes me want to know who owns this house and what exactly they were planning to use this for,” she said.
“It has to be connected somehow to the money your brother stole. Which means it wouldn’t be surprising if this was used for a number of illegal activities.” He turned around and walked to the other side of the small room. “There’s a square indention on the carpet here, and I don’t think this stain on the floor is rust.”
“Blood?”
“More than likely, yes.”
“And the indention?”
“They could have been storing something here. A gun locker, drugs…whatever made King three hundred thousand dollars.”
“I think it’s safe to assume that whatever he’s involved in is illegal.” She picked up one of the tiles. “But why are there games in here?”
“They could have been left behind by the previous owner. On the outside, if anyone was to look in, it appears to be nothing more than a safe room.” He studied the wall where it had been repainted. “Have you ever done one of those escape-room parties?”
“No. Honestly, the thought of being locked in a room for an hour—even for entertainment—gives me the creeps.”
“I did it with some friends in Denver a few months ago.” He started chipping again at the paint. “We showed up at this house and were given a brief storyline of some far-fetched scenario where we had to stop evil spies from stealing classified information. The door locked behind us, and we were given sixty minutes to find the key before getting caught. It took us fifty-five minutes and, to be honest, I wasn’t sure we were going to make it in time until the very end. Point is, we did. I’m determined to figure this out, as well.”
“All I know is that after this experience, I don’t think I’ll have any desire to do that for fun.”
“Agreed.” He looked around the room, found a block of wood and started hammering. He knew she was nervous and, quite frankly, he didn’t blame her. But he meant what he said. There had to be a way out of here, and he would find it.
“Is he going to be able to hear you pounding?” she asked.
“I assume it’s bomb-blast-resistant, fire-resistant and soundproof.”
Caden kept working on the wall, chipping away at the section someone had clearly covered up. “Do you know anything about the case your brother had been working on?”
“Only what I saw on the news, which wasn’t much. Apparently there were several warrants issued connected to the case, and there were drugs involved, but really, that’s all I know.” She frowned. “I wonder if there’s a way to trace them to this house.”
“I was wondering the same thing. Problem is, even if Bruce and Levi go to the police, unless they can figure out the connection to King, it’s not going to matter.” A large chunk of drywall broke off, exposing a bunch of wires. “They’ve definitely covered this up. If I can find the electromagnetic locks…” He pulled on a lever and heard the click of the lock being released.
The door clicked open.
Caden felt his pulse quicken as he stepped out of the room with Gwen right behind him. He was grateful his idea to open the door had actually worked, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. While the ice pack had probably helped numb Gwen’s pain, he was also certain that every step jolted her hurt ankle. At the moment, though, their only objective was to get out of here without getting caught. They’d witnessed firsthand what King was willing to do to get the money, and as far as they knew, the man was still in the house and armed. And while they might have the element of surprise, without Caden’s weapon, and with her injured, they were definitely at a disadvantage.
“Are you going to be okay walking?” he asked, keeping his voice low.
She nodded, determination marking her expression. “What’s the next step?”
“Best-case scenario, we escape the house without a confrontation. But in case we don’t, we need to find some kind of weapon. We also have to look for a cell phone, and a vehicle to get out of here would be far better than walking. And in the meantime, I’ll try to buy us some time.”
“How?”
He turned back to the door they’d just exited and pushed it shut. “I’ll jam the lock. Not only will he think we’re still in there, but he’ll struggle to open it.”
He rigged it the best he could, then glanced down both sides of the hall, hesitating for a moment before he signaled for her to follow him. While he wasn’t sure exactly where they were, he knew the house was more than likely a holiday retreat. And judging from the size of the place, he could narrow it down to a handful of locations. He just had to hope that was enough and they could find help.
It was quiet in the hallway as they started down the corridor. He paused, slowly opening each door. The house was fully furnished, and a pale light streamed through the windows, which meant it was already morning. He was surprised King hadn’t come for Gwen yet, but there were clearly many variables at play. Had he even heard from her brother again? There was no way to know.
Caden heard a creak from downstairs and grabbed her hand. Voices sounded from below them, a muffled conversation he couldn’t quite make out.
“Sounds like he’s on the phone. We’re going to need that weapon.”
He opened another door that led to the bathroom, quickly pulled off two metal towel rods, then handed her one.
“Really?” she asked. “I was expecting something a bit more, I don’t know… MacGyverish.”
“MacGyverish?” He held up his metal rod. “Is that even a word?”
She shot him a grin and shrugged. “It is now.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Completely.”
He had a feeling she was as surprised at the confession as he was. A couple days ago, he’d still been on her Most-Disliked-and-Mistrusted li
st. But she did have a point. How were they supposed to go up against an armed man with two towel holders?
“If we do end up having to confront him, well…we’ll deal with that. At least we’re not against two of them anymore, but our priority needs to be finding a phone and some car keys.”
He started down the stairs in front of her, praying the steps didn’t creak.
He could hear King talking, but he still couldn’t see where the man was. At the bottom of the staircase was expensive wood flooring. The room had high ceilings with thick wooden beams and a few pieces of artwork on the walls. To the left was a large stone fireplace. A glass wall to the right showed an incredible view of the mountains. On the other side of the windows, a wooden balcony extended the living space.
“He just stepped outside,” she said. “He’s probably having issues with reception like he was earlier.”
Caden hurried into the kitchen, quickly pulled open a couple of drawers, then held up his find. “Here’s a phone and some car keys.”
Gwen frowned. “This was Sawyer’s phone.”
She was right. Making it a stark reminder of what they were up against.
“We need to get out of here—”
“Caden, wait…”
King’s voice got louder.
“He’s coming back inside.”
Blocking their exit to the garage.
Caden grabbed her hand and pulled her back up the staircase. He’d counted five rooms on the second floor along with two bathrooms, plus access to another balcony, which as far as he could tell had no easy exit. But while there might be dozens of places to hide, like under beds or in closets, once King discovered they were missing, he’d come after them. They needed to get out of the house. But for the moment, they were going to have to hide.
He glanced down the hallway. He’d jammed the door to the safe room, though as far as he was concerned, going back in there wasn’t an option. Instead, he led her into one of the rooms and pulled her against him behind the door. He was still holding on to the towel rod, as ready as he could be. If King realized they’d escaped, or if he’d come to get them to leave, Caden had no idea what the man’s reaction would be.
He tried to hear the conversation, but whoever he was on the phone with was doing all the talking. Footsteps passed on the other side of the door. Gwen pressed in against his chest. He could feel her breath on his arm as they stood as quietly as possible beside the door. He felt her heart beating against him. His arms wrapped tighter around her. The only thing he could focus on right now was the fear he wasn’t going to be able to keep her safe. He fought to reel in his emotions. Everything that had happened over the past forty-eight hours had made him question so many things about his past. While he might be attracted to her, anything beyond that was ridiculous. He had no intention of falling for her.
“I think he’s in the bathroom.” Caden took her hand. “We need to get out of here. Now.”
Still holding her hand, they hurried back down the staircase to the garage door without running into King. Caden opened the door then clicked the key fob he was holding at the two cars.
Nothing.
“Where is it?” she asked.
“I don’t know, and I didn’t see any other keys. We have to go by foot for the moment. Can you make it?”
She nodded, but he could see the pain in her eyes.
They stepped outside and he held up the phone.
“So no signal?” she asked.
“Nothing.” Irritation wormed its way through him. “With no car and no phone, we need to find the nearest neighbor and get help.”
There was no way Gwen could hike out there for long.
“Stop worrying about me,” she said. “I’ll be fine. I have to be.”
They started walking away from the house as fast as she could go, down the dirt driveway. Barking to their right shifted his attention as a German Shepherd lunged at them, stopped only by a chain-link fence.
Gwen grabbed onto Caden. “Where did he come from?”
“I heard a dog barking yesterday when we arrived, but I didn’t see him. I definitely don’t want to run into him when he’s not behind that fence.”
“No kidding.”
He didn’t want to scare Gwen, but he knew there was a good chance that Fido here had just sounded the alarm. Or, at the very least, it would get King to check and make sure no one was out here.
And that no one had escaped the house.
King had made it clear that murder was definitely on the table, which meant the next time they ran into the man, they were going to have a fight on their hands.
TWELVE
Gwen followed as closely to Caden as she could, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep up for long. Every step sent a sharp stab through her ankle that shot up to her upper leg. The swelling had only gotten worse, and before they’d left the safe room, she’d noticed that her ankle was turning a dark blue. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could walk. And yet what choice did she have? It was only a matter of time before King noticed that they were gone, and once he did, he would come after them.
Her mind automatically ran through everything that had happened over the past two days as they headed down the edge of the driveway, staying among the trees as much as possible. The entire situation had left her terrified, because she knew that without Caden, she wouldn’t be alive right now. She glanced up at him, surprised at how much she trusted a man she’d despised for so long. Surprised at how everything she thought she felt about the man had changed. But that didn’t really change anything in the end. She still had no desire to put her heart on the line…even for Caden. It was simply too much of a risk.
She tripped over a rock and felt her ankle twist. She let out a sharp breath and bit back the pain. Tears filled her eyes.
“Gwen?”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.” He grabbed her arm, holding on to her until she steadied herself, then bent down and looked at her ankle. “The swelling is getting worse. If you keep walking, you’re going to end up doing some permanent damage.”
She sucked in a lungful of air and mentally pushed away the pain. “Really. I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
She looked back toward the house, but she couldn’t see it anymore. All around them were thick trees with dozens of hiding places. King was only one person, but Caden was right. She wasn’t fine. It was all she could do not to cry from the pain.
“Maybe you should go and get help,” she said. “I can find a place to hide until you come back.”
Caden shook his head. “And if he finds you before I get back? You’d have no way to defend yourself.”
She held up the metal towel rod he’d given her. “I’ve still got this weapon.”
“Very funny. It might have been the best I could come up with, but against a gun…”
“I’ll be fine. He’s just one person. He can’t look everywhere. Besides, he’ll assume we both left.”
“Forget it.” Clearly, Caden wasn’t buying her idea. “I’m not leaving you, Gwen. We’re going to have to find a way out of this together.”
“Caden—”
“Just a minute…” He held up the phone in his search for signal. “Finally… I’ve got a signal now. If I can call 911…”
He pressed on the word emergency in order to bypass the pass-code protection, then called 911 and put it on speaker.
“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”
“This is Caden O’Callaghan, and I—”
“Caden, can you hear me…it’s Griffin. I’ve been running the 911 calls at the station all night hoping you’d call.”
“Your brother?” Gwen asked.
Caden smiled and nodded.
“Griffin.” He let out a sharp huff of air. “I�
��ve never been so glad to hear a familiar voice.”
“Where are you? We’ve got witnesses that claim you were held up at gunpoint on the river down in the canyon.”
“Let’s just say I managed to get myself into a bit of trouble. The problem is I’m not sure where I am right now. You’re going to have to try and trace this call.”
“I’ll keep trying, but I’m finding it hard to track your location.”
She glanced back toward the house again, distracted by the sound of the dog barking. Certain every noise was King coming after them.
“We were told you’re with someone.”
“I am, and she’s here with me now.” He glanced at her. “Her name is Gwen Ryland, and long story short, I found her, but so did the bad guys. We’ve managed to escape, but like I said, we’re going to need help getting out of here.”
“I keep telling you, you should carry one of those GPS trackers for hikers.”
Caden frowned. “My Glock has always been enough.”
“Until now. But listen, I’m running a trace. Give me any details you can of where you are in the meantime.”
“We drove about fifteen, maybe twenty minutes from the top of Rim Rock Trail, but we were blindfolded. We’re now outside an isolated two-story house that’s probably three or four thousand square feet and has a safe room on the second floor. We’re a couple hundred yards from the house near a ridge overlooking the valley, and we haven’t run into any neighbors yet.”
“What about the person behind this?”
“His name’s King and he’s somehow tied to Gwen’s brother, Aaron Ryland, who’s a bounty hunter who stole money from him.”
“Is that what this is all about?”
“Three hundred thousand dollars. Gwen’s brother took the money. At least according to King, that’s what happened. He killed his partner and now he’s trying to use Gwen as leverage to get it back.”
