Page 56 of So Insane

She looked up and saw Benny standing at the entrance to the cave, holding a lit stick of dynamite. He must have stashed some throughout the cave system, taken from the old mining supply.

Michael lifted his handgun, but Benny threw the dynamite first.

The stick careened down the tunnel toward them, its fuse pinwheeling sparks as it rolled downward.

"Run!" Faith shouted. She grabbed Shawna, and Michael grabbed Frankie. The five of them sprinted down the cave. Faith looked over her shoulder and saw the dynamite come to rest a few yards behind them.

A second later, the fuse sputtered, and Faith saw in horror that it was about to reach the end.

“Get down!” she shouted.

She pulled Shawna to the ground and saw Michael and Frankie hit the deck. Turk jumped on top of her and flattened himself just as the cave shuddered and lit up with a brief, brilliant flash of white.

Faith stood, and after verifying that everyone was uninjured, she turned around to see the tunnel blocked by rubble. Benny had sealed them inside.

“We need to go back to the mine entrance,” Michael said. “Benny won’t be able to cave it in with all of the police officers there.”

Faith wasn’t as confident as Michael was, but when she looked at his face, she saw he wasn’t confident either. He was only saying that for the girls’ benefit.

And it was their best chance, even if it wasn’t a good one.

They started down the tunnel, occasionally consulting the maps to make sure they were headed in the right direction.

“I think we can reach the entrance faster if we take one of these tunnels,” Michael said, pointing to a system of natural tunnels that connected with the mines closer to the entrance and avoided the maze Faith and Shawna had navigated during their search for Frankie.

“Works for me,” Faith said.

"Well, before you say yes," Michael said, lowering his voice so the others wouldn't hear, "the tunnels are narrow. If we get jumped by Benny again, it's going to be tight work fighting him. I can lead, so I have the weapon. We can keep Turk in the rear, but if he gets one of us in a bad spot, we might not be able to get out of it."

Faith considered a moment. On open ground, she was confident that she, Michael or Turk could handle Benny, alone or together. They weren't on open ground, however. They were in a cave system that Benny knew, like the back of his hand. He had home-field advantage, and that was far from a minor concern in this circumstance.

But if he caved in the other entrances, they would be doomed. Their survival depended on getting out of this cave before he could close them in.

“All right,” she said. “Lead the way.”They reached the tunnel and found it as narrow as Michael described. If they moved carefully, they could stay on their feet, but it was painfully slow going.

Faith listened carefully as they walked. From time to time, she could hear skittering in the tunnels around and above them, but she couldn’t tell if the noise was made by rats or by Benny.

The darkness was oppressive. Even with their flashlights, it seemed that they swam through a thick sea of black. Even the air seemed thicker down here. The girls whimpered and clung to each other as they followed Michael. Faith wished she could think of something to say to reassure them, but nothing she could think of outweighed the all-consuming darkness.

Then the tunnel opened up. Faith looked around and saw that they had reached the main cavern just before the mine entrance. She sighed with relief. They had made it. They would be all right.

Then a cry of rage split the air. She whirled around, but not in time to stop Benny from shoving her backwards off of her feet. She flew backwards, dropping her light in the process. It skittered to the side, its beam arcing through the darkness as it spun around.

Michael turned around and leveled his weapon at the killer, but Benny dove behind a cart and the bullet ricocheted harmlessly off of the side. Faith got to her feet and watched as Benny rushed from car to car, remaining behind cover as Michael tried ineffectually to find a shot.

A rock sailed through the air toward Michael’s head. “Look out!” Faith cried.

Michael saw the rock just in time to avoid getting bruised in the head. The rock crashed into his shoulder instead. He cried out and dropped his weapon, and Benny leaped for him.

Turk saw him and lunged, jaws snapping. Benny veered away from Michael, but as he did, he kicked the handgun across the room. It fell into a pit a dozen yards away.

Michael stood, rubbing his sore shoulder, and glared at Benny, who scrambled away from Turk, casting wide, fearful eyes on the dog.

His gaze flickered up toward the girls, and his eyes narrowed. With a cry of rage, he

rushed toward them. Turk leaped in between the killer and the two women, fangs bared, ears flat against his head.

Benny snarled at the dog, his rage seeming to have overcome his fear, and lunged for him, but Turk sidestepped. He snapped at Benny’s ankles, but Benny too was prepared. He leapt out of harm’s way, then kicked at Turk. The blow glanced off of Turk’s hip, but it was enough to send the dog flying toward the two agents.

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