Page 59 of Silent Ritual

“I don’t think you’re going to shoot me no matter what I do,” he said.

“And why’s that?”

“Because if you do, this whole tunnel is liable to collapse around us. It’s quite unstable.”

Solberg's smile was predatory, the kind of smile that reaffirmed Sheila's belief that he was unstable, a madman. His words hung in the air like a threat—if she took him down, she risked bringing the entire tunnel down on them.

Still, she held her weapon steady, her finger itching against the trigger. Laura was trembling behind her, and she could feel the woman's weak hold around her waist tighten in fear.

"You're lying," Sheila said.

"Am I?" Solberg's eyes gleamed in the eerie glow of the flashlight. "Why don't you test it out?"

Was he telling the truth or just messing with her? And did he even know one way or the other? Surely he was just guessing.

But can I take that risk? she wondered.

“Wise choice,” Solberg said. “I’ll tell you what’s going to happen now. I’m going to turn around and leave—I can find my way out easily enough. And you’re not going to stop me, because you can’t risk killing us all.”

Sheila stared at him, feeling helpless. “Please,” Laura whispered behind her. “Don’t leave me. Let someone else go after him.”

Solberg was already turning away. Sheila pointed her gun at him, her hand shaking. Then she lowered it and watched him disappear.

Just then, footsteps approached from behind. Sheila swung around to see Finn approaching.

“Sheila!” he said, casting a puzzled glance at Laura. “Was she—”

“Solberg had her, yes,” Sheila said. “I need you to look after her.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“I’m going after him,” Sheila said, clenching her jaw. “And I’m going to stop him, no matter what it takes.”

She could tell from Finn’s eyes that he was preparing a response, a way to try to convince her that she was making a mistake. But she was done second-guessing, done listening to caution. It was time for action. She turned and ran into the gaping mouth of the tunnel again, leaving Finn and Laura behind.

As she ran, Sheila kept her hand on the rough stone wall for balance. Her eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness, her flashlight slicing through the inky blackness. Each step echoed ominously, reminding her of Solberg's threat about the stability of the tunnel. She forced herself to push aside the fear, focusing only on finding Solberg.

Suddenly, she felt it—a soft gust of air that hadn't been there before. She stopped in her tracks, listening intently. There—it was again! A faint breeze drifting from a tunnel on her right.

Quickly deciding it was her best lead, she rushed forward, every sense alert.

The tunnel opened up into a labyrinth of passages, and Sheila stopped, uncertain which way to go. If she made the wrong decision here, she might lose him forever.

“Damn it,” she muttered, growing more anxious with every passing second. Should she just choose a tunnel at random, see where it led? What if she chose wrong and Solberg—

“Sheila!” a voice called. That wasn’t Solberg’s voice or Finn’s. In fact, it wasn’t a man’s voice at all. It was a woman’s.

Or, more precisely, a girl’s.

“Star,” she muttered, her heart leaping into her throat as she raced into one of the tunnels, following the source of the sound. Had Star followed her into the mine despite her very clear instructions to stay in the car? Had she walked straight into the hands of Solberg?

"Star!" she shouted, "where are you?"

"In here," came the faint reply.

Sheila followed the voice into a narrow corridor, her heart pounding in her chest. Every instinct told her this was a trap, but she couldn't leave Star alone.

And then suddenly, she was there. In a small hollow of the tunnel sat Star, her legs pulled to her chest, her dark eyes wide in fear.

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