Page 97 of Fallen Stars

A deafeningbangfills the air. I lift my hands to cover my ears.

The hand around my biceps squeezes hard. In an instant, I am dragged down the hall. The door to my cell is whipped open.

Shouts and gunshots ring through the air. Rather than duck, I turn in the direction of the noise. Several people dressed in black storm the hallway.

The guard shoves me in my cell and I fall to the floor. He lifts his gun and fires it at the people in black.

As the door slams shut, I hear someone yell, “Levi!”

TWENTY-EIGHT

OLIVER

The past weekhas been nothing short of chaos. From the moment Tymber uncovered the lead on Levi’s computer, everything switched gears. Moved faster. Became more urgent.

Because time is not on our side.

At least one of us, if not more, is working to discover the location of where Levi had been taken at all hours.

A day and a half ago, the Coast Guard surveyed an unusually high level of activity on a supposedly uninhabited island four to five miles off the coast of central Washington. Several docked boats and yachts, with many others coming and going.

The night of the discovery, law enforcement loitered in a boat far enough from the island to not be seen as they watched the activity level go from high to extreme. Releasing a drone with a night vision camera, they were able to get a better view of what we were up against. They watched as unconscious people of all ages were carried off boats, thrown in a pile on a trailer, and carted off to what appeared to be a door.

With the naked eye, the door was connected to a space barely large enough for three people. After taking the fifth person through the door, law enforcement surmised there was a levelbeneath the surface. A building beneath the earth and trees. To what extent, no one had a clue.

Yesterday, law enforcement and Tymber made a plan.

Ambush the island, imprison who we can, but take out uncontainable threats, and get inside the door.

Tymber and Travis argued with me when I informed them I was coming along. For hours, we went back and forth. They wanted to keep me safe. They didn’t want to worry about me while entering the unknown.

But I didn’t back down. I didn’t give them a choice.

Like it or not, I would be in the room when we found Levi. Period.

This is why I am now suited up in way too much tactical gear, without a weapon, and following behind Tymber as we wander long, clinical hallways with numerous doors on stealthy feet.

“Levi!” I holler, no longer concerned about being quiet.

We stormed the island fifteen minutes ago. Officers from various law enforcement agencies have taken out or detained no less than thirty individuals—and we’ve just grazed the surface.

They know we are here, so now it’s about finding Levi and freeing the people within these walls.

Pop, pop, pop.

Bullets fly through the air. Bodies fall to the ground—thankfully, none on our side. Alarms wail through the halls at deafening levels. Masked people appear out of thin air with weapons created for war and death.

With hands shaking and anxiety twisting my insides, I push forward.

“Levi!”

The team veers to the side, avoiding a body on the ground. As we reach the masked man, I pause when silver glints from the waist of his pants. I squat and reach for the clip hooked to his belt loop.

Keys. Three brass and three silver. And a key card.

Disobeying orders, I shuffle out of line and move to one of the doors. I flip through the keys on the ring and try to unlock the door.

“Oliver, no.” Tymber rests a hand on my shoulder. “We don’t know what’s behind these doors.”

---