Page 101 of Trapped

Chapter Nineteen

Cash sat up with a start.

Something was jangling in his head.

Music?

His stomach clenched.

No. Not music. It was the cell phone ringing.

It must be Luntz. Nobody else besides Sophia had the number.

Glancing at the clock, he saw that the colonel had waited six hours before responding. Fine.

He rubbed his eyes and cleared his throat. Then, feeling better than he had in days, he picked up the phone. “Colonel Luntz?”

The man on the other end of the line drew in a quick breath. And Cash could imagine him rearing back. “How do you know who this is?”

“I didn’t know.” He lowered his voice. “I was praying you’d call me back.”

“Where are you?”

He gave a hollow laugh. “I’m not that stupid. I’m where you can’t find me—unless I want you to.”

“I wouldn’t count on that.”

Cash glanced up as Frank came into the room and sat down in the easy chair. Sophia stood in the doorway. They’d both been waiting for the call, too. And the phone was turned up so both could hear the other end of the conversation.

Cash swore. “If you can trace this call, maybe I should hang up.”

“No! Wait. We can help you,” Luntz said.

He shoveled despair into his voice. “Sometimes I think nobody can help me.”

“The problem is, that girl screwed with your mind.”

“You said it!”

“I can take care of her for you.”

“Like how?”

“She left her fingerprints in the bunker. We know her name. She’s Sophia Rhodes. She’s supposed to be working for the Howard County Mental Health Department.” He made a deprecating sound. “But she took a leave of absence—to go and get herself into trouble. Who’s she really working for?”

Cash’s skin went cold. He glanced at Sophia, knowing his expression looked sick. “She didn’t tell me.”

“And now she’s disappeared,” Luntz said. “We know you grew up in the same town. Ellicott City, Maryland. Is she your lover? Is that why she got you out of that bunker? And how did she do it?”

He glanced across the room at Sophia. This was a development he hadn’t expected. “She said she vacationed in the area. She knew about the cave entrance.”

“Ah. But how did she know you were there?”

“She didn’t tell me. I think someone paid her to do it.”

“How do I know you’re being straight with me?” the colonel demanded.

“What do I have to do to convince you?”

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