Page 44 of Death Valley

A faint grayish light appears ahead, the end of the tunnel, though whether it opens to daylight or another tunnel is impossible to tell from this distance. The horses pick up their pace slightly, as eager as the rest of us to escape the oppressive darkness.

That’s when I hear it.

A soft scraping sound, like nails on stone, coming from somewhere behind us. I twist in the saddle. Nothing but empty tunnel stretches behind us.

“Did you hear that?” I ask Hank, who rides directly behind me.

But there’s no answer.

“Hank?” I call, louder this time.

Silence.

What the fuck? Where did he go?

I rein in Duke, turning him fully around. Cole and Red have already passed me, moving toward the growing light ahead. Only Jensen remains, his flashlight pointed at the ground in front of him.

“Where’s Hank?” I ask, fighting to keep my voice steady.

Jensen’s eyes scan the darkness behind us. “I passed him not thirty seconds ago.” His beam sweeps the tunnel. “Hank!” he calls out, his voice echoing off the stone walls, returning to us in diminishing repetitions.Hank… hank… ank…

Nothing answers but the steady drip of water.

“We need to go back,” I say.

“No. We keep moving forward.”

“We can’t just leave him.”

“He probably fell behind to take a leak. We’ll wait for him at the tunnel exit.” His voice leaves no room for argument, but there’s something in his eyes I’ve never seen before. Something that looks disconcertingly like fear.

Suddenly a sound echoes through the tunnel—a distant shout, cut off abruptly.

Jensen’s head snaps around, staring into the darkness. “Ride,” he orders, voice tight. “Now!”

He doesn’t wait for my response, already urging Jeopardy forward, past Duke, toward the growing light ahead, clucking ina way that prompts both horses into a canter, one that has my hands in a death grip around the saddle horn.

Another sound reaches me, too distant to identify clearly, but raising the hair on the back of my neck nonetheless.

It’s low and echoing.

Sinister laughter.

14

JENSEN

“Hank!” Aubrey’s voice echoes through the tunnel, bouncing off the stone walls before fading into darkness. The worry in her tone cuts through the steady drip of water and the muffled breathing of the horses. “Did you hear that?” she asks me. “I thought I heard?—”

Suddenly a beam of light appears around the bend behind us. Hank emerges on his mount a moment later, looking sheepish but distinctly unsettled.

“Sorry,” he mutters, clucking to his horse and hurrying to catch up. “Nature called. Didn’t think I’d be missed so quick.”

“Jesus Christ,” I exhale, relief warring with irritation. “Next time tell someone before you decide to take a leak in the middle of a damn tunnel. I didn’t know what you were doing.”

Hank nods, but his eyes keep darting back the way he came. There’s something in his expression I don’t like—the wide-eyed look of a spooked horse. And until today, Hank wasn’t the type of guy to get spooked.

“You okay?” I ask, keeping my voice low so the others ahead don’t hear.

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