Page 23 of Kidnapping of a Myth

“Michael!” Bel screamed, forgetting her fear of Eamon as she tossed her sidearm into the dirt before plunging into the tumultuous water. It was icy cold, a shock to her system, and a strangled gasp burst from her lips as she forced herself down the stairs. By the time she reached the bottom, the water had risen to her chest.

“Help me!” a small and terrified voice shouted from the darkness, and Bel dove for the sound. Eamon surged into the flood behind her, but when he didn’t follow her, she twisted to find his massive form in the shadows. He angled toward where the surveillance camera was mounted on the ceiling, and with a single movement, he crushed it in his fist.

“I don’t want records of this,” he said as he captured her waist and shoved her toward the sobbing child. The water was up to their throats, and Bel understood his need to hide. With IEDs and a welded door guarding this bunker, she could only imagine what else would require Eamon’s strength to be on full display. He couldn’t risk evidence of his monster leaking to the public.

“Michael, keep speaking!” she shouted, spitting as water rushed into her mouth. They had minutes before the entire room flooded, and Eamon shoved her faster.

“Help me, please!” the boy cried, his voice close in the blackness, and Eamon launched Bel at the sound.

“Michael!” Her palms found his small chest, and she traced her hands along his torso, searching for the locks. “My name is Detective Isobel Emerson. I’m here to help you.”

“I want Wendy!” Michael screamed, his mouth almost submerged.

“I’m going to take you to her, okay?” Bel’s fingers brushed against the restraints, and her already frigid body went icy. The child was welded to the wall, making it impossible for a human to free him, and the raging water was inches from the ceiling. They had minutes before they all drowned.

“Eamon!” She grabbed his hands and guided them to the locks. “You’re going to have to break them.”

“Hold his head up,” he instructed, and Bel grabbed the child’s face. She angled his mouth upward, her own mouth dipping below the water as she lost the use of her arms, and her treading legs accidentally kicked Eamon as he plunged below the surface. For a moment, the sound of Michael’s sobs was the only thing she could hear above the rushing water, but then the snap of metal echoed softly as Eamon broke the boy’s ankle restraints. A second later, the thick metal chains around Michael’s waist shattered, but they were too late. The boy sank underwater, his restrained arms keeping him from breathing the fraction of air still hovering above them.

Bel inhaled and pulled Michael’s submerged mouth to hers, exhaling into his lungs. She resurfaced, her lips dragging against the ceiling as she captured another breath, and then she dove, knowing that was her last lungful. If they didn’t escape the cellar in the next few minutes, they would drown. And with that dangerous knowledge, she gave Michael her last breath.

Eamon’s fists seized the chains around the boy’s wrists and yanked, snapping them in half as Bel caught Michael’s small body. She couldn’t see Eamon, but she knew what he needed, and she pressed the boy to her chest. Eamon’s broad hands instantly found her waist, and he pulled both of them down as he bent his legs. He pushed off the ground with incredible power, propelling all three of them through the freezing water, and justwhen she thought her lungs would explode, his boots landed on the steps. Eamon vaulted upward, and their heads finally burst into the sunlight.

Bel gasped for breath as Michael screamed and coughed, but Eamon didn’t stop moving until they were feet away from the cellar’s flooded entrance. Once they were a safe distance, he collapsed to his knees, keeping them wrapped in his tight embrace as he struggled to breathe. For a moment, Bel sat between them, ignoring the cold as she concentrated on their heaving chests. With every inhale, Eamon’s chest pressed against her spine, and with every cough, Michael’s ribs pushed into hers. They were breathing. They hadn’t drowned, and with that overwhelming relief, she peeled Michael off her chest. She grabbed his face, studying him from head to toe, but he was unharmed. He was screaming and sobbing and clinging to her in terror, but the child was alive.

“I got you,” Bel pulled him back into a hug, and for a minute, the three of them sat soaked and frozen in the dirt. “I got you. You’re okay,” she soothed, and Michael wrapped his small arms around her neck, his grip so tight it almost hurt, but she didn’t care. He was alive.

“Thank you,”she mouthed at Eamon, and he possessively gripped the back of her head, pulling her close as he kissed her soaked hair. They sat together for a long moment, letting Michael cry, letting Eamon hold them with his protective power, and when the boy’s ribs finally stopped shaking, Bel gently lifted his chin to look him in the eyes.

“This is my friend Eamon Stone,” she whispered. “Wendy called him to help you, and we’re going to take you to see her now. Is it okay if he carries you home?”

The child nodded, and Eamon stood, depositing Bel onto her feet. She handed the boy to him, and Michael instinctively wrapped his arms and legs around the giant man’s torso.

“Step where I step. There might be more IE… those things,” Eamon corrected for Michael’s benefit as Bel reclaimed her gun, and he shifted the kid into one arm so he could extend his free hand to her.

“I would call Wendy, but my phone is ruined.” She slipped her fingers through his as they started the return trek through the woods. With her on foot, the distance would take double the time, and she knew Wendy would be inconsolable after the video feed cut out.

“Mine too, since it’s in your pocket. When we get back to the house, I’ll use the laptop to overnight us new phones.”

“You don’t have to buy me one,” Bel argued.

“I brought you here, and you almost drowned… among other things,” Eamon said with such force that she knew better than to argue. “I’m getting you a new phone.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. I should’ve come here alone. I shouldn’t have involved you in this so soon after Abel.”

Bel brushed Michael’s wet hair off his forehead with a smile as she stared at how Eamon carried the child as if he was precious gold, at how he clutched her fingers as if she was his life force. “I’m glad you did, even if I never sleep again after seeing your back because I was the one who solved the riddle. You saved Michael, but I found him. Face it, Mr. Stone. You need me.”

“More than you know, Detective. More than you’ll ever know.”

“And our job isn’t done yet.” She turned her compassionate smile on Michael, her heart swelling at the sight of his small head resting securely on Eamon’s broad shoulders. “Do you know where your brother is, sweetheart?” she asked.

Michael said nothing, so she reached up with her free hand and rubbed his back comfortingly. “You don’t have to speak. You can just shake your head yes or no.”

The boy gave her the tiniest nod.

“Good job. Do you know what happened to John?”

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