Page 36 of Trigger

“Whyno one else after her?”

“Dunno.I was busy, I guess. How about you?”

“Notsure,” I mused. “I can’t remember.”

Thorsenlooked at me incredulously. “You can’t remember the last time you had sex?”

“I hada rough couple of months.” I defended myself. “I wasn’t in the mood. Vic feltthe same.”

Hesnorted. “Sounds like a perfectly reasonable explanation."

“Youhave no idea—” I paused when I heard a strange sound. “Did you hear that?”

Thorsenwas already standing up. “Yes.”

It wasthe first sound other than the water dripping that we heard in ages.

“We’rehere!” I shouted, jumping to my feet. “Can anyone hear us?”

Icould see the shadows moving above us, and then I heard the sound of drilling.

“ThankGod,” Thorsen muttered, sounding as relieved as I felt.

“We’rein some kind of bunker,” I yelled. “Hello? Can anyone hear me?”

“Carter?”

I wasnever so happy to hear Shelly’s voice in my life.

“Shelly,we’re down here. Can you hear me?”

“Yes.Just hold on. Is Thorsen with you?”

“I’mhere,” Thorsen replied. “Where are you?”

“Rightabove you,” Bruce shouted. “Give me a few minutes to open this thing. Move tothe side so the debris doesn’t fall on your head. Are the two of you okay?”

“Wewill be if you hurry up,” Thorsen replied. “Carter has a concussion andprobably an infection. Call the paramedics.”

Chapter 8

Saved

Carter

“Howmany days did we spend in that bunker?”

Shellymade a face, looking both frustrated and angry and just plain sad.

“Three.”

“Howdid you find us?”

“Welocated Thorsen’s car and checked every CCTV in the vicinity. We discoverednothing, so we went door-to-door. Finally, we found someone who told us he saw"a man built like the Rocky Mountains running down the alley.”

Iglanced at Thorsen, who was sitting in the ambulance across from me and staringat me. It felt weird being that far away from him. Unnatural. I suppressed theneed to go over to him and just… sit down beside him. After the time we spentin that bunker, every sound around me and every flash of light was jarring. Hewas like a lighthouse in the stormy night, a safe place in the world that was,at the moment at least, too much for my heightened senses.

“Darling!”

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