Page 71 of What's Left of Me

“Guys, he hasn’t gone anywhere. We haven’t taken our eyes off that place. Check everywhere.” I looked at Phoenix, and his face was scrunched with worry. “It’ll be okay.”

He nodded and bit his lip. I could admit to being unsettled that they didn’t find him in there, and I hoped he wouldn’t get the jump on my brothers. He was a dangerous man, a monster. He had no remorse and wouldn’t hesitate to kill any of them.

I watched as Gabe, Shep, and Angel turned that cabin upside down.

“Fuck!” Angel roared. “How did he leave without us seeing?”

“I know how.” I moved to Shep’s camera, and my stomach dropped.

He was in the mud room, where there was a door to the left of the entrance. Inside that door was a room with a huge hole.

“He escaped through a hole in the ground?” JJ asked.

Angel and Gabe joined him. Gabe swore and Angel growled some more, but Shep decided he was going into the hole.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Gabe tried to grab Shep, but he couldn’t.

“We gotta follow it. See where it leads—maybe to a hiding spot.”

“One of us has to stay here in case he returns.” Angel motioned to Gabe. “Go with him, I’ll be fine.”

“Don’t be a hero, Angel. If he comes back and you can’t take him, run.” Gabe patted his shoulder.

“Fuck off with that shit, and go with Shep. He’s already moving.”

Gabe jumped in, and I was glad the tunnel was well lit. Angel sat by the hole, gun raised and ready for Amo to appear from any entry point.

“Watch Angel’s camera,” I ordered Mason.

“I gotta also watch Lizzy’s.”

I rolled my eyes. “We’re all watching Lizzy’s.”

Mason spun and glared at me. “I’ll watch Angel, but you gotta have JJ watch the drones above the cabin, someone has to watch Lizzy’s, and then Gabe and Shep.”

“I can watch Lizzy’s,” Phoenix offered.

“Perfect, you do that. This monitor here.” I pointed. “JJ, drones. Nick and I got Gabe and Shep.”

“On it.” JJ put the drones on his monitors, Mason focused on Angel, and Nick and I were watching Gabe and Shep as they went deeper into the tunnel.

It was a good thirty minutes later when we saw a split in the tunnel.

“Tell me you have too much money without telling me you have too much money,” Gabe grumbled. “It had to cost a fortune to build this, and now it’s breaking into different directions?”

“You go left; I’ll go right.”

“Shep!” Angel yelled, having been able to hear them but not see them. “Don’t split up more. Go one direction and backtrack; if he comes this way I’ll stop him.”

“All right.” Shep motioned for Gabe to follow him, and they took the left side.

After about five hundred feet, they hit a wall.

“Dead end?” I asked.

“Nope,” Shep turned and pulled his camera, so I saw above him. “A door.”

“Carefully open it, Shep.” I took a cleansing breath.

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