Page 60 of Secret Agent Santa

“Not sure, maybe another half a mile. We should wind up right outside that little town.”

“How are we going to get out of there? If Tempest agents blew up the cabin and then lay in wait for us outside, once they discover we’re not there or not coming out they’re going to be watching the bus station.”

“You’re probably right, which is why we’re going to steal a car.”

“Are you crazy?”

“We’ll make it right—later. Stop talking, save your breath and crawl.”

Several feet farther in the tunnel he missed her chatter, but they didn’t have enough air in here to be carrying on a conversation, and he didn’t want Claire probing his plans too thoroughly. Truth was, in situations like this, it was best not to have too many well-laid plans.

He had no idea if he could find a car to steal or even if there’d be someone waiting for them at the other end of this tunnel.

Claire didn’t need to know any of his doubts.

So, they squirmed forward in silence to the beat of their panting breath.

“Mike? I think this is it.”

“The end?”

“It looks like solid dirt in front of me and the space opens up a bit.”

“Move to the side and I’ll squeeze past you.”

“This is it. There’s a panel of some sort overhead.”

“Okay, hang on.”

Claire was able to sit up in the space, and his light flicked across her dirt-smudged face.

He clambered beside her and rubbed the dirt from her face with the side of his thumb. “You did great. Almost there.”

“Mike?”

“Yeah?” Reaching up he felt along the edges of the panel.

“What if there’s someone waiting for us up above?”

He didn’t have to tell her his worries. She’d figured them out on her own.

He withdrew his .45 from his pocket and brandished it in the light. “That’s why I have this.”

He tapped the panel and found an edge. “Stay back, Claire. Get into the farthest corner until I get this thing open and get our bearings.”

He pushed against the door and it shifted, allowing a sliver of weak light into their black world. The sun hadn’t quite set yet. He pressed his eye to the crack and took in the clearing surrounded by small trees and shrubs. The town lay due east less than half a mile away, and nobody was pointing guns at them—yet.

Shoving the panel aside, he led with his weapon. He poked his head up and sucked in the cold air so fast, it seemed to freeze his lungs. He gulped in a few more frosty breaths.

“It’s clear. We’re fine.”

A small sob escaped from her lips, but she turned it into a cough. “All right, then. Let’s get out of this hellhole, and I never meant that statement as literally as I do now.”

He climbed up the two steps and stretched out on the ground, cracking his back. Then he rolled over and extended his hands into the opening to help Claire.

She handed him the bags first and then scooted out of the tunnel and collapsed beside him on the frosty ground, breathing heavily.

He inched his hand over and entwined his fingers with hers. “We need to get moving.”

“I realize that. I’m just not so sure I can stand up.”

He rose to his feet and stomped his boots. “Feels good to be upright.”

“Feels good to be alive.” She extended her arms, and he took both of her hands and pulled her up until she stood beside him.

“All right. Let’s go steal a car.”

Forty minutes later, Mike gunned the engine of an old pickup truck and hit the highway heading south.

Claire knotted her fingers in her lap. “Where are we going? I thought all the safe houses had been compromised.”

“Do you know Senator Bennett from Connecticut?”

“Not personally.”

He steered the truck onto the highway. “I know his son, Jase, and they have a family place in Maryland. We can crash there in between...skulking.”

“The senator’s not there, is he?”

“The house is empty, except for staff.”

Claire shuffled through the glove comportment. “I feel bad about this truck, and it’s almost Christmas. What if the guy needs his truck for Christmas?”

“Think of it as a rental. We’ll get the truck back to him along with a nice sum of cash. That should brighten his Christmas.”

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