Page 48 of The Girl He Claimed

Paige shook her head. "Wesearched the places that we knew about. But what if there's a place we didn'tthink of? Someplace that's hidden or out of the way? This is an old building,and it has been remodeled several times. What if there is some hidden spacethat we don't know about?"

Christopher looked thoughtful."It's plausible, but a place like that... how would we even find it?"

Paige looked over to Caroline."You said you know the Institute like the back of your hand. Have youheard anything about that kind of hidden space?"

Caroline looked thoughtful forseveral seconds. "I'm not sure..."

"Think, Caroline," Paigesaid. "Anything, even a snatch of rumor."

"Well, there are the oldtunnels, but those were blocked up a long time ago."

Paige frowned at that. "Whatold tunnels?"

"Hold on, let me getsomething," Caroline said, and set off towards the library shelves. Shecame back with a thick, leather-bound book. "This is an official historyof the St Just Institute that they had some historian put together a couple ofdecades ago. There are some old maps in it."

Caroline set the book out, openabout halfway, showing a map spread across two pages. A smaller map was in onecorner, appearing to show a tangle of tunnels.

She flipped the page.

"See, there's a note here tooabout some of the old tunnels that used to run beneath the Institute. Theauthor was debating whether they might have been used as part of some smugglingoperation back when the house was first built. He says they were used for storageand maintenance, but they were sealed off years ago."

Paige's heart began to race."Can we access them?"

Caroline shook her head. "No,I told you, they've been sealed off for years. And even if we could, it's amaze down there. You could get lost for hours."

"But that could be where Adamhid," Christopher said. "It's the perfect place to lay low."

"Exactly," Paige said."We need to see if there's any way to get down there."

"I'm telling you, they're...look, I'll show you," Caroline said. "You can see on the map thatthere's meant to be an entrance that comes out in the library, but there'snothing."

She gestured to the surroundingshelves.

"We need to be sure,"Paige said. "Both of you, check for any sign of a way in. Even if it'ssealed, maybe we can find a way through."

Caroline and Christopher bothnodded, and the three of them set off to examine every inch of the library. Atfirst, Paige found nothing. The walls seemed solid, and there were no signs ofany hidden entrances.

But then, Caroline let out a smallcry of triumph. "I've found something!"

Paige and Christopher hurried overto where Caroline was standing, and she showed them a section of shelving thatseemed to have an almost invisible seam around it. There was no way that theywould have found it if they weren't looking.

Paige felt a thrill of excitement."Let's see if we can get it open."

They pulled at the shelves, andthey swung back, revealing a narrow, dimly lit corridor that sloped downwards.

"This can't be right,"Caroline exclaimed. "The book was clear that it was all sealed off. Look,it says here that the entrances were bricked up."

"So maybe someone unsealedit," Christopher suggested. "Or maybe the people walling off thetunnels didn't know about all the entrances."

Either way, it provided anexplanation as to how Adam had gotten away. It also raised a more worryingquestion for Paige.

"Is it possible that Adam isstill down there?" she wondered aloud.

"If the tunnels lead to theoutside, wouldn't he have run?" Christopher suggested. "Just waited aday for the search to die down and slipped away?"

"Maybe," Paige said."But where would he run? We had the local PD search his known safe houses,and it isn't as though he can move around freely. He might feel safer downhere."

They had to check. Paige drew hergun, taking out a flashlight so that she would be able to see in the near darkof the tunnel. Christopher did the same.

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