Page 66 of Locked In

She was breathing heavily just like he was. Her chest, rising and falling against his chest was tantalizing. If they didn’t move apart, he’d take her right here.

“I get what you’re saying but I need you to ease up a bit,” she said stepping back from him. “I don’t do well with overbearing.”

He gritted his teeth but said nothing. After silently counting to ten, he said, “What did you find out?”Chicken shit.Taking the easy road and picking a safer topic than her recklessness.

“I talked to my dad. I think I told you that he did construction up here when he first started his company. Anyway, he told me that, get this…” she leaned forward and dropped her voice. “There are secret passages in the house.”

Flynn stared at her. “Seriously?”

She nodded. “He said there is an entrance down here and one in the kitchen. And supposedly, there is a tunnel up from the beach as well.”

Like tumblers for a lock, so many things clicked in place in Flynn’s mind. In a flash, it all made sense. “You’re trying to find the entrance?” He stared at the wall ahead of them.

“Yes, but I’m not having any luck.” She turned to face the wall again. “I’ve tried everything I can think of, but it all seems solid.”

“That’s because you’re looking in the wrong place.” He grabbed her hand and then tugged her further along the hallway until they came to the spot where someone had hit him over the head. He turned and they went until they hit the back wall in the small room.

“How do you know it’s here?” she asked.

“Because someone came out of nowhere and clobbered me. They didn’t get by me, and they weren’t in here when I looked so—”

“They must have come through the passage,” she finished.

He went to the wall and stared. Solid concrete construction, and seamless as well. So where was the entrance? He ran his hands over one side of the wall and Harper did the same on the other.

“There’s nothing here,” Harper huffed as she stepped back.

Flynn had to agree with her. They were missing something. He turned and looked at the hallway they’d come down. Had they missed an opening? If there was, the debris that lined the hallway would have made it impossible to sneak out of the passage and get behind Flynn. Too much stuff to move.

“Let’s go try the kitchen,” Harper said and started down the hallway.

Flynn grabbed her hand. “It’s too early to try the kitchen. At four in the afternoon, the staff will be getting ready for dinner.”

“So, what do we do now?” She was practically hopping up and down with energy but he knew once the adrenaline rush was over, she’d crash.

“We go get some tea and go to my room. I want to check on a couple of things and make some phone calls. You can relax and I can keep an eye on you.”

She opened her mouth ostensibly to protest and then she yawned.

“Fine,” she mumbled, “but I need a snack, too.”

He smiled. “I think I can cover that.” He took her hand and started down the hallway. “Is it okay if I lead or is that too troglodytic for you?”

She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him.

An hour later, and with a full stomach, Harper was sound asleep on his bed. She ate a sandwich and a bag of chips along with her tea. He liked a woman who liked good food. All of the salad pickers drove him crazy. Nibbling on lettuce to keep their figure. Not worth it.

He slid out of the room but not before he triple-checked to be sure the walls of his room were way too thin to hide any passageways behind them. He moved along the hallway until he was standing around the corner from the library. He could still see his door and he could see anyone coming up the stairs. It wasn’t ideal but he wasn’t taking any chances.

“Flynn, this is becoming a regular thing.” Archer’s voice was tight. “Tell me no one else is dead.”

“Not yet, but not for lack of trying.”

“What the fuck is going on there? Did you find the pictures?”

“I haven’t even started looking for the pictures yet.” There was silence on the other end of the phone. “Before you get your balls in a twist,” Flynn said, “I doubt the pictures are here and that’s why I haven’t started looking for them. Calli must have been clever to get pictures of Webber, Bryson, and Gina in the first place. If she’s as smart as I believe, she wouldn’t bring the pictures to Maine. I think they’re probably in her apartment. Send Rush to check it out. He’ll find them.”

There was another silence but this one wasn’t so fraught with tension. “I guess that makes sense.”

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