Chapter Twenty-Eight

Eric paced in front of the house, never taking his eyes off the front door. Tiger stayed with him, occasionally stopping to smell the air, but his dog didn’t hit on anything.

He glanced at his watch. Five minutes had passed since Tess had entered the house. Five of the longest fucking minutes of his life.

The curtains in front of the windows were drawn shut, and none of the spotters he’d stationed around the house with long-range scopes could see inside. Overhead, the whop-whop from the chopper told him their eye-in-the-sky was nearby.

He clicked the radio. “Got anything?”

“Negative,” the pilot came back. “No movement at the back of the house or in the orchard.”

“You still got her?” he called out to Matt, who’d been keeping tabs on Tess via a handheld monitor. Matt gave him a thumbs-up that did nothing to quell the rising worry in his gut.

Something wasn’t right about this whole thing. He could feel it in his bones. They’d expected the body wire to be found, so it hadn’t surprised him that the sound had cut off so soon. That wasn’t what bugged him. It was Harley. The man might be psychopathic, but he wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t have set this up if he didn’t have a plan.

He strained his ears, but nothing came to him. Not even Tiger’s ears twitched.

Another glance at his watch. Barely a minute had gone by since the last time he’d checked it. This whole thing stank to high heaven.

“Uh-oh.” Matt held the monitor in a different direction then walked in a slow circle. “Eric, I lost the tracker.”

“What?” He stalked to Matt and looked over his friend’s shoulder. Aside from the green background, the blip that had been there on the monitor was gone. “How is that possible?”

“It’s not,” Matt said. “She has to be in that house.”

Sonofabitch. He snapped his head up and stared at the front door. “Fuck it, we’re going in.”

“Got your back,” Dayne said.

Eric and Tiger charged to the door. He pushed on the door latch, but it was locked. He unhooked Tiger’s leash, stuffing it in his pocket as he ran to the nearest first-floor window. He pulled a flashlight from his belt, shielding his face while he slammed the back of the flashlight against the glass. The window shattered. A few shards flew at his forearms.

Drawing his weapon, he whipped open the curtains, then aimed inside. Empty.

Working quickly, he cleared any residual shards from the sill then holstered his weapon and hauled himself up and into the house.

He hit the floor hard, rolling then jumping to his feet while redrawing his Glock. Nothing moved. Nothing made a sound. He walked quietly to the front door, twisting the deadbolt and opening the door to let his friends inside.

Tiger charged in first, then stopped short, searching until he found Eric.

He motioned with his hand for Nick and Matt to search the upstairs, while he, Dayne, and Kade searched the main floor.

Less than a minute later, Nick and Matt, along with their K-9s, Sheba and Saxon, met him in the foyer, shaking their heads.

“Upstairs is clear,” Nick said. “No sign of anyone.”

“All rooms on the main floor are clear.” Eric’s eyes settled on the one remaining door they hadn’t gone through. He yanked it open, aiming his weapon and flicking on the wall switch at the top of the stairs. “Tiger, revieren.”

His K-9 charged down the stairs. Eric followed, as did everyone else. The basement could have been on the cover of Man Cave Magazine. Considering the room was fully finished with carpeting and wood paneling, the air was unexpectedly damp. Seconds were all it took to clear the room, along with the two small adjoining bedrooms and a bathroom.

While the dogs waited for their next commands, Eric did another three-sixty, still not believing what he wasn’t seeing. The basement was filled with five federal agents and their K-9s, but no Tess and no one else.

Tiger trotted around the perimeter of the room but didn’t indicate the presence of explosive odors. With no immediate threat, they holstered.

“How is this possible?” He still couldn’t believe it and kept turning his head, as if he expected Tess to jump out from beneath the long leather sofa pushed up against the wall. “We searched every room in the house, and the chopper verified no one escaped out the back.”

“Then she’s gotta be here.” Nick shook his head, looking just as worried as Eric felt.

“Somewhere,” Kade added. “But where?”

“We always knew this house had secrets,” Dayne said. “Disappearing evidence. Disappearing people.”

“We’ve got two of the best search dogs in the country.” Matt tipped his head to Sheba and Remy. “Do you have something of Tess’s they can pull a scent from?”

“No, I—” The scarf. “Stand by.”

He bolted up the stairs, taking them two at a time. There was no need to look behind him. Tiger was right there with him.

He charged out the front door to his SUV and grabbed the scarf Tess had left on the seat. Seconds later, they were back in the house.

His friends and their dogs were waiting for him in the foyer. He re-leashed Tiger then held out the scarf, allowing Sheba and Remy to press their noses against it. The dog’s nostrils flared as they inhaled rapidly, taking in Tess’s scent.

“Such,” Dayne said to Remy.

“Stopa,” Matt said.

Eric didn’t know what to expect, but what happened next wasn’t it.

Both dogs spun and led the way back down the stairs to Mangano’s man cave. Eric, Nick and their dogs, along with Kade and his white shepherd, Tango, remained out of the way, standing by the bar.

Sheba and Remy put their noses to the floor, then in the air, sniffing every stick of furniture and walking swiftly around the room.

“C’mon, c’mon,” Eric muttered. The dogs had led them down here, so there had to be some kind of secret room, one expertly hidden because neither he nor his friends had picked up on anything out of place.

Sheba and Remy circled several more times, then slowed, honing their tracks to one side of the room.

“They’re getting closer,” Kade said.

Both dogs sniffed the carpet in approximately the same area, even bumping noses a few times. They lifted their heads by one section of paneling, then sat, staring at the wall.

“That’s it.” Eric went to the paneling, running his hands over it, searching for overly large seams. Starting on the left and moving to the right, he began knocking on it with his fist. When he got to a certain point, the sound changed, becoming hollow. Whatever was behind that particular area of paneling, it wasn’t sheet rock.

“There’s gotta be a trigger,” Nick suggested.

“Trigger my ass.” Eric dropped Tiger’s leash and began kicking at the paneling.

Beside him, Nick and Kade handed their dogs’ leashes to Matt and Dayne then joined in, pounding their boots against the wall. The wood was thicker than expected, with very little give. Eric kicked harder until he heard a sharp crack. He focused on one area where the grain was beginning to split. A louder crack sounded as the panel finally split down the middle.

Nick and Kade backed off so Eric could focus his kicks on that one section. Eventually, an entire section of panel gave way, leaving a gaping hole in the wall. Damp air flooded the room.

With his right hand, Eric whipped out his Glock. His friends already had their weapons out, trained on whatever was behind the wall. But there was nothing except total darkness.

Eric grabbed his flashlight. Five beams clicked on.

“Holy cow, Batman,” Dayne muttered.

“It’s just like a drug-smuggling tunnel.” Nick’s tone was one of disbelief.

They raised the beams higher, trying to determine the extent of the tunnel, but there was no end in sight.

“Oh, man,” Kade said. “This thing goes on forever.”

Eric aimed his flashlight up and to the sides, illuminating a crudely dug, unlined tunnel, tall enough to stand in and wide enough to drive a car through. Long, twisted roots stuck through the sides and ceiling.

His foot contacted something on the ground, and he refocused his light. Sticking up through the dirt floor was a thick piece of wood, attached to which were outlets. Not standard electrical outlets, but for plugs much bigger. Beside the outlets were two power strips. “It’s a charging station.”

“For what?” Nick aimed his light on the ground. “Tire tracks.”

“One of those electrical cars?” Matt suggested. “They’d be pretty quiet.”

“That’s not it.” Eric’s heart pounded as he realized what the getaway vehicles were. “Golf carts.”

He grabbed Tiger’s leash and started into the tunnel. Who knew how much of a head start they had on them? “Let’s go.”

What they ought to do was call for backup. At a minimum, they needed to let dispatch know where they were, but there wasn’t time.

As a unit, they all started running. Their flashlight beams bobbed and wavered as they pounded through the tunnel. With every yard they ran, Eric’s heart beat faster, but not just from exertion. The damned tunnel still had no end in sight. They had too much of a head start, which meant Tess and Jesse could be anywhere by now.

Tiger and the other dogs strained at their leashes. As much as Eric and his friends worked out and ran regularly, their dogs could run faster.

“Guys,” Eric breathed, still running. “I’m letting Tiger go.” It was a risk to let any K-9 charge into an unknown situation, and they all knew it. “You don’t have to, but I’m doing it.” He couldn’t let them take Tess. God knew what they’d do to her.

All the dogs were cross-trained as attack dogs, but he especially needed Matt and Dayne on board with this, since their dogs would still have Tess’s scent.

“I’m in,” Matt answered without hesitation.

“Copy that,” Dayne said.

“We’re all in,” Nick added. “You didn’t have to ask.”

Eric slowed to a stop. He did know that. His friends would always have his back, and that meant they’d do whatever it took to protect anyone he cared about.

They stopped to unleash their dogs. As one, they all gave the command. The dogs tore off down the tunnel.

Eric and his friends sprinted after them. Their flashlights guided the way, but the dogs had already disappeared into the stygian darkness.

Minutes later, his leg muscles screamed in agony, but he didn’t slow, and neither did anyone else.

Please. Please let her be okay.

If she wasn’t, he didn’t know what he’d do.