Twenty-Two

“There’s no latch anywhere?” Hollis asked from behind Finn.

Finn spun around. “For the tenth time, the usual residents of this place don’t need a way out,” he said. “So, no, there’s no latch.”

“We’ll scream again.”

“We’ve tried that.” He grunted. “Declan was wrong. It does seem soundproof.”

Hollis looked at the bars on her cell phone. No service. The usual residents of the place didn’t need unlimited texting and calling plans, either.

She leaned against the tomb again, but this time her legs wouldn’t hold her, so she slid onto the floor. It was dusty. There were bugs. She didn’t care.

“I’d cry if I had the energy,” she said. “This has been a really crappy day.”

Finn stopped grunting and sat next to her on the ground. He put one arm around her and with the other he opened the flashlight app on his phone. It helped a little. Once the door had closed, the only light was from the small stained glass window over the door.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I really didn’t hear you say to text you.”

“Didn’t you see my texts?”

“I’m seeing them now. You sound really worried.”

Hollis rested her head on his shoulder. “You must have been worried too.”

“Yeah. What happened?”

“One of the gunmen from the plane followed me, so the taxi driver took me around the corner and I ducked into this shop.” She realized she was still holding the small bag, so she rested it on Finn’s lap. “I bought you a wallet.”

Finn reached into the bag. “It’s nice.”

“It’s capybara. It’s native to South America.”

He smiled. “I love how you took time out to souvenir shop.”

“Do not mock me,” she said. Though she was relieved that he was here, with her, able to tease her. For a long time that afternoon she’d wondered if she’d ever have the chance to be annoyed at him again. “I bought some stuff because that way I could use the credit card, which I knew would alert Peter to my location. That’s probably how he found us here.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Genius,” he said. “What else did you buy?”

“What?”

“You said ‘some stuff.’”

“A goat suede jacket. They needed to do alterations, so it will be delivered to the hotel tomorrow. Not that we’ll be out of here by then.”

He smiled. “Try to think positively.”

“You think we’ll get rescued?”

“No, but at least if someone goes to our room to kill us, we won’t be there.”

Hollis leaned in as close to Finn as she could. There was a large spider on the wall. If she didn’t look at it, she told herself, it would just go away. But then she thought of something worse. “The couple from the Netherlands will be in our room. If someone is coming to kill us, they’ll kill an innocent couple on their honeymoon instead.”

“I guess we have to do something.” Finn pulled his arm away and stood up. He took off a shoe and slammed it against the wall, killing the spider. He scraped the dead bug onto the floor put his shoe back on.

“Wow,” Hollis said. “Have I told you lately how wonderful you are?”

He blushed. “Wait until I get us out of here. You’ll think I’m Superman.”

Hollis stood up and started examining each wall for anything that could be used to pry open the metal door. There was nothing. But she did feel a small amount of warm air in the corner. There was a tiny hole in the marble, not even big enough to stick a finger through, but it did mean there was some oxygen getting in. Maybe they could use a stone to dig at the hole until it was large enough that their screams would be heard. She searched around until she found a small stone with a sharp edge and started scratching at the wall. It would take hours, she realized, maybe all night. The cemetery would close at dusk and the only people left in the place would be permanent residents.

Finn had other plans. He put his cell phone over his head and threw it at the stained-glass window. It hit the marble instead and shattered.

“Give me your phone,” he said.

“But if it breaks how do we call Peter?”

“I don’t have anything else to throw.”

She nodded. She scrolled through the numbers on the phone. Still no service but there was a listing of the contacts. Number two on the speed dial was Peter’s cell. “20245,” she said. “Memorize that.”

“20245.”

“I’ll memorize the other five. We’ll be able to call him once we’re free.”

She handed Finn the phone. He took a deep breath. For a moment, she flashed on him in college, playing basketball. She would sit in the stands and watch him center himself before he took a free throw.

Finn took a deep breath, raised his arm and threw, his entire body lurching forward with the effort. This time the phone hit the glass. But then it slid to the floor and shattered. The window remained intact.

They both stared at the stained-glass window in silence. There had to be another way out, Hollis thought, she just didn’t know what it was.

“I’m sorry,” Finn said, so quietly Hollis almost didn’t understand the words.

“We’ll get out.”

“How?”

It was a good question. Hollis leaned against the tomb for the third time and bit the inside of her lip. “What’s our worst-case scenario?”

Finn narrowed his eyes.

“Okay, aside from death,” Hollis said. “We spend the night here. We keep working at the small hole in the wall and by morning someone finds us. That’s kind of a funny story we’ll tell someday.”

“What story will the honeymoon couple get to tell?”

The couple. She didn’t even want to think what trouble they’d be in. “Declan will come back once Peter is out of the cemetery, don’t you think?”

“No.”

“He wanted us down here. He wants the address book …”

“Which I told him we can’t give him,” Finn said.

“How desperate is he?”

“Apparently his life depends on turning that book over to some guy who doesn’t exist.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Hollis said.

“Yesterday we were having Chinese food in our kitchen. Today we’re locked in a mausoleum in Buenos Aires. Nothing about this makes sense. And that story about how he’s trying to save someone in love?” Finn rolled his eyes.

“It is possible he’s telling the truth.”

“Then why send gunmen to our house and chloroform us? If we’re here to help, and Silva’s in on it, why do any of that?”

She couldn’t come up with an answer. And the way Declan spun tales, she wasn’t sure whatever answer he would give them would even be true.

There was a banging noise from outside the door. Hollis grabbed Finn’s arm, and they moved to the corner near the door. If it was someone intent on hurting them, maybe they could push him and run.

“But this time we run together,” Finn said.

The door creaked open. A small man of about sixty looked at them both. “¿Qué estás haciendo aquí?”

Finn let out a long breath. “Gracias. We got locked in here.”

The man looked both confused and frustrated. “A child, he says a bird hit the window, trapped inside.”

“It was my phone,” Finn said. “I threw it at the window to get attention.”

Hollis gathered her purse and the wallet, along with as many pieces of the phones as she could. “I’m sorry,” she said to the man.

“Okay,” the man said. “Go now.”

As they walked back onto the path, the man shut the door behind them with a clang that made Hollis jump.

The man looked at them one last time.

“I am sorry,” Hollis said again. “Thank you for coming to our rescue.”

He shook his head. “Turistas!”

“At least we’re okay,” Finn said.

Hollis nodded. “We have to go back to the hotel and make sure that couple who has our old room is okay.”

“That way to the exit?” Finn pointed to his left.

Hollis frowned. “I think it’s the other way.” As she looked to the right, she saw the gunman from the plane walking toward them.

“Run,” she said to Finn.

He didn’t ask why. He just grabbed her hand and they took off.