PART 5
I pressed my hand over Lily’s mouth as tears rolled silently down her cheeks. The flashlight trembled in her tiny fingers, sending shaky beams across the damp stone walls.
The men were only yards away.
We couldn’t breathe.
We couldn’t move.
Above us, someone dragged metal across the basement floor.
“Check the shelves,” another man barked.
“The contractor said there was an old storm tunnel.”
My heart nearly stopped.
They knew.
Derek knew about the tunnel after all.
I leaned close to Lily’s ear.
“When I squeeze your hand, crawl as fast as you can. Don’t look back.”
She nodded.
Light spilled into the tunnel.
“Here!” someone shouted.
I squeezed her hand.
We crawled.
The tunnel narrowed until the ceiling brushed my shoulders. Mud soaked through my jeans, and cold water seeped into my shoes. Lily kept moving without complaining, driven by a courage no six-year-old should ever have needed.
Behind us came the unmistakable sound of boots scraping concrete.
“They’re inside!”
A flashlight beam cut through the darkness only twenty feet behind us.
“Hurry!” I whispered.
The tunnel forked unexpectedly.
I froze.
Left disappeared into complete darkness.
Right sloped slightly upward where I could feel a faint breeze.
I chose the breeze.
We turned just as a man reached the fork.
“She went left!” another voice yelled.
For one miraculous moment, they chose the wrong tunnel.
We kept crawling until the air became fresh and the smell of wet leaves replaced mildew.
A rusted metal grate appeared above us.
Daylight.
I shoved upward.
It didn’t move.
Again.
Nothing.
The grate had rusted shut after decades underground.
Lily looked at me with desperate eyes.
“Mommy…”
I wedged the crowbar between the bars and pushed with everything I had.
The rust snapped.
The grate burst open.
We climbed into the drainage ditch surrounded by tall weeds.
The woods stretched endlessly ahead.
I grabbed Lily’s hand.
“Run.”
We ran without knowing where we were going.
Branches scratched our arms. Fallen logs slowed us down. My lungs burned, but fear carried me farther than strength ever could.
After nearly fifteen minutes, we reached an old county road.
Empty.
No cars.
No houses.
Just silence.
Then my phone vibrated.
One bar.
A voicemail notification appeared—from Mason.
I played it immediately.
“Emma, I don’t know why you called, but listen carefully. Derek came to my office this morning asking if I’d seen you. He said you were unstable and might take Lily. Something felt wrong. Call me the second you get this.”
My brother believed me.
Tears filled my eyes for the first time.
I dialed him.
The call connected.
“Mason!”
“Emma! Where are you?”
“I don’t know. Derek tried to—”
Then disconnected.
No signal.
I wanted to scream.
We followed the road until an old farmhouse appeared beyond a field of corn.
Smoke rose from the chimney.
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