Her little girl moved at the sound of Laura’s voice, lifting her head and opening her eyes. Laura straightened her back, holding Abby more firmly to her chest. She placed her hand on the back of the child’s head, pushed it back into the indent of her neck and breathed in deeply, her nose still in the child’s hair.
She didn’t have time for this, and she had more important things to do right now than defend her dad to this park ranger. Her eyes never broke contact with Seth. Her voice was softer. She didn’t feel like forgiving him or being kind to him. She just felt...weary. Laura suddenly felt very, very weary.
“Just stop. You said we have to get out of here quickly. I’m telling you there’s a way out. I’m going to take it. Are you coming with me?”
Before Seth could open his mouth to answer, Laura was moving again. She meant it about taking the tunnel out of here. Laura wasn’t crazy about going alone, but she would if he didn’t follow. She headed back to the small bedroom and opened the closet door. She got down on her knees, setting Abby on the floor.
“Here, honey, sit here for Mommy for just a second. Okay?” Laura took a moment to rub her hand over the sleepy girl’s cheek. She nodded and leaned against the wall. Satisfied, Laura turned once again to the open closet.
Laura somehow found a latch in the floor—the trapdoor into a tunnel. Standing, she then reached up to the top shelf of her closet and pulled out a couple flashlights. She handed one to Seth, who was standing close to her, just watching.
Then she opened the trapdoor and saw the ladder leading down into the dark. Cool air drifted up, along with the scent of damp earth. Laura didn’t remember the tunnel feeling like a grave when she’d been a child. It did now, though.
The goose bumps that broke out on Laura’s arm had nothing to do with the temperature.
* * *
Seth really did not want to climb down into that pit. That dark hole in the ground. But it was the only way out. And they needed it now.
“Here, let me go first,” he said to Laura, stepping around her so he could be the initial one to descend into the hopefully stable unknown. He stepped onto the ladder and climbed down. At least it felt secure, not shaking or creaking as he put his full weight on it. That was a good sign.
Once Seth reached the bottom, Laura handed Abby to him. Then she climbed down the ladder after him. Seth handed Abby back to Laura and climbed halfway up the ladder so he could close the closet door and then the trapdoor. He wished he had a way to cover up the entrance. Hopefully the assault team wouldn’t find the hidden passage right away. He and Laura needed all the time they could get.
“Here, let me help.” Seth was surprised to see that Laura had set Abby down. She climbed up the ladder with him and focused her light on where the door had closed. There was a latch. And a lock. Seth was suddenly grateful for paranoid men who built escape tunnels and thought to equip them with locks. They secured the door and climbed down.
Laura picked Abby back up and they turned to face the tunneled path in front of them. Their flashlights only illuminated the space about ten feet ahead. It was dark and cold. Damp. Seth couldn’t see the walls surrounding them, but he felt them. “Okay. Guess this is the only way to go now.”
They headed into the black. Laura scanned the interior of the tunnel with her flashlight as they walked. “I haven’t been in this thing for years. I played in it once or twice when I was a child, but Dad was always worried it wouldn’t remain a secret tunnel if I kept using it. He was pretty big on separating toys from survival tools.”
Seth really couldn’t think of anything to say in response to that. He supposed that if he had been a recluse with a secret escape tunnel, he probably wouldn’t have wanted a child playing in it, either. It made sense in a hermit sort of way.
“All right. This should take us out of here.” Laura sounded more hopeful than confident. She turned and looked at Seth, bringing her flashlight with her so that they could see one another. The expression on her face was a mixture of triumph and fear.
Seth knew the feeling. It was currently residing in his own chest. They had made it out of the cabin. The men with guns did not know where they were right now. But Seth also didn’t know where they would be in a few feet. “Where does the tunnel end? I mean, will we be far enough away?”
Laura shifted her hold on Abby. The little girl looked more alert. Her big dark eyes, so much like Laura’s, were watching him. Laura kissed Abby on the cheek and looked at him to answer his question.
“It’s really long. I don’t know exactly how long. I just remember it seemingly going on for forever when I was a child. It comes out farther up the mountain. Closer to the top. I’m pretty sure we’ll be safe. I mean, I hope we will be.”
Pressure expanded in Seth’s chest as he thought about the chance that she was wrong. That they would walk out of this tunnel into something worse than the men at the cabin. Or that they would end up trapped here by the fire. Seth took a deep breath, set his shoulders and started walking. There really wasn’t anything else to do, and they were wasting time.
The tunnel wasn’t wide enough for two adults to walk next to one another. Thankfully, though, it was tall enough that Seth could stand fully upright. It made him feel less like some kind of underground mole. Or troll. “I’ll go first and try to shine my light so you can use it, too. That way you can hold Abby with both arms. The ground looks clear at least.”
Laura was keeping up with Seth’s pace as he spoke. He hoped she understood that the tunnel was safe only for as long as it took those men outside the cabin to come inside and find it. Once that happened, it would become a prison. Or a tomb.
Laura shuddered, as though reading his thoughts, and looked at Abby. She was clearly terrified for her daughter, focused solely on keeping Abby safe. No, Seth vowed to himself, this tunnel would not become a tomb. Seth increased his speed, grateful that Laura followed fast enough that he was still right in front of her.
“That door was metal, and the lock seemed sturdy.” Seth knew he was trying to reassure himself just as much as he was Laura. He felt a bit like Pollyanna, trying to play the glad game. But his words were the truth and being optimistic always felt better than sitting in despair. “I’m not sure how prepared that team is, but I don’t think they will have an easy time breaking through.” He looked behind him and Laura jerked her head up and down once in a nod. “Your dad’s paranoia is turning out to be a good thing.”
Seth heard Laura’s steps falter, but when he looked back her legs had resumed their prior movements. He’d regretted his words the moment he said them, but he regretted them even more when he saw that look in her eyes. It wasn’t anger so much as sadness. Resignation. Seth didn’t like the way that look made him feel. He breathed out through his nose, wondering why he couldn’t have kept his judgment to himself. Criticizing her dad, a man she clearly loved, wasn’t going to do a thing to help their situation. Moreover, he was the reason they still had a fighting chance against that army surrounding the cabin. Lord, when will I ever learn?
“He wasn’t paranoid. Or crazy. Or a criminal.” There wasn’t any heat in her tone. Seth almost wished there had been. Surely hard anger would have been easier to digest than the resignation in her voice. Seth wasn’t making her mad. He was hurting her.
He sighed. The man had been her father, so of course she would defend him. He didn’t know what to say. He should apologize, but he still believed the words
