Page 62 of Silent Road

Tommy went on as if he hadn't heard, his voice taking on a detached, dream-like quality."With traps, you don't have to be there when the rats die.You just set everything up and walk away."He smiled faintly."I never liked watching the actual dying part.Too messy.Too...personal."

Understanding hit her like a physical blow."You're going to leave us down here."

"The cold will do the work," Tommy said, almost apologetically."Shouldn't take more than a few hours.No muss, no fuss.Just like my rat traps."

"Why?"The word came out as barely a whisper."Why would you do this?"But even as she asked the question, her father's warning came to her unbidden:Be careful who you trust.Even in your own department.

"Someone sent you to take me out," she said."Who?Who sent you, Tommy—if that's even your real name?And why?What was I getting too close to?"

He shook his head sadly."You're wasting your time.I'm not going to tell you, and even if I did, what good would it do me?"

"My father didn't tell me anything about my mother's murder.If you think you need to kill me because I know too much, you're wrong."

"Even if you're telling the truth—and that's quite an assumption—your father would've told you eventually.He's too much like you—too dedicated to truth, to justice."Tommy spat the words like curses."You're both loose ends that need tying up."

"All those questions about my father," Sheila said, the realization dawning on her."You were fishing for information."

"Had to know how much you knew.How much he'd told you about what really happened ten years ago."Tommy's voice grew softer, almost gentle."For what it's worth, I wish it didn't have to be this way.I actually like you, Sheila.You're a good cop.In another life, maybe things could have been different."

"Tommy, please," she called up to him."Whatever's going on, whatever my father knows—we can figure this out."

"No," he said quietly."We can't."

He started to pull back from the opening.

"Tommy!"She hadn't meant to scream his name, but it tore from her throat anyway."Don't do this!Tommy!"

But he was already gone.Snow continued to drift through the opening, the flakes now seeming more like a slow-falling funeral shroud.

"Tommy!"Her voice echoed through the tunnel system, bouncing off concrete walls until it became a chorus of betrayal."TOMMY!"

Only silence answered.Beside her, Wells groaned again but didn't wake.The cold was already seeping deeper into her bones, and her flashlight beam seemed weaker than before.

Sheila sank to her knees, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the trap she'd fallen into.All those careful questions about her father, about old cases.All that eager enthusiasm masking something darker.She'd walked right into it, distracted by a charming, handsome rookie so different from Finn.

Finn.He had directed them here, so surely he would send help to the research station.But would it arrive in time?How long could she survive here in the cold?

She stared up at the snow drifting through the distant opening.Tommy's words echoed in her mind:The cold will do the work.It shouldn't take more than a few hours.

Unless she found another way out, he might be right.

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

Static crackled through the radio, mocking Finn's attempts to reach Sheila.He adjusted the frequency again, fighting down his growing unease.

"Sheila, do you copy?"Only white noise answered."Sheriff Stone, come in."

Star paced behind him, her boots squeaking against the operations center's linoleum floor."Maybe the storm's blocking the signal."

"Maybe."But Finn had been running tactical operations long enough to trust his instincts.Something felt wrong.

He tried another channel."Michael, Diana—any contact with the sheriff?"

Diana's voice came through broken but audible: "Negative...heading back to base..."

Finn cursed and checked his watch.Sheila and Tommy had been radio silent for over an hour.Even accounting for the treacherous conditions, they should have reached the research facility by now.

"What about cell service?"Star asked, pulling out her phone.

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