Page 89 of Kiss the Dawn
“There you are, you little bastard,” Holly says. “There is no way we would have found that if we didn’t know it was here.”
Something about that sentence niggles at me but Holly starts to work on the boards with the crowbar she just happens to have in her rucksack.
“You came prepared.” Merry looks impressed.
“You said boarded-up buildings” is her only response as she pries off a couple of boards. Enough to get us inside.
“Shouldn’t there be a secret way in?” Merry pointsout. “I mean, if this is some kind of hideout or meeting spot?”
“Possibly,” Holly replies. “But do we want to spend time searching for it?”
“Good point.” She stands back to let Holly work, and a few minutes later, we have a way inside.
“This could be a storage place…”
Comprehension tightens Holly’s eyes. “We’d smell it surely.”
“What do you…” Merry trails off and places a hand on her mouth. “No.”
Yes, this could be where we find our missing people or…the missing peoples’ bodies.
There’sno one and nothing inside the store. Aside from a few empty boxes and balled-up old invoices, the place is home to layers of dust that haven’t been disturbed in forever.
“I don’t get it,” Merry says. “The symbol is out there. Why is it there if it doesn’t mean anything?”
Holly stands, one hand on her hip, the other shining her phone flashlight as she scrutinizes our surroundings. “We must be missing something.”
I pull my phone from my pocket and activate the flashlight, shining the light on the floor to search for anything out of the ordinary. Hidden hatches maybe?
Nothing.
Merry walks over to the store counter then around it before ducking out of sight.
“Anything?” Holly calls out.
“Nope.” She pops back up and shows us a bit of paper. “Except this candy wrapper. Still smells like peppermint. And itisn’tcovered in dust.”
We hurry over to join her.
“Okay so someone has been here recently.” Holly takes the wrapper from her and sniffs it. “Strong smell, soveryrecent?”
“I’m going to call Orina again.” I lean back against the counter and pull out my phone.
There’s a soft click and a depression at my back.
My gaze whips up to meet Holly’s just as the floor beneath us opens and swallows us.
“You okay?”Holly helps me off the soft ground.
Soft because it’s piled with sandbags to break a fall.
Above us, the hatch we fell through is now closed. No way out that way, which means there’s another way out somewhere down here.
Here…
A dry tunnel fitted with electricity.
“This isit,” Merry says.
