CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

"Please," the woman said in a desperate whisper. "He's still in here somewhere. You have to get me out."

Sheila lowered her weapon and moved closer to the woman, recognizing her from the missing persons report. "Laura Simmons?"

Tears welled up in the woman's eyes. "Yes, please…he's insane."

Sheila quickly cut the bindings around Laura's wrists with a knife while keeping an eye on the darkness around them. She took off her jacket and draped it over Laura's shaking shoulders, checking her for injuries.

"Where is he? What happened?" Sheila asked, keeping her voice low.

"He climbed out of the tunnel, wanted to check and see if there were any police waiting outside. He warned me he would make me suffer if I tried anything, but as soon as his back was turned, I just ran and ran." She took a trembling breath. "Please, we have to get out of here before he comes back."

"We will," Sheila reassured her. "Can you walk?"

Laura nodded weakly, stumbling when she tried to take a step forward.

"What's wrong?" Sheila asked.

"I twisted my ankle, but I'll be alright. It's not bad."

Sheila wrapped an arm around her waist, supporting her weight as they started walking back toward where she had left Finn.

They hadn't gone far when the sound of footsteps echoed from behind them—quick, decisive steps that caused the hairs on the nape of Sheila's neck to rise. She halted abruptly and turned around to face the direction of the sound.

What she saw made her blood run cold.

A figure stood at the mouth of the tunnel they'd just exited.

"Laura," he called out, his voice echoing off the craggy walls of the tunnel. "I must say I'm disappointed. You've disrupted my connection with the divine energies."

Sheila pulled Laura behind her, raising her gun and pointing it at Solberg. Laura whimpered softly behind her .

"Drop your weapon, Solberg!" Sheila shouted.

Solberg laughed—a cold, cruel laugh that echoed around them, seeming to come from all directions at once.

"I have no weapon," he said. He raised his hands in a placating manner, though his eyes held a dangerous gleam. "Only the truth of the cosmos."

"Stop talking and get on the ground!" Sheila yelled. But instead of complying, Solberg merely stood there, watching them. It was almost as if he knew something they didn't.

"I don't think you're going to shoot me no matter what I do," he said.

"And why's that?"

"Because if you do, this whole tunnel is liable to collapse around us. It's quite unstable."

Solberg's smile was predatory, the kind of smile that reaffirmed Sheila's belief that he was unstable, a madman. His words hung in the air like a threat—if she took him down, she risked bringing the entire tunnel down on them.

Still, she held her weapon steady, her finger itching against the trigger. Laura was trembling behind her, and she could feel the woman's weak hold around her waist tighten in fear.

"You're lying," Sheila said.

"Am I?" Solberg's eyes gleamed in the eerie glow of the flashlight. "Why don't you test it out?"

Was he telling the truth or just messing with her? And did he even know one way or the other? Surely he was just guessing.

But can I take that risk? she wondered.

"Wise choice," Solberg said. "I'll tell you what's going to happen now. I'm going to turn around and leave—I can find my way out easily enough. And you're not going to stop me, because you can't risk killing us all."

Sheila stared at him, feeling helpless. "Please," Laura whispered behind her. "Don't leave me. Let someone else go after him."

Solberg was already turning away. Sheila pointed her gun at him, her hand shaking. Then she lowered it and watched him disappear.

Just then, footsteps approached from behind. Sheila swung around to see Finn approaching.

"Sheila!" he said, casting a puzzled glance at Laura. "Was she—"

"Solberg had her, yes," Sheila said. "I need you to look after her."

"Why? What's going on? "

"I'm going after him," Sheila said, clenching her jaw. "And I'm going to stop him, no matter what it takes."

She could tell from Finn's eyes that he was preparing a response, a way to try to convince her that she was making a mistake. But she was done second-guessing, done listening to caution. It was time for action. She turned and ran into the gaping mouth of the tunnel again, leaving Finn and Laura behind.

As she ran, Sheila kept her hand on the rough stone wall for balance. Her eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness, her flashlight slicing through the inky blackness. Each step echoed ominously, reminding her of Solberg's threat about the stability of the tunnel. She forced herself to push aside the fear, focusing only on finding Solberg.

Suddenly, she felt it—a soft gust of air that hadn't been there before. She stopped in her tracks, listening intently. There—it was again! A faint breeze drifting from a tunnel on her right.

Quickly deciding it was her best lead, she rushed forward, every sense alert.

The tunnel opened up into a labyrinth of passages, and Sheila stopped, uncertain which way to go. If she made the wrong decision here, she might lose him forever.

"Damn it," she muttered, growing more anxious with every passing second. Should she just choose a tunnel at random, see where it led? What if she chose wrong and Solberg—

"Sheila!" a voice called. That wasn't Solberg's voice or Finn's. In fact, it wasn't a man's voice at all. It was a woman's.

Or, more precisely, a girl's.

"Star," she muttered, her heart leaping into her throat as she raced into one of the tunnels, following the source of the sound. Had Star followed her into the mine despite her very clear instructions to stay in the car? Had she walked straight into the hands of Solberg?

"Star!" she shouted, "where are you?"

"In here," came the faint reply.

Sheila followed the voice into a narrow corridor, her heart pounding in her chest. Every instinct told her this was a trap, but she couldn't leave Star alone.

And then suddenly, she was there. In a small hollow of the tunnel sat Star, her legs pulled to her chest, her dark eyes wide in fear.

"Oh, God," Sheila gasped. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Star said stubbornly, though her trembling voice betrayed her fear. "He didn't see me. "

"Who, Solberg?"

Star nodded, her eyes filling with tears. "He came by here," she said. "He was talking to himself—saying something about destiny and stars aligning."

Sheila pulled Star up and hugged her close. "When I heard your voice…" She trailed off, uncertain how to describe the feeling of horror that had filled her.

Then she stepped back, still keeping her hands on Star's shoulders, and looked the girl in the eye. "Which way did he go?"

Star pointed toward one of the tunnels. "You're not going to tell me to stay here, are you?"

Sheila shook her head. "No, I think I've learned my lesson about letting you out of my sight."

A small grin creased Star's mouth.

"Now come on," Sheila said, taking the girl's hand. "And stay behind me. It's time we stopped this bastard—for good."