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ANGEL SINCLAIR

Someone grabbed the front of my shirt, yanking me forward. I clutched Frankie’s hand so tightly, I brought her with me. We were pressed back against a wall when I heard Jax’s voice.

“Everybody, stay where you are. We have to give Bo the room he needs to make the jump.”

Seconds later I heard a thump, swearing, and a crash.

“Bo?” I called out into the darkness. “Are you okay?”

“Mission complete,” he said. “I made it and the door stayed open. Although I think I took someone down with me.”

“That would be me,” Wally said, his voice shaky. “I’m okay, though. Just a little roughed up.”

“I took a glance at the timer before I went through, and we have eighty-three minutes and an unknown number of challenges left,” Bo informed us. “Let’s go.”

I felt around, my fingers touching a fabric-covered wall. “Where are we?”

“In a dark corridor,” Jax said. “Follow the sound of my voice and let’s go deeper. Maybe a light source is ahead of us.”

We mostly felt and bumped our way along the corridor as it snaked back and forth several times. At some point, it ended and we staggered into an open room. We paused inside, hoping for some relief from the dark, but it was still pitch-black.

No one spoke as we contemplated what to do next.

“We have to have light,” Hala said, stating the obvious. “That has to be our number one priority.”

“But what if we step on a red section in the dark?” Frankie asked.

“Well, if we can’t see it to avoid it, they can’t see us to know that we did it,” Kira offered. “Right?”

“Yeah, because three US intelligence agencies don’t use infrared cameras…said no one ever,” Mike retorted.

“Stop arguing,” Bo said curtly. “We have to feel our way along the wall. Head toward the walls and find a light source as soon as possible.”

We took his advice and moved ahead, waving our hands in front of us blindly. I crashed into Hala.

“Ouch,” I said, rubbing my forehead.

“Sorry,” Hala whispered back.

“Marco,” someone else called out jokingly, and someone else answered, “Polo.”

“Knock it off, guys,” Bo said. “We need to concentrate.”

My hands finally hit a wall. As I felt along, I hit something hard. “Hey, there’s something on the wall. A painting or something in a large frame.”

“Yes, I have the same thing on my side, too,” Kira called out. “There’s more than one painting or framed photograph over here. I’ve felt at least three.”

I continued along the wall until I bumped into another frame. “I found more, too,” I said. “What does it mean?”

“Nothing, unless we find a light switch,” Jax said. He was somewhere behind me, to the left.

Suddenly a loud crash sounded. “What was that?” Bo said.

“It was me,” Mike answered. “I tripped over something on the floor. A box.”

“Is there a flashlight in the box?” Bo asked hopefully.

“I don’t know. Give a minute.” I heard more noises, presumably Mike rummaging through the box. “I didn’t find a flashlight, but I did find something that feels like a battery. AA size, to be exact. I think there may be some small LED bulbs in the box as well.”