Page 47

Forty-Five

Olivia pressed against the wall as footsteps came along the passageway.

The flashlight bobbed up and down and soon her captor came into view.

He ignored her and went to the desk. Under one arm, he carried a laptop and spent a few minutes setting it up and attaching cables.

She couldn’t make out what he was watching but then recognized the logo for the local news channel.

The picture-in-picture second screen showed what must be outside, so a CCTV he’d set up maybe.

Olivia stood on tiptoes to see what was happening.

The man sat stroking a long lock of hair.

The screen flickered, making his masked features look grotesque in the dim light.

Who did the hair belong to? A shudder went through Olivia and her mouth went dry.

Was that Chloe’s hair? She couldn’t see what was on the news but whatever it was it made the man groan and sniff the hair.

The sight of him was almost pathetic, but then something caught his attention and he stood abruptly, sending his chair tumbling backward.

“What is a lineman’s truck doing here?” He picked up his chair and sat down at the desk.

His fingers flew over the keyboard. “There is no scheduled maintenance in this area and the power is working just fine.” He stood, grasped the hair, and twisted it in his fingers.

“This is a setup.” He paced around the small area, staring at his feet.

“This isn’t in the book. It says they came by chopper.

I need time to get away.” He dug a finger into the screen.

“This wasn’t the plan. Now I’m going to make life difficult for you. ” He tossed the hair on the desk.

Heart pounding, Olivia fixed her attention on him.

What was he going to do? Who was coming?

She strained her eyes to see the small screen, but could only make out a waving field of wheatgrass.

A loud scraping sound came from close by and the man pushed a trunk into the middle of the passageway.

When he flipped it open, Olivia caught her breath.

A ton of wires and what she believed to be metal pipes.

The man took a device out and she could see his smile through the open mouth of the balaclava.

He suddenly turned and looked at her as if suddenly remembering he had company.

“See this, Olivia?” He waved the device around, its wires trembling. “This is a surprise for the cops who think they’re going to sneak up on me.”

Swallowing her fear, she turned her gaze on him. “What are you going to do to them?”

“Blow them sky high.” He chuckled. “Then we can leave. There’s more than one way out of this mine.

Some old-timer told me to follow the old railroad tracks and we’ll come out some ways along the hillside.

While they’re inside looking for us, we’ll be long gone.

” He waved the explosive device at her. “That’s if any of them are alive. ”

When he dived into the trunk, grabbed something, and headed toward her cell, Olivia shrank back against the back wall, terrified at having him so close, crowding her. Would he try and kill her?

“Stand very still.” His dark eyes stared right through to her soul. “You’re my ticket out of here.” He touched the knife in his belt. “I will kill you or cut you up and leave you to bleed to death slowly if you don’t do as I say.”

Horrified, Olivia sucked in a deep breath, tasting his sweat on her tongue. He moved closer and pushed her arms into a vest with wire running through it. Was he planning on electrocuting her? She gasped for air as he tightened the straps. “What is this for?”

“One scream or warning and you’ll find out.” He smiled at her. “Be good and I’ll make you famous.” He walked out of the cell, slamming the door behind him, and stared at the computer screen. “Showtime!”