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The woman before him was no longer a suburban housewife who read romance novels and knitted the occasional scarf. Instead, she was a demon with fireball eyes and razor claws
.

The woman sprang forward, her fingers curled into ten deadly claws, her teeth watering for flesh. Richard let her come, trying to calm his mind and remember his training. The woman moved blindly and without skill, her entire focus bent on ripping out his throat
.

As soon as her nails touched him, Richard trapped her throat between his forearms and performed a lethal scissor move. The woman’s neck twisted so violently that her spine snapped
.

The anger remained in her eyes as she slumped
lifelessly to the floor, and the hatred he saw reflected back filled Richard with a boiling rage
.

‘You bitch!’ He lifted his foot and brought it crashing down on the dead woman’s skull. More bones cracked as he repeated the action over and over until his rage ebbed
.

When he was done, his breathing laboured under the effort, the woman’s head was unrecognizable
.

Frustrated, Richard rubbed both hands across his smooth skull and wondered what he should do. Lucas expected him to return with a woman and child, but now . . . fuck it. There was only one thing he could do
.

He picked up the drugged child and returned to his van. The other woman was still unconscious in the back. She would have to do
.

After the stinging in his arm stopped, Richard wrapped a clean bandage around it and knotted it tight. Satisfied with his handiwork, he flexed his muscles and rotated his head to work out any kinks.

When he was warmed up, he placed a scowl on his face, headed out of the cell and back into the tunnels.

It was time to finish that bitch once and for all.

114

Davey turned a corner and stopped beneath a stone archway, his chest heaving and eyes glistening. When Zack arrived a few moments later, Davey flashed a set of rotting teeth.

‘This is as far as I’ve ever gone,’ he said. ‘There’s a door here that leads to a whole series of tunnels.’

‘Can we get through?’

Davey grinned again. ‘They locked it, but the hinges are on this side. I took the pins out weeks ago, so we just need to pry it loose.’

Zack leaned forward and touched the rusted hinges before sliding down the seam, his fingers finding a slim gap between wood and stone.

‘You don’t have a crowbar handy, by any chance?’

‘Just this.’ Davey held up his homemade knife.

Zack slapped the man on the shoulder. ‘Let’s get to work.’

115

Detective Hogan parked beside the Mercedes and climbed out to quickly circle the car. When he arrived on the other side, his partner was peering into the open trunk.

‘If your theory is correct, then this has all the earmarks of an exchange,’ Preston said.

‘Money for his family.’ Hogan glanced at the station’s clock tower. ‘Strange place for it: public, open, few escape routes.’

Preston shrugged. ‘Makes the delivery man feel comfortable, and if you’re not expecting him to follow you out . . .’

‘Because the delivery man is dead,’ Hogan finished.

In the tunnels, Davey swore a blue streak as he strained against the thick, wooden door. His knife had proven useful for piercing flesh and keeping night thieves at bay, but it was awkward against the spongy, time-ravaged wood.

‘You move to the top again,’ Zack suggested as he squeezed in beside him. ‘You’ve moved the bottom enough that I can jam my fingers in there.’

Davey did as he was told and jammed his blade deep into the upper part of the door, directly above the top hinge.

‘On three,’ Zack said. ‘One, two—’

Both men strained, sweat popping on their brows as the door began to groan. Suddenly, it jerked in their hands with a popping of air and both men fell backwards into the dirt.

Zack bit his tongue, drawing blood, as his head slapped the ground. Davey fell on top of him, too, all sharp elbows and boney butt. When the dust settled, both men looked at the door. It didn’t appear to have budged.

‘Damn it.’ Davey kicked the door with all the frustration he could muster. Upon impact, the door groaned and then fell, forcing Davey to scramble out of the way before his feet were crushed under its weight.

After the door struck the ground, Zack pushed Davey off and crawled to the opening. The tunnel beyond was dimly lit by a string of bare bulbs attached to the ceiling. It was also just as ancient and dangerous as the one they were in.

Zack looked left and right, swallowing blood from his injured tongue, as he tried to decide which way to go. Then he heard a scream – a woman’s scream.

Zack scrambled to his feet and rushed headlong down the tunnel in the direction of the sound, his face a mask of determined rage.

116

Sam walked on to the main outdoor platform that served as the introductory conduit to a series of black iron stairs and high metal bridges. The ironworks funnelled passengers across the tracks to each of the numbered platforms beyond.

Sam stood like a rock in a stream as passengers flowed around him. He watched the crowds thin as passengers ascended the stairs, found their platform number and vanished. No one appeared to be waiting for him.

With a sinking heart, Sam turned to his left and froze. A thin man with skin so white it practically glowed stood on the northern edge of the platform. His face was skeletal and hairless except for a triangle-shaped patch of purple-black hair beneath his lower lip and a matching pair of thin, sculpted eyebrows. His eyes were a piercing glacial blue, but his nose was so perfectly tiny, it was barely visible.

He reminded Sam of an alabaster eel.

Lucas stood with a brick wall at his back and no easy exits within reach. It was a private spot, unused by passengers; a place someone would pick only if they were confident no one could stop them from leaving.

Beside him, MaryAnn trembled, her shoulders shaking as she stared unblinkingly at the platform floor. She was pale and frail, her face hidden beneath a mass of tangled, greasy hair. Her favourite nightgown was soiled and ripped.

To Sam, she had never looked more beautiful in her entire life.

‘MaryAnn,’ he called softly.

The girl lifted her head at the sound of her name, her eyes blinking into focus.

‘Daddy!’

Sam gasped at the sight of her face: bruised, bloody and swollen. The bastard had beaten her. MaryAnn attempted to rush forward, but Lucas yanked her back by the nylon straps around her wrists. She cried out and every sob tore at Sam’s heart. He wanted to snatch her away, but knew he couldn’t take that risk.

‘Let her go, Lucas. I have your money.’

‘Bring it closer. But keep your hands where I can see them.’

Sam moved forward. ‘Where’s Hannah?’

‘All in good time, Sam. I need some insurance.’

‘Why? You don’t care about the money. Hell, I still don’t understand why you feel the need to hurt me.’

Lucas raised his eyebrows and hardened his eyes. ‘You thought you were better than the rest of us, that nothing could touch you. I proved you’re not. You’re a thief and a cold-blooded killer, Zack was a murderer and rapist, and Alan was a coward. You’re not worth following.’

Sam stopped a short distance in front of his enemy and dropped the bags. He stared into Lucas’s eyes, searching for the madness, but finding a deep, aching hurt.

MaryAnn struggled against her bonds again, but Lucas’s grip was iron.

‘I never asked you to follow me, Lucas,’ Sam said, searching for an opening, a weakness. ‘High school ended twenty-five years ago.’

‘And you moved on.’

‘Yes!’ Sam cried. ‘That’s what people do.’

‘You abandoned me.’

‘Abandon? What are you talking about? We went to a few parties together, it wasn’t a fucking marriage. I had my own plans and got on with them.’

‘You had responsibilities, Sam. You all did.’

‘That’s nuts, Lucas. The whole point of high school is the lack of responsibility. I didn’t owe anyone a damn thing.’

Spittle flew from Lucas’s mouth. ‘I lost fifteen years and you don’t owe me?’

Sam was taken aback. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Fifteen years, Sam. Do you know what they did to me inside? Do you think any of
my
plans even
had a chance? I wanted to die, and where were you?’

Sam held up his hands. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Prom night.’

‘I left early. My car was packed and I was hellbent on Hollywood. It wasn’t a secret.’

‘You made Susan lie.’

‘Susan? Susan Millar? What are you—’

‘You had sex with her.’

‘Yes, but . . .’ Sam shook his head angrily. ‘I was a kid, Lucas, having a good time. I never took anything that wasn’t freely given. Susan and I fooled around, so what?’

Lucas’s eyes narrowed and he tugged on MaryAnn’s bonds to elicit a squeal. ‘She looked at me with such hatred.’

Sam tried to bite back his fury. ‘Who? Susan?’

Lucas’s voice broke as he attempted to laugh. ‘You didn’t even know. That’s how important I was to you.’

‘Didn’t know what?’ Sam’s gaze darted down to his daughter. He desperately wanted to grab her and run.

‘She accused me of rape,’ Lucas said. ‘But I never touched her. You touched her. Ironwood touched her. Even fucking Viking touched her. But I went to jail for it. You didn’t even show up for the trial. You could have explained what a whore she was.’

‘You were convicted of the rape?’ Sam was
shocked. ‘No one contacted me. Not Susan, not the police—’

‘Everything came into alignment,’ Lucas said, cutting him off. ‘Your commercial on TV. Zack honoured for work he practised on me. Even that vicious prick Viking was being lauded as some kind of hero. Could the message have been any clearer?’

‘What message?’ Sam asked, exasperated. ‘We’re just living our lives.’

‘Lives you don’t deserve.’

‘Why?’

‘Because you stole them. From me.’ Lucas bared his teeth. ‘Now back away from the bags.’

117

Zack ran down the tunnel, drawn onward by the sounds of fighting: a woman screaming; a man yelling, cursing.

When he burst into the cell, a giant of a man was holding a woman against the wall by her throat. The woman was in deeper shadow, but Zack could see the man was in a rage. Blood poured down his cheek from a gash across his eye.

Then, as Zack’s eyes adjusted to the dimmer light, he saw the woman was Jasmine. Her face was swollen and bruised and her eyes were bulging from exertion, but it was definitely his wife –
Alive!

Zack screamed, ‘Put her down. NOW!’

The giant turned his head and sneered, while his hand squeezed tighter. ‘Where the fuck did you—’

A bullet tore through Richard’s deltoid muscle at 2,600 feet per second, its cone-shaped nose widening into a flat dime as it ricocheted off a
shoulder blade and hit the collarbone – shattering the bone into four pieces.

Jasmine fell to the ground as her attacker’s arm went limp and he lurched sideways to collide with the cell wall.

‘What have you done?’ Richard hissed in disbelief as his knees buckled from the shock, and Zack rushed forward, the stainless-steel Pocket Nine in his hand.

Zack knelt by the woman he loved, her face nearly blue as she clutched her bruised throat and sucked in deep, shuddering breaths.

‘Oh, Jesus—’ Zack’s voice broke with emotion. ‘Jasmine.’

The woman locked eyes with him, a wave of love and understanding passing between them, and then she turned to face the wounded giant and croaked, ‘Kill the bastard.’

Richard’s eyes went wide as Zack unhesitatingly squeezed the trigger, sending twin bullets in perfect grouping into the bastard’s heart.

118

Sam held up his hands and walked slowly backwards. MaryAnn began to whimper – louder and more desperate with each step he took.

‘Give me my daughter, Lucas,’ pleaded Sam. ‘You don’t need her any more. I’ve done everything you asked.’

Lucas’s face softened into an expression of mirth. ‘It’ll be a short reunion, Sam. The robbery and murder charges should see you locked away for a long, long time.’

Lucas bent to MaryAnn’s ear and whispered. The act was so intimate that Sam felt his insides churn with murderous rage. MaryAnn’s eyes grew large and then she was suddenly free – running across the platform and into Sam’s waiting arms.

Sam crushed her to his chest, his whole body shaking with relief as he kissed his daughter’s face and the top of her head, his heart swelling with love and joy.

‘How touching,’ Lucas said menacingly.

Sam glanced up as Lucas aimed his gun.

‘The devil don’t burn, Sam . . . but you will.’

Lucas cocked the hammer—

Sam spun and closed his eyes, his body shielding MaryAnn, as—

‘Freeze, fuckface!’

Sam opened his eyes to see the two detectives who had questioned him rushing on to the empty platform with guns drawn. The one in the cowboy hat was yelling at Lucas.

Sam quickly glanced over his shoulder, expecting the impact of a bullet, but instead saw Lucas leaping off the platform and on to the tracks –
escaping
.

Sam grabbed his daughter’s face in his hands and locked her gaze.

‘There are two detectives directly behind us,’ he said quickly. ‘Run to them. I need to find your mom.’

The girl’s eyes widened in panic.

‘I’ll be back soon,’ Sam added. ‘Trust me. I love you so much.’

MaryAnn nodded bravely as Sam released her and leapt off the platform in pursuit.

119

Detective Hogan cursed as Sam leapt off the platform, leaving the girl behind. He rushed to her side and saw her hands were tied behind her back.

‘Are you MaryAnn White?’

The girl nodded rapidly, tears streaming down her face.

Hogan turned to his partner. ‘Take care of her.’

And then he, too, leapt off the platform in pursuit.

Detective Preston radioed for back-up before he reluctantly slid his gun back into its holster and knelt down beside the girl. He smiled and saw her eyes grow large.