Moving around the furnace and behind some duct work, I find a metal trap door.
Right fucking here.
I pull it open and shine light inside. There’s a ladder built into the side and a roughly six-foot drop. All he had to do was lower them partway and drop them the rest of the way down. Then he climbed down and closed the hatch behind him.
From then on, he had all the time in the world.
I call Shane.
“What?” he asks. In the background, there’s a cacophony. He’s still in the chaos near the union building.
“I found a tunnel. I think he used it.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m in the basement of Beacon West. The opening is behind a furnace and some duct work. The hatch will be open.”
“You’re going straight down now?”
“Yeah.”
“All right, go. I’m right behind you.”
42
ARYA
The quiet deepens, and I think it’s safe to move as long as I’m silent.
I rise to a crouch and bend my elbows as I lean back, pulling the chain taut. I start to rock, using my entire weight to torque on the chain.
I don’t know how long it takes before I feel the first sign of the metal plate giving, but the hint is like a whisper in my bones.
There was never any doubt in my mind that I was going to pull the plate up from the ground. I knew I could do it, but I still feel a surge of triumph that it’s working.
My legs ache and burn by the time I straighten them so I’m in a pike position, resting with my forehead against my calves.
A little more, and you’ve got it. Keep going.
I shake my legs out a little and drop down. With my fingertips under the plate, I push up on my toes, trying to let my legs do most of the work. The plate holds stubbornly to the earth, until it can’t anymore. Then it slips free suddenly, and I fall back on my bare ass with the plate dangling from the chain.
I breathe slowly, listening for him.
No sound.
He’s here in the dark. Tread lightly.
For a moment, a memory of little Arya in ballet class surfaces. I hear the instructor talking to us, chastising us to be light on our feet. “Not like elephants thundering over the floor. Like angels dancing. We hear their beating wings as wind. Only wind.”
As I sit, I try to free the chain from the square, but I can’t. My wrists are locked in the manacles, and the thick eyebolt that the chain runs through is screwed so tightly into the metal nut underneath I’d need a wrench to unscrew it.
The metal plate dangles from the chain. I rise, holding the plate in front of me. Reaching around I encounter dirt-covered nails standing straight out. Good. The nails make it a better weapon.
My toes press lightly on the dirt as I move out of the cubby into the narrow main corridor. Inching along with my elbow touching the wall to guide me, I make my way through the dark.
After a few moments, I see a sliver of light reaching out from a door that’s slightly ajar. A horrible chill of fear runs through me. If he catches me, he’ll kill me.
When I get closer, I hear Avery. Her words are slow and slurred. “No. Get off. Don’t.”
