“Wait,” I said.
I held up my hand against another swing and leaned over the sink to peer down into the opening. “It’s shallow but it’s open below.”
“What’s down there?” Quin said. “Do you have a cellar?”
“No,” I said, but then remembered the hole in the excavation next door, the straight edge of something like a table where there shouldn’t have been anything at all. “Maybe.”
“Get someone through there and get usout,” Marisa said. “You can’t break through the wall. They’ll hear you.”
“She’s right,” Quin said. “Breaking through isn’t going to work. Butdown—”
My gut gave a lurch. “We can’t just drop people into ahole,” I said.
Quin seemed to be making calculations. “I’d go,” he said. “But I think I should be last. In case…”
In case his friends came back?
“No offense, dude,” Lourey said, “but would you even fit through there?”
“Your, um, shoulders,” Shanny said, blushing
They were right. The dimensions of the opening were slim, plus there was no telling how far the plummet would be. Eight feet? Ten? Enough to break an ankle. Enough to crack a skull.
“How far down is it?” Suzy said.
Quin stuck the towel bar down through the opening, up to his shoulder, and swept his arm around.
“I’m not hitting anything.” He looked at me.
“Do it,” I said.
“They’ll hear,” Marisa whimpered.
The bar thudded distantly below.
“It’s not cement down there, at least,” Lumpy Jim said. “Wood floor, maybe. Or dirt. How old is the building?”
“Have you not been paying attention?” Shanny said. “Capone old.”
“Older than that,” I said.
“Is there a way out from down there?” Quin said.
“Would we be any worse off?” Marisa said. “We’re just sitting ducks here.”
“Calm down, Marisa,” I said.
“They already had me tied up forfour days,” she said while Sicily held on to her. “I can’t just sit here and waitcalmlyfor men with guns to return. Sis and I will go.”
No offense, but I’d seen her try to get through the tiny door between closets upstairs, and I didn’t like her chances. Sicily, on the other hand, had the right body type to slip between walls.
I ignored Marisa’s offer as Shanny, Suzy, and Oona turned their powers of serenity upon her, cooing and plying her with gentle touches I was pretty sure she didn’t deserve. But at least she stopped freaking out.
“Doll?” Quin said. “Is there a wayout? You’re the expert.”
“I don’t know. Worst-case scenario—”
“Sure, go ahead and start withworstcase,” Lourey said.
