A slight, open seam that shouldn’t exist.A panel disguised beneath grime and shadow.She pressed, and it opened easily, revealing a narrow passage sloping downward, swallowed by darkness.The air that drifted up was cooler.Stale.
Leo was beside her as she activated her comm device.“Kayne, we found another entrance.Auto shop down the street.Hidden passage under the drain pit.It leads toward the gym.”
“I’m on my way.”
She glanced at the tunnel again, mouth firm.Pieces were aligning with sickening clarity.They hadn’t taken Danica into the gym.
They’d taken her under it.
Chapter Thirty
“No.”
The word landed heavy and absolute, vibrating in the tight space beneath the auto shop.
Kayne turned toward Chloe so fast she barely registered the movement, just the sudden size of him, solid and furious and scared in a way he was fighting hard to contain.
“Absolutely not.”
“I’m going,” she said, meeting his eyes without flinching.“Alone.”
Anja swore softly under her breath.Leo opened his mouth, then shut it again, likely realizing this wasn’t going to be won with volume.
Kayne’s voice dropped, roughened.“Cher, listen to me—”
“No,” Chloe cut in, sharper than she meant to be, but she didn’t soften it.She couldn’t afford to.“If whoever did this is watching, and I think he is, he expects me to be by myself.If he sees all of you coming, he tightens his grip on Danica.Or worse.”
Saying it out loud made it real, made the risk solid and unforgiving.The words tasted like blood, but they were true.She could feel it in her bones, the same instinct that told her when to push through one more rep, even when her muscles screamed in protest.
Kayne stared at her as if he was memorizing her face, committing every detail to memory in case this went sideways.
Anja stepped closer, her expression steady but eyes searching Chloe’s.“You don’t have to prove anything.”
“I know,” Chloe said.“I’m not trying to.”
She reached for Kayne’s hand and squeezed once, taking comfort in the solid warmth of him.“If I don’t come back in five minutes, you follow.No hesitation.”
