As he whimpered and sniveled, she wrapped his hand up in the rest of the shirt she’d ripped up to use as a tourniquet so he wouldn’t bleed out. She hoped the lock didn’t require a pulse, but she had some thoughts on how to get around that.
“Come on, Mal, I’m heading down to the cages,” Gina said.
“Not until I get this problem solved,” Lach said, pointing to the bomb. “I want everyone out of this house now and I don’t want you anywhere near the other bomb.”
“Too bad. How much time do I have?”
“Gina.” Lachlan looked at her and saw it in her eyes. And bless him, he was smart enough not to fight.
“Ten minutes.”
She set the timer on her watch.
“Take Walker with you too. He’s good at dismantling these things.”
* * *
They ran back down the hall. The gunfire had stopped, and Gina hoped that was a good sign.
A moment later, Atlantis confirmed it was.
“All tangoes neutralized,” he said. “And we have prisoners.”
For a moment, Gina thought he meant the slaves, but then she realized he was talking about some of the guards. She wondered how many decided Little Edward Cay had gone from an island to a sinking ship and were giving themselves up like rats.
“Then get everyone out of the buildings. God knows if they’re all wired to blow.”
“It would make sense,” Atlantis returned. “Destroy all the evidence.”
“Good point. This way,” she told Malcolm. They went down a servants’ staircase to a back door and back out into the night.
Walker joined them as soon as they got outside.
“You don’t have to,” she started but he waved her off.
Gina, Malcolm, and Walker sprinted across a courtyard.
Don’t waste your time. They’re all dead.
Porter’s screams didn’t haunt her, but his calm, quiet voice in her head did.
Gina ignored his hateful voice. She wouldn’t believe a word that came out of his filthy mouth. She’d see for herself.
She led them to a small, concrete building tucked away among some tall palms. This was it, the entrance to the torture chamber.
Gina unwrapped Porter’s bloody hand from the shirt. She slapped the palm against the panel and prayed for the best.
The red light over the panel turned yellow, then green. The door opened with an evil hiss. The smell that came out with it was indescribable and eye-watering.
Gagging, they entered and descended down a staircase into hell.
Walker spotted the second bomb in a corner of the room and went straight to it.
Cages lined the walls of the underground room. Twenty in all, with at least five people in each cage, just like she remembered. But impossibly, these people looked even worse.
Please don’t let any of them be dead.
“We’re going to need more help down here,” she said over the comms.
