CHAPTER 85

       She moved slowly, each step taking her further into what felt like a new and very different world. The tunnel went for metres away from the entry point. There was nothing but the echo of her  footsteps even though they were very light. For a moment, her mind strayed to what could attack her in the darkness. Bats? As long as they didn't turn into blood sucking vampires she could manage. Snakes? That that was something she didn't want to think about but it was highly unlikely to encounter snakes here. She shook her head and moved on. Up ahead,the lighting seemed to be clearer. So far,she had encountered nothing except what was in her mind. Where was she headed to? What if someone or even a gang was waiting to attack her at the end? She had made sure to look around for anything dangerous such us explosives as she moved along but she hadn't seen anything like it. She went ahead to the point the tunnel ended,opening up to a wider open space. And were those multiple doors? An underground home? No,more like a motel with numerous motel rooms. She stopped in her tracks and stared at the scene right in front of her. A gunshot sounded and the bullet hit the end of the tunnel. She retreated back from view. That was probably just a warning shot. There was no way anyone would have missed from where she had been standing. Okay,maybe she should have waited for back up. She fired a single shot but trained on  an empty space.

              "This is the police! Stand down!" she said in a commanding tone.

              "I know who you are, detective Lewis. Take one more step and you are dead!" It was a male voice but she couldn't identify it. She bit her lip and swallowed hard. Had the guy been investigating her? Or how did he know her?

    ‘Goddammit!’ she muttered under her breath then looked back through the tunnel where she had come from. What was taking them so long? Were it not for the fact that she wasn't wearing her bullet proof vest,she would have already tried getting closer to the rooms. She looked at the time. It had only been past seven minutes since they found the tunnel. She then heard voices and footsteps approaching. She waited in silence knowing it could be anyone. She got ready and aimed her gun to the direction. It was Kenny who appeared first but jumped back when he saw a gun pointed at him. She appeared from behind a pillar.

             "Jesus Lewis! Talk about thinking that I was dying even before I fired my first shot."

              "Sorry instinct," she replied and lowered her gun.

               "Tone it down a little? Please." She chuckled. "What have got down here?"

               "Someone decided that the world was not the place for them and decided to built his own down here. Come take a look." Kenny moved forward but the moment he was about to emerge fully,she pulled him back. "You might not want to do that," she had hardly finished her statement when a bullet flew towards then and hit where the last one had.

                 "My God,it's gorgeous. This person definitely have an eye in the beauty of life. Look at the patterns all around," Kenny went on with a smile on his face. "Isn't it beautiful?"

She shook her head,"Seriously? You are admiring this while it could be the burial ground for two young girls?"

               "Come on,I'm just appreciating the things no one gets to appreciate. I mean, this guy tried so hard and probably no one has ever told him that."

   She chuckled then moved. 

                "I'm going in,coming?"

   Several shots were fired the moment she reappeared in view and Kenny pulled her back. The other officers were behind them waiting for instructions. After all,they were both in charge. 

              "Lewis,where is your vest?"

                "I uh... I kinda forgot it in the car," she replied casually. 

                "Kinda forgot?" 

                "I mean, I was too focused on following this up that I didn't think of grabbing it," she lied knowing too well she could have gotten it. She just didn't want to waste any time getting back to the car instead of following the girls. She however dismissed it lightly as she discovered something. A thing she had just wanted to confirm and that's why she had tried moving forward one more. The bullets were focused on on position in one direction. It wasn't someone who was observing them. They had already set them up maybe to buy them time as they escaped. Kenny noticed that almost at the same time.

              "Oh,this guy is something." He sidestepped her, "Let's go."

  They walked in a single file avoiding the path the bullets were directed to until they stopped at the front door.  She listened but there was nothing but silence. She moved to the next and the next but all six of them were the same. 

             "Over here," an officer called and they walked up to him. The seventh door was almost invisible underneath a massive undergrowth. How could any plant possibly survive under here. She looked up. There was a translucent lighting, that was how it had survived. 

                 "Where is this place?" she asked rhetorically.

                "Should we go in?"

                   "Yeah,take it down."

  It took two officers and several kicks to bring down the door but it eventually barged. They went inside, Kenny taking the lead, Dylan following and the officers taking the rear. It opened up to an even more developed room,almost like a normal living room. The only odd thing was how everything was scattered around as if someone had been looking for something in a hurry.

             "Do you think they are already gone?" Kenny asked in a low voice. She was almost about to reply when she heard a soft whimper behind her. She turned but there was no one insight. She frowned but it came again. The cabinet right in front of her. She walked towards it cautiously then opened it slowly. There,she met the frightened eyes of the young girl she had met earlier.

              "Charlotte? What happened?" Kenny joined her.

              "You actually know her?"

             "Just met her a couple of minutes ago." She extended her hand to the girl. "Come on out,it's okay."

 The girl crawled out and stood in front of them trembling.

              "What happened?"

              "I got scared. My papa..." She sobbed, "He said he would punish my sister for taking me out without his permission."

             "Your sister? Lizzie?" she asked curiously. Lizzie had been the one with her,no one else. Charlotte nodded.

            "My papa only allows her to spend time with me,not the others. He says the others are not my sisters."

  Now, that statement left her puzzled more than ever. Others? Sisters? She looked at her.

            "Who are they?"

              "Papa brought them here just like he brought Lizzie. He does things to them that make them cry."

  ‘Jesus!’ she muttered under her breath. Her brain was already working what sort of things Charlotte was talking about. Could it be possible that the girls were who she thought they were. She looked at Kenny and found him just as confused.

             "Charlotte,do you know where they are now?"

  Just then,they heard a loud scream coming from the extreme end of the line of the rooms. There was another door opening to the hallway. Charlotte's face turned white with horror.

                "Lizzie!" she called out and shot past them into the hallway before they realized it. She stood up and ran after her and caught her moments before a guy appeared from another corridor dragging a young woman by her chest and another one he pushed to the ground unconscious. Lizzie. For a moment she thought she was already dead until she groaned in pain. With Charlotte struggling in her grip to get to Lizzie and her other arm trained on the girl who the guy was using as a shield,she knew she was standing on a thick line. This felt much like the day Taylor had been holding a gun against Carly and they were all standing on the opposite side. The only difference was that there was no Kenny on the other end to create a distraction. She however went ahead and tried.

               "Put down your weapon Bernard. There's nowhere to run to." 

                 "Are you sure about that because if I go down," he grinned then forced the woman to look up. For the first time she saw her face and recognized her. Mirabelle Jenkins. It was all real. The girls Charlotte had been talking about were the same girls they had been looking for. "If I go down, pretty princess here goes down with me. So,detective, will you be so kind to let me leave in peace and no one will get hurt."

                  "You have already hurt one of them. You don't appear to be the kind who know anything about negotiations to me."

                "Well that is true but it's now a matter of life and death. And Lizzie here tried to be smart. She did that to herself."

              "Let's say I let you walk,what makes you think that you will get away so easily?"

                "Oh I don't, but that's my problem."

     She made the calculations in her head. She could try to find a way to take a shot without hitting Mirabelle but that was next to impossible." 

             "Where are the others?" She asked knowing he was aware who she was asking about.

He chuckled, "Shouldn't you be looking for them? Yet you are here wasting time on me. Let me go,is that so hard to do?"

    The guy was desperate. He probably hadn't been ready for such a surprise. That made it so easy to know what would happen if he let him go. 

           "Alright, we are going to put down our weapons,you do the same, together," she looked at her companions to encourage them. Kenny was the last one to obey probably thinking she was going nuts but she knew exactly what she was doing. "You are going to let go of Mirabelle and leave peacefully."

               "That wasn't so hard now,was it?" he grinned and dropped his gun the same time they did. He however took Mirabelle with him until he got to the door leading outside to the open space. "Pleasure negotiating with you detectives." He bowed then made an exit."

  Kenny turned to her,"Are you really gonna let him go,just like that?"

            "Nope," she moved forward and released Charlotte who ran to where Lizzie was lying. She had already located the gun set up in the hall way. All she had to do was re train it which she did. Bernard was about to cross to the tunnels when she took her first shot. She thought she had missed but then saw him fall to the ground clutching his leg then his voice.

              "Son of a bitch!"

                "Damn! You are good," Kenny said standing beside her. She shrugged.

              "That's what you get for trusting people too much." She turned back to the others. "Kenny,go cuff him before he regains his strength. And you, call an ambulance and carry Lizzie outside." She walked up to Mirabelle and touched her lightly.

              "I need you to tell me where the others are."

 Mirabelle nodded and led the way back through where Bernard had come from. They stopped outside another room where she took the lead. There they were,all the missing girls except Maisie Williams,huddled in a corner in terror. She knew from their appearance that the amount of trauma they harboured was enough for them to hate people for the rest of their lives. She walked inside and showed them her badge.

               "Detective Lewis,you are all safe now. Let's get you out of here."

     The relief they felt was clearly visible in their eyes. They embraced each other tightly. Not all of them had been friends before they got here but now,this had brought them closer. They would probably remain close because the fact was,they were the only ones who knew what they had gone through. It was Mirabelle who talked to her first. She had thought the first question would have been about Maisie but it wasn't.

              "Did you catch him too?"

                 "Who?"

               "The guy who has been keeping us here."

               "Bernard? He is right outside with the other officer."

              "No," Mirabelle shook her head sadly. "Bernard was working with someone else. We never got to see his face but he came every other day and took one of us. We would be blind folded and tied down and...and..."

 She saw how hard Mirabelle was struggling with the words even though she seemed to be the strongest of them all. She touched her arm to reassure her.

              "Hey,it's okay you don't have to talk about it right now." Mirabelle nodded. "Are you sure it was not Bernard!"

             "No,his voice was deeper and he was more stronger. Only Maisie saw him but the moment she wanted to tell us,they took her."

     Oh hell,these girls didn't know that Maisie was already dead. This would be harder than she had thought.

             "The other girls have probably seen him. You can ask them."

       Lizzie was in no position to talk but there was Charlotte. If Charlotte had seen the guy,maybe she would be able to describe him. It would be hard though without any possible suspects.

             "Let's go. We can talk more after we are out of here."