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“No!” Tank yelled, banging on the wall. Lowell was getting away and he still had no idea where his girls were.
He glanced toward the door and found Marshall and Connor had dispatched the guards and were ushering the rest of the team into the room. Then they barricaded the door.
“Anthony!” The muffled yell made his heart stop. He whirled around, searching for the voice.
“Kaylie?”
“In here!” It was coming from behind another portion of the wall. Tank raced toward the source of Kaylie's voice, his hands groping along the concealed entrance. The wall gave way under his touch, revealing a narrow closet. He squeezed through, his heart pounding with a mix of relief and urgency.
Kaylie stood in a dimly lit space, Lia held close to her. The reunion was brief, a desperate embrace interrupted by the banging of the Citadel forces on the door. Tank's eyes met Kaylie's, a silent acknowledgement passing between them.
“Let’s get out of here," he urged, glancing around for an escape route. “Joey?”
“There are no cameras in the passage, but Lowell just left through the boat ramp. Find that tunnel.”
After a few tense moments of searching, Marshall found the release and hurried the team through Lowell’s hidden passage. Tank was the last member into the tunnel, pulling the door closed behind him. As the latch clicked, he heard the outer door crash open, toppling the haphazard barricade they’d created with Lowell’s office furniture.
Tank pressed into the dark of the twisting underground passage. Distant shouts and footsteps sounded behind them, growing louder with each passing second.
Joey's voice crackled through the earpiece. "Get to the—”
The signal disappeared. They must be too far underground. So far, there was only one way to go anyway.
Tank pushed the team forward, the urgency of their escape hanging in the air. The tunnel echoed with the sounds of pursuit, and Tank's muscles tensed with each step. Kaylie fell behind until she was right in front of him. She was breathing heavily, and Tank pulled Lia from her arms. “I’ve got her. Hurry!”
A hundred yards later, the tunnel came to an abrupt end. Marshall kicked and the door burst open, revealing a small, enclosed dock. Waves still bounced in the small channel, likely from Lowell’s own escape. A handful of jet skis and two small boats were tied up in the slips.
“Split up?” Jackson’s suggestion came as he checked out the Jet Ski nearest him.
Tank hesitated, hating the idea of splitting up. “No,” he replied, going with his gut. “We take the biggest boat and disable the rest.”
Jackson nodded and began pulling explosives from his vest, attaching them to as many vehicles as they could reach. The cocky man was aggravating at times, but he was certainly useful to have around. His penchant for blowing things up had come in handy more than once.
Shouts from the tunnel behind them grew louder.
"We need to move, now!" Tank shouted, urging the team onto the boat. He handed Lia back to her mother, herding them to the back of the boat. The engine roared to life, Landon at the wheel.
They sped away, leaving the hidden boat ramp behind and tearing into the cold, endless black of Lake Michigan at night.
“Watch out for the old harbor wall,” Tank cautioned Landon.
“I can’t see it!” Landon yelled over the sound of the engine.
Just then, an explosion lit the night and Tank ignored the temptation to look back at the damage to the boat house. Instead, he kept his eyes peeled on the harbor.
His heart leaped in victory as he spotted it. Pointing, he yelled to Landon, “There!”
At his instruction and by the light of the fire engulfing Citadel’s lair, Landon pushed the throttle forward and shot straight for the gap between the sections of short concrete wall that kept the worst of the huge lake’s waves away from the shore.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-THREE
Kaylie clutched Lia tightly, her small frame shivering despite the warmth of the night. The boat sliced through the dark waters, leaving Citadel and its haunting memories in their wake. The rocking of the boat mirrored the tumultuous emotions swirling within her.
Lia, nestled against her, looked up with wide eyes that mirrored the fear and uncertainty Kaylie felt. "Are we safe, Mommy?"
The words struck a chord deep within Kaylie. Safe? Was anywhere truly safe? Somehow, it felt like safety was just an illusion she’d been chasing for four years without ever truly finding it.
