Page 155 of Anton

I pull the small flashlight from my keychain and sweep it over the ground, expecting to find her phone half buried in the grass or thrown in the dirt, but all I see is dry patches of earth and weeds.

A crunch comes from behind me, and I turn with my gun already in my grip.

“Hey.” The man walking toward me lifts both hands when he sees the weapon pointed at his chest. “What the hell are you doing here?”

I recognize him immediately. The svolich who was smiling at her in the diner, Boone.

My teeth grind as I step toward him. “Where is she?”

“Who?”

“Thora. Where the hell is she?”

“She’s not here.” His gaze flicks toward the dark field around us. “Why would she be here, let alone wandering around at this hour? Hell, I only got out of bed because I heard something. Then I followed you.”

“That’s a wonderful story, but I don’t give a shit.” I hold up my phone, the tracker still glowing on the screen. “Her phone says she’s here. Right where we’re standing.”

He glances at it, then looks around the field. “Well, do you see her? Because I don’t.”

“Don’t get cute with me. I don’t like cute.”

“Fine. Whatever, man. If you want me to help you look for her, I can.”

Two pairs of eyes are better than one.

“Fine.”

He pulls out his phone and turns on the flashlight.

“Thora!” he calls, moving ahead of me. “You out here?”

I join him, wondering if maybe she is hurt somewhere. She could’ve taken a walk and an animal could’ve gotten her. The thought sends a hard punch of panic through my chest.

“Thora!” I shout, cutting right while Boone heads left.

I’m about to call her name again when a faint sound rises from somewhere farther off.

“Thora? Is that you?”

The distant sound comes again, and when I follow it, my attention drops to the ground beneath my feet.

Oh, fuck.

“Did you hear that?”

Boone nods. “Yeah, man. I heard it.”

We sweep our lights across the ground, searching for an opening, a crack, anything that shouldn’t be there.

Did she fall down there somehow?

I listen for the sound again, but this time, nothing comes.

Panic claws through me as I keep searching, dragging my light over the dirt and grass until I spot it. A strip of wood, half hidden beneath packed earth, with a small piece of rope tucked beside it.

I clamp the rope and pull, and a hidden door lifts from the ground, stale air spilling up from below. I listen for a sound, but I don’t hear her anymore. Instead, there’s a man’s groan.

Every sick thought I have crashes through my head as I rush down the steps, not knowing what I’ll find on the other side.