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There was no way to know if it was still accessible — the blueprints had been a hundred years old — but Ronan was betting on the fact that modern renovations of historical properties rarely allowed for the demolition of historicaldetails.
The doorframe was small, short enough that he made a mental note to duck when he opened the door. When he did, he saw that he’d been right: a narrow stairway descended into the darkness below, cobwebs hanging from the old stoneceiling.
He shut the door behind him, wondering if the kitchen staff would think to tell anyone about him, wondering if anyone would think toask.
The stairs were stone and almost seemed to be carved into the building’s foundation. They went on forever, turning and twisting as they took him farther underground until he felt like he’d entered an alternate dimension, one where he would step from the tunnels and find that his whole life had passed himby.
He was almost surprised when he finally hit the ground, his foot reaching into the darkness for a step that wasn’tthere.
He took a couple steps forward and was able to make out the beginnings of the old tunnel, crumbling brick archingoverhead.
There was no sign ofJulia.
He called her name to be sure she wasn’t hiding in the shadows, then cursed when she didn’t answer. There hadn’t been time to look at his watch when he’d been running from the guards, and it was too dark to see it in the tunnel, but he knew instinctively that they were already past the ten-minute time limit they’d set for Julia to findElise.
Fear simmered inside him, but he forced himself to ignore it, to turn to the cold reason that always got him out of a tightspot.
Only two things could have caused her delay: she’d either found something — hopefully Elise — and it was taking longer than they’d expected for her to make her way to their meeting point, or she’d beencaught.
There was no way to know which unless he returned to the house, and returning to the house meant he wouldn’t be there if Julia showed, not to mention a greater chance of gettingcaught.
He’d escaped once. Twice was too lucky, even forhim.
He would wait. Julia was smart and resourceful. She would show, and if she didn’t he would burn the place down looking forher.
He’d barely come to the decision when he heard feet on the steps abovehim.
Had the kitchen staff alerted security to the fact that a man had torn through the kitchen on his way to a door most of them had probably never noticed? Was security doing their due diligence, checking every possible escaperoute?
He stepped into the shadows and put his back against the tunnel’s cold wall as he waited, the footsteps getting louder as the person approached the bottom of thestaircase.
It seemed to take forever, the tunnel swallowing time in the same way it had on his way down the stairs. There was a pause when the person finally reached thebottom.
“Ronan?” Julia’s voice was soft andtentative.
“Jesus christ.” He stepped from the shadows and pulled her into his arms, then took her face in his hand, inspecting it for signs of harm. “Are you allright?”
“I’m fine,” she said. “They’re not bringing the girls. I think the fight with the guards set off some kind of alarm, some kind of protocol,but— ”
“They weren’t there?” He’d risked Julia’s life and Elise hadn’t even gotten to thebuilding.
“No, but I’m trying to tell you I found something,” she said in a rush. “Some kind of… asset list…” She shook her head. “I don’t want to call it that but that’s what itsaid.”
He glanced back at the stairs, half expecting to hear feet descending the staircase. “Slow down. I’m not getting what you’resaying.”
“There was a folder with pictures of women,” she said, her eyes wide in the dark. “Elise was there too, and there was a date in June and… coordinates orsomething.”
Coordinates. Another meeting place for the girls? The location of the auction that was supposed to take place after tonight’sshowcase?
“Okay,” he said, “that’s good. It’s something. But we have togo.”
She glanced behind her. “Elise…”
“You said she wasn’t there,” he saidgently.
“I know.” Her voice sounded so forlorn that he pulled her back into his arms. “We’re not done,” he said into her hair. “We’ll find her, I promise. But right now, we have to get out ofhere.”
He wasn’t even sure the tunnel would give them an unobstructed exit — there was no way to know for sure based on the old blueprints — but it was the only shot they had, and the sooner they started walking, the sooner they’d findout.
