“That’s right.”
“Ever find anything?”
“All the time.”
Kolen laughed. “I doubt that. But regardless, do you know how to properly excavate a site? Do you know how to remove artifacts without damaging them? Do you keep every single thing you find, no matter how small, and painstakingly record it for future analysis?”
“Well…”
“Of course not. Because you don’t care that you’re destroying history. In fact, I bet you don’t care about anyone but yourself.”
Kolen sensed a weight lifting off his chest. It felt good to speak his mind. But one look at Adcock’s sneering, obnoxious face caused the weight to come crashing back down again.
“You talk a good game,” Adcock said. “But it’s just talk. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”
“This is different.”
“Yeah? How so?”
Kolen fell quiet. Not because he couldn’t answer the question but because he didn’t want to give Adcock the satisfaction.
Two thousand dollars. Two thousand dollars.
Kolen felt sick to his stomach. He was violating his principles, selling his soul for two thousand measly dollars. But he didn’t have a choice. He needed money to pay off his gambling debts. Either he did the job or he’d lose his life. It was that simple.
That complicated.
Adopting a quick pace, Kolen strode through the tunnel. After a few moments, Adcock fell in behind him. Together, they walked through a couple of maintenance tunnels before finally arriving at the IRT Lexington Avenue Line.
The four-track line stretched from 125th Street in Harlem to downtown Brooklyn. It served more passengers than any other subway line in the United States. In fact, it served more passengers on a daily basis than both Boston’s and San Francisco’s rapid transit systems put together.
Adcock reached into his pocket and removed a wadded up piece of paper. Unfolding it, he stuck it against the closest wall. “We’re here.” He jabbed a finger at the paper. “And we’re going here.”
Kolen watched Adcock’s finger trace a winding path that encompassed Grand Central Terminal, Union Square, and Penn Station. “How many miles is that?”
“How should I know?”
“Guess.”
Adcock folded up the map and placed it back into his pocket. “We’re covering a couple of lines here so maybe ten to fifteen miles. Of course, that doesn’t include non-revenue tracks.”
“That’s a lot of walking.”
He smirked. “Are you giving up already?”
“No, I’m just saying that we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”
“It could be much larger you know. There’s about six hundred and sixty miles of passenger tracks under New York. Adding in non-revenue tracks, that number rises to eight hundred and forty.”
“What’s our strategy for staying safe down here?”
Adcock shrugged. “I wouldn’t touch the third rail if I were you. Other than that, we should be fine. Whoever’s pulling the strings on this little operation managed to temporarily shut down service in this area. So, we won’t have to worry about running into any trains.”
Kolen followed Adcock into the tunnel. They walked south for a short while and eventually reached the 42nd Street station. Two girls, young and drunk, milled about the area in their skimpiest clothes, waiting for the next train. When they saw Kolen and Adcock, their jaws dropped open. Kolen felt like telling them that they had a long wait ahead of them. But instead, he kept his mouth shut.
As he entered the next section of tunnel, Kolen felt a pebble work its way into his boot. “Hold up. I need a second.”
Adcock sighed loudly but pulled to a stop. Then he began to look around, studying the walls with his light.
Kolen knelt down and untied his laces. “You know, this job would be a lot easier if there were video cameras down here.”
“There are cameras down here. They just don’t work very well.”
“Sounds useful.”
Adcock shrugged. “Your taxpayer dollars at work.”
“I’m surprised Jack Chase hasn’t tried to modernize it. He’s got the dough.”
“He’s not going to spend his own money fixing up a public system. And besides, he’s just the acting MTA Chairman. He won’t be around forever.”
“How does one become an acting Chairman anyway?”
“In his case, someone had to die.”
“Forget I asked.”
Adcock clucked impatiently. “Are you almost done?”
“Just a second.”
“We’re on a pretty tight time schedule. If it’s all the same to you, I’m going to go on ahead.”
“Fine.”
Adcock started to walk south, the light from his headlamp diminishing with each step. Soon he was nothing more than a speck in the eerie darkness. As Kolen watched him leave, he continued to wrestle with his feelings. He wasn’t sure what he disliked more…Adcock or the assignment.
Two thousand dollars. Two thousand dollars.
Kolen’s hand shook as he took off his boot. He tried to ignore them, but his instincts told him that something was wrong. Shoving the thought from his mind, he removed the pebble, stuck the boot back on his foot, and retied it. Then he focused his eyes on the dim light cast by Adcock’s headlamp and began walking again.
He shuffled forward for a block and then another one. Gradually, his mind shifted to other things…the leftovers waiting for him back in his apartment…his little niece’s dance recital…next week’s poker game.
It promised to be a good week, maybe even a great week. That is, assuming he paid off his debts before it was over.
A loud crashing noise broke his train of thought. The light in front of him vaporized and pure darkness settled over the tunnel. Kolen chuckled. Adcock must’ve fallen face-first onto the tracks.
Served him right.
He waited a few seconds, listening as more crashing noises followed the first one. A troubled feeling formed in the pit of his stomach. He lifted his head and turned his helmet, but the headlamp didn’t detect any movement.
“Hey Dan,” Kolen shouted into the darkness. “Are you okay?”
There was no response. Just more noises. They sounded like fleshy material pounding against concrete.
“Dan, can you hear me?”
Kolen heard a strange, tearing noise, like a garment being ripped in two. And then…
“Help me…help…”
Kolen sprinted forward, pumping his arms as he ran. He forgot everything else around him. He forgot his location, forgot his problems. He even forgot his dislike for Adcock.
After no more than a hundred feet, he spotted the man lying on the ground, motionless. His eyes tightened and his body tensed.
Kolen slid to a halt next to Adcock. Reaching down, he grabbed the man by his belt. Adcock seemed light for his size.
“Dan, what happened? Are you okay?” Kolen froze. A helpless, frightening feeling crept over him.
Adcock wasn’t okay. He was dead. But that wasn’t the worst of it.
Half of his body was missing.
Something had ripped him in half. Something that was, in all likelihood, still in the area.
A rush of movement came from the west.
Kolen whirled toward it. His headlamp caught a frenzy of activity. He tried to move but the sight of the horrible beast shocked him into stillness.
Powerful jaws clamped down on his leg and he felt himself dragged to the ground. He wanted to scream but his throat didn’t work.
He tried to move, tried to stand up, tried to fight.
But it was too late.
He felt a wrenching pain in his waist.
Then he felt nothing at all.
Chapter 2