“Get to the basement. Now—”
The sound of gunshots interrupted, and Steven waved them on.
“Just go!” he ordered, moving stiffly around the banister of the upper floor. “Quincy! Get up!”
“What’s going on?” Quincy muttered as he emerged from another room looking disoriented, his shirt unbuttoned.
“Get out of there! Don’t stop!” Steven barked as another round of gunfire erupted from outside.
William swept Lily into his arms as he bounded down the stairs to the first floor, remembering the elevator was just off the kitchen. As he looked back up the stairs to see if Steven and Quincy were close behind, the glass in the French doors leading to the porch shattered, inviting in the sound of a landing helicopter.
“Go!” Steven yelled. William headed for the kitchen, seeing the night revealed in the missing glass splintered by the firing of pistols from the two guards. Both were crouched behind pillars, firing repeatedly into the dark.
William ran, carrying Lily through the butler’s pantry and to the large, heavy doors that concealed the elevator. He set the girl down and pulled opened the doors. Steven arrived, sliding aside the small painting and punching in a code on the keypad, then setting his thumb on the tiny screen.
They heard the scream of a man from the porch and booted feet rush up the outside stairs.
Stumbling inside as the elevator doors opened, Steven repeatedly pushed the button to descend.
As the metal doors began to close, a man in black arrived outside, sticking his foot in the opening.
William felt the heat in him, the familiar panic. He saw Lily raise her arm.
“No!” he said, yanking her hand down.
The closest to the doors, Quincy used his sizeable weight to slam his foot into the agent’s shin, just as the man swiveled his weapon towards them. When he yanked his leg back in pain, the doors abruptly shut.
“Listen,” Steven said as the elevator began to lower. “Do exactly as I say and we may be able to get out of here.”
Before they could respond, the elevator doors opened, and Steven motioned them out. As their eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room, Steven turned to the keypad on the side of the door. As the doors to the elevator closed again, he held down his finger on the screen for several seconds, until it began to flash red.
“It’s inactivated,” Steven said. “William, turn around.”
“What?”
Starting at William’s neck, the old man began to pat him down. When he’d reached all the way to his feet, he tore off William’s shoes. As he turned them over, something small tumbled out from inside one of them.
Lily reached down, holding up what appeared to be a microchip.
“Dammit,” Steven said.
William’s stomach sank, remembering how the agents had frisked him, even taking off his shoes.
“They must have slipped it in when they took me,” he stammered.
Quincy took the tracking device from Lily and threw it to the floor, crushing it with the heel of his shoe. From above came the sound of harsh slamming on metal.
“We don’t have much time.” Steven hobbled across the room, opening a cabinet. Pressing a series of buttons on the top of the safe inside, he lifted out a single flash drive on a metal chain. He then moved to the only other door in the room.
Again, he pressed his thumb on a keypad, and a thudding sound came from behind it. He pulled it open, revealing only darkness beyond. “Now.” He motioned them in.
They didn’t hesitate. Once in, Steven closed the door. A dim light flickered on, revealing a long, dark, earthen passage stretching out before them.
“What in the world?” Quincy said softly. “Where does that go?”
Steven reached for a glass case embedded in the wall. Lifting the cover, he pulled out a hefty flashlight hanging beside a single red button. Taking a deep breath, Steven pushed the button.
“Run,” he said, thrusting the flashlight towards William. “Run and don’t stop. You have eight minutes. You will reach a ladder about a half mile down. Climb it and follow the path outside. It will lead you to a boat. Take it and don’t stop. Do you understand? Take this flash drive. Give it to your grandmother. It must get to her.”
Even in the earthen tunnel, the sound of repeated battering could still be heard above.
“Ok, let’s go,” Quincy said.
“Take it,” Steven said, forcing the chain with the attached flash drive around William’s neck.
“William, let’s go!” Quincy said.
“Come on,” William motioned to Steven.
The strain on the man’s face was apparent, even in the dim light. “I wish we had more time, William. Tell you grandmother—”
“No,” William said. “Quincy, take Lily and run.”
Quincy took the flashlight from William and pulled the girl to follow.
“Let’s go.” William reached out for Steven’s shoulder.
“There’s no way I can keep up—”
“Then I guess you’re going to die on the way instead of here.”
“I cannot, William. I had a heart attack ten years ago—”
William ushered him down the passageway. “You’ve got too much to explain for me to just leave you.”
“I’m already worn out—”
“Then get on,” William ordered, turning around.
“You can’t—”
“Do it, Steven!”
He hesitated a moment, and then climbed onto William’s back. The old man was lighter than William thought, hitching him up.
“We don’t have much more time.”
William ran as fast as he could, heedless of how much the man jostled on his back.
The flashlight had stopped. Quincy and Lily waited.
“Don’t stop!” Steven called out.
William tried to motion them to keep running, but Lily appeared to be straining to hold Quincy back until William was closer. As they met, William heard Quincy mutter something about Luke and Master Yoda.
“This is my worst nightmare,” Quincy huffed. “Please don’t cave in. Please don’t cave in.”
For several minutes they ran, with seemingly no end to the tunnel, the sound of Steven’s labored breathing in William’s ear.
“Hey,” Quincy said, now completely out of breath. “How much further—”
“There,” Steven pointed. The tunnel abruptly stopped about a yard away. When they reached the end, an iron ladder extended up. “Shine it up there.”
Quincy raised the flashlight. The tunnel reaching to the surface was relatively short and ended in a circular, metal cover.
“We only have a minute or two left,” Steven said.
“Before what?” Quincy asked.
William scrambled up the ladder, grabbing the lever beneath, straining to release the lid. It groaned open, and the sounds of crickets and tree frogs spilled down.
He climbed out, finding himself on a small hill. Through the trees beyond, he could see the lights of the Corcillium house. The floodlights from the helicopters flashed through the branches.
He began to order the others to follow, but already Lily was climbing out. Quincy shone the flashlight with one hand, bracing Steven with the other to help him climb. William reached down and pulled Steven the rest of the way. Quincy was immediately behind, taking a deep inhale of the night air.
“We have to keep going,” Steven whispered. “Turn off the flashlight. I have to go by memory.”
The abundance of moonlight helped, but it also meant that if any of the agents were nearby, they could easily be seen.
Steven led them from the hill down a path. Not nearly as manicured as the rest of the property, it was surrounded on both sides by tall grass. As they saw the glittering of water in the near distance, the earth rocked beneath them. They stumbled, and turned to see the metal cover fly into the air, propelled by flames bursting from the ground.