‘So, what would you like to do?’ Garcia asked. ‘Split up or go together?’
‘Let’s give ourselves a better chance and move together. That way we can cover each other.’
Garcia nodded. ‘Good call. Which way?’
Hunter pointed right.
Once again they moved in almost complete silence. They quickly got to the first room towards the end of the corridor. A very sturdy and thick timber door. At the bottom of it there was a food hatch. Hunter fumbled through the keys in the large key ring, trying each one. He found the correct key on his third attempt.
Hunter gave Garcia a quick nod, who responded in the same way. They were as ready as they’d ever be.
Both detectives held their breath as Hunter stood with his back against the wall to the right of the door and pushed it open in one fast movement. Immediately, Garcia stepped inside, both of his arms stretched out, his weapon held by a double-hand grip. He was followed a fraction of a second later by Hunter.
The room was in complete darkness, but the tiny amount of light that seeped through from the corridor outside allowed them to understand its setup. It was small, maybe only ten feet in depth by seven wide. There was a metal bed pushed up against one of the walls and a bucket on the floor to the right of the bed; nothing else. The walls were made of red bricks and the floor was concrete. It looked like a medieval dungeon, and if fear had a smell, that room was drenched in it. There was no one in there.
Garcia breathed out and cringed. ‘Damn, look at this place, man. Stephen King couldn’t have imagined this hellhole.’
Hunter closed the door silently and he and Garcia moved on. The corridor swung left. Hunter went through the same process, trying each key as he reached the first door in this new hallway. The room was identical to the first one and again in total darkness. There was no one in there either.
Garcia started fidgeting.
They reached the next door and the process started again. As Hunter pushed the door open and they stepped inside with their weapons at the ready, they heard a faint and frightened cry.
One Hundred and Ten
Hunter and Garcia paused by the door. Both of their guns aiming at whoever or whatever had made that noise, but neither of them fired. Due to the darkness, it took Hunter a couple of seconds to spot her. She was pressed against one of the corners of the room, curled up into a tiny ball. Her knees were tight against her chest. Her arms hugging her legs so hard the blood seemed to have drained from them. Her eyes were wide open, staring at the door and the two new arrivals. One word could describe her whole being – fear.
Hunter recognized her straight away – Katia Kudrov.
He holstered his gun and quickly lifted his hands up in a surrender gesture.
‘We’re Los Angeles police officers,’ he announced in the calmest voice he could muster. ‘We’ve been looking for you for a while, Katia.’
Katia burst into tears, her body convulsing with emotion. Hunter stepped into the room and approached her very slowly.
‘You’re gonna be OK, we’re here now.’
Her eyes were still wide, staring at Hunter as if he was an illusion. Her breathing was coming to her in bursts. Hunter feared she was too shocked to speak.
‘Can you talk?’ he asked. ‘Are you hurt?’
Katia sucked in a deep breath through her nose and nodded.
‘Ye— yes, I can talk. No— no, I’m not hurt.’
Hunter kneeled down before her and took her in his arms. She hugged him tight and broke down in a barrage of desperate tears and high-pitched yelps. Hunter felt as though he was absorbing her fear through his skin.
Garcia stood by the door, both hands wrapped firmly around his gun, his gaze incessantly moving up and down the corridor outside.
Katia’s eyes met Hunter’s. ‘Than— thank you.’
‘Are there others here?’
She nodded. ‘I think so. I never saw anyone. I’m never let out of this room. The lights are always off. But I’m sure I heard something one day. I mean, I heard someone. Another woman.’
Hunter nodded. ‘You are the first one we found, we’ve gotta look for others.’
Katia’s arms tightened further around Hunter. ‘No . . . don’t leave me.’
‘We’re not leaving you. You’re coming with us. Can you walk?’
Katia breathed out and nodded.
Hunter helped her stand up. She looked much skinnier than the pictures he’d seen of her.
‘When was the last time you ate?’
She gave him a tiny shrug. ‘I don’t know. The food and the water are drugged.’
‘Do you feel dizzy?’
A succession of quick nods. ‘A little, but I can walk.’
Hunter’s questioning gaze moved to Garcia.
‘We’re good here, let’s move.’
Hunter moved Katia in between him and Garcia and drew his weapon again. They stepped towards the door cautiously, ready to brave the corridors again.
All of a sudden all the lights went off.
They were left in absolute darkness.
For an instant all three of them were frozen to the spot. Katia let out another cry, but the fear in her voice this time almost chilled the air.
‘Oh my God, he’s here.’
Hunter reached for her again. ‘It’s all right, Katia. It’s gonna be OK. We’re still here with you.’ As his hand touched her arm, he felt her shivering.
‘No yo— you don’t understand. It won’t be OK.’
‘What do you mean?’ Garcia whispered.
‘He’s like a ghost. He moves like a ghost. You can’t hear him when he comes for you.’ She started crying and her voice faltered. ‘And . . . he . . . he can see you but you can’t see him.’ Her breathing accelerated. ‘He can see in the dark.’
One Hundred and Eleven
Hunter pulled Katia into his arms again.
‘Katia, it’ll be OK. We’ll get out of here.’
‘No . . .’ Desperation took over her voice. ‘You’re not listening. We can’t hide from him. There’s nowhere we can go where he won’t find us. We won’t get out of here alive. He could be standing behind you right now and you wouldn’t know. Unless he wanted you to.’
That statement sent a shiver up Garcia’s spine and he mechanically extended his left arm like a blind man, feeling the space around him – nothing but air.
‘I could never see him,’ Katia continued, ‘but I sensed him many times, right here, in the room with me. He wouldn’t say a word. He wouldn’t make a sound, but I knew he was there, watching me, just observing. I never heard him come in or go out. He moves like a ghost.’
‘OK,’ Hunter said. ‘The three of us moving blind isn’t a great idea. We won’t be able to cover each other.’
‘What do you wanna do?’ Garcia whispered.
‘Katia, stay in here. Stay in the room.’
‘What?’
‘I’ve been checking every inch of this place. He’s got no surveillance. There are no cameras, no microphones, nothing. He might know that we’re here, but there’s no way he can be sure that we’ve gotten to you or to anyone else. If you stay in the room just like you’ve been doing since the day you were captured, he’s got no reason to be angry with you.’