bitch?”
“Bleeding, shot in the shoulder. She’s cuffed. She’s not going anywhere.”
“All right, hurry.”
The two of them raced down the cabin steps again, moving through the vegetable garden; this time, Adele intentionally stepped on the plants and kicked over a couple of the potted vegetables.
As she moved toward the well, she gestured at John. Both of them squinted into the darkness, and John’s hand sprang forward and he pointed. “Look,” he snarled. “A ladder.”
Her voice quavering, Adele said, “I’ll go first. Take care.”
She descended, her hands shaking, gripping the cold metal of the ladder, which led down to the base of the well.
Her whole body shivered as she moved. As she descended, her feet scraped against the stones of the wall. She listened, but couldn’t hear anything. She descended further and dropped onto the dusty ground. A crunching sound—she realized someone had scattered glass across the base of the well. With a snarl, she swept her booted foot, kicking the shards off to the side. Not a well… a disguise.
She spotted a wooden door in the base of the well, completely invisible from the top.
“John,” she called, her voice echoing up the stone tunnel. “They’re down here. Get paramedics! Find a signal. We’re going to need help!”
John was still at the top of the well, but at this, she heard the thudding sound of rapid footfalls as he hurried to follow the directions.
Adele reached toward the wooden door, her fingers trembling. Locked. Another gunshot, though, and she managed to kick the thing open. It took a few more tries than John had, but finally the frame broke and she pushed the remnants of the door aside to reveal a wooden staircase descending into a dark cellar.
Trembling, assailed instantly by the smell of rot and human waste, she moved into the darkness. A faint, orange glow from light bulbs throughout the room illuminated many cages made of chicken wire.
And in the cages, people.
Dirty, bruised, covered in cuts and scrapes. She spotted a thick bloodstain on the ground in the dirt near one of the cages.
A young man blinked out at her over the stain, and, in a croaky voice, he said, “Who are you?” His voice trembled with fear.
“Interpol,” she said, still staring, stunned. For a moment, she felt words had deserted her. But they needed words now. The eyes peering out at her needed her words. So she summoned them with a cough and a swallow. “I’m here to help, it’s going to be okay.” So paltry—so small, a bare offering of assurance in the face of a grim reality.
And yet, at her words, it was almost like a spell was lifted. Sound suddenly emerged from all the cages. Mewling, crying, desperate gasping sobs. Pleading.
Adele glanced at the young man who’d spoken first. “I’ll get you out of there.”
“Wait,” he said. His voice was sharp enough that she paused.
“What?”
“Electricity on the gates. You need to flip that switch, see there.” He jerked his bound hands toward the wall. Adele nodded quickly and hurried over. She flipped the indicated breaker, and the humming sound faded.
Then she hurried to the cages, unlatched them, and people started tumbling out into the darkness, moving toward her, but in some cases simply collapsing on the ground and rocking back and forth, sobbing.
Adele dropped next to a young woman, who was weeping into her lap in a sitting position. Her hands were bound in front of her. Adele shushed her quietly, stroking her hair.
The girl recoiled at the touch.
Adele quickly said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m here to help. It’s going to be okay. It’s all going to be okay.”
The girl kept rocking back and forth and sobbing. Adele bent her knee next to her, one hand hovering, but not quite touching.
“Are you really here to help us?” the girl choked out through tears.
Adele found a lump in her own throat. She felt a swirl of emotions in her chest, a swirl of grief. But she also choked out, “Yes, I promise.”
As Adele looked around, she spotted eight different victims. But there were far more cages than that. Many of them empty.
A slow, quiet sensation of dread filled her. Late. She’d come so late. So many lost… So many gone… A small sob came unbidden, tumbling from her lips, and she tried to bite it off and swallow it back—but too late. For a moment, in the dark, amidst the stench, surrounded by pain, she felt lost.
But then the young girl rocking back and forth leaned against