something to eat.” Mona was guilty of sneaking out of her room on a regular basis in search of snacks. No doubt a teenager would be just as bad about it.
“We would have seen her.” One of the men shook his head. “No way did she get out.”
“Well she’s sure as hell not in there.” Helen turned back to the room. “I’ve been through the whole damn thing and she’s gone.”
“I’ll go check downstairs.” The other man went to the stairs, disappearing down the well.
“Let’s double check everything.” The first man followed Helen inside her suite.
They had this, right?
Helen turned to Mona, her eyes pinched with worry.
Mona reluctantly followed her into the suite to help hunt down the missing teenager.
They went through the bedroom first, checking the closet, under the bed, and anywhere else a person might be able to hide away.
There weren’t many options.
The man went out to the bathroom and tried to open the door.
It was locked.
He immediately put his shoulder into it, but the heavy door held tight to its steel frame.
“Use the key.” Mona stepped in, going up on her toes to run one hand over the top of the frame.
She came up empty.
“She’s probably got it in there with her.” Helen banged on the door. “Amelia. Open this door right now.”
“Hang on.” Mona turned. “Let me go check the door on my room.”
They were identical locks. The push button option that just needed a simple stab with a narrow key to pop the lock.
Her room had the exact same thing.
She rushed into her suite, going straight for the bathroom and retrieving her key before going back across the living room area and out to Helen’s room. The other guard was back, holding the door open as she walked in, the key pinched between her fingers. The first guard popped the lock and shoved the door open. Helen went in, going straight to the shower and pulling back the curtain.
The room was empty.
“We’ll find her.” The first guard raced toward the door.
Suddenly they both froze, their eyes meeting. The first man turned to Mona and Helen. “Stay here. Keep looking.”
“What?” Helen chased the men as they started to leave. “Where are you going?”
The men started to run, leaving Mona and Helen staring after them.
Helen turned to Mona. “What the fuck just happened?”
“I don’t know. But we can go find out.” She pointed into the room. “Grab your badge and let’s go.”
Helen hurried inside, immediately going to the small table just on the other side of the door. She leaned to look on the floor. “I swear it was right here.” She turned to face Mona, her eyes wide. “Where all can that badge get you?”
“Probably almost anywhere.” Mona turned to look toward the door leading to the tunnels.
Mother fucker. The damn tunnels.
“Come on.” She ran toward the heavy steel door. “This is the only way she could have gone without being seen.”
Even then, there should be some sign of her on camera. Hopefully someone from Intel was paying attention.
“Give me just a minute.” Helen’s voice carried out the open door. A second later she rushed out, running down the hall toward Mona.
Mona walked into the stairwell and immediately started down.
“Where does this go?” Helen stuck right with her, not even losing her breath as they took the stairs as fast as they could.
“To a set of underground tunnels that connect the buildings.” Mona put her arm across Helen’s chest the second they hit the bottom level.
A soft sound carried along the quiet concrete corridors.
Mona rested one finger against her lips and started to move, staying silent as she went so she could hear as much as possible.
Just like the night she snuck up on Harlow and Bobby.
Hopefully that was all the two instances had in common.
Helen was equally quiet as they moved along the tunnels, the older woman’s movements making it clear Mona was not the only woman Pierce made sure was capable of handling herself.
The kachunk of a steel door sliding into place sent them moving faster down the corridor leading to the back garage area of the property.
Mona opened the door as quietly as possible, letting Helen go first before following her through and silently sliding the door into place. The lock at the top of the stairs beeped and a second later that door opened.
And closed.
“If this is her I’m going to kill her.” Helen ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Mona was panting by the time they reached the