For now they used the overhead light. Abra took her position on the steps to check the laptop monitor and the nanny cam they’d set up on the third floor. Eli checked the video camera once again as he contacted Sherrilyn.
“We’re inside the passage.”
“No movement from Suskind yet. I’ll let you know when and if.”
“It’ll be when.”
“Positive thinking,” Abra approved when Eli put the phone away.
“He sure as hell didn’t come back here to surf or sunbathe. This is his goal, this is his chance to try for it again. Once he leaves Sandcastle, we go to dark.”
“And all quiet, like a submarine. I’ve got it, Eli. If he goes to the third floor, the nanny cam will record him. If he comes down here, and that’s most likely, we do. The sun sets in less than two hours, if he waits that long. We’ve probably got some time to pass.”
And now they were closed in, without even enough room to pace off the tension.
“Should’ve brought a deck of cards,” he commented. “Since we didn’t, why don’t you tell me how you’d do a yoga studio if you had one.”
“Oh, hopes and dreams? I can pass lots of time that way.”
She passed less than an hour before she stopped, angled her head. “Is that the phone? The house phone?”
“Yeah. It could be anyone.”
“Or it could be him, just making sure nobody’s here.” She shook her head when the faint ringing stopped. “We can’t hear from down here if the caller’s leaving a message.”
Moments later, the phone vibrated in Eli’s pocket.
“He’s on the move,” Sherrilyn told him. “Carrying a large duffel. He’s going to use his car. Just stay on the line a minute, let me see how he plays it.”
Eli repeated the statement in a whisper to Abra, and watching her eyes, saw them light with anticipation.
No fear, he thought. Just none.
“He’s using the drive of a rental cottage about an eighth of a mile from Bluff House. He’s out and heading toward you on foot.”
“We’re ready for him. Give him that fifteen after he’s in before you make the call.”
“You got it. You were right about this part of it, Eli. I hope you’re right about the rest. I’ll be seeing you.”
He turned his phone off, tucked it away. “You stay in here, as agreed.”
“All right, but—”
“No buts. We don’t have time to change the plan. Stay here, stay quiet and turn the light off.” He took a moment to lean down and kiss her.
“You just remember I have your back.”
“I’m counting on it.” And on her staying closed in and safe.
He slipped out, easing the panel closed behind him. He took his position behind the shelves, letting his eyes adjust to the dark.
He could just switch the camera to record, stay inside with Abra. But he needed to see, to hear, needed to have his hand all the way in and be right there to make any change if necessary.
He didn’t hear the back door open. He wasn’t sure if he heard footsteps or imagined them. But he heard the creak of the basement door, and the heavy footfalls on the narrow stairs.
Showtime, he thought, and switched the camera on.
He came in slowly, leading with the flashlight. Eli watched the wide beam sweep, sending its backwash from the generator room into the area beyond. Then the leading edge of it, into the old section, the man holding it no more than a shadow as the light painted over the walls, the floor, then lit over the shelves.
In the beats the beam crept over the shelves, the wall, Eli’s heart kicked. He braced, ready—maybe eager—to pursue, to fight.
But the beam passed on.
Secure now, Eli thought, as the work light flashed on. He saw Suskind clearly for the first time.
Dressed in black as he himself was, his hair clipped short now and streaked with blond. A new look, Eli decided, another way to blend into the vacation crowd.
He checked the viewfinder on the camera, adjusted it minutely as Suskind picked up the pickax. Those first hard thuds of blade striking ground rang satisfying to Eli.
Now you’re done, he thought. Now we’ve got you.
He had to strap down the part of him that wanted to step out, to confront. Not yet, he ordered himself. Not quite yet.
Because his ears were tuned for it, he heard the sirens—dim against the thick walls—and watched Suskind continue to hack and dig at the ground, watched the sweat