I took a moment to examine the corpse. He was young, maybe twenty max. The guy wore a navy tracksuit with a stripe down the side. He had on fashionable sneakers. Footsoldiers. Young enough to be brave, dumb enough to die for it.

The guy had walked out of a toilet. About fifteen feet further on was a door. Closed. I looked at Miriam. Her face was flushed and she was breathing hard. Her eyes shone and the pupils were pins in the half light. We approached the door. As we got closer, I began to notice a growing humming noise. Miriam moved into a covering position. She had good tactical instincts. She nodded at me, like she was ready. I shrugged, and tried the handle. Locked.

I nodded to the dead guy in the tracksuit. Miriam was closer. I mimicked putting my hands in pockets. She saw my meaning and hustled over to the body. The second jacket pocket was a score. Miriam came up with keys and tossed them at me underhand. I caught them in a clenched fist. First one didn’t fit. Second one didn’t either. Third one went right into the lock.

The handle turned and I opened the door.

Chapter Sixty-One

A laundry room.

Three washing machines, no dryers, no people. One door to the left, a dark opening in the cavern to the right.

One of the washing machines was spinning, fast. Whirring at breakneck speed. Off to the right was an opening in the stone, beyond it was darkness. I aimed the H&K into the dark cavern and the light cone from the mini-mag picked out rows of clothing hung on thin line. They’d run the clothesline through hooks screwed into the rock. The cave didn’t give out to any tunnels, or other rooms, a dead end.

The washing machine made a loud click and started to spin down. The high-pitched rattle and hum had covered our entry but we were about to lose that cover. I pointed towards the other door out of the laundry room. “Let’s go.”

I flattened my back against the wall, right side of the door. The H&K was slung across my chest. I had the M9 Beretta in my right hand. I turned the handle slow with my left and let the door swing open a few inches. There wasn’t a whole lot to be seen, through that crack, at that angle. A stone wall, and something on the floor, textile or foam, like a mattress.

The machine spun down for good and made a beeping sound. I waited until that was finished. Then listened. Miriam was to my left, waiting with me. Patient. A minute later there was no sound coming from anywhere. Quite the opposite, the silence was deafening. I pushed the door open a couple more inches, swiveled my head around and took a good look.