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Contents ( 49)
  1. CHAPTER ONE
  2. CHAPTER TWO
  3. CHAPTER THREE
  4. CHAPTER FOUR
  5. CHAPTER FIVE
  6. CHAPTER SIX
  7. CHAPTER SEVEN
  8. CHAPTER EIGHT
  9. CHAPTER NINE
  10. CHAPTER TEN
  11. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  12. CHAPTER TWELVE
  13. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  14. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  15. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  16. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  17. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  18. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  19. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  20. CHAPTER TWENTY
  21. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  22. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  30. CHAPTER THIRTY
  31. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  32. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  40. CHAPTER FORTY
  41. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  42. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  43. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  44. THE SAME BREATH
  45. 1
  46. 2
  47. 3
  48. Acknowledgments
  49. About the Author

Somers tried to control his breathing; everything he did seemed too loud. The leather soles of his oxfords whispered against the stone no matter how quietly he tried to move. The rasp of his palm on the wall, felt more than heard, still seemed as loud as a circular saw. Something in the building whined, a low, droning noise that made him think of the bees that had been down here.

When he passed the first cell, something hit him from the side. Somers went down, his head cracking against the limestone, and stars exploded in his vision. The attacker caught his wrist, slamming it once, twice, but Somers held onto the Glock. Training and reaction kicked in, and he rolled, bringing his free hand up and clubbing hard against the side of his attacker’s head. They tumbled together, and Somers came up on top, shouting, “Don’t move, don’t move, I will fucking blow your head off.”

The figure beneath him went still.

And then, out of the darkness came a familiar voice, “John-Henry?”

It was Nico.

And then the dull whine registered, and Somers scrambled off Nico, stumbling to the ancient door. He threw it open, sprinted up the stairs, and hit the door at the top with his shoulder. It held fast. He fumbled with the deadbolt at the top, cleared the bolt, and tried again. Nothing. He threw his weight into the door again. It didn’t even budge.

When the sound of the drill cut off, Somers heard laughter on the other side of the door. He knew, now, what had happened: the Keeper had been waiting for him, and once Somers had stepped into the sub-basement, the Keeper had secured the hasp to the door jamb again. That hadn’t been a custodian coming down the hall; it had been the Keeper. The whole thing had been a trap, and Somers had walked into it like a fool.

CHAPTER THIRTY

JULY 5

FRIDAY

3:09 PM

THE NURSE’S NAME WAS Melinda Rasmussen. She went by Mellie, and she lived in a vinyl-sided ranch in an old neighborhood on the outskirts of town. Hazard cruised the street and studied the home. The flowerbeds around the house held peonies and hostas and daylilies, but the peonies drooped, and the leaves of the hostas looked burned along the edges from drought, and the daylilies had been swallowed up by weeds. In every window, the curtains were drawn tight. The July air was heavy and sticky and still; wind chimes hung from the eaves, silent.

At the end of the block, Hazard turned, drove another hundred yards, and parked. He took out his phone and saw that he had missed a call during the drive. He didn’t recognize the number. It was the third or fourth call like that, and Hazard had missed all of them for one reason or another. The caller had refused, so far, to leave a message. He considered calling back, just to see who it was, but didn’t.