Where Silence Gathers (Some Quiet Place #2)(79)
He wants to talk? Fine. I plop down into the chair—air whooshes out of the cushion—and toss my gun at his feet. Travis picks it up.
“Why the charade?” I spit. “Why make me think you were so terrified of Andrew?” Maybe once we get all of the questions out of the way, he’ll be willing to make a trade. Me for Saul.
Dr. Stern leans forward, forming a steeple with his fingers. “I hoped to gain your trust, in order to obtain the flash drive,” he answers simply. “What is that American saying? You catch more flies with honey than vinegar?”
“You’ll never find it,” I snarl, clutching the armrests to restrain myself. I wish it were true. The box Missy gave me is in plain sight, just waiting for someone to lift the lid and discover its contents.
This doesn’t concern Dr. Stern. The only Emotion present is Excitement, and she doesn’t look pleased to be next to Travis. The old man eases back again, expressionless. “I imagine not. But you’ll tell us where it is in due time.” Before I can ask him what he intends to do, Dr. Stern gestures to the man standing behind him. “This is Mr. Bardeen. He’s going to take care of you tonight.”
Take care of you. The words make me want to dive for the gun. My eyes meet Travis’s, and I clench my jaw so tightly pain radiates through it. “We’ve met.”
At this, Dr. Stern falls silent. He inclines his head slightly. Travis looks rueful now. “Aw, I couldn’t help myself, doc,” he whines. “I kept an eye on her like you said. I just played with her a little, too.”
“You tried to ram me off the road.”
Travis laughs, the same laugh he made when I shot at him.
Irritation shimmers into existence—an Emotion that looks like a child, strangely enough—and taps Dr. Stern on the shoulder. He sighs and looks at him. “Not so hard, little one,” he admonishes. I blink in surprise. Then he focuses on me again. “I do apologize for those incidents. The injections have made Mr. Bardeen unstable, like the others, but he follows orders well enough that I decided to keep him around. As you’ve probably discerned, he enjoys the work he does for me. Now, before he takes you back to the lab, I believe there is some unfinished business for you to attend to. A deal is a deal, after all.”
“You’ll let him go?” I breathe, digging my nails into the chair again as I wait for his response. It doesn’t matter that they’ve lured me out here to kill me or take me. All that matters is Saul walking through the door of our apartment tonight, and Missy running from the window to embrace him and lecture him for being so late.
Dr. Stern rises and tugs at his vest in a manner eerily similar to Andrew. “Letting him go is entirely up to you, Miss Tate.” He nods at Travis.
I frown. “Wait, what—”
My head explodes. The force of Travis’s blow makes my chair tilt, and a second later I slam into the dirt. A moan echoes off the walls. I see stars and colors. Some part of me is aware of retreating footsteps—Dr. Stern is getting away—but I’m helpless to stop him. Travis leers over me. I steel myself for a kick that doesn’t come. Outside, Dr. Stern starts a car. The engine purrs, then slinks away. He’s gone.
As soon as the quiet wraps around us, Travis reaches down and helps me up. I try to snatch my hand back but his grip only tightens. “We have to climb down the ladder,” he tells me, winking. I sway on my feet. “Think you’re up for it? Hell, what am I saying? You’re tougher than any other chick I know.” He swings away, whistling through his teeth. My gun is tucked into his belt.
Wheezing, I manage to follow him to the hole that leads down, down, down into the ground. Everything inside me writhes and recoils at the idea of going deeper into the mines, but this choice has been taken from me. I didn’t realize how valuable decisions are until I no longer had one. Without glancing back to make sure I’m coming, Travis puts his feet on the rungs and descends. He vanishes into the darkness. I’m frozen, staring into the hole and trapped in the memory of the last time I was here.
Daddy, take me back up! I’m scared.
It’s all right, honey. We’ll go back up. Just put your arms around my neck and I’ll carry you, okay?
Warmth. A lullaby. Then air. But my father isn’t here this time to save me. This time I’m not the one that needs saving.
Breathing raggedly, I clamp the sides of the ladder in my hands and inch down until my heel touches a rung. Go back up! instinct shrieks. Somehow I ignore it and shuffle to the next step. Then the next. My stomach quakes. I do this again and again and again with all the swiftness of Georgie reading a book. That is, extremely slowly. “Sometime today!” Travis shouts, his voice bouncing off the walls. Suddenly light reaches for me, showing the way, and I dare to peek toward the ground. There’s an electric lantern waiting at the bottom of the ladder. Travis must have carried it down earlier. It makes me braver, and I eventually reach the end. The instant my feet touch ground I collapse, catching my breath. My fingers brush against something hard—a rock.
“Finally,” Travis mutters, stalking down the tunnel to our left. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
My hand wraps around the rock. Picking it up, I break into a run to keep up with his long-legged strides, desperate to stay within the circle of light despite how close it brings me to Travis. There’s a swagger to his walk that tells me this isn’t his first time in these tunnels. Soon we’re so far underground I can’t hear the rain anymore. Every time thunder sounds, though, my heart leaps into my mouth and I’m terrified that the ceiling will come down on us. It begins to feel like the mines are closing in, burying me alive, and Travis just keeps turning and walking and whistling. I try to keep count of every step and memorize each turn. Right, right, left, right, right. Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four …