Seconds to Live (Scarlet Falls #3)(96)

With Carl at her side, they cleared room after room.

Stella turned into a home office and drew up short. “Oh my God.”

Pictures were tacked on a corkboard: Full color glossies of Missy and Dena. In the first row, they were alive, going about their daily business, and obviously had no idea they were being photographed. In the bottom row, they were carefully posed in death.

He’d stalked them, planned their abductions, and murdered them.

Carl pointed to papers strewn across the desk. “He detailed their torture like professional counseling sessions.”

“Here,” an officer called. Stella went into a small room. Monitors covered a U-shaped desk. On one, she could see a small body thumping on the door, waist deep in water.

Gianna.

As Stella watched, the water rose around the girl’s torso. The lake was flooding right into the basement. They had to find her.

Where was Mac?

She scanned the rest of the monitors. On the last one, Mac fished in the water with one hand. His other was handcuffed to a gurney. Where was Josh?

She bolted for the door. “Find the basement!”



Water swirled around Gianna’s body, the chill lowering her body temperature. She shivered against the cold and trembled at the effort to stay on her feet.

“Help!” She raised her fists and hammered at the door. “Help me! The water is rising.”

Her legs buckled. She caught herself against the door as the water rose to mid-chest. How long before it was over her head?

Her fists slid down the wood. Terror sheared off her like a glacier, and hopelessness took hold.

This was the end. To think once she’d almost taken her own life, and she’d been healthy then. Now she was fighting to keep her miserable existence.

Truly, she hadn’t appreciated life until she was in danger of losing it.

Maybe this was for the best. Was her life even worth living? As much as she wanted to say it wasn’t, she couldn’t give up. Though, it would be easier to simply let go. Her head would slip under. Her lungs would fill with liquid. How long would it take? A few minutes at best. Then she’d be at peace. So why was she fighting so hard?

Dialysis was awful, but the days in between weren’t so bad. And there was always the hope of a transplant on the horizon. Someday, maybe she’d be healthy again.

The water swirled to her neck. She tilted her face to the ceiling and faced the camera.

“Please. Don’t let me die.”



Stella took the lead. Gun in hand, she descended the staircase into the basement. At the bottom, she spotted another heavy door. Carl swung the battering ram. Wood splintered as the door burst inward.

Crouching, Stella went through the doorway and ducked right as Carl turned left. She swept the room with her weapon. The twenty-by-twenty room was knee-deep in water.

“Stella!” In the center of the room, Mac was handcuffed to a gurney and dragging it behind him. “He’s getting away.”

On the other side, a bloody-faced Josh splashed through a doorway and disappeared.

Stella motioned for the uniforms to go after him. She had to find Gianna.

“We have to save Gianna.” Mac tugged on the cuffs. “Can you open these?”

Stella waded to Mac. Rain—or tears—were wet on her face. She touched his cheek with one hand. Thank God. His skin was warm and alive under her palm. “Where is she?”

He gave her a hard and fast kiss. “Somewhere below here.”

“She doesn’t have much time. The water is rising.” Stella used her handcuff key to free him.

She and Mac sloshed through the water toward the doorway.

The uniforms returned. One said, “There’s a bulkhead door that leads outside. He’s gone.”

“Any sign of the girl?” Stella asked them.

“Not through there.” The cop jerked his thumb over his shoulder. His radio squawked as he gave an update on the situation. “The suspect has fled the building. We have Barrett. No sign of the girl yet.”

A short burst of static, then the chief answered. “Ambulance is here. Bring Barrett out.”

Stella knew that wasn’t going to happen. Mac wouldn’t leave her side.

She ran back into the hall. Next to her, Mac rubbed his wrists. The hall sloped downward and water filled the corridor.

Stella plunged into it. Gianna had to be down there.

Please let her be alive.

The corridor took a sharp turn. At the end of the hall was a doorway.

“I need that battering ram.” Stella yelled behind her. The door was a thick exterior door, the hinges heavily reinforced.

Carl ran into the water, carrying the steel ram. Together they trudged to the door. The water swirled around their chests. Carl and Mac lifted the battering ram above their shoulders and hit the door at the top. Wood splintered but the door held. They swung and slammed it a second time. Boards cracked. Three more hard hits, and the battering ram broke through. Stella looked through the hole. The water was just as deep on the other side, the pressure holding the door closed was more than they could generate with the battering ram. How would they get her out?

“Gianna,” she shouted.

No answer.

“I’ll go in,” Mac volunteered.

But the hole wasn’t big enough for him to squeeze through.