Page 107 of Twilight Tactics

He moved to a hallway where he found a pool of blood, then a trail to the front door. A bloodied pencil lay on the floor. Huh.What did you do, Elena?

“Who’s there?” a small voice called from down the corridor.

Sully hurried to the row of cells to find a teenage girl with dirty blond hair pressed against the bars of the nearest one.

“Are you with Eleanor?” she asked, eyes wide with hope.

“I’m looking for her. She escaped?”

The girl nodded. “She promised to come back for me. I’m Maria.”

“I’m Sully. FBI.” He examined the lock on her cell. Without a key, he wasn’t getting in. “Do you know where she might have gone?”

“She told me about the old mine. I don’t know. She was kind of muttering to herself after that.”

The mine. Of course. The abandoned property Elena had mentioned before. The possible route her mother had taken to sneak Elena out of the compound.

“How do I get there?”

“There’s a trail behind the mess hall. Follow it up the ridge and you can’t miss it.” Maria’s knuckles whitened as she gripped the bars. “Please don’t leave me here.”

Sully rapped a fist on the lock. “I don’t have the keys, Maria. But I promise we’ll come back for you.”

“That’s what Eleanor said too.”

“And she meant it. So do I.” Sully reached through the bars, squeezing her hand. “Someone will be here to help you soon. I promise.”

“Check the cells again!” The shout from outside startled them both.

“Go,” Maria whispered. “Find Eleanor. I’ll be okay. They’re looking for her, so they’ll leave me alone for a while.”

The front door to the jail banged open, and Sully slipped back into the storage room, then out the side door. He pressed himself against the wall, breathing shallowly as two guards rushed past.

Once they were inside, he darted across the open space to the mess hall, a large building with darkened windows. He skirted around behind it, finding the trail Maria had mentioned. It wound upward into the dense forest, away from the compound. He started up it, wishing he had Jim Small there to help track.

The sound of voices ahead sent Sully scurrying toward aboulder. He crouched behind it while flashlight beams swept the trail.

“She couldn’t have gotten far,” a man said. “Spread out. Check the mine entrance.”

Sully remained motionless until they passed, then continued upward, moving parallel to the trail through the underbrush. Elena was headed to the mine—and the preppers knew it.

Sully pressed the transmit button on his comms unit. “Agent Sullivan to command. Elena has escaped custody and is heading for the abandoned mine. Hostiles in pursuit. Request immediate backup at these coordinates.”

Nothing but static answered him. The signal jammers were still active, at least this close to the compound.

“Great,” he muttered.

He had two choices: Follow Elena to the mine and hope to find her before the preppers did, or retreat beyond the jammers’ range to call for backup. If he chose wrong, Elena might not survive the night.

The sound of gunfire in the distance made his decision for him. Three shots in rapid succession, coming from the direction of the mine.

Sully broke into a run, abandoning stealth for speed. Elena was in trouble, and she needed him now.

He’d gone fifty yards when a figure stepped onto the path ahead, silhouetted against the moonlight. The unmistakable shape of a rifle barrel rose to meet him.

“Stop right there,” a woman’s voice commanded.

Sully froze, hand hovering near his weapon.