Page 83 of Reset

“Don’t worry, kid. Our lips are sealed,” Ryan said.

In a shallow alcove off the tunnel sat a large chair-sized rock that’d been tagged one too many times by talentless artists. The teens stopped in front of it.

“This is it,” Le Chat said as he checked the tunnel for anyone watching.

If he means the rock is his den… Ryan was going to kill someone. Probably the little pervert.

Le Chat angled in behind the rock and dropped to his knees. Then disappeared.

“We crawl through,” La Fosse said. “You go first because I must seal the door behind us.”

“Sarah, you’re up.” There was no way, he was letting the creepy teen crawl behind her.

Without protest, she shuffled into the narrow space behind the rock, then slowly lowered to her knees before crawling into a dark hole that’d been hidden from view. La Fosse made a big show out of looking everywhere but her backside, which was fine by Ryan. The kid needed to learn some respect.

It was a tight squeeze for Ryan. The space wasn’t designed for adult male shoulders, but he forced his way through, hiding his relief when he made it to the other side. La Fosse was fast on his heels, pulling a painted board behind him to hide the hole. Ryan had to admit, unless you knew where to look, you’d never guess there was an entryway hidden behind the rock.

The room that made up their den wasn’t large. Fortunately, it was tall enough to stand in, which helped stave off any claustrophobia he might have felt. The teens had obviously been bringing stuff in, a bit at a time, to pad their nest, and it was surprisingly clean.

There were two ratty rolled sleeping bags, a plastic cooler that functioned as food storage and table or seat, a lantern and a few candles, lots of spray cans, and a bong. All the comforts of home, along with the smell that accompanied teenage boys. Thankfully, the bong hadn’t been used recently and the smell of weed wasn’t strong. He couldn’t say the same for the boys’ body odor.

Le Chat pushed the cooler against the wall and motioned to Sarah. “Seat,” he said.

She sank on top of it with a grateful sigh. It worried Ryan that she seemed so deflated, rather than her usual bright, confrontative self. There were dark circles under her eyes, marring the ivory perfection of her skin. Her clothes were stained, torn, and wrinkled. And there were small scrapes, scratches, and bruises on almost every area of visible skin, making him wonder how many more there were under her clothes. Damn, but he wished he could fix it all for her.

Ryan crouched in front of her, brushing the wild curls that he loved from her face. “Do you need to go somewhere to clean up?”

It’d been hours since they’d used the toilet corner in the mushroom farm, and Ryan was a bit annoyed with himself that he hadn’t thought to mention this before they’d crawled into the teens’ den.

“I’m fine, for now. Tired.” Her small, intimate smile was pure sunshine in the dimly lit cavern. “Nap, then decisions, okay?”

“Sounds good to me.” He dug into the bag and handed her a bottle of water to drink, while he spoke to the teens. “How much longer until we hit the exit?”

La Fosse had unrolled his sleeping bag and was sitting tailor-style in the middle of it, staring at the bong with greedy eyes. “Do you mind?” he asked as he pointed to it.

“Yeah.” There was no way in hell he was going to spend the night in a tiny room while the guy smoked dope. “So give me an hour estimate,” he asked Le Chat.

“Six or seven,” he said as he fixed his own bed. “We sleep, then we walk. Tomorrow you will be free.” He lay down on top of the sleeping bag, facing out toward Ryan and Sarah. “How long have you been lost here?”

“Years,” Sarah muttered.

“A few days,” Ryan said, settling in beside Sarah. Sitting against the wall between her and the boys.

Instantly, she angled herself to rest her head on his shoulder, and he slung an arm over her knees to keep her close. There was no way in hell either boy would get past him to Sarah. And yeah, he was aware of how paranoid he sounded. But as Callum often told him, paranoia keeps us alive.

“Sleep, Stats. We’ll be out of here soon.” He hated that she was shivering and all he could do was keep her close in the hope he shared his heat.

“Ryan,” she whispered, her eyes already closed. “Don’t worry, it’s going to be okay.”

Damn, she slayed him. Over and over again.

“I still don’t understand how you got down here,” La Fosse said, lowering his voice for Sarah’s sake.

“Neither do we.” Ryan didn’t trust the kid enough to share details with him. That information was being hoarded for his team and the cops. Plus, they were still kids, and there was stuff they didn’t need to know.

He flicked off their iPad, leaving them with only the light from the battery-operated lantern that the boys had stored in the room. It wasn’t bright, but it gave them enough of a glow to see each other.

“How do we get out?” Ryan asked, keeping his voice low. “I mean, if we split up, somehow.”