Beneath The Courthouse
1747 Words
The abandoned courthouse looked harmless from the street.
Its stone steps were cracked, its windows boarded, and weeds climbed the rusted fence surrounding the property. Years earlier, the city had announced plans to restore the historic building.
Nothing had happened since.
Roman’s SUV stopped in the alley behind it.
Elena sat between him and Knox, the bulletproof vest pressing tightly against her ribs. Two more Kings followed in a separate vehicle, but they would remain aboveground unless Roman called them in.
The message had been clear.
Four people entered, and Maya died.
Knox checked his weapon. “The service entrance is beneath the loading dock.”
Roman looked at Elena.
“Last chance to stay here.”
“No.”
“That wasn’t a challenge.”
“And that wasn’t an answer you were going to accept.”
His mouth tightened.
Elena held his stare even though fear twisted through her stomach. Maya was somewhere below them, tied to a chair with a knife at her throat.
Nothing Roman said could make Elena remain behind.
He opened the door.
Cold rain struck them as they crossed the alley. Roman kept one hand against Elena’s back, guiding her beneath the crumbling loading dock.
Knox pried open a steel hatch hidden beneath a sheet of rotting plywood.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness.
Roman switched on a flashlight and handed Elena a smaller one.
“You stay between us.”
She nodded.
The stairs groaned beneath their weight.
The deeper they went, the colder the air became. Damp stone walls closed around them, and water dripped from rusted pipes overhead.
Elena counted thirty-two steps before they reached the bottom.
A narrow tunnel stretched in both directions.
Faded arrows had been painted across the wall.
LEVEL TWO — RECORDS
LEVEL THREE — HOLDING
LEVEL FOUR — TRANSFER
Maya was on Level Four.
Knox examined the ground. “Fresh boot prints.”
“How many?” Roman asked.
“At least six.”
Elena’s pulse quickened.
Roman looked toward the tunnel.
“They want us moving east.”
“How can you tell?” she asked.
Knox pointed toward a faint red streak painted across the wall.
The same symbol from the van.
“The Saints are marking the route.”
Roman drew his gun.
“That means they prepared something along it.”
Elena swallowed. “A trap.”
“Yes.”
He said it without hesitation.
They moved through the tunnel, Roman leading and Knox watching behind them. Elena kept her light trained on the uneven floor.
Old doors lined the walls. Most had rusted shut.
One stood open.
A scraping sound came from inside.
Roman immediately pushed Elena behind him.
Knox aimed into the doorway.
“Come out.”
Silence answered.
Then something darted across the floor.
Elena jumped.
A rat disappeared beneath a collapsed cabinet.
Knox lowered his gun. “Dangerous criminal.”
Elena exhaled shakily. “I hate this place.”
Roman looked back at her.
“We’re getting closer.”
“How do you know?”
“The air.”
She frowned.
Then she smelled it.
Gasoline.
Roman stopped.
Knox crouched near a thin wire stretched across the floor.
“Pressure trigger,” he murmured.
Elena froze.
The wire connected to several plastic containers hidden behind broken filing cabinets.
Roman’s jaw hardened. “They want to seal the tunnel behind us.”
“Can you disarm it?” Elena whispered.
Knox examined the mechanism.
“Yes, but it will take time.”
“We don’t have time,” Roman said.
He stepped over the wire and held out his hand.
Elena stared at it.
“You want me to climb over a bomb?”
“I want you to step exactly where I step.”
“That is not reassuring.”
Roman’s hand remained extended.
“Trust me.”
The words affected her more than they should have.
Elena placed her hand in his.
His fingers closed firmly around hers.
Roman guided her foot over the wire, then steadied her as she crossed. Her shoe landed safely on the other side.
Knox followed.
Once they were clear, Roman did not immediately release her hand.
Elena noticed.
So did he.
His grip loosened, but before either could speak, a faint cry echoed through the tunnel.
“Elena!”
Maya.
Elena surged forward.
Roman caught her around the waist.
“Maya!”
Her sister screamed again.
“Help me!”
Elena fought Roman’s hold. “Let me go.”
“That is exactly what they want.”
“She’s right there.”
“She sounds close because the tunnels carry sound.”
Elena twisted toward him. “What if they’re hurting her?”
Roman pulled her against his chest.
“Then running blindly gives them both of you.”
Her breathing came fast and uneven.
He lowered his face toward hers.
“I promised we would find her.”
“You didn’t promise.”
“I am now.”
His voice was quiet, but absolute.
Elena forced herself to stop struggling.
Roman released her slowly.
They continued until the tunnel opened into an old records room. Metal shelves stood in crooked rows, covered with rotting files.
A single hanging bulb glowed near the center.
A phone rested on a chair beneath it.
Roman approached cautiously.
The phone began ringing.
Elena looked at him.
He answered and activated the speaker.
A distorted voice filled the room.
“Reaper.”
“Where is the woman?”
“Which one?”
Roman’s expression turned lethal.
“If Maya is harmed, no member of your club leaves this city alive.”
A laugh came through the speaker.
“The billionaire still believes he owns the city.”
“I own enough of it to bury you beneath every building.”
The voice changed.
Maya sobbed in the background.
“Elena?”
Elena rushed toward the phone.
“I’m here.”
“Don’t come any farther,” Maya cried. “They want—”
A sharp slap cut her off.
Elena flinched.
Roman’s eyes went cold.
“Touch her again,” he said, “and I tear down every tunnel until I find you.”
The distorted man laughed again.
“You already found us. Level Four. Transfer chamber.”
The call ended.
Knox studied the room.
“That was too easy.”
Roman picked up the phone and examined it.
A red light blinked on the back.
“Camera.”
Elena looked around the room.
“They’re watching us?”
“They were.”
Roman crushed the phone beneath his boot.
A metal door slammed shut behind them.
Elena spun around.
Knox grabbed the handle, but it would not move.
At the opposite side of the room, another door opened.
A man stepped through wearing a gray mask.
Then another appeared behind him.
And another.
Five men entered.
All wore the red symbol of the Hollow Saints.
Roman moved Elena behind a shelf.
“Stay down.”
The first shot ripped through the records room.
Knox returned fire.
Paper exploded from the shelves as bullets tore through old files. Elena crouched behind Roman, covering her ears.
One masked man rushed from the side.
Roman struck him with the gun, drove an elbow into his throat, and threw him into a shelf. Metal crashed to the floor.
Knox fired twice.
Another attacker dropped.
Roman shoved Elena toward the open doorway.
“Move.”
She ran.
Knox followed, firing behind them.
The passage beyond the records room sloped downward. Roman caught Elena’s hand and pulled her through the darkness.
Footsteps followed.
“They’re behind us,” she gasped.
“I know.”
A bullet struck the wall near her head.
Stone fragments cut her cheek.
Roman turned and fired once.
The footsteps stopped.
They reached an old elevator shaft covered by a steel gate.
Knox pulled it open.
“There’s no elevator.”
A narrow maintenance ladder descended through the shaft.
Roman looked down. “Level Four is below us.”
Elena peered into the darkness.
“How far?”
“Two floors.”
“That is not a helpful answer.”
Roman holstered his weapon.
“I’m going first.”
He climbed onto the ladder, then looked up at Elena.
“Follow me.”
Knox remained behind to cover them.
Elena gripped the ladder and lowered herself into the shaft.
Her shoes slipped twice on the damp rungs. Each time, Roman steadied her ankle from below.
Gunfire echoed above them.
Knox climbed in and dragged the gate closed.
“More coming.”
They descended faster.
A mechanical groan sounded beneath them.
Roman stopped.
“What is that?” Elena whispered.
The ladder trembled.
Knox looked upward.
“The counterweight.”
A heavy block of steel dropped through the shaft above them.
“Down!” Roman shouted.
Elena climbed as fast as she could.
The weight crashed against the ladder, tearing it from the wall.
Her hands slipped.
She screamed.
Roman caught her wrist.
The broken ladder swung over the open shaft.
Elena dangled above darkness, held by one of Roman’s hands.
His other arm locked around a remaining rung.
“Roman.”
“I have you.”
The ladder groaned.
Knox reached down, but another section snapped between them.
Roman’s grip tightened.
“Elena, look at me.”
She forced herself to lift her eyes.
His face showed strain, but no panic.
“Swing toward the ledge.”
She looked down.
A narrow concrete opening waited several feet beneath them.
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
The ladder shifted again.
Roman swung her once.
Then twice.
On the third swing, Elena kicked toward the ledge.
Her body struck the concrete edge.
She grabbed it with both hands.
Roman released her wrist.
Elena pulled herself onto the platform and turned.
Roman jumped from the ladder beside her just as it tore free and disappeared into the shaft.
Knox remained above.
“I’ll find another route,” he called down.
Then gunfire drowned out his voice.
Roman grabbed Elena’s face between his hands.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Blood ran from the cut on her cheek.
His thumb wiped it away.
Their breathing mingled in the narrow darkness.
For one suspended moment, neither moved.
Then Maya screamed somewhere beyond the wall.
Elena turned toward the sound.
A rusted door stood at the end of the platform.
Words had been painted across it in fresh red letters.
WELCOME HOME, ELENA.
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