As soon as the doors opened again, a red laser dot swept the inside of the elevator. I ducked to the floor just as an explosion of bullets battered the wall behind me.
When the gunfire went silent, the static roared even louder. My heart pummeled the floor beneath my ribs. Cold sweat clung to the back of my neck. I didn't dare breathe.
Then a voice rose up above the static and hissed, "She's here."
It was there on the floor of the elevator, more frightened than I'd ever been, that I realized what was happening. Yes, this was Paul trying to break me, but every one of the prisoners downstairs and the hissing voices had sounded just like him - like broken bones rubbing against dead leaves. It was as if the stroll he'd taken had been through everyone, loud enough that I could hear the st
