Before they lifted off it was decided that, under the circumstances, the Coxes should not travel on the same chopper together. Jane was shuttled off to the second chopper with six agents and a couple of HRT members, while the bulk of the firepower and Agent Chuck Waters stayed with the president. Two agents remained behind to deal with the local police and Tippi Quarry's body.

CHAPTER 83

QUARRY THREW DOWN the SAT phone and with a scream of rage he raced back inside the mine.

Watching from their cover position Sean said, "He doesn't look very happy."

"I think he just found out the man isn't dead."

"What are you two talking about?" asked an attentive Gabriel. "What man?"

"Gabriel, how well do you know the interior of the mine?"

Michelle broke in. "Sean, no!"

"Michelle, we can't go in there blind."

"He's just a kid."

"There may be another kid in there too."

Gabriel spoke up. "I'll go. I know the place real well. I want to go in there. I can talk to Mr. Sam."

Sean said, "He wants to go."

Michelle looked at Sean and then at Gabriel's pleading face.

"Michelle, we don't have much time. You saw Quarry tear in there."

They scrambled over some more rocks and sprinted to the mine entrance. The door was not a problem because Quarry had not bothered to shut it.

They raced inside, guns and flashlights out.

Within a few moments they disappeared into the darkness. "Daryl!" screamed Quarry. "Daryl!"

His son appeared from out of the darkness. "What is it?"

Quarry could barely speak. He could barely think.

He clamped a big hand on his son's shoulder. "Carlos called. It didn't work. They got out."

"Shit! We're screwed!"

"Oxygen masks," Quarry muttered.

Daryl looked angrily at his father. "What we gonna do now, old man?"

Quarry turned and raced down the passageway. Daryl lumbered after him. Quarry unlocked the door to Willa's room and threw it open.

One glimpse of his enraged face and Diane Wohl started stumbling backward. "No, please. Don't. Please!" she was shrieking.

Willa looked confused. "What's going on?"

"Don't kill us!" screamed Diane.

Willa jumped up and started to back away. Quarry and Daryl moved forward.

Quarry was breathing hard. "They're alive. They're alive! Dammit!"

"Who's alive?" cried out Willa.

Quarry knocked the table aside, threw the chairs across the room. Willa raced to Diane, who was back as far as she could go in the corner.

They both screamed as Quarry grabbed them and started pulling them toward the door. "Come on!" He yelled, "Daryl!"

Daryl grabbed Willa and lifted her off the floor.

"Please, Mr. Sam, please." Willa was crying so hard she could barely speak.

Diane had let herself go limp and Quarry ended up dragging the woman across the floor. When they got out to the passageway, he stopped and listened.

Diane was still screaming and he said, "Shut up, woman. Now!" She didn't.

He slipped a pistol from his belt and placed it against her temple.

"Now," he said very firmly.

Diane fell silent.

Willa was in Daryl's arms. When Quarry looked up he found her staring at him. And his gun.

"Did you hear that, Daryl?" said Quarry.

"Hear what?"

"That."

It was the sound of footsteps pinging off the mine walls.

"It's the police," Quarry said. "They're here. Probably a whole damn army."

Daryl looked stonily at his father. "So what you wanta do now?"

"I wanta fight. Take as many of them with us as we can."

"Then I'll go get us something to fight with."

Daryl handed Willa off to Quarry. Right before his son hustled off down a side shaft, Quarry grabbed his arm and said, "Bring the switch."

Daryl smiled maliciously. "We gonna take 'em down, Daddy."

"Just bring it. But give it to me."

"You still giving the orders, huh? We ain't never getting out of here alive. Gonna be like old Kurt. Nothing but bones."

"What is he talking about?" cried Willa.

"Just go!" Quarry snapped at his son.

"I'll go, all right. And then I'll be back. But my way, old man. Just this one time. This one last time. My way."

"Daryl-"

But his son had already vanished into the dark.

More footsteps headed their way.

"Who's there?" roared Quarry. "I got hostages!"

"Mr. Sam," cried out a voice.

"Gabriel!" said a stunned Quarry.

Michelle had not been quick enough to stop Gabriel from yelling out to Quarry. Now she put a hand over his mouth and shook her head.

"Gabriel!" yelled Quarry. "What you doing up here?" Silence. "Who's you with?"

Quarry knew there was no way the boy could have gotten up here on his own. They had him. They had escaped the little house. Tippi was dead. And they had Gabriel. And now they thought they had Sam Quarry. Well, they had thought wrong. His rage swelled. All those years. All that work. For nothing.

"Who is it?" Willa said in a quavering voice, her arms around Quarry's thick neck.

"Hush up now."

"It's that boy you talked about. Gabriel."

"Yeah, it is. But somebody's with him."

Quarry nudged Diane with his foot. "Get up, quick."

Diane rose to her feet and with Quarry gripping her arm they fast-walked down the passageway and turned a corner.

"Please let us go," wailed Diane. "Please."

"Shut up, woman or I swear…"

Willa said, "Don't hurt her, she's just scared."

"We're all scared. They never shoulda brought Gabriel up here."

"Mr. Quarry!"

They all froze at the sound of this new voice.

"Mr. Quarry. My name is Sean King. I'm here with my partner, Michelle Maxwell. Can you hear me?"

Quarry remained quiet and stuck his gun into Diane's side to make her do the same.

"Can you hear me? We were hired to find Willa Dutton. That's all. We're not the police. We're private investigators. If you have Willa, please just let her go and we'll leave."

Quarry still said nothing.

"Mr. Quarry?"

"I hear you," he called out. "And you'll just walk away if I give her to you? Why do I think there's an army of police waiting right outside?"

"There's no one outside."

"Yeah, you got no reason to lie to me, do you?" Quarry pulled Diane farther down the passage.

"We just want Willa, that's all."

"We all want a lot of things, but we don't always get what we want."

Sean's next words froze the older man.

"We've been to your house. We saw the room. Gabriel showed us. We know what happened with your daughter. We know all about it. And if you let Willa go we'll do everything we can to help the truth come out."

"Why you wanta do that?" he cried out.

"It was wrong what happened, Mr. Quarry. We know that and we want to help you. But we need Willa safe first."

"Ain't no help left for me. Ain't nothing left for me. You know what I tried to do. It didn't work. They'll be coming for me now."

"We can still help."

Sean had reduced the volume of his voice so that Quarry would not know that they were on the move, that they were growing closer.

"You don't want to hurt a little girl," Sean said. "I know you don't. If you had, you would've already done it."

Quarry thought quickly. "Where's Gabriel? I want to talk to him."

Michelle nodded at the little boy.

"Mr. Sam, it's me."

"What you doing up here?"

"Coming to help you. Don't want to see you get hurt, Mr. Sam."

"I appreciate that, Gabriel. But them folks with you, listen up, Gabriel and his ma had nothing to do with this. It's all me."

"We found the letter you left," said Sean. "We know. They're not in trouble."

Gabriel said, "Mr. Sam. I don't want anybody to get hurt. You or that girl. Would you let her go and then me and you can get on back home? Maybe we can go in the plane, like you promised."