Wait!

He fished in his pocket and pulled out his keys. A tiny, flat xenon flashlight was on the ring, useful for seeing door locks at night and computer motherboards in dim corners of his workshop.

And it just might save his life.

He squeezed the flashlight between his thumb and forefinger, and a wide-angle beam illuminated the ceiling and side wall.

Bizarre. In just a few seconds, he’d already become disoriented to the point that he couldn’t tell up from down. He spun around, trying to keep a fix on where the stairs were. He couldn’t let himself lose track of how to get the hell out of there.

If he ever got out. His lungs were already aching.

He went deeper and kicked, looking for some sign of the embalming table he’d seen in Colby’s videos. Again he’d become disoriented, finding himself almost face-to-face with one of the black-as-coal walls.

Where in the hell was—?

He turned around and saw her. Only inches from him, facing him.

Beth.

No!

Beth’s eyes were closed, and she was floating upright, her feet still strapped to the table. Her wrists were now free of restraints, but Beth’s struggle had left bruises and scrapes all over her lower arms.

She’d never had a chance. She was motionless, and her long hair floated around her beautiful face.

Oh, God.

Beth.

I’m sorry, Beth. I should have worked faster, found you sooner …

His oxygen-starved lungs burned … Could he even make it out of here?

I won’t leave you. I’ll get you out of this awful place, Beth. I won’t leave without you …

He dove down and saw that her ankle restraints were buckled underneath the table. No way she could’ve reached them, he realized. He released the buckles, then gripped her arms and yanked her free of the table.

He held her tight as he kicked toward the stairway. He could feel her long hair brush, cling, to his face.

I’ve got you. You’re getting out of here, Beth. I won’t leave you in this pit where he put you to die.

His chest was throbbing, about to explode. He was getting light-headed.

Where were those damned stairs? Was he even on the right side of the room?

He touched the wall with his fingertips and kicked harder.

There. There were the stairs.

He gripped Beth tighter and kicked upward. Then, finally, he could see light from the doorway. Several flashlight beams speared downward.

Kick harder. Just a few more yards.

God, I’m sorry, Beth. Forgive me. Someone else should have been here for you. I failed you. I should have been faster …

He finally broke the surface, gasping and gulping air. Several strong hands gripped him and Beth and dragged them through the doorway and out into the alley. There were now over a dozen cops and a paramedic unit there. Kendra and Lynch were getting out of their car parked down the alley and hurrying toward them. Kendra’s expression was stricken as her gaze fell on Beth.

I tried, Kendra.

The paramedics converged on Beth, while Sam stood up and staggered away. Kendra was there beside the ambulance, kneeling beside the paramedics.

Sam leaned against the building and watched the paramedics work on Beth. Too late, he wanted to tell them. Can’t you see? It’s too late.

He was vaguely aware that Eve had walked over and was standing next to him. She tucked a blanket around his shoulders. Then she silently put her hand on his.

Only then did Sam realize he was crying. “It was so damn dark down there. I wasn’t fast enough. I wanted to save her.”

Eve nodded, wiping tears from her own face. “Sam … in her entire life, no one ever did more for her than you did. No one.”

“It wasn’t enough.” He shook his head. “Hell, I’m not even a very good swimmer. I spend all my time with computers. I should have been stronger, better for her.”

“Sam, you were there for her. You gave everything you had.”

“But it didn’t keep her from—”

Eve stiffened. “Hush.” Eve suddenly whirled to face the paramedics. “I think I heard…”

Sam’s gaze followed Eve’s. He couldn’t see anything past the paramedics surrounding Beth.

But he heard it, too.

A cough, or gurgle or … something.

It couldn’t be. She was dead.

Wasn’t she?

He was running toward the ambulance.

Beth was lying where they had placed her. Her eyes were still closed. She didn’t look any different than a few minutes ago.

But the medics were working furiously over her now.

Kendra had jumped to her feet and was standing right beside them. “A cough. Didn’t I hear her cough?”

“Step back, ma’am.”

“Please, just say yes or no. Then I’ll get out of your way.”

“Yes,” he said. “We have a heartbeat. But that doesn’t mean much right now. We have to stabilize her and get her to the hospital. Then we’ll see what we have.”

“She’s alive?” Sam said wonderingly.

Eve turned, grabbed his arm, and pulled him back away from the ambulance. The tears were pouring down her cheeks. “Come on. Let’s get out of their way and let them work.”

“She’s alive?”

Kendra was suddenly there beside them. She nodded, her expression luminous, and gave him a hug. “Yes, she’s alive, Sam.”

CHAPTER 17

Alvarado Hospital Medical Center

“WHAT’S HAPPENING?” LYNCH strode down the ER corridor toward Kendra. “She’s still unconscious? I thought she was recovering.”

“So did we,” Kendra said. “That paramedic warned me she wasn’t out of the woods, but I didn’t want to believe him.” She nodded soberly at the ER doors. “I believe him now. They can’t seem to wake her.”

“I thought it was too good to be true.” Sam turned away from the window. “She was dead when I found her. It would take a miracle to bring her back.”

Kendra shook her head. “Not a miracle. And according to the specialist to whom I just spoke, she wasn’t dead. Very close. Her heart had probably even stopped. But you said she’d managed to free her arm restraints but not those on her ankles and that would have made her able to breathe until the water was almost up to the ceiling. She would have been able to breathe until the chamber was filled, only minutes before the water overflowed through the cellar doorway.”

“Minutes,” Sam repeated. “Why didn’t she drown?”

“You,” she said simply. “When drowning, the heart stops beating after about three minutes. But it’s possible to revive someone without brain damage for about seven minutes. Judging by the way the water was rushing out of the cellar and into the streets, you and Eve must have arrived on the scene almost at the time her heart stopped beating.”

“But we don’t know if I got her out in time to make that seven-minute deadline,” Sam said.

She wanted to comfort him, reassure him, but she couldn’t lie. “No, we don’t know. You did everything you could, but we can’t even be sure what went on in that cellar before you got there.”

“She fought,” he said hoarsely. “Her arms were bruised … she fought those ties until she managed to slip out of them. Maybe the water helped. But it was probably too late for her to free her ankles. That son of a bitch had her pinned and helpless.”

The vision of Beth struggling desperately in that water was unbearable for Kendra. It must have been even more wrenching for Sam, who had seen it. Her hand grasped his arm. “She’s still fighting, Sam. And she may win.”

“When will we know?”

She shook her head. “They’re still evaluating. Using all their fancy machines.”

“Even if she lives … You said seven minutes without brain damage.”

She nodded. “But we don’t know that either. They can see there’s swelling to the brain, but they don’t know how much or if there was damage. The doctors will let us know as soon as they do. Dr. Jordkol appears to know what he’s doing.”