‘Look at me, Madeleine,’ he said, while he stretched his right arm out, reaching for the blade that Lucien had dropped. ‘Look at me,’ he said again.

She didn’t.

Streeeetch. Got it.

‘Madeleine, look at me.’

She tried, but her eyelids began to flutter.

‘No, no, no. Stay with me, honey. Don’t close your eyes. I know you’re tired, but I need you to stay with me, OK? I’m going to get you out of here.’

Hunter took a quick look behind the chair. Her hands were tied together by a plastic cable tie, just like her feet to the chair’s legs. Still applying enough pressure over the wound with his left hand, he tilted his body to the right and used the blade to slice through the cable tie behind the chair.

Madeleine’s hands fell loosely by her side, as if she were a ragdoll.

Hunter quickly sliced through the two cable ties at her feet.

‘Madeleine . . .’ He dropped the blade and reached for her face. Touching her chin, he gently shook her head from side to side. ‘Stay with me, honey. Stay with me.’

Madeleine’s drowsy eyes found his face.

‘That’s it. Keep your eyes on mine.’ He reached for her left hand and placed it on the shirt over her wound. ‘I need you to hold onto this and press it against your body as hard as you can, do you understand, honey?’

He reached for her right hand and placed it over her left one, now making her hold the shirt against the wound with both hands.

Madeleine didn’t respond.

‘Hold onto it and press it against you as hard as you can, OK?’

She tried, but she was way too weak to be able to apply enough pressure to properly contain the bleeding. Hunter had to do it himself, but he also needed to carry her out of that fallout shelter, into the Jeep outside, to which he still had the keys in his pocket, and on to a hospital. Unless he became an octopus in the next second or so, pulling that off would be a very hard task to accomplish.

Hunter placed his left hand over both of Madeleine’s, helping her apply pressure to the wound.

Think, Robert, think, he told himself, looking around the room. There was absolutely nothing he could use.

He thought about running back to the shelter’s control room and searching the place for some sort of tape or rope, something he could tie around her body to hold his shirt in place, but that would take too much time, and time was something he didn’t have.

Think, Robert, think. He was still looking around the room.

That was when his thought process went from A to Z in a split second – Ghost. Ghost had a small frame, with a very narrow waist, but Madeleine had lost so much weight that he was sure Ghost’s belt could loop around her torso.

‘Maddy, hold on to this shirt as tight as you can. I’ll be right back.’

Madeleine looked at him with dopey eyes.

‘Hold on tight, honey,’ he repeated. ‘I’ll be right back.’

Hunter let go of her hands. Immediately, more blood flowed out of her wound. Madeleine simply didn’t have enough strength to keep applying the necessary pressure. Hunter had to move fast.

He got to his feet and dashed down the corridor like an Olympic sprinter. He reached the control room and Ghost’s body in three seconds.

Ghost was wearing a cheap black leather belt with a conventional square frame and prong buckle. Hunter undid it and pulled it off his waist with a single strong pull. In no time at all, he was flying back down the corridor. By the time he reached Madeleine again, he’d lost only nine seconds.

Madeleine’s hands had almost let go of his shirt.

‘I’m here, Maddy, I’m here,’ he said, grabbing the shirt with his left hand and reapplying enough pressure to partially contain the bleeding.

Using his right hand, Hunter lifted Madeleine’s back from the chair’s backrest, and wrapped Ghost’s belt around her torso and over his blood-soaked shirt.

‘This is going to feel a little tight, OK?’ he said, and gave the belt a strong tug.

Madeleine coughed several times. No blood in her mouth. That was a good sign.

Perfect fit. The buckle slotted into the first hole.

‘OK, honey, I’m going to pick you up, and we’re getting the hell out of this place, OK? I’m going to get you to a hospital. Stay with me. I know you’re tired but don’t fall asleep, OK? Keep your eyes open. Ready? Here we go.’

Hunter picked her up from the chair with both arms and got to his feet. The belt tourniquet held in place. Madeleine coughed again. Still no blood.

Hunter dashed out of the room and down the corridor as fast as he could.

One Hundred and Four

Outside darkness was almost absolute, but after coming out of what could easily be considered Satan’s basement, breathing the fresh night air felt like a god’s touch.

‘Madeleine, stay with me. Don’t close your eyes,’ Hunter said as he paused almost at the top of the long staircase. He couldn’t really see if Madeleine had her eyes open or not, but he knew that he had to keep talking to her. He couldn’t allow her to doze off.

He still had the Maglite in his pocket, so he adjusted his position on the steps – left leg two steps higher than the right one – and awkwardly reached for the flashlight with his left hand. Grabbed it. Switched on.

Madeleine was struggling with her eyelids.

‘You’re doing fine, honey. Stay awake?’

Hunter’s sense of direction was as sharp as they came. He remembered that they had approached the basement entrance from his left, so he turned and started moving that way fast.

Debris, rocks and sticks began digging at the soles of his feet, but he gritted his teeth and blocked out the pain as best he could.

‘You’re doing great, Madeleine. We’ll be in the car in just a moment, OK?’

Madeleine didn’t reply. Her head dropped to Hunter’s shoulder.

‘No, no, no . . . hey, no dozing off now. Tell me your name, honey. What’s your full name?’

‘Huh?’

‘Your name. Tell me your full name, honey?’

Hunter also wanted to test her level of consciousness.

‘Maddy,’ she replied.

Her whisper was getting weaker. Despite the tourniquet, her blood was now covering Hunter’s arms, the whole lower half of his torso, and beginning to soak the top of his trousers. Because of the running action, some had also spurted upward, spraying his chest and face.

‘That’s great. That’s really great. Is Maddy short for something?’

‘Huh?’

‘Maddy is short for something, isn’t it?’

‘Madeleine.’

‘Wow, that’s a beautiful name. But what’s your last name?’

No reply.

‘Maddy, wake up. Stay with me, honey. What’s your last name? Tell me your last name.’

Nothing. Hunter was losing her.

He took his eyes off his path to look at her face, and that was when he felt something cut into the sole of his left foot. The pain shot up his leg like a rocket, making him stumble awkwardly, lose his balance and almost fall to the ground. The shake and stumble movement jerked Madeleine awake. Her eyes butterflied open and she at last looked at him.

Despite the pain, Hunter smiled. ‘We’re almost there. Keep your eyes open, OK?’

Hunter’s running had turned into a desperate limp, as his left foot screamed in agony every time it touched the ground.

They finally reached the front of the house.

‘FBI, stop right where you are or we’ll put you down.’ The shout came from Hunter’s left. He turned his head in that direction, but a light was immediately shone on his face, preventing him from seeing who had called the order.

Hunter came to an abrupt halt.

In the next second, four other lights appeared out of the darkness – one more to Hunter’s left, two to his right, and one directly in front of him. All the lights together provided enough brightness for Hunter to better see what he was faced with. He was surrounded by FBI agents. All of them had their weapons trained directly on him. No doubt this was Kennedy’s backup team.