Read Online Into the Devil's Underground by Stacy Green - Free Book Online

moment, he realized she knew his kind of pain. They were far more connected than he’d dreamed. Perhaps they could be more than adversaries.
    But he’d left those ways behind seven years ago, buried along with the evidence. He couldn’t risk everything again.
    He couldn’t walk away, either.
    *   *   *   *
    C RAWFISH CRUNCHED UNDERNEATH his boots as he sprinted through the standing water. His footsteps reverberated off the concrete walls. Moving through the tunnels was like being wrapped in a smothering blanket. Only the smell was worse: trash, feces, and rotting water blended together to resemble the odor of a corpse.
    Filth of every kind flourished in the tunnels, including human scum. For every decent man just trying to survive, there were others who would sooner cut a person’s throat than look at him in the eye. Crackheads, meth dealers, rapists, murderers—all sought refuge in the storm drains.
    His lungs burned, but he couldn’t stop running. Not yet. He was still too close to the scene. Some intrepid cop looking for glory might be on his tail. The safe haven he created for Emilie and himself was off limits as well. Too much work had gone into creating their new life to risk leading the authorities right to the location.
    The only option was to keep moving until he reached an open-air channel far enough away from the bank. The police were too wary of the tunnels to go very far inside. They would focus their search on the entrances closest to the bank.
    Fury pushed him onward. So much effort had gone into creating the perfect rendezvous, only to be ruined by foolish pride.
    He’d been sure she was ready for their new life together. Didn’t she understand they were meant to be? They’d been connected from the start, and she carried the evidence with her. Wore it like a talisman.
    Damn her. Months of waiting, of searching for the right hiding spot. Cleaning out the old bootlegging tunnel—all that effort wasted.
    The open-air channel loomed ahead now, and he finally slowed. His rubbery legs carried him into the overgrown weeds. He gulped the reasonably fresh air. Traffic moved above, but there were no sounds of a search or of panicked cops.
    After hiding his things, he cautiously crawled out of the abyss and made his way onto the sidewalk. Despite the change, the stink of the underground clung to his clothes and skin. People gave him a wide berth.
    He was hungry, tired, and disappointed. They were supposed to be together by now. Once again, circumstance had ripped happiness away from him, and he needed to regroup. The endeavor he had spent months researching and planning down to the last detail was now washed away with the rest of the trash in the drains.
    He would have to think of something else, and soon.

6
    N ATHAN PEERED THROUGH the chain link fence. He didn’t know how he was going to climb with his arm wrapped up and burning. “Is that it?”
    “I didn’t even know this culvert was here.” Chris started to climb. “I drive over it every day too.”
    “That’s why they call them box culverts,” Johnson said from the other side of the fence. “You don’t see them unless you’re walking inside.”
    Several blocks north of the raucous Fremont Street Experience was an entrance to the storm drain system.
    Nathan gritted his teeth and started to shimmy up the fence, putting as much weight onto his good arm as possible. “Why couldn’t we just cut this thing down?” The fence wobbled as Nathan jumped down.
    “Because no one in Metro wants to deal with the city officials over it,” Johnson said. “You all right?”
    “Yeah.” Nathan shined his light toward the culvert. Bathed in shadows, it stood silent and empty. A chill of foreboding washed over him. “Talk about spook central.”
    “Watch yourselves.” Johnson led the way as the three men entered the culvert, weapons ready. “Anything could be lurking.”
    Standing water covered the toes of Nathan’s boots. The air was thick