“Mine,” I say. “Is the mine near there?”
“The old Greaver mine,” Ben says. “The entrance is sealed off, but it would be less than ten minutes from where your mom and Danny work. Right up in the foothills.”
His words bring both panic and elation. Of course. The mine would be perfect. It’s on the outskirts of town, it’s deserted, and no one would think to look for us there.
“But it’s been boarded up for eighty years,” Ben says. “I don’t know how we’ll get in.”
“If she found a way to get in,” I say, “so can I.”
“So can we,” he corrects me, but I stop that train of thought immediately.
“No. No, Ben.” I shake my head emphatically. “She doesn’t know you know anything about this. Go back to school and stay there. I’ll find Finn and then talk to Mario—”
“Mario?” His eyebrows come up.
“He’s sort of like a policeman. He’s after Eversor.”
Ben digests that for a moment. “What have you gotten yourself mixed up in, St. Clair?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I could tell you—and I can’t. The less you know, the better.” I wrap my arms around myself.
“Wait. She’s at school…,” Ben says.
“Yeah?”
“So, if she’s keeping him in the mine, he’s unguarded right now.”
“Unless she’s keeping him somewhere else and moving him later,” I point out. “But you’re right—as far as creepy hideouts go, that’s a good one. Nobody ever goes there, since the collapse shut the mine down. It’s not safe.”
“Then we should go now,” he suggests, “while she’s still playing teacher at school. Don’t wait to go meet her.”
“Ben…”
“I’m not letting you go alone,” he says firmly. “You’re wasting time.”
He looks at me mutinously and I finally relent.
“Maybe we can find him and get him out of there,” I agree. “And if he’s not there, at least we’ve eliminated one place. We’ll keep looking.”
I wish I had time to take a nap and talk to Mario, but I don’t know how I’d possibly explain that to Ben. He’s right, anyway. There’s no time to waste. I have to search for Finn now, while she’s otherwise occupied.
If she hasn’t killed him by now.
The thought wraps around my mind and strangles me, making it hard to breathe. It can’t be true. It can’t. I’d know. I blink hard, but the tears fall anyway.
“We’ll find him.” Ben reaches across and takes my hand again after he starts up the truck and backs out. I stare blindly ahead, barely feeling his hand holding mine, and grateful it’s there.
Hang on, Finn, I think. Just hang on.
44
Like a Knife in My Chest
We make it to the mine in less than fifteen minutes—one of the perks of living in a small town, I guess. We find a place to park behind some trees that’s far enough away not to arouse suspicion, but close enough that we can run for the truck and make it quickly if we have to.
It occurs to me that we have no weapons on us. I don’t know what we’d use, really. Neither of us owns a gun, and it’s not like we can carry a knife into school. I suppose we could have dropped by one of our houses and grabbed a butcher’s knife or something, but that would have wasted valuable time. Every second is going to count if we’re going to get in and out before Eversor arrives.
“You stay here,” Ben says. “I’ll go inside and look for him. You stay out of sight.”
“Are you crazy?” I look at him incredulously. “You’re not going without me. Besides, I’m the one she wants. If she finds me out here, she’ll just kill me and then sit here and wait for the two of you.”
Ben doesn’t look happy, but he doesn’t argue with me, either. He opens up the glove compartment, rummaging around. “Hold on,” he says. “We’re going to need some light.”
He pulls out a small flashlight, and of all things, a pack of glow sticks.
“My mom keeps them in there for when she babysits my nephews,” he says. “The drive from my sister’s house is a long one, and if they’re getting crazy, she just tosses the pack back to them.”
“Well, we can use them. Let’s hope we can find a way in.”
The way in ends up being no obstacle at all. There’s a large section of board that’s simply lying propped against the opening and is easily moved out of the way. Ben shoves it to the side, and we give each other a look.
“That was way too easy,” Ben says.
“Yeah.” I look over my shoulder again, as I’ve been doing constantly since we got here. “Let’s just get in there and get out.”
He steps in first, reaching back to take my hand and pull me through.
“Watch your step,” he warns. “There’s stuff all over the ground here.”