Page 12 of Deep Within Me
“The damn thing won’t open.”
Ike’s broad face flooded with concern. “You’re sure?”
Zeke inclined his head to the still-closed entrance. He’d once told Liz the barrier couldn’t be breached with blowtorches or the most powerful explosives on this planet. The damn thing was impenetrable…and they couldn’t get inside.
“Try again,” one of the other men said from behind.
Zeke had yet to move his hand from the panel.
“I’ve never stopped,” he said then spoke to Ike. “Are all of Carreon’s men accounted for inside?”
“Yeah.” Ike stared at the control panel as one would an instrument they’d never seen before and didn’t understand. “We did a sweep. They’re dead except for the two we’ve taken prisoner.”
“Did you capture them anywhere near the computer systems?”
“No.” Ike frowned. “They were in the hall outside Jacob’s room.” His features went slack. “You think one of Carreon’s men actually changed the settings on this? When would any of them have had the time? Even if they did, how could they have known what to do?”
“I don’t know,” Zeke muttered. “What else would explain the damn thing not working?”
Despite the mild night, perspiration broke out on the back of Liz’s neck and between her breasts, making her feel oddly chilled. Holding back a shiver, she looked behind herself, the endless expanse of tunnel, those sickeningly bright lights.Similar to a hospital’s ER filled with gore and death. “Are we trapped out here?”
“No.” Zeke lifted his hand. “You try it,” he said to Ike.
The man’s thick black eyebrows inched up. “You’re sure?”
Given how Zeke tightened his fingers around hers, Liz sensed his mounting irritation and worry.
He kept it well hidden from his men, his tone nonchalant. “Yeah, go on.”
Ike slung the strap of his assault rifle over his left shoulder then placed his hand on the device.
The expected clicks sounded—one, two, three. Silently, the door slid sideways, disappearing into the wall, showing the stronghold’s interior. Mahogany walls, electric torches, Comanche blankets, Indian art, the staggering buffalo totem, its size matching that of the stronghold’s massive door.
Although it was now possible for them to go inside, Zeke didn’t move. Nor did Liz or her father.
Yards away stood numerous members of Zeke’s clan. The men were in back, the women in front, led by Isabel. An older woman who’d never wanted Liz here…who’d frowned on Zeke’s desire for her.
She and the other women had their arms crossed over their chests, their bodies blocking entry into their domain.
Chapter Three
At a speed reaching one hundred miles an hour, Carreon raced north on I-25 through New Mexico’s Chihuahuan Desert. The bleak landscape might as well have been on the moon, it was that barren, colorless in the thin moonlight.
Given the hour, there was little to no traffic, certainly none from his enemies. Nor did Carreon worry about cops on this lonely stretch of road. His only desire was to put as much distance between himself and Zeke Neekoma as possible.
Bastard.
Carreon pressed harder on the Escalade’s accelerator, pushing the vehicle to one hundred and five, one hundred and ten miles per hour.
Because of Zeke, Liz was dead.
Had Dr. Munez died too?
Back at Carreon’s stronghold, the elderly man had kept shouting his daughter’s name and fighting to exit the Escalade.
“You can’t keep me from her!”Munez had cried.
Carreon had separated them in the past and, with her death, he’d made certain to do so in the future. He’d gripped the doctor’s arm to stop him from escaping, determined to keep him prisoner for his healing gift.