Page 73 of Deep (Chicago Underground 8)
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I DIDN’T KNOW how long I remained like that, shivering on the floor, desperate and alone. I thought I would die—and sometimes I wanted to. It seemed like anything would be better than fighting for breath and losing.
From some faraway distance I heard the sound of voices.
“Philip,” I whispered hoarsely.
It wasn’t him. I realized that as the voices got louder, echoing my own plea.
“Philip!” someone said. “Where the hell are you?”
Help me. I’m here. Let me out. I tried to form the words, but they came out as rough breaths.
“There’s a million rooms,” someone said. A female. Could it be…Rose? Philip’s sister. I had only met her once, but that time period was emblazoned into my mind, never to be forgotten. “It will take forever to check them all. He might not even be here.”
“A car was missing,” came a male voice. Her husband. Drew. “They might have left already.”
Oh no, they were leaving. I had to do something. With all my strength, all my desperation, all my twisted love for Philip, I slammed my foot against the door—the pain of it reverberated through my shin, a sharp and welcome ache that distracted me from my lungs.
There was silence on the other side of the door, then footsteps.
“Philip?” Rose called. “Are you in there?”
I couldn’t answer, but I could already hear them discussing how to break down the thick door. I would get out of here. I would be safe, but if Philip had made me stay here, it meant he thought the drop would be too dangerous. It meant he thought he might not make it out alive.
It felt like forever, but finally they procured a key from somewhere and opened the door.
Rose checked the bathroom and closet while Drew helped me sit up.
She knelt by my side, eyes wide with worry. “Where is he?”
“Church,” I managed to gasp.
Confusion flickered across her pretty face. “What—”
“Rose,” her husband murmured. “She doesn’t look okay.” Then to me, “Do you need a doctor?”
She bit her lip. “Oh God. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
My muscles were still quivery, my breaths shuddering, but I would be okay. “I’m fine. Just a panic attack. I don’t do well with…locks.”
Horror filled her pretty dark eyes, so similar to Philip’s. “He’s keeping you here?”
No. Maybe. “It’s complicated. But I have to get to him. He’s making a ransom drop for my brother and I…” I trailed off, suddenly uncertain of how much to say. Did Rose know about this other Murphy sibling, one cast out of the fold before he’d ever been a part of it? “It’s someone from his past.”
Drew’s expression grew grim. “His brother?”
“Yes,” I said, relieved I wouldn’t be the one to spill family secrets.
Rose gasped. “Colin?”
Drew shook his head. “I’ll explain on the way. If this is really him, we need to hurry.”
Rose helped me stand, but I stumbled on my first step.
“I can carry you,” Drew said, solicitous but firm. I knew him to be a calming influence on Philip—and he had quit recently, I had learned from Adrian, which was part of why Philip had gone off the rails. But if Drew was acting like it was urgent, then it wasn’t just in my head.
I nodded, and Drew lifted me into his arms. I clutched his suit fabric in my hand, burying my head in his shoulder. He was almost a stranger to me, and I longed for Philip’s smell, his strength. My breathing was still coming fast, but less due to the panic attack and more due to my increasing fear over what might be happening right now in the church.
