Fireproof

annoying and stupid to kill. Much more fun to follow, let him know that he was being followed, then watch him squirm.
    Just as he tucked himself into a dark shadow ready to observe, the woman cop did something he hadn’t predicted. She dropped down into the hole.

CHAPTER 24

    Maggie texted Tully and Racine. She gave them her location. Told them she was going down under. She should wait for back up but the guy would be long gone by then. She could still hear the crack of Tully’s elbow hitting the pavement. Did that constitute assault? He was certainly fleeing after an order to halt.
    No, she couldn’t wait. She gave one last glance around and then she started her descent down the brick-lined hole that reminded her of an oversize drain.
    God, how she hated closed-in spaces.
    The metal ladder crumbled rust under her palms and felt slick under her shoes. Hot, fetid air rose to meet her. She didn’t expect the bottom to be so deep, and halfway down Maggie glanced back up.
    Big mistake .
    Nausea churned her stomach and she pressed her body against the rungs while she steadied herself.
    She’d just take a look. That’s all.
    Finally the hole spit her out into a dimly lit tunnel, concrete and brick, pipes snaking alongside. Steam hissed. Valves cranked.Water slushed. She stepped off the last rung and put her foot into water, jerking it back and almost losing her balance.
    Of course there would be water down here. What was she thinking?
    A steady trickle soaked the bottom half of her leather flats, but she was relieved to have some space.
    Two feet above her head a maze of monster pipes hung from the ceiling. The concrete walls swallowed any sound from above the street and replaced it with drips and gurgles and the swishing of water. Air hissed and Maggie could feel bursts of steam. Somewhere overhead metal clanked and scraped as valves opened and closed.
    She told herself it wasn’t any different from a big furnace room. Pretend it’s not twenty feet underground. Pretend there are no moving vehicles and brick buildings right on top of you .
    Incandescent bulbs lit the tunnel in front of her. Two others branched off to the left and to the right but those remained dark. Maggie’s fingers found the butt of her gun. She waited. And listened.
    Her first impulse was to follow the brightly lit tunnel. But isn’t that what he’d expect her to do? Did he know the tunnel system well enough to use the darkened routes? Despite the twists and turns, she’d probably be able to see illumination if he was using a flashlight down one of those pitch-black tunnels.
    Maybe he didn’t expect her to follow him down. Maybe he expected her to do the sensible thing, like wait for backup. Only now did she realize the wheeze she kept hearing was actually her own breathing. She tried holding her breath. Listened again. She could hear a faint echo of footsteps walking away from her, down the lighted tunnel.
    She started to follow, slipping her gun out of its holster. She stayed close to the concrete wall, pressing against it in places to keep from touching the pipes and to avoid dripping water. She stopped before every bend, holding her breath and listening. She planted her feet, making sure they didn’t slip. Cringed when she saw the greasy water getting deeper. Damn! It was starting to seep inside her shoes.
    But she could hear him up ahead, the thump of a steady pace. He was walking. Not running. He didn’t know she was behind him.
    She paid little attention to how many corners she turned. She followed the lighted tunnel, trying to keep as quiet as possible. Something black in the water moved across her foot. Maggie stifled a gasp and kicked out her leg. The toe of her shoe caught the rat under its belly and flung it away.
    Rats. Of course there’d be rats .
    She took a couple of deep breaths, despite the smells that were getting more rancid. Then she started forward again.
    A sudden pop behind her echoed through the tunnel.
    A valve switching on? A pipe bursting? She couldn’t tell. She ignored it. Took another step. Another pop. This time she noticed the light behind her dim. Just as she glanced back, the third pop she recognized. Incandescent bulbs made a sound like that when they broke.
    Could steam or water pop out a lightbulb?
    That’s when she heard footsteps again. Only this time they came from behind her.

CHAPTER 25

    Maggie tightened the grip on her revolver. Kept her finger on the trigger.
    A brick ledge ran along the