Tunnels 05 - Spiral

forest sped by. There wasn’t much to look at, and all the time, Sweeney was in the back, with his strange circled eyes tightly shut and his shoulder bag on his knees.
    Will suddenly realized how cold he was and wound his scarf up around his face, but it didn’t do much to help. Telling himself he should relax because the Limiters couldn’t possibly know the lie of the land as well as Drake, Will gave into his fatigue and fell asleep.
    As Drake took the jeep around a bend so fast that it tipped on two wheels, Will woke with a start, hanging on for dear life. The first signs of dawn were approaching, a cobalt blue seeping into the sky. They careered around another bend and hurtled down an incline. At the bottom of the slope, Will spotted a ford running across the track, but he was distracted by a shout from Sweeney. He turned, but the man and his shoulder bag were nowhere to be seen.
    The vehicle slewed to a halt as Drake slammed on the brakes.
    “Who
is
that?” Will whispered.
    Some thirty feet in front of them a woman was standing in the middle of the ford. She was signaling with a flashlight.
    Will heard Drake say, “Mrs. Rawls,” as he crunched the gears into reverse and gunned the engine.
    Will couldn’t work out why Drake wasn’t backing the jeep up the track as fast as it would go. “What are you waiting for?” he asked urgently. “This has to be a trap.”
    “Too late. We’re already in it,” Drake replied in a low voice. He left the engine running but slid from his seat, keeping low. Will did the same, his Sten at the ready.
    Mrs. Rawls called out to Drake several times, but he didn’t acknowledge her, panning around the trees with his Beretta as he edged cautiously toward the ford.
    “What now?” Will asked.
    “We improvise,” Drake whispered. Using his teeth, he pulled the pin from the grenade to arm it. But he kept the grenade firmly in his hand as he spat the pin out, then met eyes with Will. “Just watch my back,” he said.
    Will hadn’t needed to be told as he pointed his weapon at the track behind them.
    “Drake, it’s OK!” Mrs. Rawls shouted, still waving the flashlight.
    Other than Chester’s mother, there was no sign of life anywhere. And there was no sign of Sweeney, either, but then Will hadn’t expected there to be. The old soldier was doing what he’d been trained to do.
    “It’s all right!” Mrs. Rawls shouted as she lowered the flashlight. “Really, Drake — it’s all right!”
    “Emily,” Drake replied, still scouring the trees, “who’s with you?”
    “Hello, Drake,” Eddie said as he stepped from behind a tree on the other side of the ford. He started toward Mrs. Rawls.
    “Stop right there!” Drake ordered, aiming his handgun at the Styx’s head. “I thought it had to be you.”
    Eddie slowly raised both hands, opening them to show they were empty. “I’m unarmed. I just want to speak to you.”
    Although he was meant to be watching the rear, Will had never seen the former Limiter before and couldn’t resist a peek at him. The man was rake thin like all Styx. He was wearing a dark brown three-quarter-length coat and Wellington boots, and on his head was a flat cap. If it hadn’t been for his sunken cheeks and jet-black eyes, he might have passed as a country squire out for a walk.
    “This isn’t an ambush — if it was, I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you right now,” Eddie said, dropping his arms. “It’s crucial I speak to you. It’s more important than any grudges you and I might still bear each other.”
    Drake stood poised on one side of the ford with Eddie on the other, Mrs. Rawls halfway between them, the water rushing around her ankles.
    “How did you know I’d be coming this way?” Drake demanded.
    “A tactical guess,” Eddie answered. “I’ve had the house under observation, and naturally I recce’d the outlying areas.”
    “Naturally,” Drake put in sarcastically.
    “This wasn’t an obvious escape route, so I calculated it would be the one you’d take.” Eddie glanced at Mrs. Rawls. “You know, they tried to activate Emily for the city offensive, but I intervened. She’s been well looked after.”
    “Is that true?” Drake asked. “He saved your life?”
    “Yes,” Mrs. Rawls confirmed, with a smile and a nod. She certainly didn’t look the worse for wear or under any form of duress.
    “And I’ve brought her back for you,” Eddie said. “A peace offering.”
    Mrs. Rawls began to step toward