Chapter 30

A/N: Part 2 added-06/28/2022

Part 1 - added 06/20/22

Richard Delmonte is hated by many for many reasons. The way he belittles those whom he find useless, the way he takes advantage of those he can, his arrogance and his stinginess are some of the things people talk about behind his back. He's like a rich spoiled bully, they say so those whom he mistreated are afraid to go to the police in fear of retaliation. That includes numerous women because he's known to have killed someone just for calling him fat. His cruelty though didn't stop people from talking.

No one knows how Little Dicky Delmonte came about but rumor has, it came from all of the women whom he treated like trash. Those who hate him also call him by other derogatory names but those who benefited from him referred to him as Lucky Delmonte even though his middle initial L doesn't stand for that. He's lucky because he never got in trouble. He's lucky because he hit the lottery at age 19, not the jackpot but a couple of hundred thousand dollars which allowed him to start his first business with a Japanese highschool pal who knew enough to know that people would pay a crazy amount of money for a few slices of carrot and cucumber fried in light batter. How he turned from a small restaurant owner to owner of nightclubs, no one knows for sure but some said he has connections with the bad, the wealthy, government officials, and even the Royal family. It may be just a rumor but to those who despised him, some believe he didn't win the lottery but rather got the money from robbing a bank while others think he inherited the money from his parents who died from smoke inhalation from the house fire that he set intentionally because he's known to have burned down buildings just to force the owner to sell.

Adalyn has never heard of him but Doc has but nothing could persuade her to change course, not even the story of the redhead with the unique blue eyes. Telling them how she was beaten to death even though she didn't die did nothing and even worse, it caused Adalyn to agree with Doc since it's the only way to guarantee Angel's sister safety. Do they still think they made the right choice now?

"So, any volunteers?"

No one is volunteering. Everyone is looking at each other. Adalyn is now looking at Doc and Doc is looking at Dean who's probably regretting not doing anything in the last 2 hours other than curse and wait for a rescue. Doc has been regretting it ever since she got hurt from the drop down and has been blaming him for this mess. It is his fault but it's also hers since she agreed to the deal while knowing that anyone who works for Delmonte cannot be trusted. She could've called Anthony for help but she didn't. She could've given Dean a reason to delay this but she said there is no time. She could've told Dean to pull back after the vault was opened but nope, she continued to go inside like Dean and his crew who were too thrilled to have found boxes of gold coins and glass displays of diamond jewelry to care about anything else even though that's not what they are here for. It is hard to believe that the floor could open up when the vault room is already under the ground but all of this could be avoided if she had listened to me! Now it's too late since this place is not only not the right place, the owner is unwilling to let us go after being threatened by Dean and his goon who has the nerve to step forward.

"What do you think you're doing?" Lucy asked even though she knows what he's thinking but is just surprised that he would since he's not the one in charge. Dean is and he's not doing a god damn thing about it.

"You heard what he said."

"Yes I did so I suggest you choose him." Lucy said while standing in front of Adalyn with the only thing she could find during the last 2 hours to defend herself if needed. A golf club would be useless against a gun though. "What? You're going to shoot me?" Lucy said to Dean who's no longer hiding what he's willing to do to stay alive.

"You choose."

What? He's not serious? Serious or not, he and his goon need to know this. "You're going to let him tell you what to do? What happened to the smart, tough guy? Do you really think he's going to let you go? Open your eyes! He's playing us. They're…playing us, he and his rich buddies. They're watching us right now to see what we would do. They're laughing at us right now. They're excited. They want to see who's going to get killed first. They're betting on us. You understand? You think they're going to let you go if you're the last one standing? They want us to kill each other. They're going to" Lucy trailed off after the tv again came on. The plan was to stall by talking as long as possible but it looks the one in control has proven himself to be a smart guy, smart and unpredictable. Oh no. This is not good. This is very, very bad.

"Look, we have a volunteer."

Doc looks surprised. Everyone else is too except for Dean who looks confused or is that a look of regret? Regret working for Delmonte or regret hiring people who are as greedy as he is? "Tell him to stop right now." Lucy said to Dean, then realized he doesn't have the power to since there are no sounds coming from the tv. The only one who can is the one who thinks we're here to steal his gold so what can we do? An explanation for coming here was given earlier but it didn't convince him even though it's true. This isn't the right place. He's not the one Doc is looking for. Threats didn't work so what will get him to

"You're Russians?"

What? Who's he asking? Why is he asking? What the hell. No sound is coming from the tv but it's clearly showing that Niki is arguing with a guy and that guy is not Ace so that means…oh fuck. "You're working with the Russians?" Dean is not denying it so that must mean it's true. He's Italian but his goon looks like he is Russian. Delmonte is that type that would work with anyone and do anything that would benefit himself. No wonder Doc agreed. She didn't have a choice. Oh no. Get up, Ace. Get up. "100 million! I'll give you 100 million dollars to stop this now!" It didn't work. Of course it wouldn't. He's not stupid. He's rich. I wouldn't be here if I have that much. That's what he's probably thinking. "I'll do it! I volunteer!" Adalyn's look of confusion can be seen. Yes that is stupid but nothing else can make him stop. The only thing that can be done now is stall and hope Dean's other guys have not been captured too.

"You'll get your turn."

Damn sicko! an arrogant and racist one too. Many dislike the Russians but he sounds like he hates them all. What did they do him?

"You know, they say the Russians would rape their own sister, even their own mother just to stay alive. I wonder if that's true."

Why did he say that? Doc looks confused too. Everybody else is. Does Adalyn know? The reason no longer matters since the pervert just asked a very offensive question, one that he shouldn't have asked if he is the owner of this place. "Hey! Jack Spiro, you heard of him?" Lucy repeated loudly to make sure he can hear in case he's focusing on the other room where Holly is using the standing light to protect herself from the guy who's holding a knife. No answer is given after 5 seconds is odd. He might not be the one Doc's looking for but now it seems he might know about the key since he didn't respond to the question regarding the Underground Chamber either. "Jack Spiro, Delmonte, Blanco, Schaeffer, you know what I'm talking about? Stop this right now! Get your boss right NOW! The Polish, French, Germany, Russians, they all think you have the key! They're coming" Lucy had more to say if the speaker didn't suddenly emit a high pitched noise that is so loud, covering the ears doesn't help.

"AhHHH!"

Only darkness can be seen but no lights are needed to know that everyone is affected by the ear-piercing noise. Where is it? It's too dark to tell. The only way to know is by touching the floor. Should be around here. Should be… "Ace?" Niki asked, then realized she's not the only one who brought earplugs after her wrist was grabbed onto, then her face and body pressed against the floor by over a hundred pound of weight against her back. "We need to get out of here or we're all going to die!" Now it's obvious he's taking advantage of the situation. With the surrounding noises in the darkness, no one will be able to help but he has to be out of his fucking mind to think that I would submit just because he has a knife against my

"ARGGHHHH!"

That's one long scream. It's so loud, it not only drowned out all the other noises. It caused the one behind the camera to turn the lights back on. What's he going to do? Find out later. Now it's more important to finish what Holly did before he gets a chance to do anything else.

"AHHHH! AHHHHH!""

"Is it still itchy?" Niki said while standing over the one who volunteered. Another stab isn't necessary since he's already bleeding heavily but stabbing him in the nuts will show the others what will happen to them if they try that again. It is cruel but he deserved it. So whatever Holly is thinking of now, she needs to snap out of it since this isn't over yet. There are still 3 of them here. "You want to kill us? Then do it!" Niki said loudly towards the ceiling while wondering if shots will be fired from the ceiling like it did in the last room. The ear-piercing noise just stopped. Another command is given. This one is not as unreasonable but he has to be joking. There's already a pool of blood on the floor. There are no towels. How does he expect us to clean this up? Whoever he is, he must be expecting this since part of the wall just opened. It's not an exit. It's a bathroom? He is serious. Cleaning up will have to be done later since no time limit is given. Besides, this guy here needs to be tied up before he wakes…up. Oh. He's dead too. How did she…Find out later. "Hey!" Niki called out after noticing Holly hasn't moved, still looking down at the bloody dead body. What is wrong with her? Why is she concerned with the dead when there's another she should be concerned with? "Theo, Theo" He's breathing but unconscious. There's no blood but internal injury can kill. "Help me!" Niki called out, then realized she had to physically snap her out of it by pulling her away from the dead body. "This is their fault. Now get over it!" She's moving but she's not moving as fast she should. These two guys are too but they look like they have no intention in getting revenge for their colleagues but that doesn't mean they won't when they feel better. They might when given the chance to. "What's wrong with him?" If Ace can take a few hits, he should be able to too so why is he still out? "What did you do to him?" Niki asked but didn't get a response from either one of the two guys who attacked him earlier. "You poisoned him?" That's possible even though they denied it. "Where you going?" There's nowhere else to go but Holly is walking away after rolling him to the side as if she's given up. Why is she looking into the dead guy's…Oh, she thinks he has the antidote. He might but… "Theo" There's no need to tell Holly to stop looking. She heard. "You okay?" Being able to move is a good sign. Does he know where he is though? Looks like he does. His eyes are looking at Holly. Holly's are obviously avoiding his. There is no way out so why can't they just let it go for now? Those two guys seem to have but they're not doing anything. "If you two don't want to die here, then I suggest you start cleaning this up like he said." Are they expecting me to do it or do they think they're going to get killed anyway afterwards? Holly must think so too since she's just sitting against the wall. Ace looks like he needs more time to recover. Even Theo thinks it's pointless. Now that's odd. He should know there is still a chance. There are others outside so what does he mean we're all going to die even if we can get out of here. "What are you talking about?"

"He's dead."

He hasn't changed. He hasn't learned either. So what if their leader is dead. "You tell them, they did it. Tell them they were forced to, to survive." Speaking loudly is to let everyone especially those two know that their lives will depend on what they say. If they haven't thought about it, they should now know it could backfire on them if they choose to tell the truth. Ace should now feel better about it. Holly should too but looks like she doesn't care since she's going to the bathroom as if she doesn't want to listen. "Let it go." Theo has that longing look again so if he's still thinking of getting her back, he should know that's no longer possible. "She's not the same person. She's"

"She's right. She's right."

There's no need to say it two times. Everyone knows this is dangerous.

"It's a trap, it's a trap."

Why is he stuttering? The explanation didn't take long but it took longer than it needed to be since he was repeating over and over again what he overheard from the one who's now dead to convince everyone including his own two colleagues that he's telling the truth. It is hard to believe when there's no proof but at the same time, it doesn't sound impossible. Mission failure comes with consequences but whether it's successful or not, death is the only way to keep others from knowing.

"But we don't know what it's for. We don't even know what it looks like so why would they?"

It seems that Ace still doesn't understand. "They think we do."

"But we don't! Why would they think that? No. He must be talking about someone else. Not us. It's not possible. They wouldn't do that to us. We risked our lives. We"

"It's not impossible!...It's not…because they did it before." Niki said, then turned towards Holly who just came out of the bathroom. "No one…believed her."

Part 2

If they knew, they would understand but there's no need to tell them about Holly. Theo's explanation was enough to convince them since there's no reason for him to lie and more importantly, it makes sense. They sent another team because they don't trust us. They thought we've been compromised. The team leader then decided to kill us here since we're no longer useful to him. He didn't know Theo overheard his conversation. He didn't know Theo's past. If he did, he would've been successful.

"He's going to bury us." Ace said while lying flat on the floor to take a rest since begging didn't work. "He's going to blow this place up."

That's one way to kill us but did he forget already? "There's a vault upstairs, the floor opened, the ceiling sucked up all our guns, you think they built this expensive place just to kill us?"

"yes"

He didn't believe Theo earlier yet he believes this when this is not logical? "I don't think he wants to kill us." Niki added 'not yet' after getting a stare from everyone, everyone except Holly who still has not said a word, still sitting by herself against the wall, no longer traumatized but is looking down on the floor as if she doesn't care. "Why would he want this place cleaned if he wants to kill us?" No one answered but they probably think he's crazy but can't say since he could be listening. If he is listening, then why hasn't he complained about the mess? No one is mopping the pool of blood. It has already been half an hour. "I think he's waiting."

"waiting for what?"

"don't know" Niki said but realized Theo does after he responded to Ace's question. It might just be a guess but he might be right. There could be others. We might not be the only ones who know about this place.

"We're fucked. It's the Reys." Ace said.

Why does he keep saying them? Why is he praying? Since when does he believe in God?

"not just them" Theo said.

He knows who Ace was referring to? It seems that Theo doesn't since also thinks that it could be the Polish and the Czech which makes sense but the Italians and the Japanese? "Does everyone know about this?" Niki asked while wondering how badly injured he is since he's holding his right side of his stomach. He's walking though.

"anyone who believes in conspiracy theories"

"What?" The answer will have to wait since Theo just went to the bathroom. Ace is praying again. Begging didn't work so why does he think apologizing and crying will get him to let us go? Why is he apologizing to Holly too? Does he know? The one who should is not him. It should be…"ssshh" One shush didn't stop him from talking. "Quiet!" It's not the sound of water running in the bathroom. "Is that a helicopter?" No one responded but there's no need to since an even more explosive sound can be heard. Ace is right. He's blowing this place up.

"ARGHH!"

"Theo!"

The walls are shaking. Lights are no longer on. Water is coming down. This room is no longer safe to stay in.

"C'mon!" Lucy called out loudly to Doc who's taking way too long to get over the rubble. "This way" Adalyn is doing as told but not Doc who insists on going the other way to where Dean is going. "You go. I'll check the back." There's no time to explain. She can go wherever she wants. Adalyn can too. Surprisingly, she's not following Doc. She's holding on. Anyone would be frightened in this situation. It's not an earthquake but it felt like it. Let's hope the ceiling can hold. Nothing has fallen on this side so there is still time.

"oh…wow"

Wow? What's so wow about it? Never seen starry sky ceiling before?

"ow"

Lucy directed the cell phone light to see where Adalyn got hurt. The shin loves the corner of the bed. Minor injuries can wait. This can't. Why won't this move? "ughh"

"What're you doing?" Adalyn asked since she looks like she's trying to take a humongous size painting off the wall.

"There has to be an opening behind this." Lucy said while looking at the edge of the painting to see why it's stuck. "Look for a switch." It would be hard to see with just one cell phone light but she can feel. "Look behind there." Adalyn may be doing as told but like every lawyer, she has her own opinion. It is too obvious. Behind the painting is the first place people would look. It could be just a safe but there could be something inside the safe that would help. "If you haven't noticed by now, this is a hideout. There has to be more than one exit."

"I understand that but why do you think it's in this room?"

"because this is the last room and" Lucy didn't continue to explain since there's no need to. The painting didn't move but the wall did. "What did you do?"

"I" Adalyn didn't continue since the former criminal leader just went inside without hesitation which is a very stupid move. After what happened, she should know better. It could be another trap. There could be

"Guess what I found."

The last room just exploded. We almost died. Why is she still in the mood to play around?

"There's enough for a year." Lucy gave her the can of pineapple before going back inside.

Who cares? There's definitely something wrong with her. "Is there a way out?" Adalyn asked, then quickly went inside after hearing an "oww" along with swearing. "You okay?" Looks like she's injured since there's no reason for her to be sitting with the cans scattered across the floor. There are a lot of cans and not just canned goods. There are dried beans, pasta, bottled water, cooking oil, wine bottles and…spam? Oh my god. There's rice too, stored securely inside the plastic bins.

"Give me a hand" Lucy puts the phone on the shelf since it would take too long to take each can out of the plastic crates. That's the plan until Doc appeared so that must mean the other end must be blocked since she asked a question, a very stupid question. "What do you think I'm doing?" Oh this is heavy. "Don't just stand there. Look around. There has to be a switch somewhere." It didn't seem possible before but now does. Why would the exit be blocked? It would take too long to get these crates out even for a guy.

"A switch for what?"

Well well, Dean is here. This proves he made the wrong decision. He couldn't find any other opening. "I was here earlier, trying to move that painting from that wall. Then the lights came on in the other room. You know why he did that? Because he knew I was getting close. Now get in here, see if that wall opens before this place comes down!" Oh shit. Is that another explosion? No one has any other questions. Everyone is moving quickly. "Where's your guy?" If he's still trying to see if he can crawl back up the way he was dropped down, he's dumber than he looks.

"dead"

Oh. Adalyn is surprised too. Doc doesn't give a damn. Stupid. He should've listened. Where the hell is it? It has to be here. It can't be just a storage room. Can it? "How did you open this?" If it's not here, then there must be another opening. The switch could be outside.

"I don't know."

That's not a good answer. She must have touched something. "Keep looking. I'm going to look outside." It shouldn't be hard to find. She was looking behind the bed. Nope. Not this. It has to be hidden from view so no one else can…ah hah. Very clever. So there is another purpose for making these walls look like the city at night with skyscrapers. It's not just to make this room more comfortable. No one would suspect these things to do anything except represent rocks. But where is the button to open the backdoor? This one? Nope. Nope. There has to be one. It can't be inside the closet, can it? This would be too obvious. It's too small. There are no lines on the walls but the ceiling does. Oh shit.

Lucy quickly went back to pull the rock-like switch to open the wall to the storage room, then immediately regretted not doing it earlier after getting a very emotional hug from Adalyn. "What happened?"

"Didn't you hear me?"

"No" That could only mean this storage area is sound proof. Very clever. It is the ceiling. Crates are stacked up like a ladder against the wall. Doc and Dean aren't here. Adalyn stayed behind to let me know. It's time to go. "c'mon" Lucy took the lead but then realized the ceiling panel can't be removed. "It's here, isn't it?" It is. Whatever Adalyn did and this time she knows. Holy cow. It's a tunnel, not a big one but big and wide enough for 2 people to run thru side by side. This could be sound proof too but sounds within can be heard very clearly even if that person can't be seen. What the hell? There he is, 30 feet away, pointing a gun at Doc for a very good reason. It would've been better to wait but the footsteps were too loud for them not to have heard. Besides, they're talking about me. "What are you talking about?" Lucy asked, realizing that Adalyn might know too since she's doing the same thing she's doing a moment ago. "You know about this?" Lucy said, pulling her hand back from Adalyn's grasp.

"Tell me where it is or I will kill you."

"The longer we stand here, the more time he has and when he finds it, it'll be too"

Bang!

Jesus. He's not kidding around. Lucy immediately stepped against the wall and moved back even though Dean is looking like he's going to shoot Doc only.

"I don't know where! I only know who has it!"

It seems that Doc is still unwilling to give it up for a very good reason. Who knows if he'd keep his word if she told him? Using my friends to persuade him from shooting her is a very good tactic. She made a good point too. He's not going to know if she's telling the truth. The only way he'll know is to work together. That was the deal. It seems that he's concerned after what happened.

"You're not our enemy. He is. He's dangerous. You know that. If you kill us here, then he wins."

"She's right! He did this, not you. You didn't do it so forget it. We still have a deal. Okay? So let's just get out of here and get that bastard together!" Lucy said, regretting not speaking up earlier because if she had, she would've heard another set of footsteps behind her. What the hell happened to him? That's a lot of blood.

"I wouldn't trust him if I were you."

Oh, this is not good. It seems that Dean left him for dead and now he wants to kill him which makes no sense since he doesn't have a gun and…Is that a "grenade!" Five seconds would not be enough to disarm it since he threw it in Dean's direction. The only way to avoid it is go back and hope it's fake.

BOOM!

It's not. "Go!" Going back down to the storage room might not be a good idea but there's no other way since the tunnel is collapsing. Oh yea, it's coming down. Adalyn doesn't need to be told to close the ceiling panel off but why is she just standing there? It might not hold. "How do you open this?" Don't know? Oh crap. So the switch only closes the wall and opens the ceiling panel? That's clever. But this is nuts. Why won't this move? A switch would make it easy to open it but that can't be the only way to open it. No one would design it this way. Is this stuck? Where is it? Honey is real. Can is real. Salt. Nope. What's this black stuff? Eww. Having cans all over the floor is now looking like a bad idea. Stepping on them could cause a serious injury. Oh. Cans of food are not the only things on the floor. "What's wrong?" Why is she sitting on the floor when she should be looking for the switch? "Did you hurt your ankle?" She did yelp earlier after jumping down but a sprained ankle would not affect breathing. "You have asthma?" No? Then it must be a panic attack. Claustrophic? "You serious?" She's not one who jokes around. This isn't the time either but that's crazy. "You were fine a moment ago." Okay, this situation is different than a moment ago. "Just calm down" Apparently, that's not easy to do. "You're okay. Just close your eyes. I'm here." Claustrophobia is not acrophobia but holding her should help. This is so odd. This room is small but no smaller than an elevator so what happens when she gets into one? "Here, drink some water." This should slow down her heart rate. "want some wine?" Alcohol will help too. No? "okay, close your eyes, think of the ocean, think of the blue sky. Think of the ones you love. Think of the happiest moments of your life." This should help. All she has to do is control her mind. Just don't look. The ceiling looks like it's going to hold. There's still time. There's still plenty of oxygen left. "Just relax" She's holding on tight but she's breathing.

"Sorry"

Giving up already? Apologizing is what people do when they know they're going to die soon. Confession comes next.

"I wanted to tell you. It wasn't the right time."

That is true. It wasn't and now is but how is this possible? This is not good. This is ssso bad. This is my worst nightmare. This doesn't make sense. Dean blasted the room? He must have thought he was going to get killed afterwards. I won't wake up? "How long was I out? Why can't I remember any of this?" Don't know? How could she not? She was in the room with Doc. She couldn't wake me up after the explosion but Doc did? Damn it. If she's not dead, she's going to get it.

"Sorry"

Sorry doesn't help. "You let me taze you back after we get out of here, we'll call it even." This should make her feel better. She's not laughing but she's not gasping for breath. She's still trembling though and she's not looking as strong as she used to. That's a look of defeat. Why is she repenting like Francois did? Everyone sinned. It's not too late to be a better human being. Why is she still defending Schaeffer? Just because he paid for your education doesn't mean he's a good guy. God, she's so naive. "Are you really not his girlfriend?" She sounds like she is even though she says she's not.

"promise me"

"You're not going to die here. Francois is waiting outside so don't you dare die on me."

"If I don't make it"

Oh Jesus. Here comes the last request.

"tell him, I forgive him"

That's good to hear. Forgiveness is good.

"Tell my ex…he's a fucking coward."

That's a strange request.

"Tell him, I'll never forgive him, tell him, I slept with you."

Oh. She's not all that forgiving after all. That's good. That shows she's not ready to go yet. But what's the kiss for?

"Now get me out of here, then I'll sleep with you. Okay?"

Okaaay. She's definitely not all there. Lack of fresh air can do that. Oh no, no no, don't faint, not now. Shit. At least, she's breathing. Water should be able to wake her up. That's not going to help though. Need to get the door opened first. Still no signal. No one's outside. No one would be able to hear in this sound proof room. "Fuck"