Chapter 4 - Three Knocks Beneath the Floor
By the time we reached Holloway Mill, the sky was beginning to turn gray.
Rain streaked across the windshield.
Two police vehicles and a fire department rescue truck were already parked near the entrance.
The abandoned building stood beyond a rusted chain-link fence, its enormous brick walls rising out of the mist.
Broken windows stared down at us like empty eyes.
I had driven past that place dozens of times.
I had never imagined my son had been sleeping inside it.
Sergeant Tara Ruiz approached our car.
She was a composed woman in her forties with dark hair pulled back tightly.
"You're Laura?"
I nodded.
"And this is Nathan?"
"Yes."
She looked at his arm.
"Medical personnel need to examine that."
Nathan shook his head.
"Please. Find Cole first."
Ruiz studied him for a moment.
"Tell me where the lower service entrance is."
Nathan pointed toward the eastern side of the building.
"Past the loading dock. There's a staircase marked seventeen."
A man in a black raincoat suddenly stepped through the open fence.
He was broad-shouldered, with a shaved head and an official-looking identification badge clipped to his jacket.
"Nobody is authorized to enter this property," he announced.
Ruiz turned.
"Identify yourself."
"Dean Pike. Private security."
My stomach tightened.
Nathan had mentioned him.
Pike glanced at Nathan.
For a fraction of a second, something hard flickered across his face.
Then he looked back at the officer.
"This building has been empty for years."
I stepped forward.
"My son's best friend is missing inside."
Pike barely looked at me.
"That's impossible."
Denise pushed past me.
"My son is sixteen years old. If he's inside that building, you are going to let them find him."
Pike shrugged.
"Kids sneak in here all the time. Doesn't mean they're still here."
Ruiz raised a hand.
"Sir, step away from the gate."
Pike hesitated.
"Mercer Temporary Housing has clearance authority over this site."
"Not over an active emergency rescue," Ruiz replied.
She instructed another officer to keep Pike away from the entrance.
Then she turned to Nathan.
"Show us the route on this map."
A firefighter unfolded an old building diagram across the hood of his vehicle.
Nathan studied it.
His injured finger moved across the faded lines.
"Here. The Lantern Room is upstairs. But Eli went down this staircase."
He stopped at a narrow passage.
"The lower service chamber is below the old boiler room."
One firefighter looked at another.
"That section floods when the storm drains back up."
I stared at him.
"Floods?"
He nodded grimly.
"Especially after heavy rain."
The rain began falling harder.
At that moment, a battered minivan pulled up behind the police cars.
An elderly woman climbed out, followed by a younger woman whose face was streaked with tears.
The older woman introduced herself as June Alvarez.
The younger woman was Rosa Rivera.
"Where's Eli?" Rosa asked immediately.
Nobody answered.
She looked at Nathan.
"Where's my baby?"
Nathan's face crumpled.
"I thought Cole got him out."
Rosa staggered.
June caught her before she fell.
"The other families are safe at St. Luke's Church," June told Ruiz. "We thought the boys were bringing Eli to Laura's house."
It was the same terrible assumption that had kept Denise and me in the dark for eight weekends.
Everyone had believed the children were somewhere else.
Now the rescue team was preparing to enter the lower section of the building.
The firefighters moved quickly.
Two carried cutting equipment.
Another checked the portable breathing apparatus.
Ruiz told Denise and me to remain behind the safety barrier.
I wanted to argue.
But when I looked at the building, I realized that charging inside would only place another person in danger.
A firefighter disappeared through the loading entrance.
Another followed.
Seconds passed.
Then minutes.
Over the radio, a voice reported that the main stairwell was blocked by a heavy steel security door.
They were searching for another route.
Denise held my hand so tightly that my fingers ached.
"Laura," she whispered, "what if we're too late?"
I couldn't answer.
Suddenly, Ruiz's radio crackled.
"Sergeant, we have something."
She grabbed the microphone.
"Go ahead."
A faint metallic sound came through the speaker.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Silence.
Then it came again.
Three deliberate knocks.
One of the firefighters spoke.
"Someone's answering us from underneath the floor."
Denise covered her mouth.
May you like
And then, through the radio, we heard a weak voice.
"Help..."
