Chapter 8 - The Tunnel Rat
Clara screamed as her son was violently pulled into the darkness.
She scrambled forward through the mud, grabbing a heavy jagged rock to defend him.
A bright flashlight clicked on, blinding Clara for a moment.
“Keep your voice down, or the cops up top will hear us,” a gruff, familiar voice whispered.
Clara squinted past the harsh light and recognized the face immediately.
It was the cemetery worker who had unlocked the coffin just a few hours ago.
He let go of Leonard’s shirt and lowered the flashlight.
“My name is Marcus,” the man said, wiping soot from his forehead.
“Why are you following us?” Leonard demanded, catching his breath.
Marcus glared at Leonard with a mixture of anger and deep sorrow.
“The dead man inside that coffin today was my younger brother, David,” Marcus revealed.
Clara gasped, dropping the heavy rock into the muddy water.
“Lawrence killed him because David found out about the bad concrete on the bridge,” Marcus explained bitterly.
“He needed a body to put in my grave, so he used your brother,” Leonard realized with absolute horror.
Marcus nodded slowly, his jaw clenched so tight it looked like it might shatter.
“I played along at the funeral so I could track Lawrence here and put a bullet in his skull,” Marcus said coldly.
He pulled a heavy, tactical shotgun from a sling across his back.
“But the police are already surrounding the front of the building,” Marcus warned them.
He pointed up toward a grated manhole cover that led to the surface.
Red and blue police lights flashed wildly through the iron bars.
“Lawrence called the local cops and told them you two set the fire to kill him,” Marcus growled.
Clara realized Lawrence had the entire local police force on his private payroll.
“If we go up there, they will shoot us on sight,” Leonard said in despair.
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Suddenly, a loud, metallic clanking echoed down the storm drain from the direction they just came.
Someone was crawling into the tunnel through the broken brick wall.
