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culvert smelled of worms and muck and rotting tree roots. And it was dark. Her stomach tightened. No one would ever find her body there.
    “Move,” the man said.
    The water gushed cold over her shoes. There was no time to care because the man nearly landed on top of her when he splashed down. Opening his satchel, he retrieved a thin, tightly bound bundle of sticks wrapped at the top with a piece of cloth. A torch, Caddy thought. Whoever he was, he’d come prepared. The man lit a match and the torch jumped to life, the flame snapping like a sheet on a windy clothesline. Black smoke rolled up the ladder. The man motioned with his head.
    “Go.”
    They sloshed through the water, the torch casting eerie shadows on the walls. Caddy walked in front, clutching her necklace and wondering if she could outrun him. The man was practically on her heels. She squinted through the dark. The torchlight caught something in the distance. It flashed and disappeared, then flashed again. The water solidified, spreading in a wave up the walls and growing in speed and size, rolling toward her.
    “Rats!” Caddy yelled.
    The wave crashed over her feet and surged up her legs in a frenzy of teeth and nails and glinting eyes. The man caught her as she fell back. One arm around her, he stabbed wildly with the torch, the rats squealing and leaping away from the flame. The wave broke, streaming past in two grey torrents. Caddy didn’t resist when he lifted her off her feet, clinging to him like a frightened child until the rats were gone.
    By the time he set her down, her whole body was shaking. She looked at him with a mixture of gratitude and disbelief. He’dprotected her. Why would he do that if he wanted to kill her? Maybe she could appeal to him—even convince him to let her go. “Thank you,” she said.
    He glowered. “Go.”
    Caddy’s heart pounded. “You’re very brave.”
    He shoved her shoulder. “Go,” he repeated, this time more forcefully.
    She walked, looking back periodically to discern the man’s intention. His face was hard as a shovel blade. She had to think of a way to change his mind before her chances ran out.
    At the end of the tunnel was another ladder, this one leading up. The man threw the torch down, extinguishing it in the water. Caddy thought to sprint up the ladder to get ahead of him and slam the door shut at the top. If there was a door. Or maybe kick him in the face from the top of the ladder and run. Anything was better than going quietly. Did she have the guts to actually do it? She would never find out. As soon as she gripped the rungs the man flopped a cloth bag over her head, cinching it around her neck.
    “Hey! You don’t have to do this!” she cried, clawing at the hood. He jerked her hands away and placed them on the ladder.
    “Climb,” he ordered.
    Caddy probed for the ladder with her feet, her breath heavy and moist inside the bag, her mind flattened with fear. “I can’t breathe …”
    He nudged her harder. She moved in stops and starts, mouthing the words of her shining song. At the top, she felt around and pulled herself up. Squatting on her heels, she frantically worked the cord on the bag. It was tied tight. She could hear the muffled sounds of the city over her breathing as her fingers deciphered the knot. The smell of gas filtered through the hood. Were they in a garage? Her heart leapt when the cord began to loosen, but the man got to her first. He yanked her to her feet by one arm anddragged her behind him. She heard a car door open and he forced her in, pushing her head down so she wouldn’t hit it getting into the vehicle. She realized now that he would never let her go. He was going to drive her to the middle of nowhere to kill her, and no one would ever know or care.
    The second her legs touched the seat, Caddy exploded, kicking and yelling and swinging her fists. The man swore when she struck his face. He grabbed her arms. She threw her body to one side, feet flailing.