The Return Read Online Free PDF Page B

lost.”
    Rusty walked over to him and held his hand out.
    â€œGlad you were found,” he said.
    Instead of taking his hand, Max gave Rusty a hug.
    â€œThanks, man.”
    Tim watched as the police escorted the family into an office and then dropped into the nearest chair, covering his face with his hands.
    He was exhausted and confused. When he finally composed himself, he looked up to find that Rusty was gone.
    â€œCome on, Tim,” his mother called from the door. “Let’s go home. It’s late, and Max is going to be okay.”
    On the drive home, he couldn’t stop thinking about Rusty. The look in his eyes when he accused him of taking Max was hard to erase.
    After all that, Max had just gotten lost. But that didn’t seem to make sense either. And where did all the other openings in the tunnel lead to? Who was using them?
    His head was spinning.
    He reached in his pocket to grab his phone.
    Not there.
    Checking the other pocket, he found it was empty.
    His heart sank as he realized it must have dropped out of his pocket when he tripped and fell in the tunnel.
    His phone was in the tunnel
.
    If the people who used the tunnel found it before he did, they would know he had been there. Someone had gone to great lengths to hide the tunnel, what would they do if they found out he had been in there without permission?
    He had to get that phone back.

Chapter 9
Silence Is Golden
    He hadn’t spoken a word in fourteen days.
    Not one, single, solitary word.
    It wasn’t easy. He certainly enjoyed talking and often did too much of it according to some people.
    His training kicked in as the investigators questioned him relentlessly on a daily basis about the missing kids. But they already knew what was happening. They just didn’t know who else was involved. At least he hoped that was still the case.
    Canary’s home for the last two weeks looked more like a small office than a cell—minus the desk and chair of course. His little abode was furnished with a rather comfortable cot, a toilet, and a window that despite not having any bars was impenetrable. The walls were bright white; the whole thing seemed to glow.
    The food wasn’t bad. But he never touched the stuff made with bugs. After all this time, he still couldn’t comprehend how they managed to eat those nasty critters on this planet.
    Disgusting.
    Not that he hadn’t had his share over the years. As a member of Special Forces, it was required that everyone adapt to the alien diet. Some creepy crawlies actually had more protein than steak. Out in the field, you did what you had to do to survive. Swallowing the bugs whole was the best method. You didn’t need to taste them to get the benefit of the protein. Thank goodness for that.
    But eating them by choice? Nope, that part he would never understand.
    Different strokes for different folks.
    And these people were different. Could he even call them people?
    The heavy latch on his cell door cranked open and a guard walked in.
    He placed a tray of food on his cot.
    â€œYou really should try the grubs,” the tall, stalky man whispered. “I think you’ll really like the way they made them
special
today.”
    Then he quickly left the room.
    Canary immediately grabbed the tray and thumbed through the grubs until—yes, there it was—a note.
    It said: “CY. 24. Red.”
    Even with all his training and experience, it still never failed to impress him how his team could infiltrate any organization.
    Beautiful, he thought.
    A guard was on their side. The cryptic message meant he was being extracted from the courtyard in twenty-four hours. Now came the hard part of figuring out how he was going to get there.
    He walked over to the door and started banging loudly.
    â€œHey!” he yelled. “I’m ready to talk!”
    â€¢â€¢â€¢â€¢â€¢
    Mr. Kull walked the length of the tunnel until he came across the phone.
    â€œWhat do