Basement Level 5: Never Scared Read Free Page A

located five floors underground with plenty of living space, five bedrooms, lots of bathrooms, and several other rooms that were sure to come in handy. Chase had outfitted it with a state of the art security room, laundry room, and even a playroom for the children. The only problem was the lack of windows.
    “ There’s a security room to the right with surveillance equipment,” Nicholas said. “I’m going to go see if I can get things up and running. Once I do, I should be able to see what’s going on in the house.”
    Although she was relieved they were safe, Alexa couldn’t help but be irritated. Sure, it was nice that B5 was available to them in times like these, but it was a basement—an exceptional basement, but still...
    The fact that she didn’t know what was going on also annoyed her. She glanced at her children. Thank God they were safe. The need to hold them overtook her thirst for answers. She grabbed them and hugged them close.
    “ Where’s Papa?” Ky asked.
    Alexa smiled and stroked her daughter’s long black hair. “He should be here soon. Don’t worry,” she said in Spanish.
    Sara cleared her throat. “How long do we have to be here?”
    Alexa paused. She hated that Sara was in this situation, hiding in a basement when she should be enjoying college life with her friends. But Alexa wouldn’t lie to her. “I don’t know. I wish I had a better answer for you. Hopefully, once Chase gets here, I’ll be able to tell you more. I’m sorry you have to be here at all.”
    “ Don’t apologize. I love you all. You’ve been like my family for so long. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. Do you need me to do anything?”
    Alexa shook her head, hoping to keep the tears in her eyes from falling. “We should be good.”
    “ Are we going to be safe?” Alex asked, climbing on her lap.
    She ran her hand over his dark curls and down his plump, golden cheek. “We’re going to be okay, baby. You know I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, right? And neither will your Papa. We’ll always protect you.” Briefly, she wondered if she should even make that promise. There were no guarantees at this point.
    Forcing her mind from such thoughts, she pulled both kids and Sara into a hug.
     
    ***
     
    Chase turned his headlights off and drove into a remote garage, hidden behind a wall of trees about a mile from the massive estate. Turning the engine off, he jumped out of the car, hurried around to the backseat, and yanked the door open.
    “ Wake up, CJ,” he whispered, nudging him. “We’re here.”
    CJ, his eleven-year-old son, wiped his eyes and peered up at him. “Where are we?”
    “ We’re at a safe place. Come on, we need to hurry.”
    Once CJ climbed out of the car, Chase rushed to the garage window and scanned the grounds. The rain was still pouring down, which reduced visibility to almost nil.
    He wondered who had found the safe house and how. Sighing deeply, he crouched and lifted an old rug, uncovering a trap door. He pulled out a key, unlocked the door, and stared down the long, dark stairway. Motioning CJ to enter, he followed the boy down the stairs, locking the heavy trap door behind him.
    At the bottom of the stairs were two tunnels. Grabbing CJ’s hand, Chase took the tunnel on the right. The passageways were clean, dry, and well lit.
    He had made sure of that when he built them. Being underground this deep had its limitations, but his background in construction and architecture proved invaluable when designing B5.
    His parents were safe in Canada, and he was glad he didn’t have to worry about them. He had called his father to let him know not to come back to the States unless Chase gave him the “all clear.”
    However, Kendrick was another story. Chase couldn’t help but worry about him. His brother was smart but he didn’t have any back up. Not to mention, he had the added distraction of trying to protect his wife and kids. And although Nicholas was with Alexa, Chase