Page 36 of Disciplining Dana

Still, there was no sound, no shuffling of a chair away from a desk or any indication she’d heard him at all. Dana could become engrossed in her work, but she’d never ignored him in the past, so if she wasn’t responding it was only because of one reason: she wasn’t there.

Okay, then where is she?

He pulled out his phone and brought up her number. “Hey, Dana, it’s Kurt. Just checking in about dinner. Give me a call when you have a sec. Thanks.” He ended the call, staring at her door. This wasn’t like her. If she wasn’t in her room, and she wasn’t answering his calls, then she must have gone somewhere without letting him know.

I need to get into that mine.

Kurt drew a deep breath. He shouldn’t be thinking what he was because she’d promised she’d be patient. But he couldn’t stop the thought, because she’d made promises before, and broken them too. To serve her own purposes. To get what she wanted, no matter the risk or the cost. She was good at what she did: Kurt had told her as much. But how she did it… that was why Gary had the discussion with him before they came here. That was what—if Kurt couldn’t get her to understand—was going to cost her her job.

Okay, he needed to give her the benefit of the doubt, but sans her calling him back, it couldn’t hurt to head over to the mine to see if she was there. Maybe she was there talking to Roman. Maybe she was sluicing for a sapphire. Or maybe she was simply sitting on one of the benches outside, enjoying the view.

And maybe pigs were flying.

He strode back down the hallway and through the lobby until he was outside then picked his way back along the paths that were starting to become familiar. As he made his way to the mine, he glanced left and right in case he caught sight of Dana. He didn’t, and soon he was stepping through the doorway and into the shop. Roman was there alone, and it looked as if he was finishing for the day.

“Hi. You closing up?”

“Yep. Shop hours are from nine to five. Did you need something?”

“Yeah, my friend from yesterday… did you… did you happen to see her come in?”

“Yeah, she came by a little while ago. I don’t think she stayed long, though.”

“She didn’t?”

“No. She asked if she could walk back into the Exploration Area, but when I went back to check on her, she was gone.”

Shit.

“And you haven’t seen her since?”

“No, sir.”

Kurt knew what the answer was going to be even before the words left Roman’s mouth. He didn’t want to, though. He wanted to believe it would be different this time, that maybe he was jumping the gun. That he needed to give her the benefit of the doubt and maybe this time would be…

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

“Mind if I take a quick look?” Kurt pointed toward the exploration room.

“I really need to close up...”

“It’ll only take a sec, I swear.”

Roman chewed his lip for a moment. “Alright,” he finally replied, “go ahead. But make it quick, okay? I’d rather not be too late leaving.”

“Thank you.”

As he made his way into the room, it was just as Roman had said; there was no sign of Dana. Kurt looked around to see if she’d left any sign of why she’d come back here, but a quick inspection left him without a clue. The room looked no different than it had when they’d inspected it the day before. Kurt started to turn away, and as he did, he ran his eyes over the gated barricade that prevented access into the mine.

The lock.

Kurt stopped, then slowly began to walk toward it. What was it Dana had said to him at dinner? The padlock’s probably a hundred years old…

She… she wouldn’t.

This is Dana you’re talking about.

He came up to the gate and stopped, staring at it. The lock didn’t look tampered with, but he still reached for it, taking the worn, rusted metal in his fingers. It felt secure, but as he started to turn it over…

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