Page 61 of Trapped with the Covert Ops Soldier

She huffed out a breath. “Yeah, well, I was trying to protect you and it didn’t work, so...”

“We were hiding out, remember? In relative safety.”

“I’m not sure it was safe,” she said slowly. “I knew the shooter had to be someone local, someone who knew the terrain. He could have snuck up on us across country and taken us out from a distance. Or taken you out to get to me.”

“What the fuck does he want?”

“He saw the dynamite you gave to the sheriff, recognized that it was old, decided it was from the mine, and wanted me to show him where I got it.”

“Wait.” Smitty’s forehead furrowed. “He thought you’d found a way into that collapsed mine that dropped the old town down into the lake?”

“Essentially, yes.”

Smitty glanced around at the small space. “This is where you found the dynamite?”

“Yeah, over here.” She pointed out the spot.

He stared at the collection of sweating sticks. “That crazy bastard.” He looked around at the cellar, then walked over and tried to push the trapdoor up. It didn’t budge. “Getting out of this hole isn’t going to be easy.”

“I thought the same thing, too.”

He paused. “Thought?Pasttense?”

“Just before you and Virgil showed up, Jack said he felt a breeze.” She moved over to the barrel he’d been standing in front of and waited to see if she could feel any air movement. A cool trickle of air brushed past her right arm. “Yes, here.”

She stepped aside and let Smitty stand in the spot.

“Okay, where is it coming from?” He held out his hands and moved them slowly around.

“Behind the barrel?” she suggested.

Smitty stepped back, gripped the sides of the barrel and rotated it to the left. Something inside rattled around with a couple ofthumps. Smitty gestured for her to shine her phone light into the barrel, then he pulled out the other pickaxe. This one was in better shape than the one Jack had tried to use. Smitty set it on the dirt floor next to his boot.

The tiny draft of air was now a cold, steady breeze.

“Is that a... hole?” Abby asked him, staring at a dark maw in the stone wall of the cellar.

Smitty, moved the second barrel, revealing a gap in the stone large enough for a man Smitty’s size to walk through if they bent over double.

The draft of air coming out of the opening was strong and didn’t smell stale.

“Did you know this was here?” he asked her.

“No, and I don’t think my grandmother knew or she’d have told me.” Abby bit her bottom lip. “The mine entrance is three or four miles away and located under water. This probably goes nowhere.”

“Tell me about this mine and what happened to it.”

“Shouldn’t we...?” She pointed at the hole.

“No, not until I understand the situation. It might be safer for us to stay here than go in there.”

“Okay, The Lost Lake Gold mine. About a hundred years ago, it was a busy place. It started out as a coal mine, but they found a thick vein of gold and everyone promptly lost their minds. The owners started shooting anyone who came out after working a shift with gold in their pockets. People were tunneling in from various points, trying to find a piece of the vein of gold or another one, blasting at all times during the day and night. Local law enforcement couldn’t keep up.” Her shoulders slumped. “Greed is... destructive.”

“There was an accident?” Smitty’s voice was calm.

“More than one, during blasting.” She shook her head. “You’d think that the first one would have been enough of a warning, but it only slowed things down for a couple of days.”

“Fatalities?”

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