Page 101 of Never Enough

“No,” she agreed. “I can’t imagine the tunnel would be empty. But maybe they’re just not working this vein this shift.”

“Doesn’t make sense if this is where their rare finds are coming from.”

“Unless…” She let the word hang in the air. “What if they found something even bigger in the other tunnel?”

She watched Nemo chew on the thought for a minute and look out across the chasm to the tunnel where the workers had been herded. “What could be bigger than tanzanite and taaffeite in what should be a diamond mine only?” He looked at her. “We need to know what’s in that tunnel.”

“That’s a negative, Nemo,” Waters cut in. “Stick to the plan. Get your video proof, get your samples that are a sure thing, and get the fuck out. No time for improvisations.”

Haskell held Nemo’s eyes with her own. Out of sight of thecamera, she reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. It was understood. Video. Samples. Then, orders be damned, go down that other tunnel. There should be time.

With one last look out into the cavern, they took off down the trackway to their first goal.

37

SEPTEMBER 17, 2022

Nemo

I don’t like this at all.

He jogged beside Gem about a quarter of a mile, keeping his eyes open for the both of them.

“Midas, anything?” he huffed out.

“Nope. No chatter. I don’t like this at all.”

Nemo would have laughed at the fact that his twin was channeling him, but he was too amped up to find the humor right now. “Nothing?”

“Not a goddamn word. I even checked other frequencies to see if they were at least smart enough to move up and down. Dead silence.”

“What time are we at?”

“Oh-six-hundred.”

Nemo grabbed Gem’s arm, stopping her. “Waters, weneed to abort.”

Her chest heaved up and down. “Nemo, no! It’s right up here.”

“Gem, this isn’t right. They know we’re here. They knew we were coming. It’s all wrong.”

“We need the video and samples!”

Waters came on the line. “Gem’s right. You’re almost there, Nemo. These guys aren’t high-tech or particularly focused. You should see the topside. It’s just as much of a ghost town.”

“That makes it worse, Waters. In the history of any of our projects, when has therenotbeen security of at least the barest kind?”

“I agree,” Midas said. “It makes no sense that there’s no activity. Traffic to the sex workers is even minimal. Haven’t seen anyone in an hour.”

“How the fuck do they know we’re here?” Nemo whispered. He scanned around. “I’m telling you, Waters. Theyknow.”

There was a pause. He knew Gem was pissed, but he knew to listen to his intuition. It had saved him many times. Somewhere, he’d seen something that didn’t register on his conscious senses, but his brain was processing that they were on someone’s radar.

Gem had lost her patience. “Well, while you boys stand around and debate what isn’t here, I’m going.” She took off.

“Fuck! Gem is proceeding.” Nemo followed her.

Waters made a decision. “Go after Gem. I’m calling Medusa and getting her off the ground. Get the video and samples if you can. You see anything that compromises you, get to the surface, with or without it. Use the elevators. Find a place to take cover until she gets here. We’re going to bump up the timeline. TB, Steel, and Demon. Proceed now.”

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