Page 102 of A Touch of Treachery
I looked at Joan and Gabriel.They both nodded and raised their weapons a little higher.I raised my own weapon, then stepped out of the raging storm and into the black unknown.
Iactivatedalightin the top button on the front of my coat so we wouldn’t stumble around in the dark.The narrow passage quickly opened into a wide cave with rough walls.We went in ten feet, twenty, thirty, fifty ...
Nothing changed, and nothing moved or stirred in the darkness.On the bright side, being in the mine blocked out the howling wind and blowing snow, although my breath still frosted in the air.
“You sure this is the right place, Char?”Gabriel asked, his voice bouncing off the walls in an eerie echo.
“It has to be.One of the Section strike teams found Henrika’s SUVs abandoned not far from here.Henrika, Bryce, and their goons would have had just enough time to cover their tracks, come here, hide the mine entrance, and disappear inside before the strike teams made it up the mountain.”
We kept walking, our boots scraping against the uneven ground.
“This place gives me the creeps,” Joan muttered.
“Not a fan of spelunking?”Gabriel drawled.
“Of willingly walking into a dark, dank hole in the ground?Nope, not a fan,” she sniped back.
I tuned out their chatter and squinted.Was that a light up ahead?
I turned off the button flashlight on my coat.Yes, it was a light, although it was barely discernible.I quickened my steps.The light brightened, although it seemed like it was coming from somewhere below—
Instead of solid ground, my boot found nothing but empty air.I jerked my foot back and had to windmill my arms to keep my balance.When I was steady again, I cautiously tiptoed forward and peered down.
The cave floor abruptly dropped off and sloped downward, morphing into a set of crude stairs that had been carved into the rock.Gabriel and Joan stepped up beside me, shining their own coat-button flashlights down into the darkness.Small lights were set into the walls, offering a bit of illumination, but the space was largely dark.
“Okay, maybe this is the right place,” Gabriel said.
“How far down do you think it goes?”Joan asked.
“No idea, but I’m guessing Desmond is at the bottom.”
I tightened my grip on my gun and eased down the steps.I stopped every few feet to look and listen, as well as scan the next steps below for booby traps, but no flares of pink or red appeared, and my inner voice remained quiet.
“What are you doing?”Joan asked, stepping down beside me.“Why are your eyes glowing like that?”
“Don’t you know?Charlotte is an expert at finding traps,” Gabriel replied.“She hears lies too, so be careful what you say around her.”
Joan gave me a thoughtful look.“So your synesthesia does more than just help you spot typos in reports.”
“You have no idea,” I muttered.
Joan followed me, with Gabriel bringing up the rear.The farther down we went, the brighter and warmer it got.By the time we reached the bottom, I was sweating again.
A tunnel stretched out before us.It looked like it had been part of the original mine, but steel beams had been added to support the low rock ceiling.The tunnel curved to the right, and I thought back to the maps and photos, trying to figure out where we were in relation to the resort.Unless I missed my guess, we had gone down the mountain to the shoreline and were about to start walking under the lake itself.
“Why aren’t any guards posted down here?”Gabriel murmured.
“No idea, but we need to move,” Joan replied.
She stepped forward, and my synesthesia screamed to life.
Danger-danger-danger!
“Stop!”I hissed.
Joan froze.
“Char?”Gabriel asked.“What do you see?”
