“Man, can you freaking believe this?” Griffin shook his head. “I’m telling you guys. That cave. It’s cursed.”
“Look, you guys can head back to the camper if you want. I can excavate the bones alone.”
“No way,” Kimi shook her head. “We’re not leaving you here.”
“That’s right. Besides, who’s going to help you over the ravine later?” Griffin grinned, and although Sadie wanted to slap him, she appreciated his attempt to lighten the mood.
Their attention was pulled to another man emerging from the cave. Wearing the same amount of dirt and grime as Aaron, this one wore a blue suit that fit snuggly around his wide shoulders and thick chest. Wisps of sandy-blonde hair spun out under a beanie that read I be cavin’. Sunlight cut through the trees, illuminating bright blue eyes against tanned skin, a sharp nose and jawline that screamed all-male. If it weren’t for the mud splattered all over his face, she’d peg him as “sexy beach bum.” He looked around until he spotted Aaron and Owen making their way across the rocks.
“Guys, this is Kyle Paschal, a fellow SAR team member who will be helping us out today,” Aaron introduced.
Sadie looked back and forth between Aaron and Kyle. Both carried an authority and confidence of men who were in their element, which she assumed was a necessity for any search and rescue guy. But that was perhaps the only similarity. Aaron was tall and lanky, with leathery skin that contrasted his sparkling personality. She guessed he was mid-forties, and although she’d usually peg a man with a pony-tail as having a mid-life crisis, she didn’t see that with Aaron. Instead, she saw a rugged, woodsy type of man who considered a haircut not only an annoying task, but an assault to who he truly was.
Kyle, on the other hand, was built like an ox with an obvious aloofness—or shyness, she wasn’t sure—that was apparent the moment he stepped out of the cave. Aaron ran the show. Maybe because of the age difference, she decided, guessing Kyle was in his mid-twenties.
A little less sparkle and enthusiasm in Aaron’s face confirmed what Sadie had expected—Owen had pulled Aaron aside to tell him about the body they’d just found.
Kyle nodded, swiping his face with the back of his hand, only transferring more black and grey speckled goo.
Bat shit.
Great.
Lieutenant Colson jogged out of the tree line and onto the rocks. “Go ahead guys. Team’s almost here.” He sent Owen a nod before disappearing back into the woods. If she had to guess, the reason the lieutenant had ordered them to wait was so he could take a look around the nearby woods, and ensure no one was lurking in the shadows. Which confirmed what Sadie had suspected—Quinn didn’t really think an innocent hunter was responsible for Brian Russell’s death.
“Okay.” Aaron clapped his hands together. “Let’s get this show on the road. Have any of you guys been spelunking before?”
“Only guided tours for me.” Griffin shifted his weight.
“What about you two?”
“We’ve both been in caves a few times, but nothing harness worthy.”
Aaron smiled. “Got a bunch of newbies. Alright, Owen told me you all have been briefed about the cave, so you understand that it has a vast underground water system, and is pretty damn treacherous in some places. Definitely no walk in the park, so I’ll need your full focus at all times. You’ll have a whole team around you, so feel free to ask us for help anytime. We’ll get you guys to the bones, then give you space until you’re ready to come out. The cave is a cool sixty-two degrees so I hope you all brought light jackets. First off, is anyone claustrophobic?”
All eyes shot to Sadie.
“Sorry to disappoint but the entertainment ends at heights.”
Griffin chuckled.
“Okay good,” Aaron continued, “There’s a few tight spaces we’ll be squeezing through. And,” his gaze cut to her. “There are a few drop-offs and a few places we’ll need to climb, so…”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Alrighty then.” Aaron’s brow cocked before continuing, “Here’s the lay of the land—past the entry there’s a short tunnel that leads us to our first bridge, after crossing that, we turn down another tunnel to a narrow pathway that we’ll have to squeeze through. Next, it’s the lake, otherwise known as the Grand Room, then a bit of a climb and dip to the Anarchy room.”
“Anarchy room?”
“Sorry.” He flickered a glance to Owen. “That’s what we’ve dubbed it. The room with the bones.” He turned back. “Any questions?” When that was met with silence, he continued. “Okay, so do you all have your harnesses and head lamps?”
Nods around the group.
“Are we going to be repelling?” Kimi asked.
“No, but like I said, there’s some significant drops, and we’ll be crossing a few bridges and climbing over a few spots. It’s good to be prepared. But it’ll be a slow hike to the bones. A slow, tight hike, that is,” he said with a grin. “So, I’ll head up the group, and Kyle will bring up the rear. We’ve already strung a rope through.”
“For what?”
“You’ll attach your harness to it—safety reasons. One, so you won’t get lost. There are dozens of tunnels and turns throughout the cave, that take you in a dozen different directions. This will mark the path. Second, like I said—drop-offs.”
Sadie’s stomach clenched. This trip was turning out to be almost worse than her morning.
Almost.
“How long is the hike to get to the bones?”
“Around fifteen minutes.”
“There and back?”
“Nope. There.” Aaron tightened his pack. “Try not to touch anything, stay close and connected to the rope, and we should be good.” He turned, then turned back, “Oh, one more thing. Anyone scared of bats?”
Kimi froze, Griffin laughed, and Sadie grinned. Motion sickness and fear of bats—check.
“Don’t mess with them, they won’t mess with you. Goes for all wildlife for that matter.”
Kimi whispered something to Griffin as Sadie glanced at Crawly and Owen huddled in the short distance. Owen’s tight expression and arms over his chest marked the obvious tension between the two. With a subtle shake of his head, it was as if something had been decided and they split off.
Watching them closely as well, Aaron said, “Everything alright, boys?”
“Yep.” Crawly spat on the rocks. “Grayson will join you all in the cave. I’ll regroup with Colson, and we’ll get the rope bridge secured before you guys come back out.”
“Sounds good. Like I said I’ll head up the line, Kyle will be in the back,” he looked at Owen. “Hell, Grayson, you go at your own pace. You don’t need us.”
Owen nodded and tightened his pack.
“Okay, let’s help the newbies get into their harnesses and we’ll get going.”
After Aaron and Kyle checked everyone’s harnesses, lamps and packs, they stepped into the cave, the cool, moist air sending a chill up Sadie’s spine. They were secured to the ropes, then fell into line, with Owen sliding in behind her.
She expected him to make a smartass comment about the drop-offs, but instead, he checked her straps. No eye contact, no discussion—just a few butterflies as his hand swept over her skin.
“Alright guys, click on your head lamps and… bottoms up.”
Six yellow beams of light illuminated the cave, darting around the shiny, dark walls. They descended down the tunnel with Aaron leading, Kimi then Griffin, then Sadie and Owen, with Kyle at the end.
The light from the entryway faded behind them and what closed in around her was a pitch-blackness, thick enough that it seemed like she could reach out and grab it. No light this deep underground, and the thought made her wonder if it was like being in a casket.
The gray cave walls were slick, shimmering in the headlamp beams. Thousands of stalactites, some as thin as icicles, some as thick as tree limbs, hung down from the ceiling. The same amount of stalagmites speared up from the floor, threatening to tr
ip them with each step. Along the walls, a drip, drip, drip, echoing in the silence.
The cave entrance was narrow, with a low ceiling that made her wonder how many inches long bats were.
“Stalactites come down from the ceiling, right?” Griffin’s light shone above.
“Yep.” Aaron hollered back. “And stalagmites come up from the floor. Watch out for those. Easy way to remember it is—stalactites cling tightly to the ceiling, stalagmites might someday reach the top.”
“Clever.”
“I’d like to think so. Alright guys, we’ve got our first bridge coming up.”
The sound of rushing water mixed with the drips. Sadie’s eyes rounded as all headlamps illuminated a thick log over a six-foot wide river of flowing water.
A bridge?
Kimi shot Sadie a look that said Holy. Hell—her thoughts exactly.
“She’s sturdy. Trust me. Kyle and I have been over her a hundred times. Just two steps and you’re across. If you fall,” he grabbed the rope, “you’re all harnessed in. No need to worry. Let’s go.”
She felt Owen step closer behind her as the front of the line crossed. Again, not a word as he helped her onto the log, his strong hand gripping her pack as she stepped across, with long, confident strides.
A small victory.
They continued down another tunnel.
“Okay, first tight squeeze coming up.”
Sadie craned her neck to see ahead, but only the bobbing lights from the headlamps cut through the darkness. Her foot slid on a slick spot, the cave floor becoming more wet and uneven the further in they went.
“Hold onto the rope for stability,” Owen said quietly in her ear.
Goosebumps flew over her skin like a wave of fairy dust.
Just the man’s voice sent every sexual sensor in her body to blast.
She walked a few more steps just to prove that she could, then wrapped a hand around the thick rope, feeling it slide through her palm with each step. He was right, it made her feel more secure.
And so did he, she realized.
Griffin stopped ahead of her. With a thud, she slammed into him not realizing she’d been gazing at the walls instead of keeping her eyes up.
“Oomph. Easy girl.”
“Sorry. What’s going on?”
“Why are you whispering?”
“Oh.” She cleared her throat. “I don’t know. Why’d you stop?”
“We all did. I think he’s helping us through this spot up here.”
She looked over Griffin’s shoulder as Owen and Kyle struck up a conversation about hiking gear behind her. As far as she knew, they hadn’t told Kyle about the teenager found in the woods. Why, she wondered?
“Hey,” Griffin turned to her, inching closer.
“Why are you whispering now?”
“Because I have a confession.”
“You’re Atohi reincarnated, aren’t you?”
“Yes, and instead of hacking off your limbs one by one, I’m going to force you to stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon for twenty-four hours.”
“Jerk.”
He laughed. “So…” then his face sobered up. “So, remember when they asked if anyone was claustrophobic?”
“Yeah…”
“I kind of am.”
“What does kind of am mean?”
“Like, I probably should have brought an extra pair of shorts.”
“That’s disgusting. Why didn’t you say something?”
“Same damn reason you closed up like a pissed off clam after you finally made it down that ravine. It’s embarrassing.”
“Touché.” It felt good to joke about it, she realized. “Well, crap… want me to make up some excuse where you have to go back to the camper and wait for us there, or something? I can handle the excavation.”
“No…”
The line moved forward, and even in the dim reflection of the light against the walls, she could tell Griffin’s skin had paled.
“No, I can do it… just…” he looked nervously ahead, then back at her.
“Look,” she said firmly, grabbing his arm. “Mind over matter. That ravine almost made me vomit my lunch up, but I did it. You can do it, too. Mind over matter. And listen, if it gets too bad, just go back.” She chewed her lower lip in deep thought. “Ah, okay… if you feel like you’re starting to have a panic attack or something, um, use the code, um… I like big bones and I cannot lie, and I’ll—”
“What?”
“No good?”
“No good, Sadie.”
“Fine. Oh, I got it. These flashlights have a strobe light option. Click it on for a minute—just pretend it’s an accident—and then I’ll start your exit strategy. We’ll get you out of here in no time.”
“Okay. That’s better than I like big bones. Some of these rednecks might throw me into the lake if I said that—”
“Griffin, you’re up.”
“Mind over matter,” she whispered as Griffin stepped up to the narrow pathway that cut through two jagged rocks.
She cast a glance over her shoulder, where Owen was staring at her with a small smile over his sexy, kissable lips.
She smiled back, knowing he’d heard every word.
After Griffin successfully passed his first big hurdle of the day, and the rest of the team squeezed through the pathway, they made their way deeper into the cave, where a distant roar began to drown out the silence.
“What the heck is that? Water or—”
Before the words left her mouth, Sadie rounded a corner and the cave opened up to a massive dome stretching at least a hundred feet above a body of water as black as ink. A waterfall cascaded down the side, slithering and splashing along the jagged rocks. Aaron shined his light as the rest of the team entered the room, standing on a small platform just above the underground lake.
She was awestruck.
Millions of stalactites looked like dripping wax from the walls, which appeared to have levels, like floors, that led to more tunnels. It was like an underground atrium. Except with bats and blind fish… and ghosts.
“This is beautiful,” Kimi said almost breathless.
“The Grand Room.” Aaron continued to shine the light as he spoke, yelling so that they could hear him over the water. “So this is where most spelunkers turn around.” He turned and shone his light over a rickety wooden bridge a few feet above the water that hugged the far wall and lead across the water to the other side. Sadie counted at least ten planks missing. “As you can see, the lake extends past this bridge and through that tunnel, and goes on throughout the rest of the cave. There’s a lot more rooms like this, but definitely not for the inexperienced explorer.”
Owen nodded. “I’d say eighty percent of calls BSPD has received are from people slipping and falling in this room alone.”
“So where are the bones?” Kimi asked.
Aaron shone his light on a wall. “About ten yards back there.”
“Back behind that rock wall?”
He tilted the light to reveal a small, thin opening about eight feet up. “Back there.”
Griffin cut her a look.
“This is going to be the trickiest part, but Kyle and I already tested it out. You’ll use a ladder to get to the opening, then slide through on your stomach, and I’ll be on the other side to help you down to the room. But, first, we cross the bridge.”
The line crossed the bridge, the rotting, aged wood slick on the palm of Sadie’s hand. The darkness of the water below helped ease her anxiety—only two feet deep, she lied to herself. Only two feet deep.
They huddled onto a small platform next to the wall, and watched as Aaron tossed a rope ladder over the slick rocks and secured it on a thick stalagmite. Then, with Kyle’s help, skillfully climbed over.
Kyle checked with Aaron, then turned to Kimi. “Alright, you ready?”
Kimi nodded, and the last big hurdle began.
It was more than ten minutes before Sadie made her way to the front of the
line. It wasn’t so much of the height of the climb—she could handle ten feet—it was that if she fell, she’d likely slip off the drop off that led to the black water that was only inches from where they were climbing. And that fall was how many feet? She didn’t want to know.
“Make sure to test your footing before you release your weight,” Owen said softly in her ear.
“Ready?” Kyle stretched out his hand and as she stepped to the ladder, she felt Owen’s body close behind her.
Her hand trembled as she gripped the rope, the unsteadiness of it adding to anxiety pumping through her veins.
Kyle gripped the ladder steady and before she could protest, Owen’s hands slid around her waist.
“Step. Let’s go,” he said, climbing beside her, without a rope.
She nodded, inhaled.
First step… second… third. Her muscles tightened with each step and by the time she hit the fourth rung, her entire body was vibrating from the inside out. Her legs were like lead weight.
“Do not look down.” Her neck snapped back to position, but not without noticing exactly how close they were to a drop off into the lake.
“Step. Go.”
His strong, commanding voice was like a slap in the face.
Fifth step… sixth… seventh.
“Good job. Now pull yourself onto the opening and Aaron will help you down on the other side.”
His voice was a buzz in her ears as she gripped the rocks and slid herself over, her stomach twisting… but that was nothing compared to what waited for her on the other side.
Chapter 9
Owen hung back, watching her work, the laser focus broken only by the occasional question by her teammates. A neurotic mess on the ravine, nerves of spaghetti in the cave, but when it came to analyzing bones? Sadie was an absolute pro. And that was good because Owen hadn’t slept a wink since the bones were discovered the day before.
They’d placed their flashlights strategically throughout the Anarchy room—or, tomb perhaps was more fitting—to illuminate the bones. Griffin had used the word creepy, Kimi, chilling. In his opinion, creepy and chilling were an understatement.
The skeleton had been desecrated, disjointed—as if tortured and ripped apart—with each bone placed like pieces of a puzzle. The leg, arm and rib bones—although he assumed Sadie had much more fancy names for them—had been used to make a large circle in the center of the room. Inside the circle, the bones had been placed to depict the letter A, the middle horizontal line made with hands flanking either side of the skull, its black, eyeless sockets staring up at them.
The Cave Page 9
