"So that's what they must have done," Kelsey said. "The water's deep enough that we couldn't reach the bottom, and with as cloudy and bacteria-riddled as it is, we can't see very far down into it at all. For all we know, there could be a whole pile of bodies on the bottom."
"It's possible, however unlikely. Something would end up floating to the surface, especially considering the constant influx of water from the underground source of the spring. These things have to exchange hundreds of gallons of water a day to keep up with evaporation from the heat. No, I don't think their corpses are in the spring at all."
"But you just said that whoever attacked them threw their bodies into the spring," Gabriel said.
"Exactly."
There was that strange smile of excitement again. Coupled with the way he contradicted himself with every word, Gabriel suspected Cavenaugh teetered on the brink of a breakdown.
"You aren't making sense," Kelsey snapped.
"You're missing the obvious," Cavenaugh said. That smile was starting to grate on Gabriel's frayed nerves. "Look back here, where we started. I showed you how the blood made the ice so that the surface wasn't level. What do you think caused this?"
He gestured to several oblong stretches where the ice was thicker, almost like melted candle wax. There were dots where drops had fallen and other long lines of spatter, but in the center of each was a distinct shape that appeared the same to a large degree with each repeat occurrence.
"Don't you see?" Cavenaugh asked. His smile faltered and he appeared exasperated. He turned to each of them in turn before finally shaking his head. "Watch."
He raised his right foot and stepped down on the raised section of ice, then did the same with his left on the next instance. Then his right again on the third.
"Jesus," Jess gasped. "They're footprints."
***
"So whoever dumped the bodies in the spring got in there with them, weighted them down, and then climbed back out," Kelsey said. "That can only serve to help us. There's no way they're walking around out here with wet legs. They'd have frostbite long before they were able to either change out of their clothes or find shelter."
"You're right about that," Cavenaugh said, "but you're working under a faulty assumption. Look at the prints again. They're narrowest here, on the end closest to the water, and wider on the leading edge. They were made by someone coming out of the water just like you said, but I believe they were made before the bloodstains."
"What's the difference? It doesn't change the fact that we need to get off this mountain right now."
"How do you think it's possible that someone snuck up on Maura and Will without either of them noticing? You made the point yourself about Will being an experienced hunter. Once they found those bones, he would have been acutely alert and watching the forest like his life depended upon it. And we would have heard the report if he'd managed to fire the rifle," Cavenaugh said. He unzipped his jacket and shed the hood.
"You've lost your mind," Kelsey said.
"Give me the backpack."
Kelsey pulled off the backpack and thrust it at Cavenaugh, who opened it and dumped the contents onto the ground at his feet. He removed his jacket and shoved it in, then followed with a light jacket, a sweater, and a flannel shirt, until he was down to a single undershirt.
"What are you doing?" Jess asked.
"We know there's a cavern underneath this mountain," he said as he slipped out of his boots, then his snow pants and jeans. "We also know that the geothermally-heated water flows into this spring from somewhere. The footprints are coming out of the water, and we know that no one could survive very long out here if they were sopping wet."
Cavenaugh now stood before them in only his undershirt, long johns, and a single pair of socks. The rest of his clothes were stuffed into the zipped backpack.
"You're going to freeze to death if you do this," Gabriel said.
"Someone just did this exact thing before we got here. There has to be a way to warm up, or at least dry off, inside the cavern." Cavenaugh shrugged. "Worst case scenario, I'll have to sit in this spring until help arrives if I'm wrong."
"Are you willing to take that chance?" Kelsey asked. "You know that could exacerbate your condition."
Cavenaugh cast him a sharp look.
"What condition?" Jess asked.
"It's no one's business but my own."
"The former Detective Cavenaugh here has esophageal cancer."
"Former detective?" Gabriel asked.
"You didn't really think any of this was sanctioned by the police, do you?" Kelsey asked. "The assault rifles, the communications system, the gear. Do you think the Denver Police Department just opened up the armory for Cavenaugh's little shopping spree?"
"We don't have time to do this now," Cavenaugh said.
"That's why you wouldn't let me call the police," Jess said. "You lied to us and jeopardized all of our lives---"
"Listen to me," Cavenaugh snapped. He pulled off his long underwear and socks, and stood against the wind in nothing but a tee shirt and a pair of boxers, visibly shivering. "That doesn't change anything. Run away if you want, but I, for one, intend to find out what happened to my sister before I die. Even if it kills me."
He donned the backpack and snatched the rifle from Kelsey with a look that could have stopped a charging bull. A moment later he was sliding down the icy embankment into the spring. Two steps away from the edge, the ground fell away beneath him, and he plunged out of sight.
***
"Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire," Jess whispered.
They stood at the edge of the spring, watching the burbling surface of the pink water and the red rocks beneath through the swirling steam. Cavenaugh had been down there for at least three minutes, and all of them knew there was no way he could have held his breath that long. Gabriel pictured Cavenaugh with his feet snared in a tangle of bodies on the bottom, struggling to free himself before finally taking that fateful inhalation of fluid. Somewhere down there, Gabriel imagined the stocky man's lifeless body swaying on the current like a leaf of kelp. Worse, if Cavenaugh's theory had been correct, he just might have found an underwater entrance to the cavern where the killers waited for him. Will hadn't been able to fire a single shot in defense. There were no guarantees that Cavenaugh would be any luckier. Gabriel envisioned Cavenaugh crawling out of a small pool into a dark chamber where a shadowed form leaned over him from behind, grabbed him by the hair, and yanked his head back to expose his throat. A flash of steel and twin arterial sprays painted the walls.
Gabriel scrutinized the spring for any darkening of the already reddish water, half-expecting a rush of crimson from the intake that would dissipate---
The crown of a head broke the surface and there was a loud gasp.
Gabriel nearly squeezed off a shot, would have had his hands not been shaking so badly.
Cavenaugh paddled toward them, but as soon as his back crested the water, he thought better of it. The barrel of the rifle pointed over his right shoulder as the broken wing of an angel might. The strap crossed his chest. Steam twirled from his head in the cold air like a recently extinguished candle.
"I was right," he said, still panting for breath. "There's a tunnel down there. Leads right out from the bottom. Barely wider than my shoulders, but it goes...all the way into the cavern. Without light, I can't...can't tell how big it is, but I'd guess it's pretty large by the acoustics."
"Was there anyone inside?" Kelsey asked.
"Like I said. I couldn't see a thing, but I could smell..." Cavenaugh paused and dunked his head again to replenish his warmth while he formulated his words. "There was definitely something dead in there. Once you've worked a homicide, you don't forget the smell."
"So what now?" Gabriel asked.
"We do some spelunking." Now that Cavenaugh had regained his breath, his smile returned. "I don't know what kind of geothermal vents heat that cavern, but it's like a sauna in there.
The backpacks are waterproof, so we can carry all our clothes through the tunnel and change once we're in there. I already dumped mine."
He produced the empty backpack and tossed it at Kelsey's feet.
"You're crazy if you think I'm going in there," Kelsey said.
"Fine. Stay here. I'm going back in regardless. How about you two?"
Gabriel opened his mouth under Cavenaugh's intense gaze, but no words came out. The prospect scared the hell out of him. He heard a zipper behind him and turned to see Jess shrug out of her coat.
"I'll go," she whispered.
"Gabriel?" Cavenaugh asked.
Gabriel stared down at the rifle for a long moment before passing it to Kelsey. He reached for the zipper on his coat with trembling hands.
"You can't leave me out here alone," Kelsey said.
"It's your choice, doctor," Cavenaugh said. His grin now had teeth.
"What if they come back? How could I possibly---?"
"If I'm right, they're already inside. You'll have nothing to fear unless they get past the rest of us."
"You think they're in there, waiting for you, and you still want to go in after them? After they've already proven their willingness to kill?"
Cavenaugh's face remained stoic.
"You've lost it."
"The floor of the tunnel is littered with bones, Kelsey, and the current runs directly toward the end of the spring over there where all the rest are piled. Are you following my logic? If you want to figure out what happened to Levi...the only way to do so is by going in there."
"Where there are people waiting to butcher us."
"The rifles are waterproof as well."
"I don't share your death wish. I have a wife, and a respectable practice---"
"Suit yourself," Cavenaugh said.
Gabriel stood in his underwear and tee shirt, the rest of his clothing stuffed in the backpack beside his socked feet. He shivered and his teeth chattered. What in the name of God was he thinking?
"Make sure to pack both flare guns," Cavenaugh said. "We're going to need them."
Gabriel wedged the bulky gun and spare cartridges into the bag and zipped it closed again. The frigid wind felt as though it blew right through him. The time had come to decide. Either he unpacked his clothes and got dressed again before he froze to death, or he forced his legs to propel him forward into the water. Jess emerged from his peripheral vision in only her bra and panties, a mismatched set of pink and white, and slid down the rocks into the water, dragging her backpack by the strap. She waded out a couple steps and dropped into the deep water with a startled cry. A heartbeat later, she returned to the surface, coughing and spitting out the vile liquid.
One step at a time, Gabriel eased closer to the spring. He felt a sense of detachment, as though he had somehow separated from his body and were merely watching himself inching toward the spring from afar. At the edge of the bank, he lowered himself to his rear end and slid down into the water. He scooted forward to the edge of the rocks and plunged into the depths. About eight feet down, his feet met the bottom, which he used as leverage to launch himself back up into the cold air.
"The opening to the tunnel is pretty much right under us," Cavenaugh said. "It's roughly fifteen feet long and the current will be pushing you right in the face. You're going to need to take the biggest breath you can hold and use your arms to pull you through."
"What about the backpacks?" Jess asked.
"Loop the straps around your ankle."
"What if it gets stuck?" Gabriel asked.
"Then ditch it and we'll go back for it."
"What if---?"
"It's now or never," Cavenaugh said. "Follow me if you want, or stay if you don't. At this point, I don't care. Either way, I'm going now."
He took a deep breath and was about to dive under when Kelsey spoke.
"Wait."
***
Gabriel waited a moment after Jess dove, drew as much air as his lungs could hold, and dove under the water. The salt content stung his eyes so badly he could barely keep them open, but he managed to see Jess's feet before they disappeared into the rocky mouth of the tunnel. The red bacterial sludge grew over everything, covering the uneven rocks and the scattered, strangely shaped objects he assumed were bones. He couldn't help but wonder about the consequences of exposing his bare eyeballs and the sensitive membranes to the foreign microorganisms.
Gripping the stones at the edge of the opening, he pulled himself ahead into utter darkness. His shoulders scraped against the walls, ripping his shirt. The skin on his fingertips threatened to peel away and he was certain he was going to lose a nail, but the pain was nothing compared to the pressure in his lungs. He already needed to take a breath. It felt like his chest was full of smoldering coals. The irrational panic cut through what little semblance of control remained, and he began to thrash. Tearing open the skin on his elbows and knees, on his scalp and toes. Colored amoebae floated across his vision and the entire tunnel rotated around him. He clawed forward, faster and faster, not caring if he flayed every inch of flesh from his bones, until his head slammed into something hard.
Gabriel opened his mouth to scream. Something struck his back between his shoulder blades and jerked him upward. He sputtered with the influx of air, retched, then rolled away from the opening and vomited onto the stone floor.
"Shh!" Cavenaugh hissed into his ear.
Gabriel continued to gasp until he calmed down and rationalized the situation. The darkness in the cavern was lighter than the underwater tunnel by degree, but only enough to limn the silhouettes of the others. His harsh breath echoed hollowly in the large, unseen room.
"Hurry back," Cavenaugh whispered.
With a soft splash, Jess crawled down into the water and headed back for Kelsey. She was obviously a better swimmer and had handled the journey far better than he had.
Gabriel sat up and tried to get a feel for his surroundings. The blackness was claustrophobic, and even though he couldn't see the stone walls, he felt confident they were about to collapse and bury him alive.
There was a rustling noise, then a metallic snapping sound.
"This won't last long," Cavenaugh whispered. "Memorize everything you see."
Gabriel wasn't sure what Cavenaugh meant until with a whoosh and a scream, a fireball streaked off into the darkness with a startling flash.
***
The resultant glow stained the room orange from where the ball of fire burned against the stone wall ahead and to the left. Already it was beginning to fizzle and fade. Gabriel was shocked by the sheer enormity of the cavern, which more closely resembled a highway tunnel through a mountain than any sort of natural formation. The walls were smooth, with few outcroppings, and rounded to create an elliptical room perhaps twenty-five feet wide, but only a dozen feet high. It almost appeared man-made. Beyond the leading edge of the fading light, a section of the roof and walls had collapsed into a pile of rubble.
Gabriel tried to absorb every detail before the crackling flame extinguished. Rivulets of water trickled down the walls and dripped to the ground from the condensation above. A small channel of water cut through the middle of the floor, whisper quiet, and emptied into the pool from which they'd emerged. There was a stack of red aluminum containers to the right, presumably what they'd heard the rock strike from the hole through which the cat had crawled. They were rusted and dented, but one still bore the faded letters KER SENE. The smooth stone floor beside the small stream was wet and sloppy. Maybe it was the orange glare, but the long smear that led deeper into the tunnel glimmered scarlet.
The flare diminished to a wan glow of embers, and finally to nothing at all. In the dying light, he thought he had seen movement ahead near the mound of rocks, a shadow passing across shadows. The darkness wrapped around them again with humid arms.
Gabriel felt Cavenaugh's breath on his ear before the other man whispered, "They dragged the bodies through here. There's blood all over the ground in front
of us."
There was a muted metallic clatter as Cavenaugh ejected the spent metal flare casing and chambered another.
"We should have brought flashlights," Gabriel whispered.
"You think?"
He'd obviously hit a sore spot. Cavenaugh had gone to great lengths to outfit their expedition, but apparently hadn't foreseen every contingency.
Gabriel heard a shuffling sound beside him and realized Cavenaugh was getting dressed. Following suit, Gabriel stripped out of his wet clothes, unpacked the dry, and had only begun to get dressed when a slosh of water and a gasp announced Kelsey's arrival. His reaction upon crawling out of the spring was the same as Gabriel's. He was still retching when Jess slipped out of the water.
They dressed in a silence marred only by the occasional zip of a zipper and scratch of Velcro.
"Ready?" Cavenaugh whispered. When no one immediately spoke up, he detailed his plan. "We advance in a diamond formation. I'll take the lead. Jess and Gabriel, you'll stay right behind and to either side of me. You'll carry the flare guns. Only fire one off on my signal. Kelsey, you'll bring up the rear. Walk backwards. Make sure no one tries to sneak up on us from behind. Anything moves, shoot it. Got it?"
Whispers of assent.
"If you see or hear anything---anything at all---stop where you are and tap the people to either side. Keep the formation close, and no one strays away. Understood?"
The stream hissed past them, an indifferent serpent in their midst.
Kelsey checked to make sure a load was chambered in the rifle with a clack.
The sound of their breathing grew harsh, tense.
Something pressed into Gabriel's stomach and he took the flare gun from Cavenaugh. His palm was sweating so badly it took several attempts to find the proper grip. A thought struck him like a bullet to the temple.
They were all going to die in there.
"Move out," Cavenaugh whispered, and took the first step forward into the darkness.
***
The clatter of rock against rock signaled Cavenaugh had reached the section where the roof had fallen. A faint slant of mote-riddled gray light cut through the darkness from a hole in the ceiling mere feet above the top of the pile. Judging by the distance from the spring, Gabriel could only assume that was where Oscar had entered from above.
The Mad and the MacAbre Page 18
