“All good,” Margaret says. “Keep the comms clear and check in once you’ve reached the tunnels for an update. Over.”
“Copy. Out.” I take a deep breath and switch on my dive light.
We advance into the cavern. The natural light from above fades into near blackness.
“All right. Jamie, you’re with me this time. We’ll continue to drop cookies on the offshoots and run traverse into the tunnels we flagged last time. Liam, verify the main line tie-offs—lay temp traverse if the passage looks stable. Mark the distances with the knotted line.”
“Got it.” Liam checks his gas. Jamie gives me an OK sign.
We enter the first tunnel. My beam catches a detail we missed on our prior dives. A faint line of algae-covered nylon trails along the rock of the tunnels, an old dive line left behind by someone who’s been here before. I point it out to Jamie. “Mark this.”
“Done,” Jamie says, scribbling on his slate.
We move slowly, adjusting our BCD and trim as we navigate to avoid clouding the water. The quartz veins in the walls glimmer under our lights. This is the fun part, seeing areas of the cave for the first time and taking in the natural beauty. Some smooth areas of the walls in this tunnel are out of place from the Swiss cheese texture of the limestone. I reach out and brush my glove against a flat patch of stone. Interestingly, it’s warmer than the surrounding water. Before I investigate further, Jamie’s voice blasts through the microphone.
“Heads up—movement at your three o’clock. I can’t tell what it is.”
I turn my light toward one of the subsidiary shafts, catching a flicker of motion. Small particles scatter as another beam cuts through the murk.
“Looks like we’re not alone.” My jaw tightens as three silhouettes emerge into the passage.
Wes Harrington’s team.
Their clumsy movements stir up silt plumes that soon reduce our visibility. Fine particles cling to my mask, swirling in the water. Through the haze, Wes emerges, his dirty blond hair unmistakable even in the murk.
“Watch your buoyancy, boys.” He turns his head my way. “Rickter. I didn’t expect to run into you guys down here yet. Not on our first day.”
I’m willing to bet running into us is exactly what he expected.
“Funny,” I reply as I keep my tone clipped and gesture toward the three divers by his side, two struggling to control their bulky underwater video equipment. “They’re going to get stuck.” I bite down a curse at the sheer recklessness. “In case you missed the memo, this passage is a little tight.”
“A little squeeze doesn’t bother me…” Although the regulator hides his smirk, I see it in his eyes. “We’re getting in a short swim and some footage before heading over to the Driftwood to check in and get some dinner.” He pauses, then adds. “I get to meet Nathan’s little sister, Maddie, tonight. He told me so much about her, and the word is she’s cute. All the guys in town are talking. Have you met her yet?”
I knew Wes and his crew were staying at the inn, but Maddie’s name on his lips makes my ears throb. There’s no way I’m going to sit here and have a friendly chat with this guy. I couldn’t care less about his dinner plans.
“I guess this is your show now, Harrington.” I gesture toward the walls of the tunnel.
“Get ready to see how this gets done.” He’s got the gall to wink.
One of his divers fumbles with the camera, kicking up another wave of silt. Unconcerned, Wes navigates easily into one of the narrower offshoots with his usual theatrics. The camera flares, casting dramatic halos in the murky water. The guy has excellent skills himself, but it’s criminal he has these guys down here. Typical.
“This is what people tune in for,” he declares, his voice dripping with showmanship. “Tight squeezes, the risk of death,and the thrill of the unknown. Make sure you’re getting all this, boys.”
I roll my eyes. “Let’s move.” I motion to Jamie. “We’ve got real work to do.”
We slip past Wes’s crew without a word as we return to the main cavern. When we enter, the silt cloud disappears. I signal to Liam as Jamie and I approach the second tunnel. My light sweeps across the walls, another faint line of nylon, a breadcrumb from someone’s previous journey.
“Get this one, too.” I point. “Mark as B. Spool and tie-off more line—keep it tight. Let’s get the first twenty feet mapped.”
We continue working, the silence of the underwater world broken only by an occasional crackle of the comms and chatter from Wes’s team, which blessedly stops.
Margaret’s voice chimes in. “Check your gauges. How does it look? Over.”
“Productive. We’ve got two promising leads to explore further the next time we go down. We’re good on gas, over 70 percent. Over.”
“Copy,” Margaret says. “By the way, Wes’s team just surfaced. The Drop’s all yours. Out.”
“Thank God,” Jamiesays. Liam chuckles from the main cavern. We continue to work, capturing markers. After half an hour, we’re ready to wrap it up.
