Page 2 of In Too Deep
“Five.Two are—” Eddie swallowed hard.“We don’t know where they are.Lydia’s hurt, and Diana’s trying to help her.Jeremy is Lydia’s brother.He was trying to help too, but he’s pretty much just freaking out.”
Noah lifted his radio.“Eden, this is Noah.Do you copy?”
“Go ahead.”
“Injured girl in the cave, at least two trapped.Please advise.”
The line went quiet.Finally, the radio crackled.“Noah, South Rim SAR’s just finishing up, then they’ll head your way.Maybe an hour, maybe more.You’re lead.”
“Copy.”Noah clipped the radio to his belt.
His pulse kicked up.Meg’s blue eyes scanned the cave mouth with her jaw set in that determined line he recognized.She’d already pulled her hair tighter, secured her vest, and checked her medical kit.
No way.No way was he letting her go in there.
“Teague, set up the transverter and keep the line open.Liam, you and I will go in and evaluate the injury.With any luck, we can splint or bandage what we find, then bring them out for treatment from Meg or the SAR team.”
Meg’s head tilted.“Wouldn’t it be easier if I?—”
“No.”
Oops.That came out a wee bit too sharp.
Liam and Teague exchanged a look.He could feel Meg’s gaze burning into his back, but he refused to let it move him.
She’d said before that she trusted God to protect her.Well, he didn’t.After all, God hadn’t protected his wife.
Noah wasn’t about to trust the Almighty with Meg.
“I’m on it, boss.”Liam dropped his pack.
Noah did the same and stripped down to essentials—rope, headlamp, first aid kit, radio, water.
“The rock seems stable, but the gap’s tight.”Liam crouched at the entrance.“I’m pretty sure we can still squeeze through.”
Teague handed Noah a radio—a backup, standard procedure.“Gold’s made everyone stupid.”
“Two million dollars does that.”Noah flicked on his headlamp.
The entrance was too much for his six-four frame.He hunched down with his shoulders scraping both sides.The temperature dropped instantly as they stepped out of the desert sun.But it still felt wrong.Too warm.Too stuffy.The freshly fallen rocks held the heat of the afternoon sun rather than the coolness his mind expected in a cave.
Beyond the entrance, sunlight vanished.The rough sandstone scraped his arms.Loose pebbles crunched underfoot.The air tasted of minerals and dust.
Suddenly, the rock next to him vibrated—a low frequency that rattled through his bones.
No.
“Aftershock.”Liam’s warning echoed.
Noah covered his head just as half a dozen boulders crashed down.Dust choked the air.He covered his nose and mouth, his heart hammering.
“Noah?”Teague’s voice crackled over the radio.
Noah met Liam’s wide-eyed gaze—both of them breathing hard—then clicked the radio.“We’re good.”
“Definegood.”Liam’s laugh was brittle.“I say we get everyone out of here, and quick.”
Twenty feet in, the passage opened into a cavernous chamber, vast and echoing.Noah’s headlamp beam couldn’t reach the far walls.The air was clogged with the scent of dust and blood.The floor was uneven and scattered with rubble.A dark pool of water sat in the center—the Tapeats Spring—with its surface still slightly rippled from that last aftershock.
