Page 23 of In Too Deep
Liam braced against the wall with his palms flat against cold stone and his eyes wide.“Not again.I thought we were done with the aftershocks.”
Rocks tumbled from a ledge and crashed down in a cascade at the far end of the cave.Dust choked the air.Noah coughed, doubled over, and covered his mouth with the crook of his elbow.Through watering eyes, he checked his team.“Everyone good?”
Teague wiped grit from his eyes with the back of his hand and nodded.“Close.Too close.”
Noah stood with his muscles tense.He brushed off his shirt.“Time to call it.But this place…It’s a trap waiting for the next rogue group.”
“Seal it.Permanently.”Teague pulled out his water bottle and downed a gulp.“Dynamite the entrance.Post warnings.End the temptation.”
“If it were only that simple.”Sealing would mean safety and would cut off the risk to idiots chasing stories.But this was a national park.Preservation was a high priority too.“They’ll probably need an environmental-impact study done.Nothing happens fast when the government’s in charge.”
As they made their way back out, Noah’s mind turned to Meg, safe at the clinic, probably elbow-deep in paperwork or treating some tourist’s sunburn.
If people kept wandering into places like this, she’d soon be patching up the next wave.Or worse, trying to save them when it was already too late.
He’d promised himself no more losses.Yet here he was, inches from disaster again.
At the entrance, sunlight pierced the dust as they emerged.Noah unclipped his radio and squinted against the glare.“Base, this is Wilde.Cave’s clear, but no chest.Instability’s worse—recommending permanent seal.”
The radio crackled.Eden’s voice came through.“Copy that.We’ve got dehydrated hikers on the trail.Pushed too far.No water.Need extraction.Sending location now.”
His sat phone pinged.He tapped it and estimated the time it would take.“On our way.Any details?”
“Three adults.One kid.Heat exhaustion setting in.”
Liam cracked a grin.He wiped his brow with his forearm.“From cave divers to desert taxis.Versatile, aren’t we?”
Noah folded the map roughly and stowed it.The cave mouth mocked them from behind.“Let’s move.”
An hour later, with their legs burning from the pace, they found the coordinates.“This was their last location.Eyes open.They could be anywhere off trail.”
Liam scanned the horizon with binoculars.“There—movement.Quarter mile out under a rock overhang.”
At least they’d thought to seek shade.
They pushed forward.The kid’s cries carried on the wind as they closed in.A family huddled in scant shade with flushed faces and cracked lips.The boy, maybe eight years old, slumped against his mother’s side.
Noah lifted his hand as he approached.“Park rangers.We heard you needed some help.”
Teague and Liam pulled water bottles from their packs and started passing them around.
The father took a bottle, his hands shaking badly.“Thought we had enough.Got turned around.”
Teague started checking pulses.“Dehydrated, but alert.We’ll get them back slow.”
Noah peeled off his hat and dropped it on the kid’s head.Liam radioed base to update them.
An hour later they were halfway back.
Noah’s radio buzzed again—Eden’s voice cutting through.“Wilde, report from a patrol: fresh tracks at Tapeats.”
Noah’s blood ran cold.
Those could very well be their tracks from this morning.Or…more treasure hunters who didn’t know what they were walking into.Either way, he needed to find Virgil and get him to rush the approval to seal the cave before someone else died in there.
Teague fell in beside Noah.“Seal it tomorrow?”
Noah nodded.But doubt gnawed at the back of his mind.No way they’d be allowed to just collapse the entrance without permits and studies.“At the very least, we need to put something there to be a strong deterrent.Even if it isn’t permanent at this point.”
