Page 361 of Hidden Depths
I turned.
Ward stood on the opposite ledge, his weapon still raised.
“Close the gate!”
Mom shouted the sequence.
“Red lever first!”
I pulled it.
Nothing happened.
“Now the lower wheel—three turns clockwise!”
The wheel resisted.
I threw my weight against it.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The machinery screamed.
The gate stopped rising.
“Blue lever!” Mom yelled.
I reached for it.
A hand closed around my ankle.
The man Nathan had shot hadn’t fallen into the water.
He hung from the ledge beneath me.
Blood covered his mouth.
Hatred filled his eyes.
“You don’t know what your grandfather buried.”
I kicked at his hand.
“What’s beneath the second gate?”
His smile returned.
“Your inheritance.”
He yanked my leg.
I hit the stone.
My fingers scraped across the floor, inches from the blue lever.
