Delaney and I go over the area we searched yesterday with the others, warning them about the collapsed sections, and we decide everyone is going down into thetunnels today except Linc. We need someone to keep an eye on camp, be available in case anyone needs anything down below, and let’s face it, he’s the most able to provide a vertical extraction if needed. But mostly, my dude is just too big. His broad shoulders would be scraping rock walls right and left, and he’d probably tweak his back from bending over the entire time.
We harness up and, one at a time, climb down the ladder. Once we all reach the bottom, I point out the sections Delaney and I already searched. We barely made a scratch, but the plan is to divide and conquer. Hopefully, we’ll get lucky and find the cache that originally made this place worth digging into. Hell, if I’m hoping already, my biggest hope is the intel is true and this is the mine where the rest of the Phantom Orchid is still waiting to be chiseled free. The truth is we don’t even know for sure.
“Which way are you thinking?” I ask Delaney under my breath. She’s studying the tunnels like they somehow hold a clue.
“That one.” She nods to the one on our right.
“Let’s do it.” I turn, my headlamp shining into the yawning darkness ahead.
“Stay in touch,” Addie reminds us, and then we split up. She and Brighton choose the tunnel closest to us, while Knox and Hunter head down one on the lefthand side.
As Delaney and I start forward, my mind rewinds to last night when I basically spilled my guts. More like my heart, I suppose. She hasn’t mentioned it, and I don’t want topress her. At the same time, I’m feeling a little fragile and a lot vulnerable. The idea that she might walk away from me hurts more than I can even comprehend. No woman has ever made me this crazy, but my little Crumpet has me wrapped around her slim finger.
Particularly her left ring finger where I’m envisioning a giant diamond from yours truly.
I’m wishing she would open up to me and share what’s going through her head, when my comms unit crackles to life.
“We’ve got fucking company,” Linc growls.
Shit.I glance over at Delaney. “Who?” I ask.
“A helo just landed. Fuck! Mercs!”
“How many?” Addie asks.
But he doesn’t respond and then only static fills the line.
“Addie, do you copy?” I ask. Silence.Fuck.“Comms are jammed.”
“C’mon!” Delaney grabs my arm. “We need to go deeper and try to hide.”
I know Linc can take care of himself but, at the same time, I’m worried. There aren’t a lot of places for him to hide, but he has a gun and a vehicle. Hunter is armed, but Addie and Brighton aren’t. They’re damn smart, though, and I know they’ll figure something out. Meanwhile, I’ve got to make sure Delaney and I do the same.
It’s like a maze down here, so if we’re quiet and keep behind the pillars, we should be able to sneak around and make our way back to the ladder. I don’t know if we’llmake it up before being discovered, but I want to link up with Knox and Hunter and that gun which I know is in her hand right now.
When I tell Delaney what I’m thinking, she frowns. “That’s not a very good plan.”
“Do you have a better one? Because I’m all ears.”
“I have my stun gun.” She plucks it from her bag. “What else do we have for weapons?”
I grumble a curse and shift my backpack around. Some quick digging reveals a hammer, chisel and a flare.
“I’ll take that.” She grabs the hammer.Of course, she does.
God, I love this woman.
“Why’re you looking at me like that?” she asks, sliding the hammer through a loop at her waist.
“Because you’re fucking magnificent, baby.” I kiss her hard and step back. “Let’s try to find the others. If the Voss’s goons come down—”
“They will.”
“Then we take them out, if we can. I don’t want you putting yourself in harm’s way unnecessarily.”
She nods, clutching the stun gun in her right hand and the hammer in her left. Meanwhile, I’ve got a flare. I guess it’s better than nothing.
Sticking close together, we move around a pillar and make our way into another section of tunnel, retracing our steps to the ladder. It’s not long before we hear voices. Deep male voices. I grab Delaney’s arm and we freeze. My plan is to let them pass since it sounds like they’re on theother side of the pillar. But at the last second, they turn the damn corner and practically run right into us.
