“Novak, you, Larabee and Shackleford come with us. We need other agents.”
Novak nodded. “I’ll get them here.”
“I need your flashlight,” Ava told Shackleford, who handed her the device. She flashed it down into the expanse. There appeared to be around twenty steps before they ended in a landing of some sort. Ava couldn’t see beyond it.
Would they be walking into another trap?
Novak came back with Harper Lee Stevens and Jace Maddox without their K-9s.
“I have some news on the mine’s owner,” Novak told her. “The company is Glacier Reserve. It appears to be some shell corporation. I’m still peeling back the layers to get the person in charge.”
Ava nodded and focused on the opening before she glanced down at Shadow. “Ready, boy?”
Shadow looked up at her with those deep brown eyes that seemed to connect to her soul before he confirmed with a single short bark.
“We’ll take the lead,” she told her team. “Caleb, you’re with me.”
Caleb clicked on his flashlight and glued himself to her side as they descended.
The rest of the team remained close.
Ava’s pulse hadn’t let up since they found the opening.
The air became considerably colder the farther down they went.
Once Ava reached the landing she halted the team. She flashed the light around. The walls were thick stone on either side. She flicked the flashlight in front of them. “There’s another set of stairs heading up.”
Nothing about this made sense. But then, nothing about Wax did either.
She watched Shadow’s reaction. The dog strained to move toward the next set of stairs. “He’s onto something. Let’s keep going.” She glanced at Caleb, whose set jaw reflected his concern.
She kept Shadow on a tight lead as they moved toward the next set of steps and slowly ascended them until they reached a third set that headed still upward.
“Stop,” Ava said. “Where are we?”
Novak brought up their location on his phone. “Deep inside the mountain. If we keep going this way, we’re heading straight for part of the Lewis Mountain Range located near Hidden Lake.”
Shock ripped through Ava’s brain. That couldn’t be a coincidence.
She remembered Caleb telling her the mountain chain near Hidden Lake was inaccessible at this time of the year. Wax had found a way by tunneling through those very mountains.
“Everyone, be on alert.” She searched for any sign Wax might be watching them but there weren’t any hidden cameras that she could see.
She started up the steps with Shadow still on Wax’s scent.
At the top of the stairs there was another set.
“This just keeps going,” Caleb said quietly. “We have to be close to eight thousand feet by now.” His words chilled the air in front of them. Ice clung to the walls.
A shiver of unease sped down Ava’s spine at the thought of being trapped here.
After another set of steps, they climbed farther before reaching a door.
Ava swallowed deeply. “This could be rigged.” Wax had deliberately planned the explosion they’d survived.
Shadow continued to sniff the air close to the door indicating he was on the right path.
Ava reached out and gripped the doorknob with fingers that trembled.
