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Grimm and Dezi settled on the cool, hard floor and waited to be found. Without light, wandering around in the dark could get them killed.
Dezi leaned into Grimm’s embrace, thankful for his presence. She couldn’t have done all of this on her own.
So tired from wandering around and around in the mine, she rested her eyes from straining to see in the pitch blackness.
She must have fallen asleep. The next thing she knew, Grimm was shaking her gently. “Dezi, wake up. We’ve been found.”
Blinking her eyes open, she stared down the tunnel to her left and saw the faint glow of a light. Grimm waited until they moved closer to turn on his headlamp.
“Grimm! Dezi!” a familiar voice called out.
“We’re here,” Dezi cried.
Light filled the tunnel as people carrying battery-powered lanterns and flashlights arrived.
Hank Patterson and Drake Morgan led the rescue team.
Drake enveloped Grimm in a bear hug that took his breath away. “Man, when we got here and found the boarding house on fire…we didn’t know what to think.”
“Did you find Chad? Is he okay,” Dezi asked.
Hank nodded. “He took a hit to the back of the head. We sent him off in an ambulance to the hospital in Bozeman. He’ll be there overnight for observation.”
“Eugene?” Grimm asked.
Hank’s lips pressed into a tight line. “When his brother Terrence regained consciousness in the hospital, he was happy to rat on his brother and let the staff there know he was the good twin.”
“I doubt there was a good twin,” Grimm said. “But he was the lesser of the two evils.”
Hank nodded. “Because of Terrence’s confession, we got here soon enough to catch Eugene coming out of the burning building. We encouraged him to admit to trapping you two in the mine before setting the boarding house on fire. The bastard is with the county sheriff on his way to jail on multiple counts of murder and aggravated assault.”
“He killed my uncle,” Dezi said. “All for an empty box.”
“Yeah,” Drake gave her a funny look. “What was up with that? Your uncle sent you on a wild goose chase all for an empty box?”
Dezi smiled across at Grimm. “I have no regrets,” she said. “The treasure was the love with which he sent me on the quest.”
Grimm wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “No regrets.”
Drake shook his head. “Whatever floats your boat. I say we get out of here and back to work. Playtime is over.”
Grimm snorted. “I’m ready to get back to pounding nails and breaking down walls. It helps me relieve stress.”
“There are other ways to relieve stress.” Murdock held up his hands. “Just saying.”
“We’ll get Chad’s ATVs, truck and trailer back to him,” Hank said. “You two might want to have a medic check you out.”
Dezi shook her head. “I’m fine. I need to stop by the sheriff’s office in Eagle Rock. I found something the sheriff and Cassie will want to see. And we need to remember where this chamber is.”
Drake’s brow dipped. “Why?”
Dezi held up the jacket. “I found this here along with tic marks on the wall.”
“What is the significance of the jacket?” Hank asked.
“This jacket belonged to our friend Penny Baker. I think she was held captive here recently. We hadn’t known where she’d been taken between LA and here, but I suspect she made it back to Montana and was abducted here. I think she’s alive, and someone is holding her hostage around here.”
“Let’s get you back home,” Drake said. “Your work is done here.”
