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The underground cave system was enormous. Beneath the surface, their flashlights illuminated massive rock formations and numerous chambers connected by underground tunnels. The water was cold and crystal clear.
As they swam in the dark depths, Hollis’s flashlight beam spotlighted a 6-foot long eel. Startled, she reached for Dylan to warn him. He acknowledged the danger and motioned for her to follow him.
After making their way through several more underwater tunnels, they swam up and broke the surface, finding themselves in a small chamber with a shallow section where they could stand up.
Dylan pulled out a small, handheld device. “This is one of the new tools we’re working on. It’s a one-of-a-kind device that you can use in a marine environment to detect nonferrous metals.”
“I thought you made that up,” Hollis teased.
“Your faith in me is touching.”
She quirked an amused brow. “So, you’re telling me that thing can detect gold, silver-”
“-and, other precious metals,” he finished. “It transmits electrical frequencies that penetrate sand, silt, coral, rock and wood up to about 5 feet.”
Hollis pulled out a small metal detector of her own, and couldn’t help but smirk. “This I gotta see,” she said, a challenging gleam in her eyes. They both began to sweep back and forth beneath the water. “Does it detect metal, too?” she asked innocently.
“No, smartass. That would be just a regular metal detector. Like you have.”
Hollis made a face. Then, her detector beeped. She dropped down to paw through the silt, searching for the metallic object that had set her equipment off. Her fingers finally wrapped around something and she cleared it off in the water. Dylan paused, moving up beside her to see what she found.
Only a nail.
“Not gold or silver, but it’s definitely old,” she said.
They continued to search, caught up in a sense of anticipation.
At the opening of the well, far above the network of caverns and grottos, the end of a cigar glowed in the darkness. Tony exhaled and then leaned over and looked down into the blackness. Of course, it was too dark to see anything, but he knew they were down there.
Right where he wanted them.
Tony picked up the duffle bag at his feet and handed it over to one of several local thugs he had hired to help him out. He was done playing games with those two. They had chosen their sides so now they could deal with the consequences.
The thug unzipped the bag and looked inside at the stacked one-hundred dollar bills.
“It’s enough to do the job,” Tony assured him.
With a grunt, the thug reached for a bag of his own. “So is this,” the thug said. He unzipped it and showed Tony the explosives.
“I don’t want them getting out of there,” Tony said.
“No problema.”
Far below, Hollis searched through the silt as Dylan watched her from the corner of his eye, his detector still silent. God, she was gorgeous. He couldn’t stop looking at her.
“Are you sure that thing works?” she teased. When he narrowed his eyes, she laughed. And, then gave a whoop when her metal detector went off again.
Dylan gave his detector a shake. Why wasn’t it finding anything?
Then, Hollis gasped and revealed what looked like a silver coin.
Dylan hurried over and a huge grin broke out across his face. “A piece of eight!”
Hollis laughed in delight and nodded to the piece of eight necklace that always hung from his neck. “Now we can match,” she said.
Dylan felt his heart pick up its pace as she dropped the coin in his palm. He held it under the flashlight and studied the infamous cross marking.
“Where did you find yours?” she asked
