Dead Secret Read Online Free PDF Page B

his arm away.
    “I’m good for another scare or two.” Diane struggled to her hands and knees. Mike rose, pulling her up with him, and they moved away from the dust.
    “Okay, so X means keep out,” he said.
    “It does now.” Diane bent over, coughing the dust out of her lungs.
    “You okay?” Mike choked as he spoke, and he started coughing too.
    “A little beat up, but otherwise fine.” Diane examined the fresh scrapes on the heel of her hands and rubbed her shoulder where it hit a rock. “I’ve never had two close calls in one outing. I don’t have one close call very often.”
    “Sometimes things happen. That’s why we don’t cave alone.”
    “What happened here, do you think?”
    Mike shrugged. “One of the boulders lost its foundation for some reason and gravity took over, sending it crashing into another boulder, and suddenly we had an avalanche.” He shrugged again. “Could have been caused by small seismic activity, sonic boom, who knows . . . like I said, it looked unstable. Wouldn’t have taken much. Judging by the rocks around the entrance, I’m guessing this has happened before.”
    “The entrance looks blocked now,” Diane said, staring at the mouth of the offshoot tunnel still shrouded in a thin fog of dust.
    Mike’s light flickered. He tapped it with his finger. “We’d better do a lamp check.”
    They checked out each other’s headlamps to make sure nothing was broken or loose. During the check, Diane noticed for the first time with some alarm that there was blood on Mike’s face.
    “You’re bleeding,” she said, pointing to the corresponding spot on her own face. “You sure you’re okay?”
    Mike pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his chin and looked at the small smear of blood. “This is nothing. I’ve had worse spills. . . . Hell, I’ve had worse cuts shaving. You said you found some more tunnels at the end of this main one? Why don’t we have a look before we go back?”
    Diane hesitated. “Sure, it won’t take long.” She led the way toward the end of the main tunnel.
    “It’s not dangerous, is it?” Mike quipped.
    Diane’s radio squawked.
    “I heard a noise; is everything all right?” It was Neva.
    “We’re fine,” said Diane. “Just a little rockfall in one of the offshoot tunnels. No damage done. Is everything okay there?”
    “Yup. I’m almost done.”
    Diane felt a pang of guilt. She’d left Neva to search the entire chamber by herself.
    As if sensing her guilt, Mike laughed and said, “Neva’s really having a good time. Nothing like a nice big cavern to knock around in for a while to get your confidence back. Neva loves caves but is still a little scared of them, with good reason—she had a really close call.”
    Diane winced as she thought of how close Neva came to dying in this very cave system.
    “I think having something focused to do is helping her get over her fears,” said Mike. “Her eye for detail is amazing. The girl must have been a killer on an Easter-egg hunt. Of course, if you found that tiny button among all these rocks, you weren’t too shabby either. What is it about you crime scene types? Got some kind of locator gene?”
    “It’s all in knowing how to look—and also luck.” Diane pointed to the split end of the tunnel. “I’d like to explore those passages the next time we come,” she said. The two openings looked like huge dark eyes staring unblinkingly at them as they approached.
    “The high road and the low road,” said Mike as they stood next to the openings.
    Diane noticed that, like her, he was drawn to the one that led down. He stepped through the entrance and looked down. Diane stood behind him, very still, listening.
    “You hear that?” said Mike.
    “I thought I heard something when I was here before. You hear it too?”
    “Like flowing water, maybe? It’s hard to say.” He grinned at her. “Interesting.”
    “I’d like to investigate, but I don’t want to leave Neva alone any