Dust Up with the Detective Read Online Free PDF

enough structural support to sustain the weight above. There’s been no earthquakes, at least that I know of, and no major rainstorms or weather that would have caused the ground to give way. I’d bet my bottom dollar that someone did this on purpose. If it was imploded, it was with a low-grade explosive. Nothing big enough to cause major damage, just enough firepower to get the job done.”
    Blake nodded, taking note of his opinion. It wouldn’t be admissible in court, but at least she had an idea of what could have happened and she could write it up when she filed her report.
    “Is it stable deeper in?” she asked.
    The firefighter shrugged. “It’s hard to say what you’ll find. Oftentimes, explosions can have a bit of a cascading effect. If you go in, you need to make sure you take your time and be safe. You want me or one of my team to go in with you?”
    “I’ve got it,” Jeremy said. “I’ll go in. There’s no sense in you all going in and putting yourself in danger.” He turned to look at her. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
    A faint heat rose in her cheeks, but she tried to staunch the fire. “Jeremy, you may be a detective, but this isn’t your jurisdiction. You can’t go in. It’s my job.”
    “But this is my family.”
    If she were in his shoes, she wouldn’t have taken no for an answer, either. She had to follow the rules, but it didn’t feel right leaving him out. “Since you’re the only person who’s been in the mine, you can go in as a search volunteer. Nothing more. Don’t touch anything. Got it?”
    He nodded.
    “Here,” the fireman said, handing them each hard hats complete with headlamps. “You’re going to need these.”
    They took them, and Jeremy put his on. In the night’s shadows, he looked like a miner from an old tintype photograph, dirt smudging his cheeks and his eyelashes covered in dust.
    “Let’s go,” Blake said, starting down the shaft.
    The place smelled of dank, wet dirt and iron-rich minerals, the scent of deep earth—full and heady. The tunnel was wide enough for two to walk side by side with their shoulders rubbing against the walls. A tendril of claustrophobia wrapped around her, but she ignored the way it tightened around her chest and threatened to squeeze until panic oozed from every pore.
    No. I’m strong. I can handle this.
    She repeated the mantra over and over as she moved deeper, but it did little to quell her anxiety.
    She walked, Jeremy close beside her, until the tunnel branched in a Y shape. She suddenly wished they had found a map, anything to help them avoid getting lost in the maze.
    Jeremy took a large breath of air, like he was going to yell, but Blake shushed him. “Don’t yell. If anything is unstable...” We could be killed. She resisted the urge to voice her fears. “Just don’t.”
    He looked around them, like he could almost read her mind, and nodded.
    A bead of earth slipped loose from the wall and cascaded down the side like an earthen waterfall.
    “Right or left?” she asked, motioning toward the break in their path.
    “Left. Robert never did anything right in his entire life.” He gave a dry laugh.
    She went left. The walls seemed to move in closer and the dark seemed even more ominous as they made their way deeper into the mountain. Each few hundred feet, the tunnel grew narrower, until she had to turn sideways to squeeze through. Her heart thrashed in her chest as her claustrophobia intensified.
    She hated small spaces. What if she got stuck? What if the earth shifted around them and they were trapped? What would happen to Megan? What would happen to her mother?
    The tunnel narrowed even more. Her chest brushed against the rock. And, as she exhaled, the warm air bounced off the rock in front of her and she could feel it on her cheek.
    It was too close.
    The walls were too close.
    Jeremy was too close.
    She couldn’t do this.
    Something ran over her shoe. She jumped with a squeal, slamming her hard hat