Taylor laughed and then coughed. “Later?” Taylor covered her head as the baseball-size rocks started falling closer to her. Looking up from under her arms, Taylor frowned. “Where are the others?”
“They took the Mississippi express,” Delta said, jerking her head toward the water.
Taylor looked at the water and then up at Delta. Reaching out, Taylor grabbed Delta’s wrist. “Don’t do this.”
Delta pulled her wrist free and continued putting weight on the flashlight. “What?”
Taylor inhaled slowly and winced. Whatever slight pain she’d felt initially was gathering strength now, and her thigh began throbbing in time with her head. “Get yourself out of here, Delta. You and I know you can’t get that boulder off by yourself.”
Delta kept working at the boulder, which hadn’t moved an inch. “Oh, ye of little faith.”
“And even if you do, there’s one more problem.”
“Oh?”
“I can’t swim.”
Kneeling down, Delta cupped Taylor’s chin in her hand. “I don’t care if you can’t fly, Taylor. We’re either leaving here together, or we’re dying here together. It’s that simple.”
Taylor studied Delta’s face. A tear made track marks as it slid down her dusty cheek. “I don’t understand. Megan—”
“Knows who I am. She knows I’d never leave someone I care about.” Delta bent over and kissed Taylor’s forehead. “Taylor, In another life, in another time, I’d fall so hard in love with you, I wouldn’t see anyone else. But either way, I’d make the exact same decision I’m making right now.”
Taylor nodded as she reached up and touched Delta’s face. “In my dreams, you’re always there, rescuing me or some other silly damsel in distress. Why is that?”
Delta sighed and held Taylor’s hand in hers. “Because I love you, you silly, eccentric jewel thief, that’s why. Now, can we talk about your dreams later?”
Taylor grinned and nodded, instantly regretting her quick movement. “Get us out of here, Delta Stevens, and I’ll love you from a distance for the rest of forever.”
Delta kissed Taylor’s forehead again. “Good. Now I’m going to put all my weight on the lever, and as the rock gives, slide out. Can you do that?”
“Yes.”
Standing on the flashlight, Delta put her weight on it, but the rock wouldn’t move. The rocks above them, however, had no such problem, as they littered more debris around the two women.
“Delta?”
Delta tried jumping on it as the rocks and debris became a steady stream.
“Delta?” Taylor’s voice rose slightly in panic.
Nothing Delta tried could get that boulder to move.
Taylor held her hand up. “Come on, Delta. It’s time to cash it in and call it a day. You’ve given it your best. Go, while there’s still time.”
“No.” Delta pulled the flashlight out and beamed it around, looking for something, anything. Even the machete was no good to her now.
“Goddamn it!” Delta cursed, ignoring the golfball-size rocks bouncing off her head and shoulders. “There has to be a way.”
“Delta…” Taylor’s voice was weak and fading.
“No, Taylor, I will not give up!”
“Delta.”
Pacing, Delta stopped for a moment to center herself. Becoming unbalanced would do them no good. Closing her eyes for a few seconds, Delta ignored the rocks and dust polluting their small domain. If she had learned one thing from this jungle, it was that nothing was as it seemed. She’d almost killed a crocodile that ended up saving her life. Moths looked like leaves, bushes looked like trees, and innocent-looking frogs were poisonous creatures. If nothing was really as it seemed, then what she needed to do was go with her instincts and against her head.
Opening her eyes, she shone the flashlight on the boulder perched on Taylor’s leg. She’d already tried to push the boulder off Taylor’s leg, but Delta’s instincts told her that instead, she needed to…
“That’s it!” Getting on her hands and knees, Delta grabbed the machete and started burrowing underneath Taylor’s leg.
“Delta, that won’t work. There isn’t time! Get yourself out!”
“I told you. Live together or die together, Taylor.” Digging in the hard ground, Delta felt the dirt begin to give way. Taylor swept the debris away and tried to keep the falling rocks from Delta’s head.
As Delta struggled to move as much dirt as she could before the rest of the cave collapsed on them, a thousand pictures flooded her mind: her mother, the baby of Gina’s she was never going to see, the life with Megan she might never get to live. Using her hands to clear another patch, Delta looked up and knew she only had seconds.
“Hold this,” Delta said, handing the machete to Taylor before digging faster and deeper, tearing the skin from her fingers. Delta knew the shallow hole she’d dug would have to do if they were to get out alive. They were out of time.
“That’s as good as it gets, Taylor.”
“What now?”
“I’m going to pull you out.”
“And leave the rest of my leg there?”
“If I have to. Are you ready?”
Taylor inhaled a shaky, frightened breath and nodded. “Go for it, sweets.”
Moving behind Taylor, Delta hefted her under her armpits and leaned back, pulling a screaming Taylor free from the boulder and landing Delta flat on her back. With Taylor free, Delta scrambled to her front and slapped Taylor’s pale face. “Stay conscious, goddamn it!”
“Fucker,” Taylor said through parched lips. “I bet you enjoyed that.”
Delta shook her head. Taylor had more guts than anyone she’d ever met.
“Is my leg still under the fucking rock?” Taylor grumbled, looking down at her broken leg before glancing up at Delta.
“Hey… did you just slap me?”
Delta nodded. Taking her shirt off and slipping out of her bra, she used it as a tourniquet below Taylor’s knee. “I thought you’d fainted.”
“Well, think again, gorgeous. In the future, try finding out first before you go smacking your number one fan around. It’s bad for business.”
Delta grinned. “I’ll do that.” Then, she threw her shirt back on, stood Taylor up on one leg and grabbed her by the shoulders. Delta didn’t know how much time she had before shock set in, rendering Taylor incapable of moving on her own.
“We have to get going, Taylor.”
Taylor’s face was sweating, and her eyes were glazing over. “Told you. Can’t fucking swim.”
“How in the hell can a woman born on an island not know how to swim?”
Taylor shrugged. “I took boats.”
As the far wall cracked and crumbled, Delta picked Taylor’s bag up, took the machete from her, and jammed it back in the bag before handing it to Taylor. “Hop on.”
Taylor grabbed the bag and hooked her free arm around Delta’s neck. Delta helped Taylor wrap her good leg around her waist. “Hold on, Taylor.”
“You’re not…”
“No other choice. Take a big, deep breath and pray it’s not your last.”
Just as Delta got the two of them into the water, the ceiling opened up and dropped everything it had. In one dive, Delta found herself in the murky water with nothing but a flashlight, a canvas backpack, Taylor, and a lungful of air.
“They expected us to come after the hostages,” Connie said as the four of them hurried from the camp and back to their base near a hollowed-out tree stump. “They weren’t as unprepared as I imagined. I’m sorry.”
Sal looked behind her as they moved through the bushes. “They’ll be coming after us, won’t they?”
Connie did not slow down. “Count on it.”
Josh stopped, forcing the others behind him to stop as well. “Tony and I should stay and pick off as many following as we can. You guys get to the boat and see about getting us some help.”
Nodding, Connie sighed loudly and hugged Josh. “I know you’r
e right. I’ve just never left Delta when she needed me most.”
“Take it from a soldier who’s been there. If retreat can save lives, then there’s no dishonor in it. Delta would do the same if it was you buried under tons of rock. You can’t work on emotions now, Connie. You have to think.”
Connie knew he was right, but that didn’t make leaving any easier. “We’ll be back for all of you,” Connie said reluctantly.
Sal reached up and kissed Josh’s cheek. “Don’t do anything stupid, big guy. I need your ugly puss around, okay?”
Josh nodded once before he pushed Sal toward Connie. “Take care of her, Con.”
“You betcha,” Connie replied, as she and Sal picked up their rifles and started back through the forest, leaving Carducci and Josh to face the general’s men.
Putting his eye to the scope, Carducci squeezed off a few rounds at two men coming from the back of the trailer. Both exploded in a flurry of blood. “Think they’re alive in there?”
Following suit, Josh picked off two more who had carelessly crawled from their holes. “Nope.”
Carducci sighed, “Me, either.”
“But Delta don’t die easy. I’ve seen that with my own two eyes.”
Carducci chuckled as he scanned for moving targets. “Ain’t that the truth?”
“And anyone who doesn’t die easily deserves the chance to try to get herself outta another mess like this one.”
Carducci looked at Josh and nodded. “If anyone can, she can.”
Josh nodded, without taking his eyes from the sight. “That’s what I’m countin’ on.”
Delta was counting on there being at least a six-inch space between the water and the cavern’s low ceiling. If there wasn’t, she didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to hold her breath.
Delta didn’t know how to keep from panicking when she reached up and felt the low ceiling of the cavern as it touched the water. There wasn’t three inches of space the first time, let alone six. The river cut a path through the rock, filling the entire space. There was no breathing room at all, and the claustrophobic sensation was almost overpowering. Feeling her way along, she wondered how far the current would take them before they ran out of air.
Ten seconds turned into twenty, and the pressure building in her lungs began to burn. She’d felt this sensation once before, when she was trapped in a house on fire with no place to go. Then, she had nearly broken her neck jumping through a plate glass window. Now, she’d give anything for there to be any window. She figured she had forty seconds or less to find an air pocket before they drowned.
Thirty seconds, and still no space. Her only consolation was that she hadn’t bumped into any floating bodies. The others must have gone farther than this or, if the gods were willing, they’d made it all the way.
As she pushed harder, Taylor started gripping Delta tightly around the neck. If she didn’t find an air pocket soon, she might have to bear a drowned Taylor through the caverns, and Delta didn’t know if she had it in her to carry that off.
Forty seconds, and Delta’s lungs felt ready to burst and her arms ached from reaching up to see if her hand would ever come out of the water.
A full minute went by, and Delta’s lungs really hurt now. The edges of darkness threatened to collapse in on her, consigning her to oblivion. It took every bit of willpower she had not to give into the pain in her chest.
But no dead bodies in the water had to mean something. Somehow, they had made it this far, and farther. If only she could keep her wits. Panic was her constant companion now, and she fought to keep it from becoming her master.
Seventy seconds, and Delta’s fingers reached up and felt… nothing. Air! There was a small space between the water and the ceiling. Quickly surfacing, Delta and Taylor hungrily gulped the stale air of the cavern, like a starving man would consume moldy bread.
“Jesus!” Taylor said as she exhaled the near poisonous air from her lungs. They had about a ten-inch space, so they were able to float with their heads above the water without smacking into the ceiling.
As they bobbed up and down in, slowly moving with the current, Delta shone her flashlight around. They were in an air pocket about eight feet wide, where the water gathered to form a pool before running down one of two forks in the underground river. Without the flashlight, they would be in a Cimmerian blackness. The thought alone made Delta shiver.
“Damn, that hurt,” Taylor said, touching her chest. “Felt like I was going to implode.”
“You okay?” Delta asked.
Taylor nodded, loosening her hold a little. “Barely. For a second there, I thought I was gonna have to suck up river water.”
“Me too.” Shining the light in the water, Delta breathed deeply. “The good news is there aren’t any bodies floating around here.”
“What now?”
“We’ll keep following the river.”
Taylor looked over Delta’s shoulder. “Ummm, which one are you taking?”
Delta shrugged. “As a lefty, I always go left.”
“Then left it is.” Taylor winced as pain shot through her leg. “Why do you suppose this area didn’t collapse as well?”
“We’re quite a ways down from the explosions. This current is swifter than I first thought, and this cavern may not even be connected to the caves that blew.”
Taylor kissed Delta’s neck. “That was close back there. Thank you.”
“We’re not out of danger yet. Who knows how far or deep this river goes?”
Taylor sighed, trying to ignore the throbbing of her lower leg. “Gee, and I thought my life was exciting.”
“How’s your leg?”
“Honestly? Hurts like hell. I could use a stiff shot of bourbon. Or maybe a bullet to bite on.”
Delta ran the back of her hand along Taylor’s cheek. “Careful what you wish for. You ready?”
Taylor winced as she readjusted her legs around Delta’s middle. “Sure you can handle both of us?”
“No.”
“Oh, good.”
“Did you want me to lie?”
“Yes.”
“Next time, then.”
Taylor nodded. “Thanks.”
“It doesn’t look like there’s any room for air pockets in either of those tunnels. More than likely, the water fills up the entire chasm. We’ll have to hold our breaths until we can find another air pocket.”
Taylor nodded. “We don’t have much of a choice, do we? Let’s get this over with, Storm.”
Delta inhaled as deeply as she could and pushed them toward the left chamber. In an instant, they were carried down the river by a current stronger than the last. The current was so swift; she could not slow down enough to check for air pockets and wondered if this would be the end of them.
Ten seconds, twenty, thirty, and still, they were propelled like two leaves carried by a strong wind. The flashlight did little to illuminate the darkness, and Delta had to squint to see anything in the murky water. The light was more of a comfort. It made her feel less vulnerable to the darkness around them.
Forty seconds, fifty, and then wham! Feet first into a wall.
A wall?
As she turned to get closer enough to the wall to reach out, Delta knew their time was about up. There was no air pocket here. But the water had to go somewhere. Feeling along the lower part of the wall, Delta discovered a hole where the water exited. Swimming lower and shining her flashlight on the small aperture, Delta pushed them through the hole and the next rush of the river quickly carried them away. Realizing, too late, that Taylor had been wrenched loose, Delta was carried alone down the current.
As her chest burned again, Delta knew she was finished. She would inhale buckets of water and drown. The current was moving too quickly for her to stop and check for air pockets. When this river emptied out, it would carry their lifeless bodies into the sea or wherever this underwater river came to rest.
As the fog of unconsciousness crept into her, Delta suddenly
found herself thrust into a large body of water, free of cavern rooftops and stale air. She’d made it out of the caverns alive.
“Aaargh!” Delta cried as she gulped down fresh air to cool and soothe her aching lungs. The underground chamber had erupted into a lake, and her lungs rejoiced at the fresh, rainforest air filling them.
Turning back to the water pushing against her, Delta made her way back to the edge of the lake where the river had spit out. Reaching into the opening, she reached in and found Taylor’s shirt and yanked her to the surface. Taylor popped free like a cork from a champagne bottle.
“Breathe, goddamn it!” Delta cursed, shaking Taylor hard.
Taylor gasped and spluttered as she inhaled both air and water. Delta held Taylor afloat with her right arm while she pounded on Taylor’s back with her left.
“Slap me… again, love… and I’m going… to start… taking it personally.” Taylor put her arms around Delta’s neck and coughed once more before inhaling her first clear, waterless breath.
“You had me worried there for a minute.”
Taylor nodded. “My leg started hurting, and when I reached down to loosen the tourniquet, I was ripped away from you. Sorry.”
Looking around at the calm lake they now floated in, Delta studied Taylor for a moment. Her face was pale, but she appeared alert. “You gonna live?”
Taylor nodded. “I think so.”
Still holding Taylor with one arm, Delta rested as she got her bearings. “Wonder where the right chamber led to.”
“You think that’s where the others went?”
Delta shrugged. “We’re not that far behind them. They must’ve taken that one. Damn.” Delta positioned herself in front of Taylor and threaded her arm under Taylor’s armpit and across her chest. “Relax. Pretend you’re dead and let me carry your weight.”
“Pretend I’m dead? Could you at least choose a better phrase?”
Delta grinned. “Lay back.”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Side-stroking the floating Taylor to the nearest shore, Delta’s feet soon hit muddy bottom. It was still too dark out to assess their whereabouts, but at least they’d found land. “I don’t think I’ll ever swim again,” she gasped as she dragged herself out of the water.
Storm Surge (Delta Stevens Crime Logs Book 6) Page 17