“Yes, yes, of course. I’m sorry. You were saying that you need help finding Matthew?”
“Locating Matthew.” Finding made it sound too much like he was lost, and that implication was worse.
“Okay.”
“I believe there is a way to track a phone?”
“Yes.”
William chose to disregard the lack of conviction that seeped from the single-worded answer. He gave him Matthew’s number. “You got that?”
“Yes, I—”
“Good. Call me the minute you know.”
“I will.”
The conversation ended more favorably than the one before it had, but William’s unease continued to mount. What the hell was going on? How did things get so out of hand that his own son was missing? He wasn’t sure whether he should be angry or worried.
-
Chapter 48
THE GROUND GAVE WAY SO suddenly that Matthew didn’t have a chance to brace himself. He doubted any of them could have prepared for the fall.
Robyn’s scream and those of the others echoed as they continued to drop. The strobes of their flashlights gave off the only illumination. Without them, it would be pitch-black.
Matthew’s stomach heaved, the weightlessness making him lightheaded. A wet coolness enveloped him then, but he didn’t stop falling.
Water? Were they were cascading down a waterfall? The sound was thunderous.
He looked down, angling to see beneath him, but it was shrouded in darkness.
Matthew’s speed picked up as gravity propelled him like a fired bullet. His life flashed before his eyes, and with it, his regrets. He should have kissed Robyn before he made his way through the tunnel.
“It’s a laaaagoooooonn—” Cal’s last word was elongated, but then cut short as his friend must have plunged beneath the surface.
Matthew braced for impact, and when his body submerged, it felt like a thousand spikes jabbing through him. The water was ice cold against his hot skin. To say it stole his breath wasn’t an exaggeration. His heart hammered in his chest, its beat an irregular rhythm.
It seemed like he was diving down quite a long way, and he stretched out his legs in an effort to reach the bottom. His feet met with nothing but more water.
With his forward momentum now slowing, he managed to regain control of his legs and kicked in steady, even strokes. The exertion made his chest tighten even more, making its demands for oxygen known, yet he had no way of satisfying its pleas. The bag on his back felt like a stone weight, but he dared not break free unless absolutely necessary. He pushed on, kicking and kicking. Just when he didn’t think he had any more in him, he broke the surface, heaving for air.
Cal burst up beside him. “You all right?”
“Yeah, I think so… Yeah.”
Cal swam to the edge of the lagoon where he hoisted himself out of the water, took off his backpack, and started rummaging through it. He pulled out his camera.
“Aw, will this mean no more photographs?” Ian lifted himself up onto the land near Cal. “What a shame.”
Cal took the time to glare at him but didn’t say anything. Matthew was surprised at his restraint because, if he were Cal, he would have decked Ian—again.
Matthew raised himself out of the water around the same time Robyn and the Bolivians did. His backpack was heavier than before and threatened to topple him over. He took it off, set it on the ground beside him.
They were in some kind of tropical labyrinth stories beneath the ground. There was a crevice above them, and the morning sky showed through.
The land mass was at least the size of an American football field, the lagoon the size of an Olympic swimming pool.
Looking up, beyond the waterfall they’d come down on, were shadows and darkness.
Around them, the cavern walls were lush and alive with dense growth. Flowers came in a spectrum of color, shapes, and sizes, and the fragrances from the assorted flora overwhelmed Matthew’s sinuses.
Closer to the lagoon, the grass was shorter than the five or six feet it was elsewhere. Leaves on some of the plants were larger than the span of his two hands spread out thumb to thumb.
Brown clay, about five feet wide, lined the perimeter of the lagoon, begging to be followed.
“This is unbelievable. Are you seeing this, Matt?” Robyn came up next to him.
The question was rhetorical, but he smiled at her and nodded.
“I still don’t see any gold.” Ian had pulled off his shirt and was wringing it out.
Cal was perched on a rock, grieving over his camera. “It’s destroyed. No doubt the memory card’s ruined, too.”
“Shouldn’t that thing be waterproof?” Robyn asked.
“The camera? Well, it’s water resistant anyway. Or was…”
“What about the GPS tracker?” Matthew asked.
“What about it?” Cal met his eyes and held contact briefly before going into his bag for the tracker. He pushed a button on gadget. “It seems to be working.” Then he muttered, “Figures.”
“Where are we in relation to the peak of the mountain? Are we there?”
“We sure as hell better not be. There’s no damn City of Gold here.” Ian chimed in, but Matthew and Cal gave no indication they heard him. Ignoring him was becoming the common thing to do. Maybe if they did it enough he’d disappear. Unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking.
Cal consulted the screen on the unit and let out a deep breath. “According to this, we’re close, but we want to be about a mile northeast.”
Matthew clapped his hands together. “Good, so we’re still on track.”
“What the hell is it with you guys and all the positivity?” Ian hissed, incredulous. “Kevin was killed by some ancient booby trap—not that I really care—and then we get confined to a tunnel where spears shot out of a wall at us. And, then, just because we’re special, the ground opened up, sending us for a ride down a waterfall.” He scoffed. “And finally, we land in a damn lagoon that’s cold enough to freeze the nuts off a brass monkey. But here you are, all ‘oh, we’re still on track.’ Your optimism is disgusting.”
“I’ll tell you what’s disgusting,” Matthew said, walking toward the man. “Your attitude.” Ian had him by a couple of inches, but as fired up as Matthew was, he was ready to take him.
“My attitude?” He mocked laughing. “You probably believe in fairies, the way you like to see everything through rose-colored glasses. We’re in the middle of a damn jungle”—he gestured upward—“underneath a mountain with no way out. It’s not like we can scale these walls.” Then he pointed to the blackness above them. “Or swim up the falls to reach where we were. And even if that were possible, we’d be stuck with nowhere to go, anyway. Excuse me if I can’t be positive.” Ian stepped back a few feet from Matthew and pulled his still-wet shirt back on, a scowl etched on his mouth.
Matthew understood Ian’s point. He really did. In light of that quick recap, maybe he was ridiculous for holding on to any optimism. But there was a driving force inside of him that told him this was far from over, and that in the end, it would all be worth the effort.
Robyn came up behind him and touched his arm. “What now, Matt?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Matthew caught Ian’s glance.
“It’s obviously a new day,” Robyn started. “We’ve been on the go for twenty-four hours, or the better part thereof. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say we could use a little rest.”
“Oh yes.” Juan waved his hand in the air.
“Even just a couple hours,” Lewis added.
As Matthew assessed them, he realized the validity of the request. They had no idea what lie ahead or how long the journey would take.
Ian was sitting on a rock, cupping his bent neck. Cal let the GPS dangle from his han
d. Robyn’s eyes were puffy, and Juan and Lewis were already on the ground.
Matthew’s eyelids grew heavy, too. “All right. We need to build a fire, though, just in case wildlife can get in here.”
“I’ll do it,” Juan volunteered. He had a makeshift fire pit built and a fire going in a few minutes. He and Lewis offered to take turns watching it.
“All right, but let’s only rest for a few hours. Then we’re on the move.”
“Amen.” Robyn found a spot on the ground and lay down, using her rolled-up sleeping bag as a pillow. She didn’t seem to care that it was soaking wet.
Matthew settled on a patch of grass next to the clay, lay down, and stretched out. But his eyes didn’t shut. He took in the cavern walls, his mind firmly on the City of Gold. They were so close. This wasn’t the time for sleeping. But just as quickly as the thought entered his mind, his eyes fell shut.
-
Chapter 49
ANOTHER DAY OF WAKING UP in a stranger’s bedroom took Sophie from feeling like a caged animal to feeling like a criminal awaiting a death sentence. Despite this, every morning she opened her eyes, she held hope in her heart that today she’d be released. Only, every day that hope was squashed, her faith revisited and questioned. She contemplated how her life had taken such a cruel twist of fate. How days ago her chief concern had been losing her job.
Even worse than losing her life was the distinct possibility she would live out her final days here—captive. While they no longer forced her to wear a gag, she had received their message clearly. Any effort to escape would result in her death and that of anyone who tried to help her. This threat was the only thing preventing her from screaming at the top of her lungs.
Last night, the man guarding her door recorded another video. And this time she was fortunate enough not to be slapped by Veronica.
Sophie hoped she had managed to get some clues out as to her whereabouts this time. When the man had come close enough to her, she had swung out her legs. He had reacted as she’d intended by swerving his body to the left. The camera would have—or should have—followed that arc. If it had, then it would have caught a snippet of the CN Tower.
Her memories halted there as she heard the condo’s door open and close. High heels clicked across the floor and stopped outside the door. Sophie could hear every word being spoken.
“THE IDIOT ISN’T PICKING UP his phone.” Veronica studied the dazed expression on Don’s face.
Little could bring her comfort right now. Kevin being in the middle of a jungle was no excuse for not being accessible. He was equipped with a satellite phone and he was supposed to check in midway through the week, and they had left four days ago. She should have heard from him last night and when she hadn’t, she tried him—despite hating playing the role of babysitter.
She even included her dislike of such things in the speech she gave to new recruits. They were responsible for making things happen. She wasn’t going to hold their hands and coddle them. She wasn’t a mother for a reason. Still, circumstances placed her in the position where she had to do just that sometimes. If she didn’t step in when necessary, nothing would get done.
But for the amount she paid these men, it was ludicrous and unacceptable. Even Kevin, who she considered one of her best, had disappointed her. There was no way she’d accept that her standards were too high. She adhered to them herself.
“Maybe he’s not in a position to answer?” Don suggested.
“Not in a position to…” She paced a few feet, made a circle, and came back to Don. “If he’s not answering, he better be dead.”
She witnessed the flash in Don’s eyes. He was thinking it was entirely feasible that Kevin was dead. She refused to resign herself to that possibility. Kevin was too good to die. Surely there was another reason she was unable to reach him.
-
Chapter 50
MATTHEW OPENED HIS EYES TO find Robyn bent over him. He felt like his eyes had just closed. His head was groggy, and he instantly regretted making the decision to rest. He wasn’t a person who took naps. Whenever he had tried, he only woke up moody, unless he was sick. And even though this wasn’t a nap per se, on the flip side of staying up for twenty-four hours, it might as well have been. He should have forgone sleep and investigated the immediate area, but his body had given in, so exhausted that he’d found comfort in the clay and grass.
He sat up and tried to get his eyes to focus on his watch. Noon.
“Come on, Matt,” she said. “We should get moving.”
How was she so awake? He didn’t smell coffee in the air.
He had just fallen into a dream before he’d woken, too. His eyes widened when he realized the carnal nature of it and the identity of his partner. He turned away and rose to his feet.
“Why aren’t you looking at me when I’m talking to you?” Robyn demanded.
“I am… What do you mean?” He was sputtering.
“Never mind. Matt, we found a cave. Everyone’s over there.”
“Where?”
Robyn hoofed it to the far end of the cavern. They had cleared the grass into a path, and Matthew saw the entrance to the cave before they were on top of it. Their bags were outside the door, including his.
“Does it seem to go anywhere?” He glanced at Cal, Juan, Lewis, and Ian, who were standing there.
“It goes somewhere anyway.” Robyn shrugged and laughed as she put her pack on. “It looks like the other tunnels. Stone walls. Dirt floor. We haven’t run into any spears shooting out of walls yet, but we thought we should get you before we went too far.”
“Ya think?” Matthew snapped. He was actually pretty miffed the choice was even considered and not an automatic response. Yeah, moodiness was a definite reason he should be banned from sleeping in any interval less than eight hours.
He stepped inside and flashed his light down the tunnel. “It goes on an upward angle?”
“Yes.” She followed him but then moved ahead of him.
Cal brushed by the two of them, but just barely given his broad shoulders and backpack. “According to the GPS, it’s heading the right direction.”
“What’s this?” Ian asked. He had remained in the cavern with the Bolivians. “It looks like another gold emblem.”
“No!” Matthew moved as fast as his sleepy legs would take him, which wasn’t very fast. It was as if his legs were bogged down in quicksand.
Ian must have pushed the emblem because a door was sealing the cave.
“Hurry,” Matthew cried as he grabbed Robyn’s arm while she reached out for Cal. The three of them were a mess of arms and legs, trying to scurry quickly enough to escape the tunnel. But the door was coming down at a swift pace.
They were four feet away, and there was a gap of two feet high between the base of the door and ground.
“Go, Matt!” Robyn pulled free of him and retreated.
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Go!”
They held eye contact, his gaze taking her in as she did him. She put her hands on his chest and shoved him forward. “Please, Matt. You can save us if you get out of here.”
He caressed her cheek and kissed her forehead.
The gap was a foot high.
He dropped to the ground and slipped underneath the door. The stone licked his body, but he arrived on the other side in one piece. He shot to his feet and pounded his fists on the door. “I will get you out of there!”
-
Chapter 51
BRODY FELT AS LUCKY AS a gambler at his first roulette table. Beginner’s luck was responsible in the gambler’s case, but skill and deduction paired to yield results for Brody now.
The camera at the mansion was set up in the ideal location. Just small enough and far enough out of reach that even if it was noticed it would be near impossible to disable.
Brody was in Bob
Lambert’s office. He was their technological go-to guy.
Obtaining the video from the security company ceased being a hassle when he explained that a woman was abducted from the house. Pretending that he was the homeowner may have moved things along faster, too.
“All right, what are we seeing?” Brody swung the swivel chair around and sat down, straddling it backward.
In front of him was a sixty-inch monitor. On it, the video was paused.
Bob was next to him chewing on a straw. He had recently decided to quit smoking, but that was like a fat man saying he’d quit food.
The sound of the sucking and chomping was just too much.
Brody’s eyes shot to Bob’s mouth. “Maybe you should pick up smoking again.” He wasn’t normally the type to encourage the habit, but it seemed to make the man happy, so who was he to argue?
Bob withdrew the straw, dragging it through his clenched teeth. “Are you kidding me? I haven’t had a cigarette since last night.”
“Last night? Wow,” Brody mocked him.
“That’s right. It’s been fourteen hours”—he consulted the bottom right-hand corner of the screen—“twenty-three minutes. Somewhere in there anyway. I don’t have the second count.” He faced Brody with pride on his face.
“Hmm.”
“Hey, it might not sound like much, but it’s a start.”
Brody’s gaze fell to Bob’s shirt pocket. Something rectangular bulged out about a half an inch. He reached for the man’s pocket and was slapped.
“Hey now. That’s a man’s personal space.”
“You know, you’d have a better chance of quitting if you didn’t have them on you all the time.”
“It’s to prove the strength of my willpower. They are there and I’m not smoking them.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Don’t say that like you don’t believe me, Fuller.” Bob shook his head, grumbled something, and hit “play” to start the video.
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