by Clare Revell
“Diving while I still can. I want to check the crypt before it gets blown up, too.” The radio in the bottom of the boat crackled. Lou grabbed it. “What now?”
“There’s a Monty Sparrow here for you, Dr. Fitzgerald. He says you’re expecting him.”
Lou muttered something under her breath in what sounded like a foreign language. “Tell him to wait in his car. I’ll be a while yet. No, better idea, tell him to go home. He’s not needed here. This dive is over.”
“I can’t do that, Lou.” Monty had obviously taken over the radio as his voice came over the airwaves. “Dad sent me to help.”
“Your father was the person who shut this dive down. And I no longer work for your father. So, no, I don’t need your help. Besides aren’t you busy in Llaremont?”
“Not since you stole all the files and wiped the computers.”
“That wasn’t me,” she snapped. “But I don’t intend to debate this with you. I am not being pushed around anymore. As I just said, your father stopped this dig last night and this whole area is a crime scene following AJ’s murder. If you don’t believe me, ask him yourself.”
“I would if I could find him. And if the dig is over, what are you doing out there?”
Evan held out a hand. “May I?”
She tossed him the radio. “Be my guest.”
Evan grinned. “Mr. Sparrow, my name is Evan Close. I own all the land around here along the dam and lake. As of this morning, Dr. Fitzgerald is working for me.” He ignored the expression of sheer amazement on Lou’s face. “We need to check out the structural integrity of the dam and surrounding lake bed following the explosions.”
“What explosions?”
“The ones your father set, when he blew up the power station and the remains of Abernay. I suggest you call him a lawyer and go to the local police station to find him. Out.” He turned off the radio and smirked. “That was fun.”
“Are you serious?” Lou still had that I-can’t-believe-what-I’m-hearing look on her face.
“About what? It being fun baiting Monty or Varian being down at the local cop shop, because, yes, I meant them both.”
“No, me working for you.”
He nodded. “You want to dive and find answers. So do I. You also need a job as Varian fired you. Therefore, I’ll give you thirty quid an hour until we finish unearthing all the secrets Dark Lake has to offer.”
“Thank you, but there’s no need…” Her face changed. “Wait a sec. Did you say thirty quid an hour?”
“Isn’t that enough?” He checked the gauges on her tank and his. “I can go to forty, but don’t tell the other lads that when they arrive.”
“Thirty is more than enough, thank you. It’s double what Varian was paying me.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“No problem.” She smiled.
Evan grinned and put his helmet on. “Then Dr. Fitzgerald, I suggest we dive.”
“Wasn’t there something you wanted to discuss? Not over the radio.”
He held her gaze. “I wanted to remind you of my unbreakable rule. No diving alone. And since you’re working for me, I expect you to keep it. At all times. Or there will be consequences.”
Lou smirked and fired off a mock salute. “Yes, sir, Mr. Close, sir. When did you want to go to that cave you mentioned?”
“My priority right now is this dam. So maybe tomorrow.” He nodded and dived below the surface of the water, trusting her to follow him.
~*~
As much as she hated it, Lou had to admit Varian was right about the church. The tilt of the spire was becoming more pronounced every time she saw it. And as she laid a hand on the stone walls, she was aware of a vibration that hadn’t been there before. She glanced over at Evan.
His face was downcast as he surveyed the piles of rubble. “Should have come earlier. I would have liked to have seen the house before it was destroyed.”
“You weren’t to know,” she said.
He swam over to where something glinted in the light from their helmet. He picked it up, wiping his glove over the metal surface. “It’s a plaque from my great grandfather’s house,” he said.
“The crypt is this way.” She didn’t get an answer. “Evan.” Still no answer, so she swam over and touched his arm. “Hey, are you all right?”
“Yeah.” He held out the plaque. “Can we take this?”
“Sure. Tie it to the descent rope, and we’ll get it on the way back.” She watched as he did so. “This way.” She led the way over to the door to the crypt. “That’s strange.”
“What’s that?”
“I left this door open.”
He glanced from the door to her and back again. “It’s closed now. What could have caused that?”
“I don’t know.” She pushed against it, but to no avail. “It won’t budge.”
“Allow me.” Evan shouldered the door and opened it enough for them to squeeze through.
“The box was over here.” Lou swam to show him. She began to search on the ground for a key or anything else that might prove valuable.
She touched the wall. The vibrations had increased. A wave of apprehension swept over her. “Evan, we need to get out of here. Right now.”
“Why?”
She captured his hand and placed it on the wall. “That’s why.”
He frowned, worry tingeing his gaze. “OK.” He headed to the door.
A huge disturbance in the water knocked Lou off balance as she followed him. Debris cascaded slowly around her, twisting her around. “Whoa!”
“Lou?” Evan asked.
“I don’t—” Something hit her, forcing her to the ground. More debris fell, blocking her view of Evan. She raised her hands to protect her face and head as the falling rocks buried her.
28
Lou opened her eyes. Am I dead? She tried taking a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Nope, not dead. It hurts too much to be dead.
Panic began to frazzle around the edges. It was dark, pitch black and she couldn’t move. Soft movement around her meant she was trapped under water. She reached up with her free hand and flicked the helmet light on. Blinding light filled the small space. An eye gazed at her, then swam away. She screamed.
A voice in her ear cut through the scream. “Lou, are you all right?”
“E—Evan?”
“Yes, I’m here. Are you hurt?”
“I can’t see you. I’m trapped.”
“Just keep still for me. I’ll get to you.”
She tried sucking in a deep breath, but there wasn’t much air. “What happened?”
“I’m guessing the spire collapsed.” His calm voice resonated through the helmet speakers. “Where are you? Flash your light for me so I can pinpoint your location.”
Lou switched the light on and off a few times.
“Got you. There’s lots of debris in the way. I need you to hang on.”
“W—what to?”
“Your sanity,” he shot back as he grunted.
“That went years ago.”
“Oh, well, worth asking. Can you see my light?”
“No. Too much debris.” She struggled, trying to free herself. She couldn’t stay here. It wasn’t safe. Why on earth had she agreed to such a stupid assignment in the first place? Her life wasn’t worth thirty quid an hour. Nothing was. “Please, you have to get me out…”
“Don’t move. I can see your light moving. I need you to keep still so nothing else shifts and traps you further.” There was a pause and several grunts. “It’s no good, Lou. I need to go and get help.”
She twisted her head to the left, crying out in pain. “No, I can see your light.”
“Good. I’ll be a few minutes, but I’ll be back.”
“Don’t leave me.” Lou’s stomach clenched. She didn’t want to be alone.
“I can’t lift this without help. I’ll be right back. I promise.”
His light vanished.
The darkness p
ressed in on her, and she struggled, desperate to free herself. Something brushed against her trapped arm and she screamed. Struggling harder, she hit something, bringing a pile of debris crashing around her. Something hit her helmet and the light went out.
~*~
Evan surfaced and removed off his helmet. He leaned over the side of the boat and grabbed the radio. “Jasper, is my team here yet?”
“Nope, but they’re on their way. Ralph called from the airport, said they’d be here by one or thereabouts. You should look behind you. Where’s Dr. Fitzgerald?”
Evan turned and gasped at the sight of the spire. Most of it was gone. “She’s under that lot. How’s the dam?”
“Holding for now.”
As he watched the remaining piece of the spire fell, sending shockwaves through the lake. A scream echoed through his helmet, cut off before it reached its peak. “I need help down here. Lou is trapped in the crypt.” He threw the radio down and seized his phone, dialling 9-9-9. He explained quickly to the operator that he needed the underwater search and rescue team—a combination of both police and fire brigade divers. He quickly gave all the details he could, including telling them to use the boat as a marker.
Then he hung up and reattached his helmet. “Lou, can you hear me?” Not getting an answer, he immediately dived under the water. The murk prevented him from seeing clearly. The entrance he’d left by was completely blocked. He began to lift the stones, grunting with effort. It was slow, laborious work, and he began to despair that he’d not reach her in time.
He knew how afraid she must be. Trying over and over to communicate with her, he could only conclude her radio had gone down. The other possibility was one he’d rather not let cross his mind. That she was pinned down hurt, unconscious, or worse.
Shadowy figures appeared beside him. Help had arrived. But instead of relief his anxiety increased.
One of the officers held up a board which read channel three if you have comms, but you need to surface.
Evan shook his head, flipping his radio over to channel three. “I’m not leaving her down here. She’s in the crypt. To get to that you have to move this lot. You’ll never find her without me. She’s on channel two.”
He flipped his radio back. “Lou, answer me. Please, let me know you’re OK.”
“Ev-an?” Her voice was faint and saturated with pain and fear.
Relief engulfed him. “See, told you I’d come back. I have the underwater search and rescue service here. We’re working on getting you out.”
“Hurry…my ear is beeping.”
He frowned. “Beeping? What does your tank say?”
“Can’t see it. So tired.”
Evan shifted a rock and slid through a gap, several divers following him. “Don’t you go to sleep. Keep taking to me.”
“Sorry…”
“Lou.” There was no answer. “Come on, sweetheart, talk to me.”
“Don’t call me that unless you mean it,” came the breathless response.
“Then talk to me.” He swam over to where he’d left her. “She’s under that lot. Where’s your light, Lou?”
“Broke.”
“OK. We’re almost there now.” He watched helpless as the divers began shifting the debris. As much as he wanted to help, he’d only hinder. “Where are you trapped, Lou? Arm, leg?”
“Chest and arm. I can’t breathe…no air.”
“The tank is probably damaged.” Evan noted the change in her voice. The higher pitch and hysterical tone indicated how scared she was.
She cried out. “There’s something in here with me.”
“We need you to calm down, Lou.”
“Get away!” she screamed. “Noooooo.”
“Lou?” Evan could see her now.
She screamed again, moving frantically. “Sh…hark…”
Fear speared him. She was hallucinating. That wasn’t a good sign. “Lou, we’re nearly there. I can see you. There’s nothing in there with you.”
“There is.”
“There isn’t. I promise. Keep still, honey, another minute and we’ll be there.” Something golden glinted in the light from his helmet. He reached and scooped up a key. He shoved it into his belt.
Lou stopped thrashing and her head slumped.
“Lou, wake up.” Evan pushed his way past the diver and into the small gap. Somehow he managed to shove a piece of debris out of the way, enabling them to reach her. He clutched her hand. “Lou? Wake up.”
Her eyes fluttered.
“We’re here. We’ll have you out in a few more minutes.” He checked her tank. “She’ll need a new one, unless you can get her out of here in three minutes.”
The divers began working on shifting the huge slab lying on top of Lou. Evan squeezed her hand. “Just hold on.”
“Tell Jim…he was right…”
“Jim’s your best mate, right?”
“Yeah.” Her eyes slid shut.
He shook her hard. “Don’t you give up on me, you hear?”
The lead diver tapped him on the shoulder. “We need you to surface, sir.”
“I’m not leaving her.”
“I have to insist. We’ll be right behind you with her. This building is coming down.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “See you top side.” Reluctantly, he circled and swam out of the crypt. Vibrations and water movement increased around him as he headed to the surface. Stones fell to the bedrock, sending clouds of sand into the water as the structure collapsed around him.
29
Evan sat in the hospital ED waiting room. His hands clenched and unclenched in his lap. It had been hours, and all he’d done was wait. Waited on the surface for the rescue divers to surface with Lou’s battered and apparently lifeless body. Waited while they worked on her. Waited for the air ambulance when they deemed she was too time critical to be transported by road.
He’d tried praying; something he hadn’t done in years. He wasn’t entirely sure that his mumbled, ‘don’t let her die’ even counted as praying. He knew enough not to bargain with God. That simply didn’t work. He’d tried it when his sister got hit by a car on her way home from school when he was sixteen. He’d told God that if Rosie lived, he’d be a good boy and do everything he was told. When Rosie died, he assumed God wasn’t listening and stopped praying and going to church.
Evan glanced at his watch and shook his wrist. Maybe the battery had died, but the clock on the wall said the same time. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he tugged it out. “Hello.”
“Boss, it’s me. You were right. We got a problem.” Ralph didn’t bother with the niceties.
Evan’s stomach clenched even tighter. “How bad?”
“Urgent repairs. The lake needs to be drained completely. And quickly.”
“Just do whatever you need. Call anyone you need and tell them you’re acting on my authority. And raise the alert level to amber.”
“Will do. Is there any news on your friend yet?”
“No.” Evan’s eyes flicked up as two people came into the room, a nurse and a tall grey-haired gentleman. “I have to go. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Keep in touch.”
The nurse pointed to a chair. “Have a seat. The doctor will be here as soon as he can.”
The man shook his head as the nurse left. “I don’t want to sit,” he said, his clipped American accent resonating in the small space. “Why won’t they tell me how she is?”
“I know how that goes,” Evan said. “I’ve been waiting hours. Or so it seems.”
The American slumped into the chair next to him. “Relative?”
“Friend. She was injured during a dive at the dam.” He paused as the American’s eyes narrowed. “What?” Evan asked.
“Are you Evan Close?”
Evan swallowed. “Yes, but how did you know?”
The American held out a hand. “Jack Fitzgerald. Lou’s stepfather. She’s mentioned you on the phone.”
Evan shook his hand. “She’s mentio
ned you as well, sir.”
“Just Jack. I get called ‘sir’ enough at work. What happened out there?”
“We were diving the dam and ruins when the church collapsed.”
“She knows better than to go into unsafe structures.” Jack frowned.
“We didn’t know it would collapse. I wouldn’t have let her go in if I’d thought there was any danger. She’s done it many times in the past week with no problems.” He paused. “Well, kind of.”
“I know about AJ. That’s why I’m here, to reassure her mom that Lou’s fine. Only she isn’t, is she?”
Evan sucked in a deep breath. This was so not the first conversation with Lou’s father that he’d wanted to have.
The door opened and a man in burgundy scrubs stood there. “Lou Fitzgerald?”
Both men stood. Then Evan stepped aside. Jack was her next of kin. Not him.
“I’m her stepfather,” Jack said. “How is she?”
“She’ll be all right. She has a nasty bump to the head, lots of cuts and bruises. She’ll need to stay in overnight until we’re sure there are no after effects from the concussion. We’ll move her up to a ward as soon as a bed becomes available. She was lucky.” He paused. “Although she insists she doesn’t do luck.”
Jack smiled. “That sounds like her. Can we see her?”
“Sure. But one at a time for now.”
Evan glanced at Jack. “I need to get back to the dam.”
Jack frowned. “Don’t you want to see her?”
Evan was torn. He did desperately want to see her, but she had family here now. “I’ll say hi on my way out.” They followed the doctor down the hallway to a cubicle.
“I’ll go in when you come out,” Jack said.
Evan nodded and slid behind the curtain. “Lou?”
The all too pale and bruised figure blinked a couple of times and tilted her head. “Yup. Still Lou.”
“I’m glad about that.” He stood beside the bed, feeling awkward. “I can’t stop long; I need to get to the dam. But I wanted to see how you were first.”
She shrugged. “They say I have a bump on the head, a few bruises. What happened?”
“Don’t you remember?”
Lou shook her head. “We were diving and then I was here. I don’t remember anything that happened in between.”