“I found their agreement to meet with us inconsistent with their biographical profile,” Keiko said.
Carmen looked at her. “Well, thanks for the heads up.”
A cloud of snow made its way down into the pit. Emily crossed her arms and shivered.
“Now isn’t the time to second-guess ourselves.” Zane picked up a flashlight and moved toward the nearest side of the pit. After clicking it on, he ran the beam over its surface.
“What are we going to do?” Emily asked.
“We’re going to find a way out of here.” Zane ran his hand across the stone, looking for any imperfections that might indicate they could climb out.
Amanda joined him at the wall. “I looked at the masonry when we got down here. The craftsmanship is actually quite good, so unless we can find a few imperfections, it’s going to be too smooth to climb out.”
“Well, it won’t hurt to have a look around.” Zane nodded toward the south end. “Let’s take a look inside the tunnel. Make sure Roger was right. Something tells me he doesn’t know this place as well as he claims.”
Keiko walked beside Zane. “I thought of constructing a human pyramid in order to get to the top.”
Zane lifted an eyebrow. “And?”
“Unfortunately, our combined height wouldn’t be enough to reach the rim. Not only that, I don’t believe we’d be coordinated enough to construct it.”
“Lovely.”
The tunnel was narrow, so Carmen and Amanda went in alone. After climbing in on their knees, they used their flashlights to examine the walls. Amanda had experience with ancient tunnels, so Zane hoped she’d find something to give them hope. Several minutes later, they crawled out. Their expressions indicated the news wasn’t good.
“Nothing.” Carmen stood.
“Lawson was probably right,” Amanda said. “There’s a good chance it was used for underground storage.”
“The back wall seems to be caved in. If, by chance, it was a tunnel, we’d need a stick of dynamite to blow through it,” Carmen added.
Zane swiveled around at the word dynamite. “Wait a minute. That’s it…”
Carmen’s brow furrowed. “That’s what?”
Zane stared at the tunnel, his mind making a series of calculations.
“What are you thinking?” Amanda asked.
He faced Carmen and shone his flashlight on her pants. “Where’s the device?”
“Huh?”
“Brett’s device. The explosive. You should still have yours.”
Carmen patted her pants.
Zane was already moving toward the other end, playing his beam around on the ground.
“If you detonate that in the tunnel, the whole thing is going to cave in,” Amanda said. “It’s not going to get us anywhere. And we’ll have wasted our last grenade.”
“I’m not trying to get us further down the tunnel.” He continued to search.
“There!” Carmen rushed forward and retrieved the device, which had come to rest against one of the walls.
“Excellent.” Zane took it from her and walked back toward the tunnel.
“You mind filling us in on what you’re thinking?” Carmen asked.
“Give me a sec.” Zane leaned forward and examined the arched stonework. A moment later, he stuck his finger into a crevice where mortar was missing. “Perfect.”
“So you do want to cave in the tunnel,” Carmen said. “You’re not making any sense.”
Keiko stared at the arched entrance then shifted her gaze toward the rim. “I believe I know what Zane Watson is trying to do.”
“I’m glad someone does,” Amanda said.
Zane patted the stone archway. “Think through what will happen if we trigger the device here.”
Carmen ran her eyes up the wall. As they neared the top, a look of understanding spread over her face. She gave him a little smile. “You’re going to bring down the whole wall.”
He nodded. “And in so doing, create a slope of stones to climb out on.”
“You really think it will work?” Emily asked.
Keiko tilted her head. “I think he may be on to something. I calculate at least a fifty-percent chance.”
“And that’s fifty percent more than we had before.” Zane nodded toward the other end. “Get down there, and huddle in one of the corners. Keiko, position yourself in front of them.”
Carmen grimaced. “I remember the fireball in Venice. This is crazy, Zane. Let’s try something else first.” She nodded at the entrance. “We’ll use this as a last resort.”
“There is no other way. Not unless you have a thirty-foot ladder on your Swiss Army knife.” Zane waved them off. “Just go. Everybody on the other end.”
There was a moment of hesitation, then the group moved off. Zane could tell Carmen wasn’t happy, but he knew this was likely their only chance to get out alive. Once everyone was settled in a corner at the far end, Zane turned his attention to the device. It was wet from lying in the snow, but he doubted it was enough to disable the mechanism. They’d find out soon.
Zane located the crevice and scraped out a few loose pieces of rubble. Thankfully, there was plenty of room. The bigger concern was going to be getting away in time once the device was triggered. Carmen was right. The blast in Venice had been ferocious. He remembered thinking he wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere near it when it went off.
Unfortunately, they had no Plan B. It was either bring down this wall, or face certain death in a few hours.
Pushing aside his concerns, he focused on the task at hand. He twisted the head until the notch aligned with the green indicator. He popped open the cap at the end then slid the device into the crevice headfirst. Thankfully, it was almost a perfect fit.
Zane took a deep breath. A vision of Katiya flashed in his mind. It seemed significant he was thinking of her at the very moment his life was on the line. He’d address those thoughts later…if there was any later.
After taking another deep breath, he pressed the button, turned, and sprinted toward the other end. He had only taken two long strides when his foot caught an imperfection in the stone floor, causing him to lose his balance.
He tumbled forward.
As a bright light appeared, he realized he wasn’t going to make it out of the blast zone in time.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
As Zane stumbled forward, instinct overruled cognition. Somehow, he managed to plant his right foot and push into the air. As he launched, a bright flash filled the space, followed by a clap so loud it would’ve ruptured an eardrum a few feet away. The blast wave hit Zane full on, sending him spinning across the space. His body smashed into the far wall, knocking the air out of his lungs and dropping him to the ground.
Rocks and debris fell out of the sky, peppering his body. He remained on his side, trying to determine if all his appendages were still there. A hand grabbed his shoulder. With a groan, he rolled onto his back. Pain seared down the arm that had taken the bulk of the impact. A flashlight clicked on, and three faces appeared above him.
Amanda’s lips moved. It was like she was speaking underwater. Finally, her voice broke through. “How do you feel?”
“Please tell me I have two arms and two legs.”
Keiko hovered over him, her eyes taking in his body. “All of your appendages are intact, sir.”
“I don’t think he was serious,” Amanda said.
“Yes, I was.” He rolled back on his side and tried to push up.
“Whoa, cowboy,” Carmen said.
“I’m fine. I’m fine.” He looked toward the other end. The intervening space was filled with snow, dust, and smoke. Nothing was visible. “Help me up.”
Carmen seemed concerned. “Zane, I don’t think—”
“I feel fine. Honestly.”