Bet faced a dilemma. Going into the cave alone was foolish. She didn’t know what the conditions were like or who might be down there in the dark. But Seeley could be injured. The sheriff’s station motto started To protect all people, not To protect oneself.
If Seeley had killed Jane Doe inside the cave and she floated out into the lake through an underground river, why wouldn’t he have left the area in his truck? Bet felt in her gut that if he’d gone into the cave with Jane Doe, he would have come out on his own if he could.
“What’s the plan, Sheriff?” Rob asked. “Think your boy Seeley is stuck down in the tunnel?”
“I do.”
“We going in after him?”
“We are.”
She looked at Rob in the glow of her flashlight. They were a long way from help, but Alma knew Rob was with her. He would be stupid to do her harm.
“I don’t want you to do anything you aren’t comfortable with.”
Rob ignored her. “Do you want me to lead the way?”
She still didn’t like the thought of turning her back on him, but he was a civilian, and she wasn’t about to let him lead.
“Follow me, Mr. Collier.”
Bet kept her flashlight trained on the footprints, but the floor of the cave soon turned from dirt to rock and there were no more prints to see. After they made the first turn, the temperature dropped and Bet’s attention turned to finding solid footing. She didn’t want to risk spraining an ankle.
The only sound Bet could hear was a slight drip of water and Rob’s steady breathing behind her.
Fifteen minutes later they reached a fork in the rough-hewn tunnel. The split to the right led downhill at a gentle angle. The split to the left went ten feet and disappeared around another corner.
“Hear anything?” Bet asked, her voice low. Rob stood in silence for a moment before he shook his head.
“What do you think?” he whispered, as he inspected the ground. “I don’t see evidence of anyone going either way.”
“Let’s go as far as that turn and see what happens.” Bet scraped an arrow into the hard-packed dirt floor to mark the direction to the outside. It was easy to get turned around in the claustrophobic dark. They followed the left split and went around the turn. The tunnel narrowed and dropped away at their feet. A rocky staircase cut into the earth.
“What do you think? We could flip a coin,” Rob said. “Or split up.”
“I don’t want to split up.” Bet couldn’t risk him getting lost on his own. She was responsible for his safety too, even though he accompanied her willingly. She also didn’t trust him and preferred knowing what he was up to. “Let’s go twenty minutes the other way and reassess. All things being equal, I don’t know why someone would choose the harder route down.”
Turning around in the narrow tunnel, Rob stood tall enough he had to stoop. Bet’s head was mere inches from the ceiling.
Coming back out to the split, Bet made sure her arrow was still visible before they went the other way. The two continued down the trail to the right. A few minutes later, they reached a spot where the ceiling rose above them. Bet noticed that the floor turned white under their feet. Shining her flashlight up, she saw eyes and heard the rustle of leathery wings. A bat dropped off and flew out over her head toward the exit.
“I hope that’s the only colony we stumble across,” she said. She also hoped the rest of them exited the cave before she and Rob came back to this section of tunnel. She liked bats fine, but from a distance.
At the twenty-minute mark, the trail continued in front of them.
Bet pulled the compass out of her backpack.
“What’s our heading?” Rob asked.
“South and slightly west,” she said. That meant the heart of the mine should be in front of them.
“Twenty more minutes,” Bet said. “Let’s go twenty more minutes in this direction and see what it brings.”
The two set off again. The path continued to be traversable, the ceiling high enough that even Rob stood upright. Bet began to believe their route would intersect with the mine and the lake. Fifteen minutes later, however, the trail ended at a tumble of fallen rock.
“Any way to tell how long ago this happened?” Bet asked.
Rob shook his head. “No idea. Are you wondering if Seeley is trapped on the other side?” He poked around in the rocks while he spoke. “Look at this.” He held up a cylinder made of brass or copper. It was misshapen and dented.
“What is that?” she asked, reaching out.
“A lantern.”
“Looks like it might be from back when the mine was in use,” Bet said, taking a closer look.
“We could take it out and give it to George,” Rob said. “He knows a lot about the history of this area. I’ll carry it.”
She didn’t argue. “If this cave-in happened that long ago, I think we can assume Seeley isn’t stuck behind it.”
“Agreed,” Rob said. “What about the other tunnel, the one with the stairs?”
“If he’s still down here, it’s the only way he could go.”
They retraced their steps to the stone staircase and started to descend. Chipped into the stone, the steps were far enough apart to be a big drop, even with Bet’s long legs. The steps were narrower than typical stairs, making it hard to balance. Keeping one hand on the wall, Bet could feel the backs of her legs start to complain.
Just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, her flashlight picked up the bottom of the stairs. She couldn’t see what lay beyond the last step, but she could see the trail flattened out. The low ceiling forced her to crouch moving forward. She focused on finding Seeley Lander as a way to keep the walls from closing in. Reaching the last step down, she discovered the mouth of a small tunnel. Taking a deep breath, she crawled into the space, wondering what, or more importantly who, would be waiting on the other side.