The thought would have been laughable if it weren't so pathetic.
* * *
EAST END OF ISLAND.
CAVE.
Amy and Dan stared at the decoded message scrawled in the sand. ;
"Not again," Amy said in alarm.
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Dan snapped his fingers. "Maybe there are cats living in the cave!"
"Well, if there are, I bet they aren't nice fuzzy house pets," Amy pointed out. "Tigers and--and panthers, those are the kinds of cats that live in caves."
"Tigers don't live in the Caribbean," Dan said. "And stray cats might live in caves."
Amy glanced around quickly. "Stamp it out," she said. Dan complied, and the water did its part by washing away some of the letters.
They walked back to where Nellie was sunbathing to pick up their backpacks.
"Where are you going?" she asked, raising herself on one elbow.
"To a c--" Dan started to say.
"For a walk," Amy said loudly, cutting him off.
"I'll go with you," Nellie said, sitting up.
"No, thanks," Amy said.
Nellie pushed her sunglasses onto the top of her head. "Amy, come on," she said. "Whatever you might think of me now, you gotta give me one thing: I've always done my best to keep you guys safe."
Amy hesitated. Caves could be dangerous. If anything happened ...
Potential danger or potential traitor, which was worse? Once again, the hunt was forcing Amy to make choices she had never dreamed she'd face.
"You can come with us," she said to Nellie. "We're
31
going to a cave. But once we get there, we go in by ourselves, got it?"
That way, if they found something there, they could keep it a secret from Nellie.
Nellie looked hurt for just a moment, then lowered her sunglasses. "Got it," she said in a neutral voice.
They began walking east. As they passed the first mate, Nellie asked if she could borrow a coil of rope.
"No problem," the mate said. "What do you need it for?"
"Uh, we thought we'd play tug-of-war," Dan said.
The man laughed and handed Nellie the rope. She slung it over her shoulder.
"Cave. Rope. Good idea," Amy muttered, not quite loud enough for Nellie to hear.
The island was a tiny one; it took them only about ten minutes to reach the eastern end. They left the curve of golden sand behind and walked along rocky outcrops that jutted into the sea. The azturpealean sea, Amy thought. Very poetic.
"The rocks end, so the cave must be around there somewhere," Dan said, pointing to the area in front of them. They walked back and forth for a while but found nothing that looked like a cave entrance.
"We'll have to wade," Dan said. "The entrance must face the ocean." He pulled off his T-shirt and dropped it and his backpack on the sand. He took a flashlight out of the pack; experience had taught both Cahills that a flashlight often came in handy while Clue
32
hunting. Then he picked his way through the rocks and sat down on the edge of one. After donning the mask and snorkel, he splashed into the water.
Amy and Nellie followed more cautiously. The water was only hip deep and as warm as a nice bath, but there were rocks protruding from the sandy bottom. Their sole purpose in life seemed to be to cause sprained ankles.
"Here!" Dan called out.
He was standing in front of a group of larger rock formations that blocked their view of the beach they had seen earlier. The cave was in a natural depression. From the shore, the rocks looked no taller than Dan, but the seabed sloped lower here. The rocks were taller than Nellie, and the water was up to Dan's waist.
The girls joined him. The cave opening was a little wider than one person but not quite wide enough for two, and just high enough so that Nellie could have entered without ducking. Dan picked up a stone from the seabed and threw it into the opening.
It made only a splashing sound, which meant that it hadn't hit a wall.
"It goes in pretty far," he said.
"Ta-da," Nellie said, taking the coil of rope off her shoulder and holding it up.
They tied themselves together: one end of the rope around Dan's waist, a couple of yards of slack between him and Amy, and Nellie holding the coil.
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"If you're not back in fifteen minutes, I'm coming in after you," Nellie said.
Dan was already inside the cave. "Here, kitty kitty kitty," he called. "Meow? Anybody home?"
"Wait," Amy said. She turned back toward Nellie. "We'll pull twice if--if we need you to come in before that," she said.
Nellie nodded. She leaned against a rock a few feet away from the entrance and got busy tying the rope around her waist.
Amy took a few steps through the water, then paused again. One more step and she'd be in the full gloom of the cave. She looked around carefully. Once, when they were in a tomb, they had missed an important hint that was right on the stairs as they entered. She didn't want to make the same mistake again.
"Dan!" she said, her voice quiet but urgent.
She was looking at the wall right above the cave entrance.
At a crude carving of a bear--the top half, its head and front paws, with their vicious claws. The symbol of the Tomas clan.
Nellie made sure the rope around her waist had a good solid knot in it. Things looked peaceful enough, but with those two, it never seemed to stay that way for long. ... She held the rest of the coil in her hand and
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watched as it slowly payed out. Before it had reached its full length, the rope stopped moving. That meant Dan and Amy had stopped moving, too. Good--maybe they would come out again soon.
She looked longingly at her backpack, which she had set down on the beach before entering the water. Her iPod was in there. No music in her ears, but there was always music in her head. She leaned against the rock behind her and started humming.
"Miss Gomez."
Nellie almost fell over into the water. She caught herself just in time and planted her feet as firmly as she could in the shifting sand.
She would know that voice anywhere. Soft, raspy, as if it hardly ever got any use ... Her heart pounding, she looked to her right, and there, standing on the rocks between her and the shore, was the man in black.
Except that now, he was the man in gray. He was wearing a gray long-sleeved camp shirt, gray trousers, and a gray bucket hat pulled down over his brow. Even his sunglasses were gray.
Nellie squared her shoulders, faced him straight on, and lifted her chin defiantly.
"Dude," she said. "I wish, just once, you wouldn't sneak up on me like that."
The man in black--now the man in gray--glanced into the mouth of the cave. "Not so loud," he rasped.
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Nellie shrugged. She was always nervous when he was around, and now she tried to cover it with nonchalance. "I'll be able to tell when they're on their way back," she said. "The rope will move."
She looked him up and down. "I hear gray is very fashionable this year."
"My customary attire would have stood out too much in this environment," he said. "But that is of little consequence. Your message said you have news?"
"Yeah," she said. "I had to tell them about working for McIntyre."
He was silent for a moment. "That is unfortunate," he said at last.
The chill in his voice made her neck prickle. Don't let him know he's getting to you, she thought.
"Easy for you to say," she said. "You get to skulk around and stay hidden and never talk to them. I have to live with them! You have no idea how hard it is--"
He held up his hand. "Your efforts have been appreciated."
She sniffed. "Well, they don't trust me now. But it'll make some things easier. They won't get all suspicious if they catch me communicating with McIntyre now. And I didn't say anything about you or--or anything else. So technically the terms of my contract are still intact."
She was pleased
with how that last line came out; she had been rehearsing it in her head.
"Agreed," he said. "I trust there will be no further
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breaches. It also appears that they deciphered the most recent message. Did you help them?"
"No way," she said. "I told you, they don't trust me. Especially Amy. They didn't even tell me about it."
He leaned toward her and lowered his voice even more. "I am sure that I don't need to remind you how crucial these next few days will be. The Madrigals are most anxious to make their final move."
Nellie almost choked on the wave of guilt that rose in her. How can I do this to those kids?
You have to, another part of her answered. You can't quit now. It's not just about the money and you know it.
"Can't you give them a little more time?" she pleaded. "They're only kids!"
He shook his head. "There is too much at stake."
Nellie shivered and felt a creeping sensation up her spine. Then she realized it wasn't just the conversation that was making her feel that way. The tide had risen while they were talking, and the water was now up to her waist. She looked at the cave entrance. There was less than a yard of clearance above the water now.
"They can't stay in there much longer," she said. She cursed, realizing that while two tugs on the rope meant she should go into the cave, they hadn't set up a signal meaning they should come out of it.
"I better check--" Nellie turned to look at the man in gray again.
He was gone.
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CHAPTER 5
* * *
It wasn't quite pitch-black in the cave. A lighter shade of black, if that was possible.
Dan was leading the way. The light from the entrance and the beam of the flashlight showed that the walls and ceiling were pitted and craggy. Dan stopped every step or two so he could shine the flashlight's beam all around.
It was slow going. After about twenty cautious paces, Dan reached the far wall.
"That's it," he said. "It doesn't go any farther."
They now knew that the cave was not very big, perhaps fifteen feet across and thirty feet long, narrower at the entrance and toward the ceiling. No passages branched off, nor were there any niches or alcoves in the rock walls.
"We must have missed something," Amy said.
"How do you know we're in the right place? There could be another cave around here somewhere."
"With the Tomas crest over the door?"
"Well, no cats in here, that's for sure," he said.
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"Let's walk around the edge now," Amy suggested.
They turned to their right and made their way slowly around the side of the cave.
Dan touched the wall gingerly. It was rough, maybe granite. The water slapped at the walls all around, not big waves, just wavelets. Each small surge brought the water to almost chest level.
Chest level?
"The tide!" he said. "It's coming in!"
"Then we better find it quick," Amy said grimly.
They took another couple of steps to the right. Dan flashed the light at the side wall.
"Not so fast," Amy said. "Do it, like, a square foot at a time."
They went over that section of wall slowly. Dan glanced anxiously down at the water. Then it hit him. They were only searching above the waterline!
"Oh, no," he said. "What if it's down there somewhere?" He pointed the flashlight beam through the water.
Amy groaned. "We'll have to come back when the tide is out all the way. Maybe we could just sort of guard the place until the tide goes down--Nellie could go back to the boat and tell them we're staying here--"
Dan hardly heard her. "Here," he said, handing her the flashlight. "Aim it straight down there." He pointed the beam of light at where the wall of the cave joined the ocean floor. It wasn't a neat, right-angle seam as it
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would have been for a room indoors; there were rocks of all sizes sticking out from both the ocean floor and the wall itself.
He hadn't really seen anything. It was so dark, with the water moving and the flashlight beam wavering. ... But maybe he had seen something, just not clearly enough or long enough for his brain to put a name to it.
He adjusted his mask and snorkel, took a deep breath, and ducked under the surface. Bent over, half swimming and half crawling, he groped around the rocks at the bottom, trying to remember what he had seen or thought he'd seen. Here? Or closer to the wall?
He surfaced and spat out the snorkel mouthpiece. "Can't you hold the light steady?" he said. "It's wobbling around so much I can't get a bead on anything."
"I am holding it still," she said. "It's the waves. And the reflection."
"Refraction," he corrected her.
"Whatever. Dan, it's not going to be safe here much longer." The water level now rose to Amy's chest, which meant that it was almost up to Dan's neck.
He knew she was right. "I'm gonna go down once or twice more," he said. "I think--"
But he didn't finish the thought. Maybe that would jinx him. He fixed the snorkel in place again and went back underwater.
Rock. Bigger rock. Rock. He touched each one with
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his fingertips as he moved toward the wall to make sure he wasn't missing anything. Rock, tiny pebbles, rock ...
Wait. Tiny pebbles? There weren't any other tiny pebbles around. All the rocks were at least the size of baseballs. Those pebbles ...
He surfaced. "Gimme the flashlight," he said, trying to keep his voice calm.
"Did you find something?"
"No. I don't know." He shone the light on the area he'd been searching. "Man! Why didn't we bring an underwater flashlight?"
One more circuit with the light, a square foot at a time ...
"There! Hold the light right here--don't move a muscle!"
He went back under again. They weren't tiny pebbles. They were links that formed some kind of chain lodged firmly between two rocks. He got two fingers under the links and tugged. They didn't budge.
Dan put his foot on the chain and stood up straight again. When his head broke the surface, it was the only body part that did. The water was up to his chin now, and the waves grew rougher as the water was forced into the narrower confines of the cave's upper reaches.
"Dan! We have to get out of here!" Amy was now holding the flashlight up above her shoulder to keep it out of the water.
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"I've got something! It's right here!"
He went back down again and yanked frantically at the chain. With his other hand, he pushed at one of the rocks. It didn't budge, either. He switched to using both hands on the rock ... was it moving?
Just then he felt a hand on his shoulder, yanking him up. "Dan, come on!"
"No!" he said, and inhaled a little seawater as a wave rose over the top of the snorkel. He hacked and coughed for a few moments, feeling his chest start to tighten.
"Just one more try," he gasped, and plunged back down again.
With all his might, Dan shoved at the rock. Finally, he felt it give, grabbed the chain, and gave it a yank. It came free!
He stood up straight again and wrapped the chain around his wrist twice. Only the tips of his toes were touching the bottom now, and the snorkel was useless--the waves kept swamping it. The air space in the cave had shrunk to only a couple of feet.
Amy hadn't said a word, and Dan knew what that meant. She was frozen in panic.
"We gotta swim," he said. "Come on, it's not far-"
Amy dropped the flashlight. It stayed lit until it hit the bottom, then blinked out.
"DAN! AMY!" It was Nellie, hollering from the cave entrance. "You gotta get out of there! I'm going to start
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pulling on the rope! On the count of three--one, two, THREE!"
Ahead of him, Dan saw Amy suddenly shoot forward and up; she must have launched herself off the bottom at the same instant that Nellie pulled. Amy crashed head first into the j
agged rock ceiling. She reeled backward, knocking him over.
When they both came up again, he saw her face in the dim light from the entrance. There were dark streams running down from her forehead.
Blood.
Lots of it.
"STOP!" Dan yelled. "Nellie, stop pulling!"
"What's wrong?" she yelled back.
"It's Amy! She hit her head--" He gurgled as a wave washed over him.
Amy was staggering around, clearly disoriented.
"Amy!" Dan grabbed the rope and started pulling her toward him. She fought against the pull of the rope around her waist.
Dan pushed off the bottom and got his head above water long enough to take half a breath. He swam to Amy and tried to grab her arm. She slipped out of his grasp and began stumbling in the wrong direction, back into the cave. He caught her again and yanked her toward him as hard as he could.
"AMY!" he yelled. "THIS WAY!"
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Amy gurgled and coughed; she must have swallowed some water. But at least she wasn't fighting against him now. He put one arm under her shoulders and began paddling with the other. His feet made motions between kicking and bicycling as he tried to move forward.
He had never been so scared. Where had all that blood come from? He tried to yell for Nellie but could manage only a strangled "Nel--" before a wave swamped him.
He struggled to keep Amy's head above water. His own lungs were bursting. He wrestled both their heads up and took a breath that was more water than air. Choking, he felt his grip on Amy start to loosen, and he tried frantically to tighten his arm around her.
Nellie must have found the muscle power of three grown men because suddenly, Dan and Amy were pulled almost straight into her with one last great heave.
But they weren't out of the cave yet. Nellie had been standing a few yards inside the entrance, or maybe their weight had pulled her in. Her head was still above water--barely.