filled them again.
Damn. This place was just too remote to adequately safeguard now that someone was intent on robbing it. His father would need to see this for what it was or three generations of Westin stewardship was going to be for nothing. Maybe this thief was going at it slowly, but sooner or later, greed would get the better of him and all this history would disappear forever.
But why now, why after all these years? Who knew about it and how had they found out? Who had told?
Adam paused for a second as a new sound came from the cavern up ahead. It sounded like rocks falling but not enough for an avalanche. Hugging the wall, he waited a few minutes. The sound continued but now he could tell it wasn’t falling rocks. He held the rifle down at his side, ready in case he caught someone unprepared and that someone panicked, but not anticipating he would need to use it.
The cave floor was rocky and sloped toward the large main cavern. Two main tunnels led from this cavern; one traveled on to the burial chamber. The other emptied into one of several prospecting shafts.
He paused for a few seconds near the rocks that would give him cover before turning into the main cavern. Then he slowly and methodically rounded the rocks.
The torches had been lit in this cavern, as well. The floor was covered with stalagmites; stalactites descended from the ceiling. This time of year, they dripped steadily, forming rivulets through the main cavern.
A man was working on the distant side, near the out-cropping that led to the burial chamber tunnel. He wielded a pickax, apparently breaking up the rocks to create a larger and more direct opening. His movements near one of the torches threw giant wild shadows onto the walls.
Adam’s fingers tightened on the rifle. He remembered the metal cart Pierce had discovered in this chamber. They’d talked about what it was used for—neither remembered it being there years before. Now Adam speculated that this man had hauled it here, probably during the winter months when Pierce found the tampered lock on the gate near the BLM lease land. It currently appeared this guy was widening the entrance of the tunnel so he could use the cart for the wholesale looting of the chamber.
Adam swallowed hard. The noise from the man’s activities undoubtedly masked Adam’s infuriated advance across the cave, but Adam almost welcomed a confrontation. He wanted to know who this bozo was, catch him and haul his ass into town for the sheriff to deal with.
Something of his presence must have filtered through the man’s consciousness. The pickax stopped midswing and he turned abruptly. He wore a big tan cowboy hat and a bandana up around his face all the way to his eyes like the old bandits in the television shows wore. Between his getup and the terrible quality of the torch light, it was impossible to tell who he was although he wasn’t a huge guy.
None of the Garvey men were very big. Could this be a brother of the late Lucas and Doyle? Since the Garveys blamed the Westins for their deaths, could they feel justified in robbing this cave? No wait, the looting had started before they died. Still, it was possible Lucas had heard something of its existence and passed it along to his family.
“Stop what you’re doing,” Adam yelled.
The pickax clattered to the rocks, but just as quickly, a shotgun appeared. Adam ducked to the side as a blast whizzed past him. Behind him, he heard a scream.
Adam turned and scanned the cavern as he threw himself behind a forest of stalagmites.
It had to be Echo. He couldn’t see her at first because she wasn’t at the entrance. She’d traveled halfway around the perimeter of the cavern and was close now to the mine shaft. The thief saw her too and let off a blast in her direction. Echo screamed again and disappeared from sight. The man charged the exit, leaving Adam with a split second to make a decision—he either found out if Echo was hurt or he followed the thief.
He knew what he wanted to do. He also knew what he had to do. With a sinking heart, he kept low but he needn’t have bothered—the thief’s footsteps rumbled against the earth as he ran up the tunnel toward freedom. Hopefully he’d be so hell-bent on escape that he wouldn’t take time to look for their horses. Otherwise, Echo—and he—were in for a long walk home.
ECHO LAY ON HER BACK IN THE pitch-black. Thoroughly winded, she wasn’t sure what had happened except she’d fallen, hard, landing on her back, and now was working just to catch her breath.
There wasn’t a single inch of her that didn’t throb in pain.
And she’d seen Adam so she knew he knew she was there and if she could have heard anything over her own pounding heart and sharp intakes of breath, she imagined it would be him coming to scold her.
That roused her enough to pat the damp ground around her. Rocks, gravel, dirt, some mud…
“Echo?”
Adam. “Did he get away?” Her voice was a croak.
“What do you think?”
A light flashed over her face and she winced. It appeared to originate about ten feet over her head and now that her eyes grew accustomed, she could see she’d fallen down a shaft. To make matters more humiliating, a ladder descended right next to her. Well, if she ever moved again, she could at least climb out of this hole by herself.
Except it wasn’t a hole. It was a tunnel. Narrow and shored up with boards, it disappeared into blackness after a few feet. It felt deep and dank and she was sure it was full of unimaginable horrors.
“Are you okay?”
Wasn’t that the second time he’d asked her that since they met again? “No,” she snapped, but found her breath came a little easier. “I’m fine, really. I’ll move in a minute.”
“I’ll come down—”
“No, please don’t. Throw me the flashlight—go after the bad guy.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
The light spun toward her and she caught it with one hand by flexing her wrist. Not bad.
“I’ll be back very soon,” he called but she could already hear his rapid steps leading away from the hole. That was fine with her.
She stayed still for several more minutes, then wiggled various limbs and appendages to make sure everything still worked. Nothing appeared to be broken. Using the sides of the shaft and the ladder, she drew herself to her feet. A quick inspection with the flashlight revealed cuts and scrapes acquired on the way down, rips in her clothing, a little blood and swelling. She took a breath that hurt her ribs, but not as though they were fractured.
Now to climb the ladder.
That took a while, but eventually, she hauled herself out of the shaft and crawled onto the cave floor. Just in time, too, because a tall, dark shape was approaching and she was pretty sure it was Adam.
She sure as hell hoped it was Adam.
“Is that quivering mass of womanhood lying on the floor my little cousin Echo?” he said.
She made herself sit up. “Very funny.”
He bent at the knees next to her. “The bad news is he got away. The
