But what if…?
As her heart pounded, Dani scrambled to get back up, peering over the railing again, but the men were gone. She glanced at her watch. 4:32 p.m. She had less than fifteen minutes to make it back to the bus.
But what if?
No, this is absurd. It didn’t make any sense. If there was anyone who loved their family as much as she loved hers, it was Theo. There was no way he’d ghost them like that if he were alive. She brushed her hands on the front of her olive-coloredlinen shorts then turned away from the railing and headed back toward the exit.
He’s dead, remember? Let him go.
But thatDflashed in her mind again, along with the thought one more time:But what if?
Like, what if he had amnesia?
She looked at her watch once more: 4:33.
Walking away meant she’d have a new question weighing on her:What if?One that she could very well get the answer to if she only dared to…
Without another second of hesitation, Dani rushed back to the railing, and once she determined the coast was clear, she scaled the metal barrier, dropping down to the pathway below with a dullthudthat was no match for the pounding in her chest.
A rush of adrenaline whooshed through her. A reminder of her old life. Back before she turned into the sort of person who shushed people in the library when they were too loud.
She missed this feeling—taking risks, breaking rules.
Before she knew it, her feet were carrying her in the direction of the men, snaking their way along the palace perimeter until she came to a doorway with a set of stairs descending underneath the ground. She followed the staircase to a tunnel, eventually needing her cell phone flashlight to see. Who knew if the men even went this way, but something pulled her farther down the corridor. Eventually she came to an active work area with lighting and tables set up, but clearly the archaeologists had gone home for the day. She kept going until it appeared she’d hit a dead end.
But then she heard the voices.
“We don’t have the tools for this,” someone said.
Dani spun around, looking for the direction the voices had come from, when she noticed a sliver of light between the stones.
A passageway.
She turned off her flashlight and tiptoed over to the glow, putting her face up to the crack where the light shined through. The three men were about thirty feet away, huddled over another smaller opening in the stone wall.
“Use this,” the stockier of the men in black said to the guy in the Detroit Tigers ball cap, handing him a shovel. But Detroit didn’t take it.
“That’s not going to work,” Detroit said, pushing the shovel away.
Was that voice familiar? Dani couldn’t tell with the echo of the tunnel. She also couldn’t see him with his back to her.Turn around. Please, let me see you.
“Make it work. We’ve got all night,” the other taller man responded.
“Listen, I need my tools. I’ve told you before, I can’t work under these conditions,” Detroit said. “If you’d let me go to a hardware store—”
“So you can run off again?” Stocky interrupted.
“Why are you acting like you make the rules here? I shouldn’t have to keep reminding you who’s in charge. Get to it,” Tall Guy said, now tossing the shovel at Detroit’s chest.
Detroit caught the shovel, turning ever so slightly in Dani’s direction, but not far enough. Dammit. She still couldn’t see him, not with the shadows and the poor lighting.
“And what are you going to do while I try to cut through stone with this?” Detroit asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” Tall Guy said, resting on the dirt and pulling a knife out from behind him along with a piece offruit from his satchel. He started cutting off chunks of the fruit, bringing it up to his mouth with the knife. “Want a piece?” he offered.
“Only if you’re finally trying to kill me,” Detroit responded. “I’m allergic to apples.”
Dani gasped and quickly put her hands over her mouth.Theo.
