“Um, not really. It couldcavein.” She smirked.
“I see what you did there, but if the weight of an avalanche didn’t collapse it, I would think it would be all right.”
She crossed her arms and scowled at him. “I’m trying to stay alive, remember?”
He sighed. “Lila’s up there looking at us like she’s going to come rescue you.”
“I might just let her.” But she did kind of want to go in. When had she turned into such a wimp? If they’d found this twenty years ago, she would have been the first one inside. She put a hand on his arm. “What’s that?” She pointed to the slab of wood ten yards down.
He pulled his phone out and took a picture, then zoomed in on it. “It’s a door, I think. Curved at the top with a black handle and ... nails.”
Maya looked back at the entrance. “The door to the cave. They nailed it shut?”
“That’s what it looks like.” He tucked his phone away. “Okay,” he said, “stay here with Lila. I’m going in.”
“I guess I could go with you.” She wasn’t excited about the idea, and yet a small flame of adventure flickered inside her. Then again, closed dark spaces didn’t agree with her.
“Well, now that you’ve decided to go in, let me do a little recon first. I don’t want to ask you to do anything dangerous. I once built a house in a cave. You won’t believe all the construction stuff I had to learn to do that and the pros I called in. So let me take a look. You stay put with Lila.”
She waved him on. He disappeared into the black hole, phone flashlight on high. Lila walked over to stand next to Maya on the other side of the avalanche edge. “Should we be worried?” she asked.
“Probably.”
Lila glanced around. “I don’t think anyone followed us. But Ben just went past.”
“He’s by himself or with the boys?”
“Alone.”
“You like him, don’t you?”
The pretty officer flushed. “It doesn’t matter. He seems to have his heart set on you.”
Maya wrinkled her nose at the woman. “Well, my heart isn’t set on him, so feel free to charm him.”
Lila smiled and shrugged. “I leave stuff like that in the Lord’s hands.”
“A very good place to leave it.” She should probably follow Lila’s lead on that. Maya walked to the entrance. “Gideon? You okay in there?” No answer.
She looked back at Lila, who scrambled over the edge to join her at the opening. “Gideon?”
“I’m here!” He sounded far away. “I’ll be there in a minute!”
Maya looked at Lila. “Well, doesn’t look like this is going to cave in on him, so I guess I’ll—”
“Hey, what are you guys doing?”
Ben slid to a professional stop next to the edge.
“Checking out this little cave in the side of the mountain,” Maya said. “Gideon went in to make sure it’s safe.”
He raised a brow. “Interesting. Maybe all those rumors about a hidden treasure are true after all.”
She laughed. “Maybe.”
“Shouldn’t you let ski patrol know about this?”
“Gideon reported it, but Lila can give them more information now.”
