No leprechaun.
Aiden jogged toward me, his hair darkened by the earlier rain, his blue eyes sparkling. Even slightly wet, he looked dangerous in his leather jacket and was holding two green covered caramel apples. “Here. Figured you were hungry.”
I accepted the apple, my stomach clenching. “I saw the leprechaun. The one who copied Nana’s outfit,” I blurted, eyeing the area for the sheriff. The lawman was probably in the parade somewhere.
Aiden paused. “Your Nana is in the float with the mayor.” He scanned the area.
“This way I think.” Gripping the stick of the treat in one hand, I stepped onto the street, glitter starting to cover my brown boots. I pivoted around two bikes and hustled out of the way of the Shap’s used car lot’s float of a Model T. Shap, his gray combover flying in the windy rain, tossed a bunch of candy my way, and I turned my head to keep from being pummeled in the eye. Barely missing another tricycle, I made it back to the other side with Aiden on my heels.
“Which way?” Aiden asked.
“Down the street. I think.” I led the way, glaring up at the bulbous clouds as rain began to lightly fall. The festivities carried on behind us, the town participants not bothered by the spring rain. Heck, we were used to it.
I caught sight of green and gold across Quartz road, heading into the town park. “That way,” I yelled.
We both launched into a run, barreling between trees, past the jungle gym and picnic tables to the old carousel at the edge.
The leprechaun ran past the ceramic horses, yanked open a paneled door, and jumped inside a small room.
Aiden took lead, running past me, and winding through the still horses. “Stay here.” He pulled open the door.
Not a chance. I followed him inside darkness. He flipped on a light, and we looked around at spare parts, a work table, and dust.
I frowned. “What the heck?”
“There.” Aiden pointed to the corner, where the floor lay off to the side. A trap door? He hustled to tug it open, using his flashlight to illuminate stairs going down. In one smooth movement, he pulled a weapon from beneath his jeans at his calf. “Stay here.” With that, he started to climb down.
Chapter 24
Aiden went first.
I watched from the top as his boots hit the bottom with a dull thud. Dust rolled up in lazy waves, thick enough to make me cough.
He raised his phone, the flashlight beam slicing through the darkness. “Stay put,” he called up. His voice echoed off the nearby walls, low and steady, the tone that meant he expected to be obeyed.
I kept climbing down anyway.
He moved carefully, scanning the small chamber around him. The light caught old wooden beams, warped and splintered, wedged into the dirt like ribs in the earth. The air down there smelled damp, metallic, with a faint trace of something rotten underneath.
I reached the last rung and dropped beside him. My boots landed hard, and a small puff of dust spiraled up between us.
He turned, one brow arched. “I told you to stay upstairs.”
“You might need backup.” My voice came out tight.
He didn’t answer, just lifted his light again.
“What is this place?” I asked quietly.
“Could be an old mining shaft,” he said. “Or a tunnel from when the town first went up. Silverville’s got a lot of history buried under it.”
“That’s one way to put it,” I murmured, shocked to see a tunnel spinning off to the right. “How far do you think it goes?”
He moved forward, crouching near one of the beams. “No idea. The wood’s bad. Half-rotted.” He brushed a gloved hand across the wall, dirt crumbling away under his touch. “We shouldn’t be down here long.”
I crouched too, peering past him. The tunnel ahead looked like a throat, narrow and dark, curving away into nothing. My phone flashlight shook in my hand, the light shaking as my pulse kicked faster.
He stood and looked back at me. “You armed?”
