Raphael wasn’t sure he could explain his gut feeling. His brain worked furiously on an outlandish explanation he wasn’t certain should be shared just yet. He looked into Lucy’s eyes, full of misery, but showing signs of hope. Hope he’d placed there, waiting for him to clarify his wild assumption.
“Maybe it’s a feeling or simply slim speculation—”
“I’ll take it.” Lucy wiped her face quickly. “Tell us what you think is happening. Where is Francine?”
“I don’t know. But she’s alive. Somewhere.”
Wyatt spoke up. “I need to show you something.”
They followed him wordlessly around the mess in the center of the clearing, stepping over burning boards and piles of debris. Wyatt led them into the woods, twenty feet or so behind remains of the cabin. They all stopped walking when they saw it.
“Whatisthat?” Lucy asked.
Raphael took in what appeared to be a thirty-foot trench cut through the forest. The last several feet of the hallway-wide hole curved to the north, toward Skeeter Bite.
Diesel said, “Is that a tunnel?”
Wyatt nodded. “That is my guess. The force of the blast probably caused it to cave in. Not many tunnels in the area because of the water table, but there are a few here and there in higher elevations across the state. Back in the day, moonshiners were creative beyond just driving their cars faster on back roads.”
“Where do you think it goes?” Lucy asked.
Wyatt pointed a thumb over one shoulder. “If I had to guess, I’d say Daphne Charlene’s place.”
“House or café?”
“Café. Her restaurant is built on a knoll and I know she has a basement there. It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that’s where it connects or maybe somewhere in the forest nearby along the same trajectory. There are rumors of just such a tunnel, though I’ve never personally been in it or seen it.”
“How far? Do you think it goes all the way there? That’s got to be ten miles, right?”
Wyatt shrugged. “Maybe not all the way, but close. Plus, there are a couple of access roads cut through the forest in that direction. Could be the tunnel comes out near one of those dirt roads, leading to the café, or it’s an easier path between the café and the cabin.”
A piercing squeal made all four of them look at the remains of the cabin.
“Good heavens, what is that?” Lucy asked, putting her hands over her ears to block the sound.
Wyatt moved toward the rubble and the three of them followed.
After some digging, they found a mangled metal box with silver bolts that was the cause of the nails on a chalkboard screech. Wyatt stomped the box several times with his booted foot until the sound stopped.
“Is that what I think it is?” Diesel asked.
Wyatt shook his head. “I have no idea. I’m just glad I could smash away the shrieking ugly noise it made.”
Raphael nodded. “It’s a holographic projector from Alpha-Prime.”
“Get out of town,” Wyatt said, then added, “Wait, what’s that?”
Lucy started to smile. “A holograph. Someone tried to fool us into believing that Francine was dead.” She turned her gaze to him. “How did you know?”
Raphael shrugged. “I didn’t exactly. Just a gut feeling.” He couldn’t explain that feeling was the certain knowledge he couldn’t go on without Francine in his future.
Diesel looked at his vehicle. “Let’s get out of here. Wyatt, you can call Hunter and report the explosion.”
Wyatt pulled his phone from his pocket.
Raphael usually kept his unique Ichor-Delta skills under the radar. Not today. “I’m going to head toward Skeeter Bite through the woods in that direction.” He pointed at the trench.
“On foot?” Wyatt asked.
