Wave nodded. “Okay, that makes sense.”
Rider glanced up. “Fine. Let’s call in the Colombians and let them search. We’ll go into the caves for a bit, but we’ll let them do most of the heavy lifting.”
Cy checked the restraints on the four men they’d captured. They were all secure and weren’t going anywhere.
“Jump, you and Bud stay here and watch.”
Cy held in the groan. He was headed into the mine. He should have volunteered to stay and watch their prisoners. Rider gave the all clear, agreeing to meet the Colombians at the mine entrance.
The thought of having tons of earth on top of him was chilling. He would deal with it, just like he’d dealt with other things that freaked him out, but he didn’t like it.
14
Cy swallowed over the weirdness as he entered the shaft that would take them down to the mining level. There were eighteen of them total on the lift, four were SEALs, the rest were Colombian soldiers.
The elevator moved, and Cy tightened his hold on his weapon. He noticed a few other men seemed nervous. Great, just what they needed, a group of nervous people heading down to the bowels of the earth.
He pushed away thoughts of mines exploding and cave-ins. They weren’t operating the equipment, nor were they doing anything dangerous, except maybe shooting a few terrorists. Surely nothing bad would happen if they popped off a few shots in an environment that could potentially be filled with hazardous gas.
The earthy scent grew with each foot they descended. Then another scent underlaid the earthy smells. Sulphur seemed to take over, and he had to breathe in slowly so he didn’t gag. How much worse would the scent get?
“That’s nice,” T said beside him.
A few of the Colombians snorted like they found his statement funny. Once they lowered to the first working levelof the mine, they exited the elevator and began clearing all the nooks and crannies.
The chambers weren’t huge, but there were hiding places that were hard to see even with the lights. This was pure inky darkness. If the lights went out, there was no way he would be able to see to find the elevator, much less the set of stairs off to the left.
The thought of going up the rickety-looking stairs freaked him out. It was a nightmare straight out of a freaky movie.
He was with Q, one of the guys on Rider’s team. “I hate this,” Q said as they moved into another room.
Cy nodded. “I don’t think anyone is down here.”
“I agree. I don’t think there is another soul in the mines.”
They moved through the chambers, clearing each area. Another group of SEALs and Colombians had taken a second elevator down to the other levels. He hoped they could end this search and get back up top. Being in the mines wasn’t his idea of fun.
He and Q had cleared what seemed to be the last chamber on this branch of the mine when he heard something a little farther down. Q held up his hand, telling Cy to wait.
His heart sped up as he peered into the darkness. Someone was moving just beyond what he could see. He didn’t think it was one of the other SEALs, and he was fairly sure it wasn’t one of the Colombians.
Q pulled out a light stick and cracked it before tossing it hard, sending it toward what they thought was a wall of the cave, but ended up being a path. The green glow sticks weren’t bright, but they were enough for Cy to see the empty hall.
Maybe they’d heard a bat or something. He was about to turn away when he spied movement. He pointed it out to Q, and his buddy nodded.
They moved slowly, making sure not to trip up as they moved into the area that didn’t have a smooth walking path. The person shuffled back farther, seeming to press themselves up against the wall of the cave.
“Step out,” Q said as he moved closer.
“Why?” The person sounded like they had an accent. So not an American.
“Come out, now,” Cy said.
The sound of their feet crunching on dirt and rocks gave him some relief. Now they could take care of this guy, clear the rest of the area, and then head back to the surface.
An older man, small of stature with brown skin, moved into the pool of light from the flashlights. Cy stepped forward and put cuffs on the guy, not wanting to get into why the guy was down here, at least not yet.
The guy could explain himself later to someone else. Maybe he wasn’t associated with the terrorist. He could be hiding down here, or maybe he was one of the miners who hadn’t gotten out when the terrorists took over.
