All We Buried by Elena Taylor

Author:Elena Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS

TWENTY

Bet faced a dilemma. Going into the cave alone was foolish. She didn’t know what the conditions were like or who might be down there in the dark. But Seeley could be injured. The sheriff’s station motto started To protect all people, not To protect oneself.

If Seeley had killed Jane Doe inside the cave and she floated out into the lake through an underground river, why wouldn’t he have left the area in his truck? Bet felt in her gut that if he’d gone into the cave with Jane Doe, he would have come out on his own if he could.

“What’s the plan, Sheriff?” Rob asked. “Think your boy Seeley is stuck down in the tunnel?”

“I do.”

“We going in after him?”

“We are.”

She looked at Rob in the glow of her flashlight. They were a long way from help, but Alma knew Rob was with her. He would be stupid to do her harm.

“I don’t want you to do anything you aren’t comfortable with.”

Rob ignored her. “Do you want me to lead the way?”

She still didn’t like the thought of turning her back on him, but he was a civilian, and she wasn’t about to let him lead.

“Follow me, Mr. Collier.”

Bet kept her flashlight trained on the footprints, but the floor of the cave soon turned from dirt to rock and there were no more prints to see. After they made the first turn, the temperature dropped and Bet’s attention turned to finding solid footing. She didn’t want to risk spraining an ankle.

The only sound Bet could hear was a slight drip of water and Rob’s steady breathing behind her.

Fifteen minutes later they reached a fork in the rough-hewn tunnel. The split to the right led downhill at a gentle angle. The split to the left went ten feet and disappeared around another corner.

“Hear anything?” Bet asked, her voice low. Rob stood in silence for a moment before he shook his head.

“What do you think?” he whispered, as he inspected the ground. “I don’t see evidence of anyone going either way.”

“Let’s go as far as that turn and see what happens.” Bet scraped an arrow into the hard-packed dirt floor to mark the direction to the outside. It was easy to get turned around in the claustrophobic dark. They followed the left split and went around the turn. The tunnel narrowed and dropped away at their feet. A rocky staircase cut into the earth.

“What do you think? We could flip a coin,” Rob said. “Or split up.”

“I don’t want to split up.” Bet couldn’t risk him getting lost on his own. She was responsible for his safety too, even though he accompanied her willingly. She also didn’t trust him and preferred knowing what he was up to. “Let’s go twenty minutes the other way and reassess. All things being equal, I don’t know why someone would choose the harder route down.”

Turning around in the narrow tunnel, Rob stood tall enough he had to stoop. Bet’s head was mere inches from the ceiling.

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