Blowout by Colleen Cross

Author:Colleen Cross [Cross, Colleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780994846235
Publisher: Slice Publishing

18

Kat brushed past Raphael and headed upstairs, one painful step at a time. Raphael followed close behind. As she limped upstairs, the wallet inched upwards in her back pocket. She reached behind and shoved it further down. If Raphael noticed, he didn’t say anything.

How long had he watched her from the doorway? Her pulse quickened as she remembered the security cameras. He could have seen her enter the stateroom on CCTV. If he had, though, he would have confronted her about it. That didn’t mean he couldn’t review footage later, though. She could still be discovered.

What was done was done, and there wasn’t much she could do about it. She would be more careful next time.

Finally she and her swollen leg reached the main deck and she headed into the galley. Or rather, the separate dining room just off of the galley, where the others were already seated.

“About time.” Harry waved and stood. He pulled out a chair, which Kat gratefully accepted. Jace sat to her right and Harry on her left, with Raphael and Gia seated opposite them.

“Looks like you got your appetite back,” Harry grinned. “Less for me.”

“There’s plenty for everyone,” Gia said. “Glad you’re feeling better, Kat.”

Kat smiled back. Gia appeared to have forgiven her, at least for now. She reached behind her and pushed the fat wallet back in her pants pocket. Her back pocket was too shallow to hide the wallet’s bulge while sitting. She could barely wait to get back to her stateroom to investigate its contents.

“I’m dying to hear about your adventure,” Gia said. “Find any gold in the cave?”

“No, but I found an interesting passageway.” She mentioned Pete’s claims of aboriginal artifacts. “According to legend, there’s a tunnel from De Courcy Island to Valdes Island. It goes a few hundred feet underground. Under the sea, as a matter of fact. I think I was in it.”

“Cool!” Harry almost knocked his glass over in his excitement. “Did you come out the other side?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t go far enough into the passage. It was dark and I hadn’t brought a flashlight. Or, as it turns out, the right shoes.”

“Maybe the gold is there,” Jace said. “Let’s go back tomorrow and explore.”

Gia turned to Raphael, who was uncharacteristically silent. “Is Kat the only one that saw anything?”

“I guess Jace and I missed it.” He stood and walked into the galley. He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of salad dressing. He brought it to the table. “Our bad luck.”

Gia frowned. She turned to Kat. “Tell us about the legend.”

She repeated what Pete had told her. “The Coast Salish and other tribes used the tunnel as a rite of passage for young men. They carried their wooden staffs along the three-mile tunnel under the ocean and deposited them at the other end of the tunnel as proof of their journey.”

“You must have been in the very same tunnel!” Gia exclaimed. “Did you see any artifacts?”

“I’m not sure,” Kat wasn’t keen on describing the stone altar—if that’s what it was.

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