Paradise Crime Thrillers Box Set by Toby Neal

Author:Toby Neal [Neal, Toby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Toby Neal Books
Published: 2019-12-22T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Five

Sophie stood stock still, afraid to move, afraid to know what she had seen and heard even as the last tremors of the rockfall settled. The smell of freshly turned earth filled her nose.

She felt dizzy.

The tunnel had just collapsed. The way out was closed.

“Sandy?” The disturbance had woken the boy. Nakai’s voice vibrated with terror. She was torn between returning to the frightened kid and investigating what lay ahead.

Finding out what had happened was more important to their survival.

Sophie turned back, calling out, “I’m all right, Nakai. Just relax. I’m investigating a little landslide that happened.”

Nakai wouldn’t be able to see around the bend in the tunnel to the disaster that had occurred. No sense in adding to his fear.

“Come back soon!” The kid’s voice wobbled.

“I’ll be right back.” Sophie injected her voice with cheerfulness and authority.

“And I’ll just be kicking it over here.” Yes, Nakai was a brave kid.

Having been so brave on his own, now that rescue was in sight, he must now be feeling all the feelings he hadn’t let himself have before. Sophie could almost hear Dr. Kinoshita’s voice in her mind explaining what the boy was going through.

Sophie held her glow stick up and forged ahead. She identified several more sticks that Alika had dropped on his way to them, but left them where they were so they could provide illumination for anyone coming to rescue her and Nakai. She refused to think of any alternative to that. Refused to think of the rest of the tunnel collapsing, or that something had happened to Alika so that he could not bring them help.

A giant pile of dirt and rock almost blocked the tunnel. The hole they had come in through had collapsed, as she had suspected. Sophie’s stomach dropped. Had Alika been buried in the fall?

But even if he was somehow disabled, the first responders were on their way. The people in the encampment would direct them to Sophie’s area, and from there it was just a matter of time until they found the collapsed lava tube.

Rescue was just a matter of time, and patience.

She sure hoped that rescue came before the glow sticks ran out—and she refused to think of Alika injured or trapped. No. He was fine, but his weight must have collapsed the fragile wall of the lava tube as he climbed out. She refused to imagine anything else.

Returning to Nakai, Sophie moved the three glow sticks to where she could get a better look at him, while trying not to disturb him with the light. “Is that protein bar staying down better now?”

Nakai burped again. “I still feel sick.”

Sophie’s stomach was still queasy, too. She hadn’t eaten much lately either, but they both needed energy. She quietly consumed one of the protein bars and followed it up with a bottle of water. She held the bottle out to Nakai. “You need to try to drink some water. It should help settle your stomach.”

The boy’s eyes had closed again, and he shook his head.

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