More Than a Mission - Caridad Pineiro [45]
There was no hint of plumeria. Actually, there was just a fresh-laundered smell that said the shirt hadn’t been worn. He placed it back where he had got it, trying his best to rearrange it in the exact same position.
Leaning toward the back, he realized it would be a tight fit for him to go through the locker, unlike the Sparrow and Lucia, who were more petite. Tight, but doable.
The back of the locker appeared to be plain metal like any other gym locker. He ran his hands along the edges of the metal and down at the bottom right-hand corner, behind the sneakers and beneath the T-shirt, he discovered a tiny button, right where Lucia had told him it would be. Barely the size of a pencil eraser.
He pushed.
The back of the locker swung smoothly inward into the tunnel.
Here goes, he thought, and wedged himself through the space into the opening.
His shoulder scraped against the metal and once he was in the passageway, he had to crouch to walk. It had definitely not been intended for a man his size. But a woman a few inches shorter, like Elizabeth, would have no problem moving about the tunnels freely.
The passage had been carved out of the dirt some time ago. Well before Elizabeth’s time. Long-term water seepage had stained the walls a darker brown in spots or had calcified on them from mineral deposits. That might make the whole network of tunnels unstable. The tunnel was dimly lit by a series of light bulbs strung from wire at odd intervals along the earthen walls. There was enough light for him to see the footprints. Larger ones, likely Lucia’s, moving straight ahead. Interspersed with them, both coming and going, a much more diminutive set. Elizabeth’s? he wondered.
He bent and guesstimated the second set of footprints to be a size six, like the sneakers in the locker. For confirmation, he located two sets of prints adjacent to one another, laid down a coin for reference and snapped off a picture with his PDA.
Shoving the PDA into his pocket, he moved further into the tunnel. He heard a crackle in his ear and worried that he was losing the signal. “Red Rover. Copy, can you hear me?”
“Copy, Mixmaster. Not as strong as before though.”
Conscious of that, he crept forward until he was at the spot where the tunnel branched. As Lucia had mentioned, her prints were clear in the sand of the passage to the right. Since she had already gone that route only to find it led to multiple tunnels, he chose the path to the left.
Careful not to compromise any evidence, he stepped cautiously, preserving the earlier footprints, hoping the Sparrow wouldn’t be looking for his. As he moved deeper into the earthen corridor, he once again hailed Lucia. “Red Rover. Copy, Red Rover.”
A snap, crackle and even a pop as she answered. “Barely…hear…you.” Her words were punctuated by static.
“Copy, Red Rover.” Up ahead, the path dipped downward, sloping lower below ground level. For sure the signal would be lost up ahead. He wondered how long he’d have to explore before Elizabeth would check on what he was up to in the cellar again. Without the connection to Lucia, he risked discovery…
“You may lose me in a moment,” he advised and plowed forward, needing to determine what was up ahead. Where the tunnel led.
Nothing but earthen walls and bare bulbs. It was cooler though and for a moment he thought he heard something. He closed his eyes to eliminate any extraneous sensation from interrupting.
The ocean—it sounded like he was stuck in the middle of a giant shell. Another noise. The scuffle of a shoe?
He held his breath and there it was again. Louder. Definitely a footfall in the tunnel ahead of him. Elizabeth?
No word from Lucia, but then again, maybe he had finally lost her signal. And if he could hear the Sparrow’s footsteps, he had to remain silent.
He held his breath and slowly inched back a yard or so toward a spot in the tunnel where a jagged outcropping of rock sprang from the earthen wall. Not very