Chapter 4
Too much excitement coursing through my veins had stolen a good night’s sleep from me, and I was so relieved when sunlight finally illuminated the side of my tent. I unzipped my tent and stepped outside and was surprised to see the coals still glowed orange in the remnants of the fire we’d sat around last night.
I went into the bushes to pee and returned to find Colton standing shirtless next to the fire. My gaze flicked to the nasty scars crisscrossing the right side of his broad back.
Jeez, he’s been through some severe trauma.
He spun to me, and his eyes shimmered in the dawn glow. “Hello. I didn’t hear you get up.”
“Only just now.” It took all my might not to ogle his muscular torso. Holy smokes, he’s fit. “Seems like we’re both early risers.”
I dragged my gaze from him to the golden glow above the treetops.
“It’s a legacy from my navy days, unfortunately.” A humorless smile crossed his lips. “What’s your excuse?”
Turning back to him, I forced myself to look into his eyes. “Mornings are usually the most peaceful and the best time to capture nature through my lens.”
“Huh.” He scratched his chest hair.
I frowned. “Huh, what?”
“Nothing.” Shaking his head, he picked up a branch from the pile Pedro had gathered last night and tossed it onto the fire.
“It wasn’t nothing. Tell me.”
He snatched a T-shirt off a log, and I took one more peek at his abs before he pulled the shirt over his chest. “It was nothing, WildKat.”
I groaned. “Why do you do that?”
“What?” A tiny smile tugged at the sides of his mouth.
“Call me WildKat when I asked you not to?”
He released a big sigh. “I thought it suited you, that’s all. I won’t do it again.”
“Bloody hell,” Ethan blurted from behind us as he crawled out of his tent. “What time is it?”
“Time is not important out here, buddy.” Colton picked up a kettle from the equipment and strode to the freshwater bladder in the back of the trailer.
Ethan staggered toward me, squinting against the morning glow. “I hope he’s getting coffee ready.”
“I think so.”
Ethan released a noise like he’d swallowed a wet cotton ball and flopped onto one of the logs Colton had dragged into position last night.
As Colton prepared coffee and a breakfast of beans, tomatoes, rice, and bread that he warmed in the fire, everyone else emerged from their tents.
The urge to tell them all to hurry up was like a blaring siren in my brain.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Colton dusted his hands on his khaki shorts. “Are you guys ready to do some cave diving?”
“Yes, please.” I stood. “Where shall I put this?” I indicated to my plate.
“Leave the dishes on that log. Pedro will clean up for us. Get your scuba gear and whatever else you need to spend the day down at the cave.”
“Pedro. Get up, buddy. Time to roll.” He slapped the front flap of Pedro’s tent.
Maybe Pedro had been waiting for Colton’s instruction because within seconds, he was with us, dressed and ready to go.
The easiest way to get our heavy tanks to the cave was to carry them on our backs. Pedro and Colton helped each of us load up with our tanks, and in a line, we followed Colton down the steep slope to the cave.
Colton stepped aside to let Ethan take the lead. “Careful, buddy, I don’t need anyone breaking a leg out here.”
“I won’t.” Ethan trudged ahead like a Neanderthal and seemed oblivious to Lara’s bitching about the weight of her tank non-stop. Maybe she expected him to carry the tank for her.
The tanks weighed a ton, and the terrain was rugged and steep. Every step was a mental and physical battle and slow going. It took all my effort to block out Lara’s complaining and focus on the miracle that I was here tracing my father’s footsteps.
At the entrance of Las Cuevas de los Susurros, we dumped our gear on the small beach, and I stood with my heart pounding and my excitement making me giddy. This moment was years in the making.
Our timing was perfect to capture morning sunlight streaming into the cave entrance at such an angle that it pierced the water and shone directly on the mouth of the tunnel that Colton had pointed out to me yesterday.
The sediment that Lara and Ethan had stirred up during their swim had settled overnight, and through the water, the opening to the tunnel promised me an adventure. Hopefully, it would also provide answers.
During a short break to catch our breath, Colton gave us a safety briefing: follow his instructions, don’t lose sight of him, and don’t conceal any problems.
“Our first dive will be about fifty minutes, but I’ll monitor your air to see if we need to shorten our time.”
I would be pissed off if any of them cut our dive short. We only had twelve dives scheduled, and every one of them counted.
Colton clapped his hands, and the sound echoed off the cave’s curved roof. “Let’s do this.”
With Colton and Pedro’s help, we hauled our tanks and integrated vests onto our backs again and pulled on the rest of our scuba gear.
Leaving Pedro on the small beach, we waded into the warm water.
“Listen up.” Treading water, Colton turned to face the five of us. “This tunnel is a short one, only sixteen feet long, and it’s wide enough that you’ll be able to swim through nice and easy. We’ll go through one at a time, and once each person is out at the other end, I’ll wave my flashlight into the tunnel, confirming it’s safe for the next person to enter. Got it?”
“Yes,” I said, along with everyone else.
“Good. Okay, let’s explore The Cave of Whispers.” Colton tilted his gaze toward me, and I had a feeling he wanted to say something. For whatever reason, he changed his mind. “See you on the other side.”
When he put his breather in his mouth, I noticed the missing fingers on his right hand again.
Was that injury why he wasn’t in the Navy anymore?
If his missing fingers, the scars on his back, and the tiny one beneath his eye were wounds from the same incident, then it must have been horrendous.
Colton winked at me and then slinked beneath the surface.
I put my face mask on and looked into the warm water to watch him swim toward the tunnel and vanish inside the remarkably circular hole. The beam from his flashlight transformed the black tube into a dull beacon. Tiny indigo-colored fish darted about the pool, and their eyes glinted in the sunbeams before they vanished into the shadows along the cave wall.
“I’m going next,” Ethan said, and without consultation with the rest of us, he put his breather in his mouth and swam down to the tunnel.
“So much for ladies first.” Lara grinned like Ethan was the funniest man ever.
Colton’s light in the tunnel dipped and flared, and Ethan swam into the hole.
“Lara, you go next,” I said. “Then you guys. I’ll go last.”
“Are you sure?” Charlie said. “I don’t mind going last.”
“I’m sure. Let’s get down there so we’re ready.”
Breathing through our scuba gear, we sank below the surface.
As we reached the mouth of the cave, a cocktail of excitement and trepidation shivered through me. The first tunnel we had to penetrate stretched before us, and as we waited for Colton’s signal, I took the time to test my camera with a few shots. Sun rays speared the water around me, and there was something magical about how the light played on the pool, making the shadows dance on the walls.
Satisfied that my camera was working, I tucked it away again.
One by one, we crossed through to the other side, and when it was my turn, Colton waved his flashlight, beckoning me to venture deeper into the cave depths.
The entrance was narrower than it had looked, and my tank scraped across the top of the tunnel.
Shit. Focus, Kat.
Thank God Colton hadn’t seen that. The last thing I needed was for him to question my diving ability.
My heart thumped in my ears, pounding out a thrilling beat, and my excitement was justified: I was swimming where few people had ventured before.
The tunnel ahead stretched in a seemingly endless corridor of darkness, and as I released my bubbles in a slow, controlled breath, the weight of my burden hit me like never before. My father had vanished after visiting this cave. His disappearance left my family shattered and desperate for answers.
I couldn’t bear it if Mom passed away before she found out what happened to Dad.