9. Chapter 8
Serena
I barely catch myself and my bearings before smacking into the cliff face. Was Liam about to propose, and I fell out of a freaking helicopter? After we find this treasure, I’m going to make him finish that question.
I look up to find Liam clutching his heart above me in the helicopter.
I shoot him a thumbs up then turn my gaze to the cave.
The ledge is only a foot wide, but I can make it.
I look around and locate a good rock hold before attempting it.
I swing in, grabbing hold of the cliff and pulling myself in.
The ledge stays, and I walk into the darkened cave a few feet before unhooking the harness.
I toss it back into the wind, and it’s immediately whipped up.
I step back farther from the edge, and the noise of the helicopter fades.
I should wait for Liam… or… I bite my bottom lip. I can beat him to his treasure.
It would be rude.
It would also be poetic justice. He stuck me in a coffin after all, and I have yet to achieve the perfect payback.
I hurry deeper into the cave, pulling my phone out of the dress pocket to use the flashlight.
If I remember right, the other two caves are toward the south.
I’ll head that way, but there’s no way a treasure would be buried in the open and subject to the elements. It will be somewhere in the shadows.
I choose my steps over the rocky surface carefully, shining my light up and down. For someone to have buried treasure here, they would have had to take a pickax to the wall or floor, make a hole, and then cover it with loose rocks. Or hide it in a crevice or a naturally formed hole.
I kick a rock, and it skitters deeper into the cave, echoing through the emptiness as it goes. The cave falls silent again, and I continue my search.
My eyes snag on something in the bottom corner of the wall.
Intricate chisel marks create a picture of an eagle’s talon clasping a scroll.
The Moore crest! But where is the treasure?
I scour the walls and floor, then I find it: a small pile of rocks.
I rip them up. I cut my finger on a rock, but I keep going.
There it is—a thick canvas sack holding something that feels like a book, eight inches long at most. Mildly disappointing, but Liam was right.
There was a treasure. And I found it! Or it’s another clue to something bigger and better.
My heart pounds harder at the thought as I tug at the strings of the bag.
Then freeze.
I could put it back and let Liam find it. A good girlfriend would do that. But I’ve never claimed to be one of those. We will open it together.
Decision made, I hold up my flashlight, continuing down the cave with the sack in one hand.
Dim light filters into the tunnel, and I head for the opening, needing a respite from the darkness.
Excitement rips up and down my skin as I walk faster through the cave.
I can’t believe we found a treasure, even if it is only a book.
The cave opens up with a large hole in the left wall, but more light comes from ahead of me.
I step around the bend, and the air disappears from my lungs.