Chapter 17
Brooke
The wooden ladder creaked as I descended into the darkness, guided by the light from a headlamp attached to my yellow safety helmet. Mario had provided us with coveralls and helmets from the archaeological park’s maintenance team. We also carried small packs with the equipment we might need.
“Watch the third rung from the bottom,” Mario called up from where he waited below. “It’s loose.”
I navigated carefully as the wood flexed beneath my weight. My boots touched the packed earth of Pompeii’s ancient drainage system, and I stepped aside, making room for Percival, who was coming down after me.
“How did you convince the staff to let us down here?” I asked, adjusting my coveralls. The underground space was larger than I’d expected—tall enough that the men only needed to stoop slightly, but we’d still have to walk single file.
Mario’s smile flashed in the beam of my headlamp.
“I told them you were American scientists studying ancient water management systems. The superintendent gave me grief about the paperwork not being filed, but I reminded him of the tour he forced me to give to Stefano Martinelli last year. He’s one of our major donors, so I suggested your team might also donate to one of the non-profits associated with the park.
” He winked. “Amazing how quickly bureaucracy dissolves when you mention money.”
“Smooth,” Percival said, landing beside us with a soft thud.
Mario gave a modest shrug that was anything but. “I have my moments.”
Rav descended last. “Let’s keep the timeline tight. The team is expecting us back at the villa by five.”
“The archaeologist and the soldier.” Mario chuckled. “One thinks in millennia, the other in minutes.”
“Minutes keep you alive.”
“Millennia make life worth living,” Mario countered.
“Touché.” The corners of Rav’s mouth twitched. It was the most relaxed I’d seen him since our reunion at Mnemis.
“The drainage system here is quite fascinating,” Mario said.
His headlamp illuminated ancient stonework, its surface decorated with centuries of mineral deposits.
“It follows a star pattern beneath the amphitheater, with channels running toward natural rock fissures and manmade sewers on the southern side.”
We walked single file through the main passage, which was mostly bare earth, with the occasional rough stones littering the floor.
“The entire system uses a gentle slope to move water toward the sea,” Mario continued.
“The roads above also follow the same pattern, with raised sidewalks to help channel the water to drainage holes. The Romans were master engineers, but they were also practical—they built upon what nature provided.”
“Unfortunately, it’s also perfect for distributing a chemical agent,” I said.
“If Noah’s intel is accurate,” Rav added from behind me.
The coolness of his tone caught my attention. It wasn’t just skepticism. Was it bitterness? It was clear Scarlett wasn’t the only one who had a history with Noah, beyond once being on the same team.
We reached a junction where our tunnel intersected with a larger channel, its ceiling high enough for the men to stand upright.
Mario stopped, removing his backpack. “Before we continue, I want to send Hermes ahead.”
“Hermes?” Percival asked.
Mario extracted a small yellow robotic quadruped, constructed of metal and plastic with a camera mounted at its front—a robotic dog. “Hermes is one of our scouts. The park uses them to inspect unstable sections or areas too tight for humans.”
As Mario powered up the device, I felt Rav’s presence behind me, so close my breath all but stopped.
“How are you holding up?” he whispered, his voice low enough only I could hear.
I forced myself to breathe, catching the subtle notes of his cologne—something with citrus and cedar. It caught me off guard enough that I blurted out, “You’re wearing cologne?”
Why did you say that? You were supposed to say you’re fine.
“Um.” He seemed surprised by the question. “Part of the cover earlier. James, the bodyguard for wealthy clients, needs to look and smell the part.”
“It’s nice.” Heat flushed up my cheeks. Dammit, Brooke. I turned my attention back to Mario and his robot. “How does Hermes work in these conditions?”
Yeah, that wasn’t an obvious change of topic at all, Brooke.
“Magnifico,” Mario replied with evident pride.
“He has high-resolution cameras that give us a clear view of any passages we send him into, the LiDAR mapping creates 3D models of the tunnels, and I’ve added seismic sensors that can detect micro-vibrations that might indicate structural instability.
” He adjusted something on the control pad.
“I’ve also made some custom improvements to this particular model, so it can operate during heavy rainfall, to follow the path of water without risking any of the staff. ”
The mechanical dog whirred to life, its articulated legs carrying it smoothly into the passage ahead. A dim light on top of the camera gently illuminated the tunnel. Mario showed us a tablet displaying the robot dog’s feed, and we gathered around him.
“We should follow it,” said Rav.
“The amphitheater drainage outlets are roughly thirty meters ahead,” Mario said as we began walking again, following the dog. “We’ll see the— Wait.” He frowned, tapping the screen. “That’s not right.”
“What is it?” I leaned closer, but wasn’t tall enough to see over his shoulder.
“There’s new construction.” Mario turned to show us his tablet. He zoomed in on what appeared to be steel supports bolted into the ancient stonework. “These weren’t here during our last structural survey.”
“When was the survey?” Rav asked.
“Three months ago.”
“Any chance this is authorized work?” Percival asked.
Mario shook his head. “Impossible. Any structural changes require permits from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, environmental impact studies, and archaeological oversight, which I’m always part of down here. This was done without my knowledge.”
Rav growled, “Fenix.”
We didn’t know that, but he kept leaping to conclusions about them. Maybe he was right, but maybe not.
“We need to get closer,” I said. “I need samples, readings.”
Rav grabbed my upper arm. “It could be dangerous. If they’ve been working here, they might have left surveillance behind.”
“Or booby traps,” Percival added.
“I’ll take care of that.” Mario tapped the controls on his tablet, and the display slowly tracked in a circle. “I’ll have him do a more detailed pass and cross-reference the results with known video of this section of the sewers. It should take only fifteen or so minutes to confirm the path ahead.”
Percival squeezed past Rav and me to watch the screen with Mario, pointing to areas he wanted double-checked and confirming Hermes’s progress.
I turned to Rav, extinguishing my headlamp so I wouldn’t blind him, then meeting his concerned gaze directly. “I need to see it, Rav. If they’ve already started installing components, I can identify what delivery system they’re planning. Maybe figure out a way to sabotage them.”
His jaw tightened, but he nodded. “I don’t like seeing you in dangerous situations.”
“It’s hardly the most dangerous situation we’ve ever been in.”
His shoulders tensed. “I didn’t like seeing you in those either.”
My hand operated on autopilot and landed on his chest. He was as solid as he’d ever been, and the sensation grounded me. Made me want to vomit a little, too, for how damsel-in-distress I was being, but touching him made me feel safe. “That’s why I’ve got you, right?”
Of course, I didn’t have Rav. He wasn’t there for me. He was there because a crazy group of fanatics was trying to kill a lot of people. Or trying to heal them, and they’d end up killing everyone in the end.
He stared down at me, not moving a muscle other than those in his jaw.
Memories of his soft lips and strong hands draped over me. Of how effortlessly he could carry me across a room. How his touch made me forget all the ugly things going on around us.
“Good to go,” said Percival.
Rav didn’t say anything to me, didn’t look down at my hand, just shifted his gaze to the men behind me. “Let’s get the doc down there.”
“The doc,” I said, sliding my hand off Rav’s chest and turning my headlamp back on. That’s all I was. Maybe all I’d ever been.
Keep moving, Brooke. One foot in front of the other.
We moved deeper into the drainage system until Mario suddenly halted. He neared one of the walls, running a hand over it. “Someone widened this passage.”
“Widened?” Percival asked.
“Sì.” Mario pressed a cheek against the wall, looking down the length of the tunnel. “You can see the marks where they worked. This happens occasionally in newly excavated areas, but not here. They’ve expanded it by thirty centimeters or so.”
Why would they expand the tunnel by a foot? And how had they accomplished that, in an active park? “Do you think they worked at night?”
“They must have.” Mario’s lips tightened.
“Tomboroli—you might call them grave robbers—don’t usually come into the park looking for things.
They’re typically outside the walls, at other locations.
But if someone needed to move things underground at night, there are plenty of people who could guide them on how to do it. ”
“Rav,” I said quietly. “I think this might be a good spot for the cameras.”
Mario turned to us, his headlamp nearly blinding me. “Cameras?”
“Standard operating protocol,” Rav replied, removing his small backpack. “We’d planned a five-camera setup to monitor the highest risk areas. If Fenix was responsible for expanding the tunnel, they must have had a reason for it, so maybe they’ll come through here again.”
“You didn’t mention this,” Mario said, frowning.
“We came up with it after you left this morning,” Rav explained, removing a small camera from his pack. “They’re motion-activated, wireless, with a ten-day battery life.”