Page 352 of Hidden Depths

Ben looked down the corridor.

“Our exit is already flooding.”

“How fast?” Ward asked.

“Fast enough that we’re not going back the way we came.”

My stomach dropped.

“The lava tunnel is our only way to the boat.”

“Not anymore,” Mom said.

Everyone looked at her.

She pressed one hand to her bruised cheek.

“There’s another exit.”

Nathan’s gaze sharpened.

“Where?”

“The hidden passage.”

“Is that the one the kidnappers used?” Ward asked.

Mom nodded.

“It leads beneath the cannery and comes out near Blackwater.”

Ward reloaded his weapon.

“Then that’s where we’re going.”

We returned to the storage room.

Water covered our ankles now.

The opening in the far wall was narrow and pitch-black. Rusted tracks ran along the floor, disappearing into the passage.

Nathan stared at them.

“Mining carts.”

“Grandpa said the cannery was built over old lava tubes,” I said.

“It was,” Mom answered. “But the tunnels beneath it were altered during the war. Your grandfather discovered them when he was young.”

“Why didn’t he tell us?”

“He wanted the secret to die with him.”

A burst of gunfire struck the wall behind us.

Ward pushed Mom and me into the passage.

“Family history later. Move.”