Page 89 of Deadly Charade

“What woman?” Violet radioed another agent to ask the status, but the man had no information. “I didn’t see anyone when I came in, but I did make a beeline for you since you needed help.”

Bryce ran a hand through his hair. “There was a woman. And now Kira’s trapped, with the good guys on this side and the bad guys on the other. She’s outnumbered.”

“There has to be another way into the tunnel.” Violet began investigating the rock wall, shining her flashlight into every crevice. “They couldn’t just use some funky key combination and not have another way in. These men were smart. What if there’s a back entrance or something?”

Bryce followed her lead, but they came up empty-handed. And the clock was still ticking. “It’s no use. They took the keys and we don’t have time to search the cave for a back entrance.”

“God, please open this door,” he murmured.

Nothing happened.

“Argh!” He slammed a fist on it, and it shuddered. And shifted? He hit it again. Then again. A pop rang out, followed by a creak, and the ground rumbled.

Violet squinted at Bryce. “Did you just pray the door would open and then—”

The door slid open.

“Apparently I did.” Still confused, Bryce stared at the wide-open entryway. Then examined the key holes. The locks were old and his pounding on the door had shifted the mechanisms. Maybe? He laughed. Go God. Wait until Kira heard this story. Please, God, let me tell her this story.

Violet’s eyebrows shot up. “Should we go in? I’m concerned it’s a trap.”

She had a point. Why had the door suddenly opened without the key? He didn’t want to take the credit from God, but . . .

Ivan entered the cave. “Well, don’t just stand there. Let’s go.”

Bryce didn’t know what to think of Ivan. “I’m so glad you’re on our side. How did you get it open?”

“I walked the perimeter while your agents rounded up the Society guards. I found an override switch built into an electrical box in the side of the mountain. They’ve got a generator somewhere. I heard it humming. But no time to talk. We need to find Kira and Sophia.”

So, God had still opened the door. He’d just used Ivan to do it.

Violet took a second gun out of her ankle holster and handed it to Bryce. They followed Ivan through the entryway and into a long, dimly lit stone tunnel.

“What are we up against, Ivan?” Bryce asked, sandwiched between Ivan and Violet. They kept a slow and steady pace.

“I saw the woman in the cloak arrive. It looks like the leader of the Society was a woman after all. Natalia, Alex’s maid.”

“What?” Bryce frowned. “But she’s dead. We saw her get shot.”

“Yeah, only she’s here. She must have had it all planned to fake her death and disappear with the treasure. It was definitely her, and Alex confirmed it when I spoke to him just now.”

In all of their efforts to survive, Bryce hadn’t considered the ramifications of finding the long-lost treasure room and what it would mean.

Money. Power.

Death.

“My team has done some research,” Ivan said. “The ACS has ties to terrorism. They believe that because of their heritage, they should be the ruling class of Russia and have been supplying weapons to Russian enemies. If they get the treasure, the group will have enough money to fund a war. Against Russia.”

They walked in silence until Ivan stopped short.

“What’s wrong? Is it a booby trap?” Who knew the extent the Young family would go to in order to protect the treasure.

Then Bryce saw it. The flashlight beams lit the ground a few feet in front of them and then nothing. Two lanterns hung on one wall. The rest—inky blackness.

“What is that over there?” Violet asked and shifted her light to the left. A wooden rope bridge swayed over the black chasm. On the other side of the black hole, Bryce could make out a faint light, but other than that, it was just more of the same—rocks and darkness.

“That must be the way to the treasure room,” Bryce said and started for the bridge. He inspected the bolts that attached the ropes to the cave walls.