Above her and to the right was a small circle that was gray, lighter than the surrounding darkness.
Was that how the men had got into the tunnel system?
Quickly she made her way in that direction, groping the wall with her good hand as she pulled herself over there. When she was at the base of it, to her surprise instead of feeling wall, she felt something different. A step. Her feet reached down. Another step! She nearly screamed in victory. Stairs. She stood, raising herself out of the water as she scaled the stairs. Thank God!
For a second her legs were weak, but another rush of adrenaline surged through her pushing her, and soon the small circle of gray became brighter.
Her shoulder throbbed in pain and her injured arm hung useless at her side. She wanted to collapse onto the ground and weep with relief to be out of the water, but she kept pushing, her s body shivering uncontrollably and feeling extraordinarily heavy because of her sodden clothing and boots that squeaked as she walked, water sloshing out of them. She blinked trying to focus on the circle of gray that was becoming larger. She wanted to swipe at the foul-smelling water dripping down her forehead into her eyes but kept her good arm holding onto the wall for balance.
Then the circle was not gray but white and large enough for her to step through. The stairs under her feet had ended and she stepped into a light-filled room. She blinked and then heard voices and more lights, but couldn’t focus in the sudden brightness.
But one voice stood out:
“Oh, my God. It’s Dallas!”
Twenty
Wrapped in a blanket, Dallas sat in the front seat of someone’s car with the heater blasting on her, but it didn’t stop her teeth from chattering.
Colton spoke in a low voice to someone in the backseat. “I think we need to get her to the hospital to get checked out for shock.”
“Nonsense,” Dallas said. “I’m not going anywhere.” But her words came out a stutter as her teeth chattered.
The entire parking lot was filled with lights. Police squad cars dotted the area along with several official looking government vehicles with seals on the door.
Dallas had stumbled on the second entrance to the tunnels at just about the same time as her crew and Colton had found it. They’d been frantically searching Sam’s footage of the temple for the other entrance and found it shortly before Dallas emerged into the first level of the chamber.
“So, the camera still worked?”
“Yep. Just not the audio apparently.”
“Wow.”
Colton nodded.
“And it didn’t help when you were in the dark. We couldn’t see shit. Didn’t know if you were alive or dead and the stupid camera was just filming your body being swept away.”
“Sweet.”
“Not so much,” Colton said. He reached for her hand and then leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I really would feel better if you were checked out.”
“How’s this? When we go back to the hotel you can check me out?” She tried to say it in a serious voice, but started laughing. It was unexpected. To her, as well, as Colton. He looked at her with concern, his eyebrows knitting together as her laughter continued wildly and then turned into tears.
“Okay.” She said once the tears stopped. “I’m good now. Just had to get that out.”
But by then, Colton had flagged a paramedic or someone who took Dallas in the back of a van and checked her.
When it was over, she was back in the passenger seat. “See, I’m fine. Just damn cold.”
“I guess so.” Colton sounded unconvinced.
“Colton,” Dallas said, reaching for his hand. “I really, really want to go over there and see what’s going on? Pretty please?”
Colton laughed. “I’ve got nothing to do with it. I’m not the one keeping you in this car. You think I want to be here?”
A horrified look spread across his face as he realized what he’d said.
“I mean, I want to be with you. And if that means sitting in the car, that’s where I want to be, but I’d rather both of us were over there seeing what they are doing.”
“What are they doing?” Dallas asked.
“From what I was told, the water is starting to drain. It’s going back out to the sea. The earthquake ruptured three major aquifers, flooding the tunnels and tomb and making everything collapse upon itself. They are planning on sending divers down to see if they can recover anything.”
“Anything as in bodies?”
“I’m afraid so,” Colton said. “We showed them the footage from your camera right before the water rushed in and it appears that the tomb caved in on itself. It would be next to impossible to survive and in fact they said they have really no hope of recovering anything from that tomb—treasure, statues, or—”
“Cleopatra.” Her voice was low and filled with disappointment.
“Her coffin was most likely destroyed.”
Destroyed.
She shook her head. An unbearable sense of grief swooped down on her.
It was unfathomable.
Twenty-One
The school president, a woman with dark black eyes and platinum hair wearing a Chanel suit, stood from behind her desk as Dallas walked in.
“Thank you so much for agreeing to meet with me, Ms. Jones.”
“Of course,” Dallas said.
“Yesterday at the board of regents meeting a decision was made that was a little unorthodox,” the president began.
Dallas frowned.
“We’ve decided to reinstate you in your job and grant you tenure without the formal process and time requirements.”
Dallas shook her head in disbelief. “Seriously?”
The woman smiled. “As a heart attack.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, quite sure.”
“But there is something else,” Dallas said, thinking now was the time to come clean. “I mean, I need to make it clear I’m in a relationship with Colton McCloud.”
“We are aware of that relationship.
