“What is it?” she asked. Her eyes followed the beam of light as it moved over the ground in front of them, then dropped off into blackness.
“The path ends—very suddenly,” Mick said, dropping to his knees and shining the light down into the pit. “That must be at least a twenty-foot drop, and there’s water at the bottom.”
Staring into the black hole, Nancy felt her stomach drop. “That was a close call,” she said.
They backed away and retraced their steps to the cave entrance. Nancy didn’t realize how cool the cave was until she stepped out into the bright sunlight. She rubbed her arms and asked brightly, “What next?”
“You’re always ready for the next adventure,” Mick said, shaking his head. “That’s what I like about you, Nancy. Never a dull moment.”
“Come on, Devlin. Don’t tell me you’re ready to give up after one cave?” Nancy teased.
“Oh, not me. But with your curiosity, you’d go wild in Australia. Just think of it, Nan. A whole continent to explore.”
“Sounds great.” Nancy had to admit that the idea of visiting the distant continent appealed to her—especially with Mick to show her around. Things were definitely getting serious between them. She was beginning to think that everything back home—her friends, her work, and even Ned—would never be the same for her again, now that she’d met Mick. “Who knows?” she added. “Maybe we’ll have a chance to see Australia together.”
“You’re softening. That’s a good sign,” Mick said. He leaned close to press a gentle kiss against her lips. “So . . . which cave do you want to tackle next?”
Tugging on her fluorescent orange cap, Nancy surveyed the situation. She could see the openings to three other caves. One was so high that she knew it was out of their reach. Another opening was so narrow that she and Mick would have to crawl through it. She pointed to a square passage that started at the top of a flat, rocky rise. “Let’s try that one.”
Stepping through the wide mouth of the cave, Nancy and Mick found that the walls narrowed into a dark tunnel. It twisted right, then left, and then they saw a faint haze of light. Nancy was surprised to find that the tunnel ended at an airy chamber, lit by pale sunlight filtering in through an opening in the rock high above.
“It’s like a great hall,” she said, gazing around the huge space. At the far end of the chamber a pond of dark water, smooth as glass, stretched to the rough stone wall.
“We’re not the first people here,” Mick commented, switching off the flashlight.
Nancy followed his gaze to a recessed area on their right, where three knapsacks were propped against a boulder. Two sleeping bags were rolled out next to a few orange cushions marked with a star and some Greek letters. Nancy walked over to the boulder, knelt to pick up one cushion, and studied the markings. The first three letters were distinctively Greek, but the last four resembled the English letters aooa.
Standing up, she spotted a hearth and cooking utensils just beyond some boulders. “Someone’s camping here,” she observed. “Maybe we should head back. I feel like I’m intruding on their home.” She backed away and accidentally knocked over a lantern.
Leaning down to pick it up, she noticed an envelope on the ground beside it. The flap was partially open, and Nancy glimpsed the edge of a photograph. She looked more closely—and gasped.
“Passport photos?” She looked over the headshots of a dark-haired man. He seemed to have a scar on his face, but the photos were a little blurred, so she couldn’t be sure. “Check this out,” she said, turning to Mick.
“No time for that,” Mick said urgently. “We have to get out of here—and fast.”
Hearing alarm in his voice, Nancy dropped the envelope and joined Mick. He was standing next to a stack of wooden cartons. She squinted in the dim light to read the word painted on each of the cartons: Explosives.
“Explosives?” Nancy’s heart started pounding. “In here?”
Mick nodded, stepping away from the four cartons. “Enough to blow this place out of the Aegean.”