strength, but there was no need to share that part with poor, unsuspecting Nico.
“Did your ex-wife get up to Santa Cruz okay?” Megan asked.
“Yeah. Jackie called me around two in the morning. They made it up there, got out to her parents’ ranch, and she’ll stay put until they can find Ruben.”
“Did Drew call anyone this morning?” Toni asked.
“No.” Nico rolled the last stone away. “We’ll probably be waiting until next week to hear anything from the crime lab.”
“Fair point.” Toni moved forward when she saw a rusted metal door appear. “There it is.”
Baxter stood in front of it, faced the creek, then turned back to the door. “Yes. The degree is more than a little bit off on the plans, but that might have been intentional.”
“Can we get it open?” Nico pulled on the handle, only to hear nothing as the door swung open.
Not a squeak. Not a creak.
“Someone’s oiled the hinges.” He ducked his head and turned on the large flashlight Baxter handed him. “Okay, folks, let’s see what we’ve got.”
One by one, they disappeared past the door, and then it was only Henry and Toni bringing up the rear.
“Is it bad that part of me really does not want you to go in there until I check it out?” Henry asked. “Seeing as you’re the mother of my unborn child and all.”
“I appreciate the protective instincts more than I expected, but seeing as we can already hear Megan’s kids trying out the echo factor in the caves, it’s probably unnecessary.”
It was true. Toni could already detect the whoops and hollers from the kids as they ran around underground.
“Come on.” Toni grabbed Henry’s hand. “What an adventure, right?”
“Yeah.” He walked through the doorway first, never letting her hand leave his.
The minute they walked into the cave, Toni felt the air temperature drop. She breathed in the scent of soft, slightly damp air, earth, and metal.
“The temperature and humidity are nearly perfect,” Henry muttered. “A little more ventilation to get the humidity down and that’s it. That’s all we’d have to do.”
“What are we walking on?” She pointed her flashlight down at the gently sloping floor. “It’s all brick.”
“Oh my God, Toni, are you seeing this?” Henry pointed his flashlight up. “It’s so beautiful.”
Toni followed the light and saw an intricate pattern of dark and light brick in an arching pattern that mirrored the lines of the barrel-roofed ceiling. He shined his flashlight along the walls, and she saw the flash of bright green and red mosaic tiles placed in a pattern that formed an alley of tall cedars.
Toni swung her flashlight around the larger room they entered where Megan’s kids, along with Katherine and Baxter, were trying out the limits of the echoes. She heard Baxter exclaiming every now and then about some structural detail or referring to the plans.
The cave itself was narrow and looped around in a kind of stretched horseshoe with a central room at the apex of the arch where the children were shouting. The entire structure was lined in brick and tile with small alcoves built into the tunnels on alternating sides where barrels could be racked and stored.
Toni looked up at Henry, who looked like a kid on the most overwhelming Christmas morning ever. “You okay?”
“Our wine is going to be so much better.” He looked like he was nearly crying. “And we won’t have to pay for air-conditioning.”
She looked for Nico, who was leaning against a pillar, staring up at the center of the main room where a two-barred cross was inlaid with red and white brick.
“There it is.” He pointed to the giant cross. “There’s the new logo. Branding done. This is… beyond.”
“Yeah.” She walked over to him. “This is very cool.”
He looked back at her, blinking. “I feel like a complete idiot. This has been sitting here for thirty years. It’s priceless. This isn’t just a cave, it’s a work of art.”
“Mom?” Adam’s voice rang through the darkness. “I found something weird.”
“What is it?” Megan called. “Where are you, honey?”
Toni heard the sound of a gun cocking in the darkness, and a voice came from behind her.
“You know,” Ruben said. “You people really picked the wrong day to go exploring.”
Chapter 29
Henry stepped in front of Toni. “Ruben, what the hell are you doing?”
Nico turned carefully and looked at the man. “I thought we were friends.”
“Are we?” Ruben kept the gun trained on Nico. “Do friends steal architectural plans, Nico? Do they sabotage your winery and get you in trouble