was a bumpy slide all the way to the bottom where the shipwreck sat.
The ground at her feet spit up dirt and she heard a gunshot. The bastard shot at her.
“Hurry up. I don’t have all day,” the asshole said.
“Then come do it yourself,” she muttered. Her words could get her killed, but at that point what did it matter? Not that her future was looking bright right now. She took a deep breath and thought about the water spouting.
The treasure would’ve been carried up the tunnel and spewed out the top, dropping a distance away from the center. The question was, how far away and how deep?
A couple of yards from the hole, she noticed a crevice in the ground. That could help her get deeper faster. Pulling out her phone that was poking her from her front pocket, she set it on the ground beside her, then knelt at the wide crack and started digging. The rock was hard to get her spade into, but she pried at a crack, making it big enough to pop off the outer piece.
Something was wedged in the slice, but she couldn’t see what. She jabbed around the item sticking out of the rock, finally breaking it enough to pull out. Holy shit. It was a green gemstone.
“I found something,” she yelled, too excited to stop herself.
“Keep digging,” Tom shouted.
Val stabbed the center of the hole like it was Tom’s body. Jerk. Her spade hit the rock at the bottom, and it crumbled, disappearing into a dark hole. She continued to poke, opening a wide cave-like hole. She could see the base about four feet down. Not too deep.
Sparkles hit her eyes as she moved, letting the sun shine into the half bubble. She stretched down but couldn’t reach anything. Did she dare climb in?
“Get in there.” Val jumped at Tom’s voice right behind her. He had walked down to her, and she had been so engrossed in the sparkles, she didn’t hear him. The rifle’s barrel dug into her side. “I said get in there. I see something.”
With a sigh, Val slipped her legs over the edge then crab-crawled like she had in the water tunnel. Just no water this time, thank God. She wedged her feet against the bottom of the wall and bent over to pound the stone. A chunk came off.
In her hand a huge emerald and a rosy red ruby. “Yes! You found it. Bring it all up for me now.” Digging at different places along the wall, moving closer to the blowhole, she came across coins, a bunch of gems the size of her fist, a pearl necklace, and a ring with a large blue stone. She continued bringing up more jewels, then she handed him a large chunk of gold.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead. Was it from exertion or because the rock was heating in preparation for another blast? She put her hand against the wall and felt it wasn’t as cold as she had thought it would be. Val straightened and hoisted herself up to dig her shoes against the wall to climb out and sit on the edge.
“What the hell are you doing? Get back down there. Get the rest of it.”
“You go down there,” she snapped, her rage mounting. “The volcano’s building pressure to blow. We have to get out of here.”
“You’re not going anywhere, bitch. You didn’t die scuba diving, so you’re going to die here.”
“How do you know?” Of course. The bastard put a hole in her tubing. That meant he had to be the one who broke into her home and ransacked it. “What were you looking for?”
Tom laughed and shoved her into the hole. She landed on her feet but fell forward. Her hand caught the wall before her head hit.
“I was making sure you wouldn't find the treasure before I did. You won’t leave this place alive unless everything of value down there has been brought up.”
“Fuck you,” she gave him a hostile glare. “I don’t think you’re going to let me out of here alive anyway, so I don’t have to do anything you say. Get your treasure yourself you piece of shit.” She already knew that no matter what, she wouldn’t get out of here alive. The only thing she regretted was not telling Ash and Smoke goodbye.
Her phone rang where it sat on the rock. Immediately, Tom stomped it into the ground. “You don’t need that thing anymore, so get back to