er said. “We need to find a big creosote bush. I wouldn’t have a problem in daylight or even bright moonlight, but everything looks weird with these goggles.”
“There are creosote bushes all over the place,” Emerson said. “And bushes that aren’t creosote bushes look like creosote bushes in the dark.”
“This is a big one,” Günter said. “And it has a hole mostly hidden under its branches. Don’t step in the hole.”
Riley and Emerson fanned out and combed the scrub.
“Are you sure we’re in the right area?” Riley asked.
“More or less,” Günter said.
“Found it,” Emerson said. “How stable is the ground around this?”
“Very stable. It’s actually the beginning of a cavern.”
Emerson found a stone, dropped it into the hole, and counted. “I calculate that the floor of the cavern is thirty-six feet below us.”
Riley peered down into the hole. “How do you figure?”
“Physics. All you need is a rock, a stopwatch, and a simple equation derived from Newton’s Laws of Motion.”
“So how fast is the rock going when it hits the ground?” Riley asked.
“Its terminal velocity is about twenty-five miles per hour,” Emerson said.
Riley took a step back. She didn’t like the idea of disappearing down the hole and reaching terminal velocity. It sounded…terminal.
Emerson turned to Günter. “You’ve used this entrance?”
“Not exactly. I accidentally dropped a flashlight into it trying to see the bottom. I decided it was inaccessible and went back to using my original tunnel entrance. Two days later I found the flashlight while I was exploring underground. If you can get down there it’s a shortcut to the gold repository. Otherwise we need to keep walking. There’s an easier entrance about five miles from here.”
Riley looked at the hole in the ground. “Thirty-six feet is a long way down.”
“Fortunately this duffel I’ve been carrying not only contains emergency cash and granola bars but also emergency rappelling equipment,” Emerson said.
“You expected you’d have to rappel?” Riley asked.
“The bag has been in the safe for several months. I originally packed it when I thought I might go on a mountaineering adventure. The adventure never materialized and the bag remained in the safe.”
Emerson unzipped the duffel and pulled out a couple tight coils of rope, some clamps, a hammer, and a small headlamp attached to a headband.
“I have the bare minimum equipment here but I think it will do the job,” he said.
“Do you always take wads of money when you go mountaineering?”
“The adventure involved a possible ransom situation. Fortunately it resolved itself without my intervention.”
“How much money do you have in the bag?” Riley asked.
“Just short of two million. I’ve been paying cash for our motel rooms.”
Riley considered hitting him with the hammer. She’d been scrimping along trying to save money on cheap motels and he had millions in his duffel bag.
“You have that look,” Emerson said to Riley.
“What look?”
“Squinty eyes, jaw clenched, shoulders hunched. I’ve seen that look on women before and it’s never turned out well.”