Kennedy snapped, “Polo.”
Jason grinned and reached out, feeling his way across the room. Even a few feet from the hole in the ceiling it was difficult to make out anything in the room.
Just don’t let me reach out and touch a snake.
He didn’t like anything about this. Splashing blindly around a half-flooded cellar was a bad idea. But he was worried about Kennedy still crouched up there on top of a floor that was about to come down. Kennedy didn’t want to leave his partner, which Jason appreciated, but…
Anyway, although he would never admit this, Jason was simply too freaked out to stay put. This flooded room triggered every primal fear lurking in the back of his brain. The dark, the wet, the smell of death and decay…
“Marco.”
“Polo.”
Kennedy’s voice was farther away now, and Jason was almost entirely in darkness. He reached out and felt the railing of the staircase. It felt reasonably stable, all things being relative.
“Polo?” Kennedy called sharply.
“Sorry. Yep. I found the stairs.”
The sun coyly, briefly, slipped into view. Yes, he had found the stairs and just climbing out of the water was a relief. He kept thinking about falling over bodies floating in the water. The graveyard was a mile away, and there were no bodies bobbing in the green water surrounding him. It did look like there might be a couple of shark skeletons lying beneath the surface.
Shark skeletons were definitely better than human skeletons.
Yes, there were definitely bones in the water. Would shark cartilage last as long as human bone?
He squelched up the rickety case.
“I’m at the top of the stairs. Can you hear me?”
“You’re at the top of the stairs. Can you get out?”
“The door’s locked.” Jason jiggled the round doorknob. Definitely locked. He felt over the door’s peeling surface, picking up splinters as he went. “I might be able to…”
“What? I can’t hear you.”
He rammed his shoulder against the door. Which was unbelievably stupid, not least because it was his bad shoulder. He reeled back against the railing, cursing quietly, rubbing his shoulder.
Kennedy was yelling again.
“Okay!” Jason managed.
“What’s happening down there?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
Jason laughed unsteadily. “I mean, everything’s under control.” He took two careful steps back, lightly bracing himself against the railing, and launched a kick with all his strength at where he reckoned the doorjamb was. He had a split-second to wonder if he was going to break his foot on the wall.
The wood gave a satisfying crunching sound.
Kennedy was yelling.
Jason ignored him. He stepped back and delivered another strong kick. The door flew back and hit the wall behind it. Watery daylight poured down, revealing a window and another staircase.
“I’m out!”
“What?”