Blood Orchid (Holly Barker 3)

“Brackish,” Grant said, tasting a finger. “River water.”

“What is this, a tasting? Or do you want to get us out of here?”

“My cellphone’s in the van; how about yours?”

“Dead battery; I tried it in the ladies’. I doubt if we could get a signal inside a steel basement room, anyway.”

“You have a point,” Grant said, then he ducked under the water and started feeling the vault door.

Holly watched him, wondering what the hell he was doing.

Grant came up for air. “There’s got to be some sort of safety feature in this thing. Surely they can’t let people get locked into vaults these days without having a way out.”

“Let’s both look,” Holly said “At least the lights are on.”

The lights went off.

“We’ll just have to feel,” Grant said.

Holly took a couple of deep breaths and began running her hands over the inside of the vault door. Her air gave out, and she came up. The water was up to her neck.

Grant surfaced. “I don’t think this is going to work,” he said. “Anything you want to say to me before we drown?”

“Yes,” Holly replied, “what are you working on in Orchid Beach? What’s your assignment?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Grant replied. “It’s a secret.”

Holly burst out laughing. The water was up to her nose now, and she was forced to tread water.

“Come on, let’s keep trying,” Grant said, and went under again.

Holly dove after him, wondering if there would be any air left in the vault when she came up.

63

Holly came up for air again, and her head bumped against the ceiling before her nose cleared the water. She leaned back and sucked in air, trying to pack it into her lungs. She heard Grant doing the same thing. Then she dove under again.

She swam to the bottom of the door, running her hands desperately over the smooth surface. Then she came to a handle, like that on a cupboard. She turned it an

d a door opened. Inside was another handle, like a lever. She pulled hard on the lever. Grant was above her, doing something.

Then, in the darkness, three green lights began to flash in sequence. She watched them, her lungs bursting, and then she heard a mechanical noise.

She didn’t even have to push the door; the pressure of eight feet of water did that. Light streamed in from the hallway as Holly and Grant poured out of the vault along with the water.

Holly landed on top of Grant as they both sucked in lungfuls of air.

“What happened?” Grant asked.

“I found a door and a lever, and I pulled it.”

“I knew something had to be there.”

“I’ll remember that if I’m ever locked in a flooded vault again.”

They sat on the floor, leaning against the wall.

“I don’t know if I can stand up,” Holly said.