Читать книгу Fury's Goddess - Alex Archer - Страница 16

Chapter 9

In the darkness, even with the red flashlight illuminating part of the culvert, it was difficult to see exactly what lay ahead. Annja sloshed through the dank water and tried her best to breathe through her mouth so she wouldn’t have to put up with the intense stench. There was no way she and Frank would surprise anyone, making as much noise as they were.

Behind her, Frank retched twice. “This is horrible.”

“The things we do for a story,” she replied. “You think this is bad? I could tell you stories that would make you run home screaming to your mother.”

“Leave my mother out of this.” He retched again. “How much farther?”

She shrugged. Stooped as she was it was impossible to get a good read on where they were. “Maybe a few hundred feet.”

“Whose idea was it to drop into a sewer again?”

“You were the one who wanted to come along on this jaunt in the first place. You want to blame someone, blame yourself. You could be asleep right now.”

“Yeah, but we wouldn’t be able to see this in the morning with Pradesh.”

“Exactly.”

Annja thought she saw something ahead. “Turn out the flashlight.”

“What? Why? I don’t want to trip and fall face-first in this stuff. The puddle was bad enough.”

“I think we’re coming out of the tunnel. Kill that light.”

Frank muttered something but shut the flashlight off. Annja stopped and peered. Yes, there was definitely an opening up ahead of them. The question was: Where did it open up? The last thing Annja wanted was to come out and be exposed.

She’d have to scout.

“Stay here.”

“What? No way. I’m not staying in this stinking cesspool any longer than I have to. Let me go with you.”

Annja glanced back. “You want to take this one?”

“Better than staying here in the sewer.”

Annja stepped aside. “Fine. Go scout the scene but try not to make any noise, all right? I need to know that it’s clear for us to proceed.”

Frank mock saluted her and then pushed past. “I’ll be back.”

“Thanks, Arnold.”

Annja watched him plod through the few remaining feet of tunnel and then disappear outside. She closed her eyes and prayed silently. Please don’t screw this up.

When she opened her eyes, Frank was in front of her.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Just hoping you didn’t walk into an ambush.”

“Ambush?” Frank frowned. “Annja, we’re not playing ‘Call of Duty’ here. It’s just trespassing.” He shrugged. “Well, plus the possibility of a monster.”

“Which I take it you did not run into.”

“Right.” Frank turned. “The culvert ends in a ditch, and according to my map, it puts us right about where we need to be. I saw what looked like crime-scene tape a few yards away.”