Free The Bloodwater Mysteries: Skullduggery by Mary Pete/Logue Hautman Page B

to just tear up the bluff?” Roni felt herself starting to lose it.
    Eric laughed. “Bulldozers, trenchers, dynamite, whatever it takes. So what?”
    She wanted to punch him. “So they could wait a few days to give Dr. Dart a chance to recover and investigate the cave!”
    â€œCave? I heard there was some sort of cave-in.”
    â€œWhere’d you hear that?” Roni asked. It had been only a couple of hours since she and Brian had witnessed the explosion. How could Eric have gotten the news so quickly?
    â€œOne of my dad’s construction engineers went out there. He told us.”
    â€œYeah, right. I bet your dad wrecked the cave himself.”
    Eric threw back his head and laughed. “My dad? He’s so scared of dynamite he won’t go within a mile of the stuff.”
    Roni felt herself go all cold inside. “How did you know the cave was dynamited?” she asked.
    â€œHow else would you cave-in a cave?”
    Roni didn’t know what to say. Then Eric surprised her.
    â€œYou’re kind of different, aren’t you?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” said Roni, cautiously pleased that he was noticing anything at all about her.
    â€œI mean, you’re into saving the dead Indians. And I heard you got involved in some kidnapping a while ago.”
    Roni shrugged modestly. “I like to check things out,” she said.
    â€œYou’re, like, Mystery Adventure Girl. You went into that cave the other day. You like dark spooky places? Hey, you want to see something really cool?”
    â€œSure, but don’t we have to get going pretty quick? We have to go to class pretty soon.”
    â€œThis won’t take long,” Eric said. He stepped over to the oak-paneled wall and ran his fingers along the seam between two of the heavy panels. Roni heard a click, and the panel slid aside to reveal a hidden doorway about four feet high.
    â€œI found this one day when we were cleaning,” he said.
    Roni looked inside. The opening led to a dark, dusty, narrow passageway.
    â€œCheck it out,” he said.
    Curious, Roni ducked her head and entered the passageway. She became immediately uncomfortable—it reminded her too much of the cave. She started to back out when she heard the click of the panel closing behind her.

23
    thirteen steps
    The scariest thing about visiting people in hospitals, Brian thought, was that the person might be dead. This had happened to him once when he had gone to visit his grand-mother. He had known that she had cancer and didn’t have long to live, but that didn’t make it any less horrible when he stopped by Mercy Hospital to find her room empty. He had then found his mother sitting in the waiting room, crying, with his dad’s arm around her.
    Brian felt that little tingle of fear in his belly as he waited for the elevator, even though he didn’t know Dr. Dart that well. You just never knew.
    The elevator doors opened and out stepped Professor Bloom.
    â€œBain!” The professor stopped in surprise.
    â€œHi, Professor,” said Brian.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” asked Professor Bloom.
    â€œI came to see how Dr. Dart is doing.”
    â€œI see. I was just visiting him myself. The poor man seems to be a bit addled.”
    â€œI was hoping he’d be better today.”
    â€œI fear that is not the case.” The professor looked at his watch. “Don’t forget, you are due in class in one hour. The unfortunate Dr. Dart was supposed to visit our class today, but I have instead arranged for one of his associates to be on hand. Do not be late.” He thumped the rubber tip of his cane on the floor for emphasis.
    â€œI’ll be there,” Brian said.
    The professor stalked off quickly with his cane held like a rifle over his shoulder. Brian stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor. When the elevator doors opened, Brian nearly collided with a tall,