“Most effective sound insulation is air, we’re standing in an air pocket between Marbot’s caves and the Vaugeois system.” I walked over to the cinder block wall and inspected it for faults. A spider web crack ran from floor to ceiling. I whispered, “That’s where I’ll go in. I figure the bulk of their cavern is to our left.” I pointed. “So you get in position to the right side, back from the wall.”

Miriam got in place. I retrieved the sledgehammer.

I got the sledgehammer ready. Miriam was in position, crouched with her H&K up.

The hammer went through the block like it was a china plate. I didn’t wait for the result, just went right into the next swing. It hammered home about half a second after the first. Two blocks gone. A black space had opened up. I was mid-way into my third swing, eyes focused on the target, when I saw a movement in the darkness on the other side. Nothing clear, a flitting shape in the dark. I didn’t think, just reacted instinctively. Thirty-four years of struggle, failure, and hard-won success translated into an awkward improvisation. In mid-swing, I changed the plan and adjusted the sledgehammer to poke through the hole instead of slamming into a third block. The hammer head went all the way in, sticking through into the other space.

I heard a surprised grunt.

Chapter Sixty

I looked quickly through the gap. Because I hadn’t felt any contact I swung three more times, demolishing cinder blocks, until there was a big enough hole to get Miriam through. She whipped in like a ghost. I heard scurrying movements as I ditched the sledgehammer and picked up the H&K.

There was a gunshot, then two more. Not close, not far. Maybe thirty yards away. Not Miriam, someone with a semi-automatic pistol. I needed to get through the hole fast. A triple burst tinkled from Miriam’s suppressed H&K. I squeezed through the hole. Miriam was crouched, waiting. Her mini-mag lit up a narrow tunnel. She pointed down the hole. The mini-mag has an impressive throw, something like a hundred and fifty yards. But the darkness had been made gloomy from the dust I’d raised.

Miriam suddenly sprinted into the gloom. She was gone in about two seconds flat. I heard another pistol shot. I ran into the darkness, weapon up and tracking. Straight through and came up against a stone wall. Pitch black now that Miriam was gone with the light. No vision whatsoever. I quickly traced the stone to my right and found a corner, kept going and did a u-turn. I’d missed another tunnel entrance. The faint tinkle of suppressed 9mm fire came through and I accelerated. My lead hand found the lip of an entrance, and I was through.