Gage gripped her arm. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

Abby nodded, her relief clear. They sloshed through the brackish water back to the rope. “Get a good grip and coil the rope around your leg to brace yourself as you climb up.”

Abby started up the rope.

“Keep working!” Santos called down, his rifle aimed at Abby.

“We’ll drown down here, and you’ll never get your gold!” Gage shouted into the wind. “You want to explain that to Velásquez?”

Paulo appeared at the edge of the pit. “Let them come up,” he said, shoving Santos aside. “They won’t do us any good if they are dead.”

Santos backed away, and Abby continued to the top of the rope and out of the pit. The rain was relentless, flooding into the chamber in a river of water, mud, and rotting wood, leaves, and debris.

Gage grabbed the rope and started up, hand over hand. Halfway to the top, he heard a grinding sound and looked up to see a wall of mud sliding toward him, pushing rocks and heavy beams in front of it.

He tightened his hold on the rope, but one of the timbers hit him square in the chest, knocking him back into the pit. Gage heard Abby scream, and everything went black.

* * *

“Gage!” The force of the wind tore the words from her lips as Abby ran toward the open pit in the ground. Gage’s head disappeared beneath the muddy water, the heavy beam forcing him under.

“Abby, no!” Mateo raced toward her as Abby dropped feet first into the thick, swirling black water below.

The muddy torrent closed over her head, and there was no way to see. Using her hands and scissoring her legs, she reached out in search of Gage’s big body, but she couldn’t find him.

Her heart thundered, and fear gripped her as she came up for air, then went down again. Chunks of wood, sharp-edged fragments of tile, then her hand closed over what felt like a piece of cloth. Abby’s fingers wrapped around Gage’s arm, and she started pulling, but he was unconscious, unable to help, the heavy timber weighing him down. As hard as she tugged, she wasn’t strong enough to haul him to the surface.

Abby shot up for air, grabbed another breath, and saw Mateo working frantically to set up a line to pull them both out. She drew in a deep breath and ducked down again, adrenaline pumping through her, giving her extra strength.

No way was she letting Gage drown! She pulled and shoved, trying to get him free of the heavy beam, but it wouldn’t budge. A silent scream filled her throat. Tears burned behind her eyes, and her heart squeezed hard.

Dear God, please don’t let him die!