“The pay must be awfully good,” I muttered.
“Do you know why you haven’t taken me seriously?” Damian asked. “It’s because, as Peter said, you like to think the best of people.You have faith in the essential goodness of human nature. You don’t really believe, deep down, that anyone would wish to harm you.You’re not naive.You’re aware of evil, but you’re convinced that goodness will conquer it every time. I’d almost forgotten that people like you exist.You’re an endangered species, Lori, and I will not allow you to become extinct. The world would be a much poorer place without you. And, of course, the pay is awfully good.”
I elbowed him in the ribs but smiled ruefully through my tears and put my handkerchief to work again. When I’d finished with it, I wrapped my arms around my knees and asked, “Is that why you didn’t come swimming with us this morning? Because you didn’t want us to see your scars?”
“I didn’t want to frighten the children,” he admitted.
“Those little ghouls?” I snorted. “You wouldn’t have frightened them. They would have thought you were the coolest guy on earth.” I hugged my knees more tightly. “Speaking of cool—is it my imagination, or is it getting colder down here?”
“You’re getting colder because you’re sitting still,” said Damian. “We’ll stay warmer if we keep moving. Time to explore the other passages, I think. Close your eyes. I’m going to turn on my torch.”
When our eyes had adjusted to the dazzling brightness of Damian’s flashlight, we stepped through the opening to the left of the one that had taken us to the sea. It led to a passage so low that I had to duck my head to avoid concussing myself. Poor Damian was forced to bend almost double. I think we were both relieved when we came to a rockfall that filled the tunnel from floor to ceiling and forced us to turn back.
The last passage went on for twenty yards or so before it, too, was blocked by a rockfall. I started to turn around, but Damian stayed put. He ran the light across the piled stones, then reached for the topmost one, pulled it out, and passed it back to me.
“I thought so,” he murmured, leaning forward to peer into the hole. “It’s too neat. Nature didn’t bring these rocks down. Someone stacked them here to seal off the tunnel. The wall’s no more than six inches thick. Let’s find out what’s behind it.”
He carefully dismantled the man-made rockfall until he’d opened a doorway large enough for us to walk through. A short passage beyond the doorway took us to a sandy-floored cavern similar in size and shape to the monks’ cave. Damian strode ahead of me, making a circuit of the walls, looking for openings that might lead to still more caverns.
“No fissures, cracks, or crevices,” he announced. “I think we’ve reached a dead—” He broke off abruptly as he stumbled over some obstacle and fell to his knees. The flashlight flew from his hand, but the lanyard kept it from flying too far, and he was soon in possession of it again.
“Damian?” I said, walking cautiously to his side. “Are you all right?”
“No damage done,” he answered, but he didn’t stand. He stayed on his knees and trained his light on the object that had tripped him up.
The oblong container was the size of a steamer trunk and made of opaque black plastic. Two hefty latches held its hinged lid shut. Eleven identical containers sat beside it, ranged end to end along the cavern’s wall.
“Well, well, well,” Damian murmured. “What have we here?”
“Buried treasure,” I said. “What else?”
“Let’s find out, shall we?” He slipped the lanyard over his head and handed his flashlight to me, saying, “Keep it steady.”
He pressed his thumbs to the latches. They popped open, and with some effort he lifted the lid.
“Oh . . . my,” I murmured, when I could speak.
The container was packed to the brim with clear-plastic food-storage bags, and each bag held a banded bundle of English currency. Hundred-pound notes predominated, though packets of fifties, twenties, and even a few stray bundles of lowly tens helped to break up the monotony. Damian dug down to the bottom of the container, but there was nothing in it besides money.
“As I told you last night, Lori, drug transport is a lucrative business.” He ran his hands across the bags. “There must be half a million pounds here.”
“A m-million dollars,” I managed. I was breathing rather rapidly. “That’s a lot of cash to leave lying around.”