Oceans of Fire by Christine Feehan Page A

midnight.”
    Abigail laughed. “Be careful on these stairs; they’re old and crumbling. Kate told me there’s a place where the tunnel caved in but we can get through the rubble.”
    “How exciting,” Joley said, rolling her eyes. “You owe me so big-time for this.” She made her way down the basement stairs and waited while Abigail searched for the entry to the tunnel that led to the cove.
    “Have you ever met a man you considered marrying?” Abbey asked.
    Joley tossed her head. “Not likely. No one could stand me. I’m too mean.”
    Abbey laughed. “You really are a nut. You don’t let anyone push you around, but you’re one of the nicest people I know.”
    Joley blew her a kiss. “Thanks, Abbey, but since I happen to know you don’t know very many people—in fact, you shun people—that isn’t much of a testimonial.”
    “I don’t shun people. They shun me.” Abigail found the entrance and stepped through, wrinkling her nose. “It smells musty and fishy in here. And we’ll need a flashlight.”
    “I brought a gun, not a flashlight.” Joley bumped into her sister as Abbey stopped to drag a flashlight from her bag. “I should have known you’d be prepared.”
    “Naturally.”
    “People don’t shun you, Abbey,” Joley said. She glanced nervously into the tunnel, then took a deep breath and followed Abigail.
    “Yes, they do. Wouldn’t you if you weren’t my sister? Do you remember all those years in school when I couldn’t quite control my gift? All I had to do was accidently use the word truth and everyone within hearing distance would give the truth to me. Kids blurted out all kinds of things around me that they didn’t want known. Would you want to risk your deepest darkest secret? Look what happened when Inez roped me into joining the Christmas pageant committee last year. I caused a huge scandal.”
    “That wasn’t your fault. That spirit had escaped and was wreaking havoc on all our gifts. You used the word truth in a room and Sylvia Fredrickson’s lover confessed they were having an affair.”
    “It was so horrible. Two marriages broke up over that. And Sylvia slapped me in front of everyone.”
    “You should have decked her.” Joley picked her way through the rubble of debris on the narrow stone stairs. “It’s wet and moldy down here. Ew.”
    “I did cause it to happen. She went to school with us and she knew very well I did it,” Abigail said with a small sigh. “I didn’t really blame her for being angry.”
    “She’s the one who was having the affair with a man whose wife was about to give birth. Sylvia’s always after somebody else’s husband,” Joley replied with a little sniff. “And if she’s the one shunning you, count yourself lucky.”
    “It’s wet down here.” Abbey played the light over the wall of the tunnel. Most of it was rock, but there was one section where water seeped out and dripped onto the stairs, making them slick. “Watch your step right here. It looks as if someone fell.”
    Joley stiffened. “What do you mean, someone fell? Katie and Matt haven’t been down here yet. Matt was going to close it off. He thought it was dangerous to keep the stairs. Did he come down here?”
    “Either that, or the Russians are using this route to smuggle something into the country,” Abbey said.
    “That’s not funny. Maybe I ought to get the gun out of my purse.”
    “Actually, I’m not joking,” Abigail said, halting to study the skid marks in the slimy mud. “This happened fairly recently. We’ll have to ask Matt if he’s been down here, which is entirely possible, so let’s not panic.”
    “I wasn’t going to panic,” Joley protested. “I was going to get out the gun. I really didn’t like the sound of a hotshot hit man. No one’s been in this tunnel for years, Abbey. And no one has access to the cove. You don’t really think they’re smuggling something through here, do you?”
    “It’s a possibility we have to