Maya's Investigation

Maya Chen's POV

Maya Chen spread the old mining plans across the hood of Captain Rodriguez's police car, her hands still shaking from nearly drowning.

"There has to be another way in," Maya said desperately. "Jake and Emma don't have time for us to dig through that collapsed entrance."

Captain Rodriguez shook her head. "These plans are from 1952. Half these caves probably don't exist anymore."

"But some of them do," Maya argued, pointing to a faded line on the map. "Look. This cave runs along the western side of the mountain. It's marked as 'Forgotten Passage' because miners stopped using it when they found better paths."

"Forgotten means dangerous," the FBI agent said. "Those old tunnels could collapse the moment we step inside."

Maya looked up at the mountain, hearing distant rumbles as Emma's ventilation switch caused small explosions inside. Twenty-six minutes left on the main timer.

"Jake is in there," Maya said quietly. "And I'm going in after him. With or without your help."

Captain Rodriguez studied Maya's determined face, then nodded. "I'll take five cops. But we move fast and careful. Everyone stays together."

Maya grabbed a lamp and a radio, then followed Captain Rodriguez toward the western side of the mountain. The entry to the Forgotten Passage was hidden behind seventy years of overgrown bushes and fallen rocks.

It took them five precious minutes to clear the door enough to squeeze through.

Inside, the tunnel was narrow and dark, with water dripping from the roof. Maya's flashlight beam showed old wooden supports that looked ready to fall into dust.

"Watch your step," Captain Rodriguez warned. "One wrong move and this whole section could cave in."

They moved single file through the tunnel, Maya in the middle of the group. Every sound made her jump—dripping water, shifting rocks, the mountain rumbling around them.

Then Maya's light caught something that didn't belong in an old mine.

Plastic boxes. Dozens of them, stacked against the cave walls.

Captain Rodriguez opened the nearest crate and whistled quietly. "Weapons. Military-grade rifles, handguns, ammo. Enough to start a small war."

Maya opened another box. "Cash. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in different countries."

The FBI agent checked a third box. "Fake IDs, driver's licenses, credit cards. Webb's been preparing to disappear for years."

But Maya had found something else. A laptop computer, still running on battery power, hidden behind one of the crates.

She opened it and saw files labeled with dates going back five years. Security camera video from all over Millbrook. Audio recordings of private talks. Photographs of people Webb had been blackmailing.

"This is how he controlled everyone," Maya realized. "He's been spying on the whole town."

One folder made Maya's heart stop. It was signed "Morrison Family."

Inside were photos of Jake and Emma, transcripts of their phone calls, even medical records showing when Thomas Morrison had been diagnosed with cancer.

"Webb knew everything about them," Maya whispered. "He was watching them for years, waiting for the perfect moment to use them."

Captain Rodriguez grabbed Maya's shoulder. "We need to keep going. We can collect proof later."

But Maya had noticed something else on the laptop. A program running in the background with a countdown timer.

Not the main blast timer. This one showed only eight minutes.

"What is this?" Maya asked, clicking on the app.

A video window opened, showing a camera feed from somewhere inside the mine. Maya saw Jake buried under rocks, Emma running through tunnels, and two people chasing her—Judge Brennan and someone else Maya didn't recognize.

Then text showed on the screen: "SECONDARY COLLAPSE INITIATED. ALL INTERNAL SUPPORTS WILL FAIL IN 8:00 MINUTES."

Captain Rodriguez read the message and went pale. "Webb faked a second countdown. When this one hits zero, the entire mine will fall from the inside out. The big explosives won't matter—everyone will be crushed first."

"Can we stop it?" Maya asked desperately.

The FBI agent inspected the laptop. "It's encrypted. Would take hours to crack the secret."

Seven minutes, thirty seconds.

Maya's mind raced. They couldn't stop the clock. Couldn't get everyone out in time. Couldn't—

Wait.

Maya looked at the camera feed again, studying the tunnels Emma was running through. She compared them to the plans.

"I know where they are," Maya said suddenly. "Emma's in the eastern vault room. That's where Webb kept his most important information. And Jake is about two hundred feet west of her place."

"How does that help us?" Captain Rodriguez asked.

Maya traced a line on the blueprint with her finger. "The Forgotten Passage connects to both sites. If we move fast, we can reach Jake, free him, then get to Emma before the secondary fall."

"In seven minutes?" the FBI agent said doubtfully.

"We have to try," Maya answered.

They ran through the tunnel, following Maya's orders from the blueprint. Left turn, right turn, straight through a room filled with old mining equipment.

Six minutes.

Maya's radio crackled. Emma's voice came through, scared and breathless.

"Captain Rodriguez! There's someone else here! A man who looks exactly like Marcus Webb!"

Maya's blood ran cold. "Webb had a brother?"

"A twin," Emma gasped over the radio. "Vincent Webb. He says he's taking over Marcus's company. And he just caused the collapse!"

So that explained the extra countdown. Vincent had been the backup plan all along.

Five minutes.

The tunnel ahead split into three ways. Maya checked the plan, but water damage had made part of the map unreadable.

"Which way?" Captain Rodriguez asked.

Maya had to guess. Choose wrong, and they'd waste important time. Choose right, and they might save everyone.

She closed her eyes, thinking about everything she'd learned about the mine. About how Webb thought. About where he'd hide his most important assets.

"Left," Maya said firmly. "The left tunnel."

They ran left, and thirty seconds later burst into a room where Jake lay buried under rocks.

"Jake!" Maya screamed.

But something was wrong. Jake wasn't alone.

Judge Brennan stood over him with a gun pointed at Jake's head. And Sheriff Dale stood nearby, carrying a detonator.

"Hello, Maya," Brennan said with an evil smile. "So good of you to join us. Now we have even more prisoners."

Four minutes.

Captain Rodriguez and her officers raised their guns, but Dale held up the detonator.

"Shoot us and I press this button," Dale warned. "Everyone dies instantly instead of in four minutes. Your choice."

Maya looked at Jake's anxious eyes, then at the timer on her watch.

Four minutes until the mountain fell.

Four minutes to save everyone.

And now they had a stalemate with no way out.

That's when the entire chamber shook fiercely.

Not from the countdown watch. From something else.

A huge explosion rocked the mountain, much bigger than the small secondary detonations.

Maya looked at Dale's detonator in fear. "You didn't hit it yet. What was that?"

Brennan's face went white. "Vincent. He moved up the timeline."

The ceiling started breaking above them.

Dale looked at his watch and screamed. "The main charges! Vincent changed the code! They're not set for twenty-five minutes anymore!"

"How long?" Captain Rodriguez shouted.

Dale checked his watch again, his hands shaking. "Sixty seconds. The whole mine will blow in sixty seconds."

The mountain groaned, and huge rocks started falling from the ceiling.

Maya grabbed Jake's arm, trying to pull him free from the rubble, but he was stuck too tightly.

Fifty seconds.

"Leave me!" Jake shouted. "Get Emma and run!"

"I'm not leaving you!" Maya screamed back.

Forty seconds.

Captain Rodriguez radioed for emergency evacuation, but her voice was drowned out by the sound of falling rock.

Thirty seconds.

Judge Brennan and Sheriff Dale ran for the exit, abandoning their prisoners.

Twenty seconds.

Maya pulled frantically at the rocks trapping Jake, but they wouldn't budge.

Ten seconds.

Maya looked into Jake's eyes and knew they were going to die together.

Five seconds.

Jake grabbed her hand. "I love you," he said.

"I love you too," Maya whispered.

Three seconds.

The mountain burst.

And Maya's world ended in fire and darkness.