by Craig Ardolino

Created on: March 04, 2011

Trapped

Jessica glanced at her depth gauge. Based on what Todd told her she should see a small cave at this depth. In her left hand she carried an underwater flashlight, but it wasn’t necessary to use yet. The noontime sun, even filtered by one hundred and twenty feet of water, provided plenty of light. Although visibility was great, there was little to no fish and no plant life. The scenery was depressing.

Before searching for the cave, Jessica checked her air supply. She was pleased to note that her main tank remained nearly full. Unlike her husband, she was not an air-hog. Although at this depth she would consume air faster, she could spend twenty minutes searching for the skeleton Todd supposedly found. She shook her head in frustration.  Something had to be done with her husband. He was not the same man she married.

A moment later Jessica found the cave, only it wasn’t a ‘cave’ in the traditional sense of the word. This narrow tunnel extended into the east side of Hawaii’s foundation, it was nothing more than a vacant lava tube. Although Kilauea was still an active volcano, Jessica did not fear any lava from the tube. She was concerned about entering the narrow hole. Cave diving was extremely dangerous in shallow dives.  It was insanity at this depth without a partner.

She could not imagine what possessed Todd to enter the cave in the first place. She paused before entering. What if all he saw was a hallucination? Todd was not an experienced diver, and should never have dived to this depth. It was likely he suffered from too much nitrogen bubbles in his blood and mistook a natural rock formation as a skeleton.

Todd had argued with her, claiming he saw a bullet hole in the skull and several gold coins littering the ground. Because he already did a deep dive, he could not accompany her without risking serious damage to his vital organs. She left him at the hotel after getting the coordinates. Wouldn’t it be something if he truly stumbled upon a buried treasure? She certainly didn’t need the money, but the thrill of such a find! What if the coins dated back to the 1800's?

On her way to the boat she tried calling her brother on the phone. Each time the call went to voice mail. She felt a twinge of uneasiness. Something is wrong with Michael, she thought. In fact, she had felt edgy all day. Maybe he was on the boat and shut his phone off? He wasn’t on the boat, but Todd was. “I thought I left you at

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