Page 38 of Taken from Her
"Or as a place to bring people who couldn't call for help," Lavender said quietly.
The implication hung between them as Diana continued documenting the cave's interior. The space was larger than it appeared from outside, with multiple alcoves and passages that could hide evidence or provide concealment. More importantly, it was completely isolated during high tide, accessible only to someone who understood the coastal timing.
"There," Lavender pointed toward a narrow passage that led deeper into the cliff. "More light coming from back there."
Diana followed Lavender, both of them moving carefully over wet rocks that could turn treacherous without warning. The passage opened into a second chamber, this one with a natural skylight where erosion had created an opening to the surface above.
And scattered across the sand floor were personal items that made Diana's heart race.
Diana pulled supplies from her kit while trying to keep her voice steady. "Don't touch anything, but help me document what we're seeing."
A waterproof watch that could belong to anyone, but positioned deliberately on a flat rock. Scattered hair ties in a variety of colors. A small notebook with pages that had been torn out, leaving only blank sheets behind.
"Someone was definitely using this space," Lavender said, studying the arrangement without disturbing anything. "But for what?"
Diana photographed everything systematically, her training taking over despite the emotional impact of potentially finding evidence that connected to three missing women. "Storage, maybe. Or a place to keep people before transporting them elsewhere."
The cave's isolation would muffle sound and hide activity from casual observation, and the tide schedule would limit access.
"Diana," Lavender's voice carried a new tension. "Over here."
Diana joined her near the far wall where more items were partially buried in sand that looked deliberately disturbed. More personal effects, carefully arranged rather than randomly scattered.
"This is a staging area," Diana said, her professional analysis warring with personal horror at what they'd discovered. "Someone's been bringing people here, keeping them here, using this space for..." She couldn't finish the sentence.
Lavender moved closer, not to the evidence but to Diana, sensing her emotional reaction to discovering something that could finally break the case open while confirming their worst fears about what had happened to three women they both cared about.
"You found them," Lavender said softly. "Not the women themselves, but proof of what happened to them. This is the breakthrough the investigation needed."
Diana nodded, continuing to photograph evidence while her mind processed implications. This cave connected all three disappearances, provided the staging area that had been missing from their analysis, and offered forensic evidence that could lead to prosecution.
But standing in the space where Tara, Isabel, and Joanna had potentially been held against their will, Diana felt the case's emotional weight in ways that professional distance usually protected her from.
"I need to call this in," Diana said, reaching for her radio before remembering that the cave's location would block most signals. "We need to get a full forensics team out here before the tide changes."
"In a minute," Lavender said, moving closer. "First, just take a breath. You found them. You solved this."
Diana looked around the cave that had become a crime scene. Professional satisfaction mixed with personal relief and a deeper recognition that she couldn't have discovered this without Lavender's community knowledge.
"We solved this," Diana corrected. "I never would have found this cave without you."
The words hung between them in the filtered light, evidence of serious crimes scattered around them while waves echoed off stone walls. But underneath the professional success, Diana felt something else building.
The cave had become more than a crime scene. It was where they finally found answers and where the emotional stakes of protecting people they cared about had crystallized into something neither could ignore.
"We should secure the scene," Diana said, but made no move toward her equipment.
"We should," Lavender agreed, moving closer instead.
Outside, waves continued their rhythm against stone, marking time in a place that felt removed from everything except the two women who'd found each other while searching for others who'd been lost.
"There's another passage," Lavender said, pointing toward a narrow opening that led away from the evidence chamber. "It connects to a different part of the cave system."
Diana hesitated, torn between her duty to secure the crime scene and the growing awareness that she needed space to process what they'd discovered. The evidence wasn't going anywhere, and the tide schedule gave them time before anyone else could access this location.
"Show me," Diana said finally.
The passage wound through the cliff face before opening into a smaller, pristine chamber untouched by criminal activity. Here, filtered sunlight created patterns on clean sand, and the sound of waves provided a gentler ambiance.
