Linda stood up and shivered from the cold. Bill hadn’t
mentioned any underground caverns on Yonaguni, so it was
likely that the room on the other side of the door wasn’t
common knowledge among the locals. It was probably being
used for some secret, and possibly illegal, activity. Her years
of work as a researcher for the Seattle newspaper had sharpened
her investigative instincts and she automatically began a mental review of the facts.
Yonaguni was a tiny island far from the provincial government
in Okinawa and even further from the national authorities in Tokyo.
It was, however, relatively close to mainland China and Taiwan.
Its position would make it an ideal location for a drug smuggling
operation, especially if the smugglers could come and go without
being noticed. They could use the island as a manufacturing,
storage or transfer point without the knowledge of the small native population.
Linda knew she should turn and flee back up the tunnel
as fast as she could. If drug traffickers really were using this cave,
they would be dangerous people and they would probably kill her
if they found out that she had discovered their secret hideout.
She knew all this, and still she operated the metal latch and slowly pushed the large door open.
