The Gilded Sanctum

by Keith Veverka

  Walker glanced down, dejected. For all the security chief’s faults, he knew Castillo was right. Chasing down some 100-year-old myth that may or may not prove to be true would take too much time, and the clock was running out. Walker also realized he was literally grasping at straws because he needed this victory so badly. He needed to find Amanda for a plethora of his own reasons, least of all to provide closure for her father. Therefore, following his only lead — a dubious story about a labyrinth of secret, nineteenth-century tunnels built beneath a prestigious private school — was his only chance, but it was simply too outlandish to be taken seriously. It finally occurred to Walker that he had lost his grip on reality, and along with it, his last best hope to find Amanda.

  Chapter 33

  Walker exited the administration building into the cool night air. He was deflated. All dead ends. No leads. And Castillo had hamstrung his investigation from the beginning. This school was not going to give up its secrets — not without one hell of a fight — and Walker just wasn’t prepared for the battle. With the backing of the FBI he might have had a chance, but on his own with no support and everyone working against him, discovering the truth was a nearly insurmountable task. He was alone.

  The former agent was reminded of his crucial moments in that adjacent office, his rifle carefully slid in the small space where the door was ajar. The fateful shot. The feeling of emptiness afterward. Like the ghosts of Mosby, the past was coming back to haunt him. He obviously couldn't save Amanda, was grasping at Civil War folklore to do so and may have put Meredith’s life in danger. Perhaps his own. How far would Castillo go to stop him? And what was happening here that was so important to hide? Walker didn’t know if he cared anymore.

  He trudged to his vehicle, still parked in the lot across from the admin building, and opened the driver-side door. Slumping into the seat, he pulled a half-empty bottle from the floor. Walker had managed to stay away from the alcohol for two days, but now he desperately needed it to ease the pain. As he unscrewed the bottle’s cap, he could feel the darkness returning, the headache getting stronger, the sickness overwhelming him. He needed this drink to settle him down, remove the anxiousness and bring upon the numbness, which would soothe the pain and help him forget. Take him to another place. A quiet place. At least temporarily.

  Walker concluded that he really didn’t care what happened to him at this moment, almost wished for Castillo to carry through on his threat, or for Arcuri to kill him after he couldn’t find his daughter. For all its good intentions, this investigation was over and the case was closed. There was simply nothing else he could do. His feeble attempt to crawl his way back to the surface by finding a criminal’s daughter was foolhardy at best, and his misguided quest for some type of redemption had failed miserably. It was over. Walker reached over and opened the glove box, the handgun falling into his hand. He held it for several moments and stared at it while making a momentous choice.

  He turned his attention from the gun and lifted the bottle to take a long drink, needing some liquid courage to go through with the unthinkable. The bottle vibrated in his unsteady hands as he raised it to his lips. As the liquid touched his tongue, a light from far off on campus, shined through the bottom of the brown—tinted bottle and reflected brightly in his eyes. He stopped before the liquid entered his mouth and slowly lowered the bottle, as the source of the light came into focus. Walker admired the three-story brick building with the smooth white pillars adorning its entrance. His eyes tightened on the ancient—looking columns, and he instantly realized the importance of the building and how it might assist him.

  ***

  The Map Room, located on the basement level of Douglas Library — named after the famous inventor who graduated from WA and gave a large donation for the new structure to be built shortly before he died in 1973 — was no larger than a closet and dimly lit. It obviously wasn’t the most popular location in the library, but the cramped space and low lighting did not deter Walker from his very important task.

  After he had inquired about old maps of the campus at the circulation desk, a student led him downstairs and almost looked embarrassed as he announced this small space as ‘the map room.’ Contributing to the claustrophobia were the shelves that surrounded the interior of the room, each containing maps from the time period neatly typed on the tiny name tags below each shelf. Walker studied the shelves for several minutes, finally pulling some maps from the earlier dates as well as the more recent collections.

  He spread the maps out on the only other space — a rectangular wooden table which was worn and splintered, probably its final destination before it was thrown out — located in the center of the room. Walker sat in the only chair — another potential yard sale buy — and oriented himself with the most recent drawings of the campus layout to confirm what he could already picture in his mind based on his brief time at the school. He then compared the current campus layout to the construction and architectural designs through the years, which were also stacked neatly on the shelves. These blueprints were then compared to the earliest map renditions of the campus until he found what he was looking for. And there it was.

  The oldest buildings on campus were the current administration building and the dean’s residence. Both of the buildings had been updated, as evidenced through the construction records, but largely maintained their original cosmetic appearance with only underlying structural repairs.

  However, one of the campus’s other original buildings had been completely redesigned and only a small portion of the initial structure remained. It had been extensively refurbished in the 1990s and its outward modern appearance was now significantly different than its previous architectural design. However, according to the construction blueprints, an older section of the building still remained, hidden deep within the confines of the present renovation. Walker knew that if an entrance to a tunnel system existed, it would be there.

  Chapter 34

  Walker exited the library with a bounce in his step, buoyed by his discovery and emboldened to uncover one of the secrets of this campus. He cleared the pillars and bounded down the front steps of the library toward the Center Grove, a tree-lined and sidewalk-crossed quad in the center of campus which formed the nucleus of Washington Academy. The library sat on the edge of the Center Grove, an intersection of human architecture and natural beauty, which had gone back to the earliest designs of the campus.

  Darkness had fallen, so the trees had become shadows and the cool breeze rustling through the school grounds sent a shiver down his spine. He had only reached the second landing and was about to span the last set of steps when a figure emerged from the darkness below him. Walker halted, dead in his tracks. It was Castillo.

  The security chief looked up at him with a renewed sense of purpose. “The boys’ dorm,” he said excitedly.

  Walker was stunned and stood breathless, but said nothing.

  “The boys’ dorm,” Castillo repeated. “That’s where we need to look for the tunnel.”

  “How did you?” Walker started to ask, but before he could finish, Castillo began walking up the stairs, until he was only a few steps from Walker.

  “After you left, I started thinking that maybe you were right. Why didn’t I have video footage of Amanda? Why couldn’t I figure this out? As much as I’m sure you hate me right now, I’m an investigator just like you. And just like you, I’ve been immensely frustrated by this case. But what if we couldn’t figure this out because they were underground? I think you might be right.”

  Walker was stunned by the admission from his nemesis, someone he didn’t necessarily hate, but had certainly written off as no help to this investigation whatsoever. And based on what he had just discovered in the library, he agreed with Castillo’s assessment about the male residence hall. He simply nodded.

  Castillo continued. “We have a complete collection of the campus’s schematics in our database when we installed the security system, so I just checked. And aside from the
admin building and the dean’s home, a section of the boys’ dorm was the first on campus. And if I was looking for a perfect staging area from which to launch a secret society, that would be it.”

  Still in shock from his own discovery and Castillo’s sudden revelation, Walker didn’t know what to say. “I didn’t think you were on my side.”

  Castillo quickly shut down the good feelings. “I’m not. But if there’s something there, I need to know about it. Remember, this campus is my top priority.”

  Walker didn’t really care why, but for the moment at least, he had a partner. “Let’s go.”

  ***

  The two men hurried across the campus and entered the male dormitory only minutes later. The investigators immediately traveled to the oldest section of the building, based on the schematics Castillo had downloaded onto a small tablet he had brought with him. Castillo held the device like a Geiger counter in front of him as they descended a set of stairs into a basement hallway where multiple rooms existed for the various clubs and organizations on campus.

  They moved down the hallway methodically, studying the doors, each decorated with an array of symbols and words representing the club that it housed. As they neared the end of the hall, Walker’s attention was drawn to a blue door with an assortment of decorations denoting an environmental club on campus. However, directly in the center of the door was a drawing of a tree which struck a remarkable resemblance to a famous one.

  Walker halted and pointed to the door. “That looks like an elm tree to me.”

  Having already passed the door, Castillo paused and turned. “So?”

  Walker grinned as he knelt down and ran his finger over the outline of the tree. “This is a very famous elm tree, Mr. Castillo. An elm that was located near Boston Common, where one of the very first protests against the British government took place. It’s called the Liberty Tree.”

  “The what?” Castillo asked.

  Walker laughed as he made the connection in his mind, still tracing the tree with his hand. “You ever hear the Jefferson quote? The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of Patriots and Tyrants. It was during the American Revolution when this tree became a symbol of the growing rebellion against the British.”

  Castillo looked down at Walker. “Rebellion? By the thirteen colonies?”

  “Yes. Led by none other than the Sons of Liberty.”

  Chapter 35

  Similar to the many other doors on campus, this one was secured by a keycard system. The security chief swiped his card in front of the black pad to the right of the door, and it unlocked with a distinctive click.

  “Who has access to this door?” Walker asked.

  “Only the students presently enrolled in this organization. We enter the access code onto their individual key cards, but I won’t be able to check that list of names until I return to the security center,” said Castillo as he entered the room.

  Walker stepped cautiously behind him, knowing the names on that list would be important to see eventually, but for now, the cryptic symbols on the door were enough of a reason to search the room and possibly move this investigation forward.

  The room was about double in size to the dormitory room Walker had seen earlier, and it was furnished much more as meeting space than a living quarters. Two ugly cloth sofas, obviously hand-me-downs from another generation, lined the walls and an assortment of metal, padded, and wooden chairs were arranged awkwardly about the space. The floor was covered with a dark blue shag carpet with stains of varying degrees and sizes spread throughout the thick fibers. On the walls hung an assortment of annual club photos — the school year prominently featured on the decorative frames — which included all the members of the organization for that particular year with their accompanying student portrait. Walker glanced at the framed pictures, but could not locate a current one as they all appeared to be at least ten years old.

  Castillo made his way to the right side of the room, where a four—feet high counter extended out from the wall. He searched the cluttered shelves built into the back of the counter, rifling through craft supplies, file folders, and some old snack bags, but found nothing of any interest. He turned and noticed a second door, a hollow door with a cheap brass handle that appeared to lead into a closet. Castillo reached for the handle and opened it. A cold rush of air met him at the entryway. Surprised by the rapid change in temperature, he stayed silent, but motioned for Walker to follow him by snapping his fingers. Walker hurried across the room and followed Castillo as he stepped inside the closet.

  Darkness. Castillo felt around for a light switch, but there wasn’t one. He put his hands out in front of him, feeling his way through the black void. More shelves made of untreated and splintering wood lined the walls of the narrow space, again stacked with what felt like old art supplies and boxes of tossed-out materials. Walker stood motionless while Castillo moved to the back of the small closet and pushed against the surface. The wall moved with his hand. He instinctively pulled back, bewildered by the pliability and feel of the wall. It was cloth. Castillo surveyed the back wall again with both hands, gripped it tightly, and yanked on it with a violent tug. Ripped from its nails, a long black drapery dropped to the ground and soft yellow light instantly flooded the room. Walker squinted as he tried to make sense of the passageway before them.

  The two men exchanged glances as Castillo pulled a handgun from the shoulder holster under his windbreaker and stepped into the tunnel.

  Chapter 36

  Now that the closet was somewhat lit by the glow from the tunnel entrance, Walker studied the inside of the space and realized that had entered some sort of inner chamber. The texture of the walls appeared to be rough and cracking as was the uneven floor, reminding Walker of masonry work from the 1800s. Thick wooden beams ran across the length of the ceiling and decaying plaster was smeared between the beams. The shelves were obviously a recent addition, used for simple storage, but it was clear that the space itself was the remaining section of the original structure that had once stood here.

  Walker exhaled as he realized the story of the tunnels was real. He wondered how many other underground passageways traversed the layout of the campus deep beneath its surface. He was curious who had discovered these tunnels and when, but that was a mystery for another time. Right now, it was about Amanda Bryson, and this tunnel could very well lead him to her. He slowly entered.

  ***

  The two men walked gingerly along the dirt floor of the tunnel, attempting to stay quiet, unsure of what was ahead of them or what they might encounter. The lighting in the man-made channel was intermittent and dim, so they were also being cautious of how they stepped. Walker assumed Castillo was carrying a loaded weapon, so any kind of slip or fall could have tragic results.

  And of course, Walker still didn’t trust Castillo, so he was more than happy to let him go first. The dark tunnel provided an entirely plausible opportunity for an “accident” to happen, and Walker didn’t want to end up with a gun pointed at him from behind. Although shooting Walker may not have been Castillo’s intention when they first entered the tunnel, it might simply present itself as too precious an opportunity for him to pass up. As far as Walker was concerned, no one else even knew this tunnel existed, so being shot in the back and left for dead would have been all too easy.

  But Castillo had seemed genuinely interested when they discovered the passageway and was almost excited to enter it. Perhaps this would now be a joint investigation. It was possible that Castillo really didn’t know who had done this and was merely defensive from the beginning about his inability to protect the students and identify the culprit on his cameras. Had Castillo been purposely obstructing his investigation just so he could save face? Simply make himself look better when the former FBI agent couldn’t figure it out either?

  Perhaps this was Castillo’s chance to make amends, or an opportunity to solve this case and get back into the good graces of Ellis, so he could declare
with confidence that his campus was safe once again. Or maybe it was simply his law enforcement background — that no matter what you did or how corrupt you had become — you still believed that it mattered. Whatever the reason, he was sure it was better to have Castillo on his side than not.

  As Walker’s thoughts drifted, he also studied the inside of the tunnel. A string of cords had been rigged along the upper edge of the dirt ceiling, and about every twenty feet or so, a small lightbulb had been latched. Because of the distance between bulbs and the low wattage of each one, the tunnel was dark, but still relatively easily to negotiate with their footing. Unfortunately, the ceiling of the tunnel was barely five feet high, so the men had to crouch as they hiked through the narrow passage.

  The two men followed the cramped tunnel through several oxbow bends and turns until finally the dark passageway unveiled a stronger natural light from up ahead, appearing to be moonlight shining in from the other end of the tunnel. Walker encountered another wall of cold air, indicating the exit was close. He calculated they had marched just over two hundred yards from campus, so they were now well into the wooded acres that surrounded the school.

  After one last bend, the tunnel’s floor inclined upward to an opening which was barely larger than a small door, surrounded by large rocks and vegetation on both sides. This entrance was well hidden from the outside world, and if Walker had been a partisan ranger, he could see how the tunnel had been extremely effective for hiding men and material. Both men slowed their movements and tracked at a slower pace as they neared the exit of the dirt and rock enclosure.

  Castillo instinctively moved to the right side of the holed opening while Walker edged to the left, both men naturally channeling their law enforcement training. Castillo reached into the back of his jeans with his left hand, removing another firearm, and handing it to Walker without looking as he closed in on the opening. In his peripheral vision, Walker glimpsed the offer of the gun, and although initially surprised by the gesture, intuitively grabbed the weapon as the two former police officers reached the end of the makeshift tunnel.