The Ninth District - A Thriller

by Douglas Dorow

  “What’s that?”

  Jimmy stopped and Jack bumped into him. “Watch it.”

  “Sorry. What’s that ladder?” Jack shined his light on the wall about fifty feet in front of them.

  “It leads up to a tunnel with electrical conduit and stuff like that in it.”

  “We have to check it out. Electrical, communications, it’s a great place for him to be.”

  Jimmy took a step downstream towards the ladder when a horn sounded from behind them. Jimmy stopped in his tracks and Jack bumped into him again.

  “Did you hear something?”

  “Quiet,” Jimmy said. Two more blasts sounded and carried down the tunnel. “That’s Mike. Get to that ladder. There’s a water surge coming.”

  “What do you mean?” Jack asked.

  “Remember the stuff on the ceiling?” Jimmy unclipped one end of the safety rope from the back of Jack’s belt. “It probably started raining harder and all that rain made it to the sewer and it’s filling up and coming this way towards the river,” Jimmy said. “Go get up that ladder. I’ll be right behind you.”

  The Governor heard a muffled horn echo through the tunnel and walked to the opening above the ladder to investigate. He cocked his head one way and then the other to try to pick up any sounds besides the water passing by below. He heard voices and peeked around the corner. To his right he saw two people in coveralls with hard hats and headlamps, talking. He ducked back behind the corner and listened. He pulled his gun out of his pocket and held it in his right hand, his back against the wall. To his right he could see the reflections of the headlamps dancing on the walls as the two men continued to walk towards him. The gun felt cold in his hand and he gently rubbed the trigger with his finger as he tried to decide what to do.

  How could this be happening now? How many minutes left? He was so close. Were these men looking for him or exploring? He could hear voices now above the sound of the water. They were getting too close. Would they simply walk by? He couldn’t take the chance.

  The Governor realized he couldn’t aim down the tunnel to his right with his right arm. The wall was in the way. He switched the gun to his left hand and turned right to face the wall, standing just inside the opening so he wouldn’t expose himself to the men. He strained to hear what they were saying. He saw them point and heard them say something about the ladder. He had to stop them. The wall was a dark, gray blur in front of his face, the only light coming from the men’s headlamps. He peeked out around the corner, sighted down the barrel of the gun at the closer of the two men, and pulled the trigger.

  Jack stumbled and fell forward. His outstretched arms punctured the water and his face splashed the surface before his arms hit the bottom of the sewer. His hard hat fell off and floated away. A loud sound filled the tunnel, hurting his ears. The current tugged at his legs, threatening to pull him through the sewer towards the river. He dragged his hands on the bottom over the bricks to slow himself, but his legs swung to the left and started to float past his body. Jack clawed at the bottom, trying to stop, his fingertips just reaching the bottom. His body screamed for a breath as he continued to try to halt his trip down the sewer. He thought of the ladder on the side of the wall. If he hadn’t floated past yet, he needed to grab it. He rolled onto his back and ran his left hand over the rough bricks, searching for the ladder or something to grab on to.

  One man fell. The Governor shifted his aim to the second man, who was standing in the middle of the tunnel, and pulled the trigger again. His target fell back from the force of the shot and splashed into the water. The Governor watched as the body drifted by the ladder and kept watching as one headlamp and then the second disappeared and the tunnel became dark again. He leaned back into the wall to get his bearings in the total darkness. He shivered as much from the cold as from the excitement. The darkness was total. He used his senses to place himself back in the present. His ears rang from the gunshots and the water rushing past. He smelled the water and the mustiness of the sewer. Only his sense of touch was of any use in the dark, dank, noisy tunnel. His hand pushed against the brick wall to help him keep his balance.

  He had to get back and check on Vadim’s progress. They had minutes until the holiday system maintenance kicked in. It was their only chance to execute their plan.

  He shuffled back to the command post, guiding himself by touch along the wall until he found his light and equipment.

  Jack scraped his left hand along the wall. There was another bright flash and an explosion above him. His hand bumped into the ladder and he grabbed onto the vertical bar. His arm extended over his head as the water swept his body along. The force of the water threatened to rip him from the ladder. He gritted his teeth and hung on, vowing not to let the water win and carry him through the sewer out to the river. He’d never survive. He raised his other arm over his head and got another grip on the ladder. This relieved some of the stress in his left hand.

  Jack struggled to keep his face above the water so he could breathe. Something bumped into him. Jimmy! Jack reflexively reached out and grabbed onto his collar. The force pulling on his one hand gripping the ladder now doubled. “Come on, Jimmy,” Jack grunted through gritted teeth as he hung onto the ladder. Jimmy was lifeless, but Jack wasn’t going to let him go. He’d risked his life to bring Jack down here.

  The water surge couldn’t last much longer, could it? Jack felt his grip on the ladder weakening. He wiggled one finger, then another, to relieve some of the stress, but with the water dragging over both of them, he had to choose, let go of Jimmy or hang on. One finger slipped from the ladder, then another. Two fingers wrapped around the bar. Maybe he and Jimmy could make it together. But, Jack had a family. Jack’s hand slipped from the ladder and he grabbed at the wall to find another way to stop them as the water swept them away.

  He grabbed onto Jimmy’s collar with both hands, determined not to lose him, when he suddenly jerked to a stop. Something yanked at his waist and Jimmy slipped from his grip. Jack stabbed in the dark to find him, but Jimmy was gone. The water pulled at Jack as he hung in place, something pulling at his waist. He twisted his head to get it above the water so he could get a breath. He felt at his waist and found that the rope from his safety belt had snagged on something.

  “Vadim, just a second, I can’t hear you.” The Governor adjusted the headset. “My ears are ringing from gun shots and water’s roaring through the sewer.” He put his hands on either side of his head and pushed the ear muffs from the headset tightly against his head. “Say again, please.”

  “We have three minutes,” Vadim said. “You are ready and OK?”

  “Yeah, I’m ready. The equipment is set and the tunnel appears to be high enough to stay dry.”

  “You don’t need to hear me. When you see the green light, enter the code and hit enter. Be ready.”

  “Vadim, I’m ready.” The Governor looked at his left forearm under the light. He’d written the coded string of letters and numbers in permanent marker on his skin from his wrist to his elbow. He was ready. His ears still rang. He pulled the headset free. Three minutes couldn’t go fast enough.

  Jack felt his heels hit the bottom of the sewer. The water surge was past and the tunnel was draining. He saw a light coming from the utility tunnel at the top of the ladder.

  He stood up and noticed that his boots were gone. They must’ve been ripped from his feet by the water. He felt for the gun and found that it was gone. He pulled at the rope secured to his safety belt and found the other end attached to the ladder. Jimmy must’ve clipped it to the ladder as he drifted by and saved his life.

  Jimmy was dead. The Governor had tried to kill Ross and Jack. He’d had enough. Jack grabbed onto the ladder and put one sock-covered foot onto the first rung. His arms were tired. He started to climb. It was time to end this and stop the Governor. Jack peered over the lip into the utility tunnel. Twenty-five feet ahead, the Governor sat on the floor of the tunnel with his hands on a keyboard.

  Ja
ck was trying to decide what to do when he heard the sound of the horn echoing through the sewer again. He ducked down so the Governor wouldn’t see him and hung onto the ladder. Another surge? Jack felt the air move as it was pushed ahead by the water and he heard the roar approaching. He risked a peek over the edge and saw the Governor getting up. He felt the water pushing on his legs as he stood on the ladder.

  The Governor heard the horn and the sound of water rushing through the sewer. He had to take a quick look to make sure he was going to stay dry. He grabbed his flashlight, walked towards the end of the tunnel, and pointed the beam upstream where he saw the water churning through the sewer. He looked back at his controller. He’d be OK. The water wasn’t getting any higher. Two minutes to go. He took a step back towards his outpost when something grabbed his leg.

  Jack used his legs to push himself off of the ladder into the utility tunnel and grab onto the Governor’s leg. He locked an elbow around his ankle and held on. The Governor swung the flashlight and hit Jack in the head. Jack twisted and pulled. The Governor fell on top of him and Jack turned over and twisted again to try and gain the advantage. The Governor hit him again with the flashlight. Jack leaned back and they both fell over the edge into the roiling water.

  Chapter 55

  “Hey, Jack. You OK?”

  Bright lights shined in his eyes. Jack turned his head and threw up. First, a gush of water and then dry heaves as his body tried to rid itself of the water and grime of the sewers.

  “Are you OK, Jack?” Ross asked.

  Jack spit and looked around. He was lying on the floor of the sewer, soaking wet. His shoes were missing. Ross and Mike, the sewer crew foreman, knelt by him with lights on their helmets and flashlights in their hands.

  “Where’s Jimmy?” Mike asked.

  Jack struggled to sit up. He looked at Mike, then down the dark length of the sewer. It was just the three of them. “Have any water?” he whispered.

  Ross handed him a bottle of water. Jack took a swig, sloshed the water around in his mouth and spit it out.

  “Where’s Jimmy?” Mike asked again.

  Jack took a long drink of water, looked at Mike and then back down the tunnel. “I don’t know. I think the Governor shot him.” Jack paused and looked back at Mike. “The first water surge got us. Somehow he tied me off on this ladder. Saved my life. But he got swept away.”

  “How about the Governor?” Ross asked.

  “Yeah. He’s down there too.” Jack nodded in the direction the water flowed. “The second surge took him.”

  “We have to get you out of here. Can you walk?” Ross asked. He reached down with his good arm and helped Jack stand up.

  Jack pointed to the utility tunnel above them. “Can you get up that ladder with one good arm and see what the Governor left behind? He had a keyboard or something. Make sure it isn’t on.”

  “We talked the Fed into staying offline. I’ll bring Sure Thing back down here and he can check it out.” Ross put his arm around Jack’s waist. “We need to get you out of here.”

  “I can make it, Junior. Just go kind of slow. I don’t have any shoes on.” Jack lifted his sock-covered foot to show Ross.

  “The rain’s stopped, so we can go back to where you came in without a worry of any more water surging through,” Mike said.

  “We need to get a crew down here to look for Jimmy and the Governor. Think you can lead them, Mike?” Jack asked.

  “No problem.”

  “OK, get me out of here. I’m kind of claustrophobic.”

  The winch pulled Jack up through the manhole. Ross pulled the cable to move Jack over the pavement so he could stand on solid ground and unclip himself. Jack looked around and took a deep breath. It was dark out. “What time is it?”

  “A little after two,” Ross answered.

  “I missed the fireworks,” Jack said.

  “Jack!” Julie appeared out of the dark, ran up, and threw her arms around him. Jack winced. “Are you OK?” she asked.

  Jack returned the hug and buried his face in her hair. “I’m OK. Just a little beat up. Glad to be out of that hole." He gave her a squeeze to make sure she was real. "Sorry we missed the fireworks.”

  “There’s always next year,” she said.

  Jack pulled back, looked her in the face and smiled. “I’d like you to meet Special Agent Ross Fruen.”

  Julie turned, an arm around Jack. “It’s nice to meet you, Agent Fruen. If you don’t mind, I’ll be taking Jack home now to make sure he’s OK.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Nice to meet you too.”

  Jack took hold of Julie’s hand and they started to walk away.

  “I’ll take care of things here, Jack.”

  Jack looked back over his shoulder. “You better, Junior. It’s your case.”

  Epilogue

  A kid ran by. He was maybe fourteen years old. Jack didn’t even think about giving chase. Instead, he just yelled, “The tortoise and the hare, kid, the tortoise and the hare!” The man running next to Jack laughed.

  Plodding along, Jack looked ahead. Once they ran across the Hennepin Avenue Bridge they’d have one mile left to reach the finish line in the center of downtown. He couldn’t believe a week ago he’d been down below these streets chasing the Governor.

  Jack looked to his left, the same guy was still there. “Should we go see if we can catch the kid?” The guy nodded and they picked up the pace.

  Jack crossed the finish line behind a guy wearing a Speedo and a lei. His own costume was his standard dark blue t-shirt with the gold FBI across the chest. They couldn’t catch the kid. He grabbed a bottle of ice-cold water and looked for his family among the throngs of people on the sidewalks. He knew about where they would be and finally found them in the crowd in front of the Pantages Theater. The kids were sitting on the curb eating pink and blue shaved ice. Julie and Ross stood behind them on the sidewalk.

  “Hey, Dad! Did you win?” Willy asked.

  Jack laughed. “Not quite. I didn’t even see my time. I finished behind a Hawaiian wearing a lei.” He looked at the crowd standing on the sidewalks filling the block on both sides of the street. “Did all of these people come just to watch me run a 10K?”

  “Funny Dad.” Lynn said. “We’re here for the Torchlight Parade."

  Jack squeezed in between Ross and Julie and gave Julie a kiss.

  “How was the run?” she asked. She handed him a dry shirt to put on.

  “It was OK. I’m old and slow. But, it felt good.” He took another drink of water and changed shirts. He leaned over to Ross. “Sorry you couldn’t do your triathlon. How’s the arm?”

  Ross flapped and flexed his arm. “It’s getting better.”

  “No body yet?”

  “Not yet. I think the Governor’s floating his way to The Gulf Of Mexico. Maybe they’ll find his dead, bloated body in New Orleans.”

  “Yeah, maybe. I’ll believe it when they’ve found the body.” Jack looked up the street. The parade was finally approaching. “Get ready kids.”

  A group dressed in red t-shirts with the Target logo on the chest pushed red shopping carts past in a synchronized dance. They stopped in front of the kids and started tossing candy to the crowd. Jack watched his kids reach out and try to grab their share of candy from the street. He looked at Julie, who was smiling. Things were good.

  The Shriners came next in their little go-carts driving in circles down the street. Ross punched Jack in the arm. “Shouldn’t you be out there in your bureau car?” he asked.

  “Funny for a guy with no car,” Jack answered. He leaned over to Ross. “So, what’s next for you? The SAC give you any options?”

  Ross smiled. “He said now was the time to ask. I asked for HRT.”

  “Hmm, Hostage Rescue Team. So, you’re ready to give up small-time bank criminals and go after terrorists? Sounds exciting.” Jack stuck out his hand, “Congratulations.”

  “I figured now’s the time to do it. And this case was exciting, bigger t
hen a onetime bank heist. I’m young, in shape, unattached. The SAC said to report to Quantico after Labor Day, so I have about a month to get my shoulder ready. He’s giving me the shot, but I need to earn the spot.”

  “You’ll do fine,” Jack said. “OK, kids. Time to share some of that loot with Mom, me and Ross.” He put his hand down. “Daddy tax time.”

  The last float of the parade with the Aquatennial royalty passed in front of them. The Commodore, dressed in his whites looking like a boat captain, the Queen of the Lakes and the princesses in their white dresses and tiaras, all waved the parade wave. Willy stood up and saluted. A princess blew him a kiss and he turned his head, scrunched up his shoulders, embarrassed, and sat back down. "I think you have an admirer Willy, or was that kiss for Ross?”

  Ross answered, “Wasn’t mine.”

  “Willy has a girlfriend,” Lynn teased her brother.

  As the final float passed, the people on the sidewalk started to move away from their stations on the curb. Many started heading towards the river. This was the last day of the summer celebration and a large fireworks display marked the end.

  “OK, gang.” Jack said. “What’s say we all wonder down to the river and watch the fireworks.”

  Julie squeezed Jack’s hand. “That would be nice since we missed them last week.”

  The kids stood up. “You joining us, Ross?” Jack asked.

  “Wouldn’t miss it.”

  Frequently Asked Reader Questions

  Q: Are the tunnels below the city real?

  A: I haven’t been in them, but I’ve seen pictures on websites from the Urban Explorers who have been down in them and on television stories on the local news. Minneapolis got its start harnessing the power of the Mississippi to transport goods and to use in the grain mills built along it.