“Where does that leave us?” Walter asked.
“I noticed two things that may help us out. One, there’s a door up the hallway a few yards from us on the opposite side of the hall. I don’t know what’s behind the door, but chances are there’s no camera since there’s one in the corridor. Two, because the camera at the far end oscillates there is about a five or six-second window when the door is out of view of the camera.”
“So exactly what are you suggesting?” Walter asked. “We all race across the corridor before the camera catches sight of us in hopes that this room will prove to be our temporary haven?”
“Basically. But there’s a little more to that. I noticed that the corridor is both natural and manmade. Closest to us would be the part of the corridor that was constructed by nature, over the expanse of time, possibly over thousands of years. The rest of the corridor was dug out by man. When? Why? I don’t know. The thing is that the part of the cave that was excavated was cut smooth, both walls and ceiling. This part of the cave was left alone except for adding light fixtures and cutting in a door. What’s good for us it that the walls are somewhat curved. Because of this and the layout of the ceiling fixtures, there are some shadowy spots next to the walls. One such spot exists very near the door we’re seeking access to.”
“And that means what?” Candace asked.
“I don’t believe we can reach the door before the camera picks us up. But we can divide the area we need to cross by stopping at the darkened space against the wall. When the camera swings away again we rush over to the room. I will go first because if the room is locked I should be able to break through it before the camera swings back to me.”
“But we have no idea what’s inside that room,” Candace stated.
“No.”
“It could be full of bad guys,” Walter said.
“Yes,” Stone simply said.
For a few tense moments, no one said anything.
“I’m in,” Candace finally said.
“Yeah, me too,” Walter added, a little reluctantly.
CHAPTER 23
James Tarter pulled into the short drive that led up to the motel. He stopped by the room that the men with guns had entered. He just needed the number of the room. It was number eighteen. From there he drove over to the office. As he slipped out of his car he felt a keen apprehension that he didn’t quite understand. He absently touched the Glock at his side hidden underneath his pullover shirt.
A burly man was sitting on a short sofa eating cookies when James walked in. “Hi,” James said. The man returned his greeting. James looked over at the counter. No one was behind there. He turned to the man. “Do you know where the clerk is?”
“I’m the clerk,” the man said as though irritated. “How can I help you.” The man stood up. He was several inches taller than James and at least fifty pounds heavier.
James took out his wallet and showed him his FBI badge. “I’ve got some questions for you.”
The man eyed him curiously. “What about.” He seemed a little nervous.
“You had some visitors here a few minutes ago. I want to know what they wanted.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
James realized that something was wrong. “You’re not the motel clerk, are you?”
The man didn’t answer right away. “Yes, I am.”
James thought a moment. “Okay. I need you to tell me who’s staying in room eighteen and how long they’ve got the room rented.”
“I … eh.”
“Don’t you think …”
A large fist suddenly slammed into James’ face cutting off his words. He was jolted backward halfway across the room, lost his footing and fell back against the wall. For a split moment, he seemed about to speak then abruptly closed his eyes and slumped down to the floor bleeding from his nose and mouth.
CHAPTER 24
“Let’s go,” Stone whispered, and began to sprint across the wide corridor to the darkened spot several feet from the single door they hoped to go through. Candace ran closely behind Stone matching him step for step. Walter lagged several feet behind Candace and was slightly out of breath when he stopped beside them.
“No alarms,” Stone said. “It appears we’ve escaped the lens of the camera.”
“Unless the alarms are silent,” Walter countered.
“Let’s hope that’s not the case,” Candace said.
“I’m going to assume we’re okay,” Stone said. He gazed up at the camera down the hall. “You two wait here.” He timed the cameras swing then dashed over to the door. The door was composed of thick metal. He quickly tried the knob. The door was locked. He mentally clicked on his artificial arm and immediately used its power to push the door inward breaking the lock. He squeezed inside and pulled the door closed, all the while he was still mentally timing the pendulous swing of the camera. When it began to swing in the opposite direction he opened the door and motioned for the others to come to him.
Candace raced ahead with Walter at her heels.
Something small abruptly scurried across the hallway and into a slight umbra against the wall not far from them. Walter saw it but dared not stop to determine what it was. He slipped into the room behind Candace. Stone closed the door.
“I saw something run across the hallway,” Walter said.
“What did you see?” Candace asked.
“I don’t know. It moved too quickly. It was probably just a mouse.”
Stone flipped on the flashlight and slowly panned the beam over the room.
“Looks like a janitor’s room,” Walter commented. On the floor, a few feet to the right of the door was a mop sink. Standing next to it was a mop and mop bucket. About four feet above the mop sink was a small rolled-up length of water hose hanging off a flat metal hook. The rest of the room consisted of three long rows of metal shelves.
“I don’t see another way out,” Walter said in a rather rough tone. He looked to Stone. “So now what?”
Stone didn’t answer. He was busy studying the room, looking at the walls, the ceiling, and finally the floor.
Candace began walking between the rows of shelves. They were stacked with rolls of paper towels, toilet paper, soaps, cleaning products, towels, wash rags, and a host of toiletries. “Lots of stuff in here,” she said. “I wonder how many people we got down here?”
“Don’t know,” Stone answered absently. “But I may have found another way out of here.”
“And how’s that?” Walter asked.
Stone stepped over to the mop sink and knelt beside it. Adjacent to the sink was a large drain. A metal grate sat over the hole on a declined ledge to make it flush with the floor. Stone lifted the grate and set it to the side. The revealed hole was about a foot and a half square.
Walter shook his head. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
Stone shined the flashlight into the hole. “Just what I hoped. This floor was built over an old arroyo that ran through the cave.”
Walter sneered. “And you think that I’m going to fit through that small hole?”
“The opening has been narrowed by a layer of concrete. I can take care of that. The gully itself is much wider than the drain opening, and from here to the bottom is three feet or better. That should be enough room for us.”
Walter shook his head.
Stone closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he began to slam his left fist repeatedly into the concrete around the hole. At once chunks of concrete began dropping off into the gully. Gradually the hole began to widen until it had grown another two feet. Lengths of Rebar that had been embedded in the concrete were suddenly revealed. He bent them easily over to the side.
Candace walked over to Stone just as he finished his demolition.
“I’m offline,” Stone answered her look. He began removing the loose rocks from out of the hole. “I’ll try to use my arm sparingly, but some situations like this can’t be helped.”
“I understan
d,” she answered.
“I probably should go first,” Stone said. He climbed into the hole not waiting for a reply. He abruptly stood back up and turned to Walter. “There’s a little light up ahead so I shouldn’t need the flashlight. You should probably take up the rear.”
“Sure, boss,” Walter answered, somewhat sarcastically, and took the flashlight.
Stone squatted and began crawling through the drain.
“I don’t mind going last,” Candace said.
“No,” Walter said. “He’s right. I was just messing with him.”
“Okay,” she said, and smiled weakly. She still had concerns about Walter keeping up with them. She turned and crawled down into the drain behind Stone.
Walter eyed the hole, exhaled a breath of pent up air, and was about to step down into the hole when he heard the slight creak of the door behind him. He swung around bringing the beam of the flashlight to the edge of the door. He gasped. Just inside the partially open door was a huge, black spider. With the lock broke it was able to push the door open enough that it could get through. It was the largest he had ever seen. He figured that it must be a tarantula, though he had never seen one in person and wasn’t thrilled to see one now.
It inched toward him. Then he noticed something odd. The skin of the spider wasn’t hairy like all the other spiders he had seen. This one was smooth like polished metal. In addition to the oddity of the smooth skin, it had large, flaming red eyes.
He decided it wasn’t real. It couldn’t possibly be. He thought it might be an automated toy. Nevertheless, when it suddenly raced toward him, he panicked. Instinctively, as it came into range, he brought a big right foot up and kicked the spider back across the room to the door.
It landed on its back and its long hairless legs began treading air struggling to right itself. Walter limped over to the big arachnid. His foot was hurting. He felt like he had just kicked a rock. He pulled the door open just a bit wider intending to sweep it out into the corridor with his foot, when it suddenly flipped over onto its legs and leaped up toward his face.
Walter swung the flashlight at the jumping spider knocking it into the hallway and smashing his light in the process as it made contact with the hard body. The room went instantly dark except for the weak light that crept through the slightly opened door. Walter pushed the door closed and tossed the broken flashlight across the floor.
The door wasn’t going to stay completely closed which meant the spider could return if he hadn’t killed it or disabled it. Walter thought a second then pulled out his pocketknife. With some effort, he went to his knees and wedged the knife into the bottom of the door.
He limped back over to the open drain. His foot was suddenly throbbing.
“Walter,” Candace called.
“Coming,” he answered and squeezed himself between the walls of the drain and into the hole. He went to his knees and began crawling after the other two.
The natural cave drain was plenty big enough for Stone and Candace to crawl through, but for him, it felt cramped even though there was a little space to spare on either side of him. The floor was also a slight problem. Since it was part of the natural cave the floor was only smooth in a couple of spots. In other areas, it was rough and uneven.
He drug himself behind the other two for about forty feet before they abruptly stopped.
Voices were wafting down to them through another grating above them. Only a few stray words were distinguishable as though the speakers were often facing the other way.
“I hear three to four voices,” Stone whispered. They’re not very close to the grating, but still not a good place to go up.”
Stone began to move again crawling over the rough, rocky floor another twenty feet before stopping once more. There was another grate above them. This time there were no voices. It seemed a good place to go up.
This grating was wider than the one in the supply room. Stone figured that he and Candace would have no trouble pushing up through the existing hole, but Walter probably would.
After Stone and Candace exited the gully, Stone began pounding the concrete again to make the hole wide enough for Walter.
Walter looked a little bit embarrassed as he pushed his corpulent body out through the hole. His face was red and a bead of sweat had formed on his forehead.
They couldn’t tell what kind of room they were in. It was pitch black inside. In the near distance, they could hear a slight shuffling noise.
“Let’s have some light,” Stone said.
“Can’t,” Walter answered. “Flashlight is broken.”
Stone groped his way in the dark until he found a wall. Feeling along the wall he found a switch and flipped it on.
CHAPTER 25
They had followed the car from the motel to the mayor’s house at a great distance. When the car turned into the mayor’s driveway the taillights were just tiny beads of red lights. By the time Bass drove past the drive the car had disappeared.
Bass drove about a hundred yards past the driveway then pulled the car off to the side of the road. “Looks like they’ve called it a night,” Bass said.
“Yeah. I guess our assignment is over,” Darren said.
“You sound a little disappointed.”
“Yeah, a little. I guess I was in the mood for a little excitement. Get my mind off my troubles.”
“You know,” Bass began, “I think Tarter would want us to check out the grounds. Make sure nothing suspicious is going on.”
At first, Darren looked confused, then he suddenly brightened. “I think you’re right. Shoot, it couldn’t hurt.”
They trudged along the edge of the woods, moving parallel to the highway. A mere remnant of the sun hung precariously at the edge of the horizon leaving most of the sky a dull gray and the ground with a scattering of shadows. When they had come within a half dozen yards of the drive they cut through a strand of trees and brush. A six-foot chain-link fence surrounded the property, but presented no obstacle to them. They climbed it easily then crept to the very edge of a clearing and squatted down next to a large tree.
Nearly sixty yards in front of them, peeking through the waning light, was an enormous two-story, colonial-style, brick building. Long, darkly tinted windows were interspersed down the length of the second floor. Wall lights, flickering as they came to life, were mounted just below the second floor and centered between the several windows on the bottom floor. At the same height on the corners of the building were cameras pointing in each direction. A set of large, double doors were at the center of the first floor. Another set of doors was at one end of the building.
The ground was paved at the front and sides of the building. Lines were drawn for at least a dozen parking spaces.
“Mayors must get paid pretty good nowadays,” Bass said.
“Yeah,” Darren answered. “That must be it. Most small-town mayors live in mansions.”
Bass chuckled briefly then became suddenly serious. “What now? There’s nothing else we can do, right?”
“Well, all we’ve seen is the front of the house. We should at least check out the backside. In any case, knowing the layout of this place may come in handy later on.”
“That actually makes sense,” Bass said.
“Thanks. I think.”
“You welcome,” Bass said, smirking.
Darren shook his head and smiled. “Let’s go.”
They moved slowly, silently, along the parameter of a stand of trees and brush, slipping from shadow to shadow to avoid the cameras. They had reached an area directly across from the right side of the building when beams of light suddenly appeared down the length of the driveway. A car was coming. They quickly dropped to their knees slipping deeper into the shadows as the car drove past them and pulled up close to the side door of the mansion. The driver stepped out. He was a tall, stocky man. He opened the back door, reached inside and drug a limp body out of the back seat. It was a man. He was either dead or unconscious. His arms were duct-taped
in front of him and his legs were taped tightly together. The big man hoisted the body onto his shoulder and began to carry the body inside the house.
“That’s tarter!” Darren exclaimed, speaking just above a whisper.
“You sure? They’re a good distance away.”
“I can’t be a hundred percent sure, but … yeah, that’s got to be him. I’d put some money on it. But even if it isn’t him someone’s in trouble and needs our help.”
“This changes things, huh?”
“You’re damn right,” Darren said. “Cameras or no cameras, we’re going in.”
CHAPTER 26
His thoughts were jumbled as with great effort he pushed his head up straight. He attempted to bring a hand up to his face, but somehow, he couldn’t.
The room was filled with a nebulous gray haze as his eyes slowly inched open. He blinked twice. His eyes watered and began to softly wash away the cloud in front of him gradually exposing the contents of the room.
“Well,” the man said who was sitting in an armchair facing him. “I thought I was going to have to slap you awake.”
It took James Tarter a minute before he recognized the man sitting before him. He instinctively tried to stand up but couldn’t. He quickly realized that his legs were bound to the hardback chair he was sitting in and that his hands were tied behind his back.
“Mayor,” James groaned, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m doing what I have to. It’s very unfortunate. You shouldn’t be here. One of my men got a little nervous and made a bad mistake.”
“Okay, so let me loose and I’ll be on my way.”
The Mayor laughed. “That’s the unfortunate part. I can’t let you go. I hope you don’t mind but I went through your wallet. I had to confirm that you were FBI like my man said.”
“Why should I mind?” Tarter said sarcastically.
The mayor cast a weak smile. “I’m glad to see that blow to your face hasn’t affected your mental faculties. I have some questions for you.”
The Nexus Page 15
