Then she took out her cell and tried to set the GPS before deciding which way to go in the tunnel, but the irritating voice trapped inside the phone told her there was no satellite signal available. She opened her map of the tunnels instead and marked her location by reference to the seminary outside.
Chapter 41
As far as Beth could see in either direction, the tunnel walls were lined with cobblestones overgrown with moss. The stone floor was covered with mud caused by water dripping from multiple leaks in the ceiling. She decided to follow the tunnel in the direction of the lights first since that route had the obvious advantage of being lit while the tunnel behind her was totally dark. The lights also provided signs of life as two very large rats crossed directly in front of her.
She cringed reflexively at the rodents, took a few steps, and suddenly heard the whirr of something mechanical coming up rapidly behind her. Still thinking more rats, she spun around, flashed her beam toward the sound, and was astonished to see a robot on treads approaching her from out of the dark. It looked like one of the robots used by bomb disposal squads. Its arm held a camera with a flashing strobe and a small TV monitor. The camera rotated completely around several times before stopping to focus in on her, causing her image to appear on the screen.
The robot was the first to speak, its message prerecorded and digitalized. “You are trespassing on private property in violation of the City of Bordentown historic preservation ordinance Section 7D-801c3. You must leave this property immediately or the police will be summoned to arrest you.”
Beth decided to reach out to the invisible person she knew must be remotely operating the robot from some nearby location. “I am an attorney, and I have a court order authorizing me to be here.”
The robot repeated its programmed message and moved closer to Beth. When its arm began to extend, invading her space, she reached down to the ground for a large rock to throw and declared firmly and out loud, “If your robot takes one more step closer to me, I’m going to send it to robot heaven, or at least give it a major headache.”
The robot immediately whirred into action and backed off. It then developed a human voice. “Please state your name and date of birth.”
“My name is Elisabeth Swahn and it’s none of your business.”
“Stand by, please.”
The speaker on the robot’s arm remained open allowing Beth to hear a telephone ringing in the background, followed by an animated conversation in Spanish that was much too fast for her to understand. Then came another “Stand by, please,” except this time, the remote voice also directed her to “Please get your cellphone and prepare to receive a call.”
“There’s no service down here.”
“Our robot has WiFi.”
“Not a problem then,” she replied as she removed her cell from her bag. It rang almost immediately. She hit the “record” icon first, and then answered.
“Elisabeth, this is Luis Benetez. How are you?”
“Why am I not surprised? I’m fine, thanks, Luis. It’s been a long time.”
“Too long. Let me get right to the point. I understand you are in the tunnels under Bordentown even as we speak.”
“I guess that explains who owns the robot that’s making me very angry. What can I do for you, Luis?”
“Leave the tunnels immediately. They are far too dangerous.”
“I have a court order authorizing me to be here.”
“Well, actually you don’t. Right now you are in a portion of the tunnels owned by my father. You are directly under the infirmary office building, and he owns it.”
“We ran a title search in the county clerk’s office, and their records show that the Pendayan family owns it.”
“Better check with them directly then. They transferred it to my father as partial security for the BMI investment. We just haven’t recorded the deed yet.”
“Is there something in the tunnels you don’t want me to see?”
“That’s really beside the point. The tunnels have nothing to do with the lawsuit brought by the Smythe estate.”
“Look, Luis, you’re an attorney. You know that in order to get rid of this lawsuit, I need to check everything to make sure that the Pendayans were strictly limited partners and did nothing to participate in management. Once I do, bang!, end of suit.”
“I can assure you that there is nothing in the tunnels that has any relevance to the suit.”
“So then why are you preventing me from doing my job? Let me look around just to make sure there’s nothing relevant to the suit and I’m gone. I’m not being paid to pry into what your father does down here.”
“Beth, let me speak to my father. I’ll get back to you.”
“Our interests here are similar, aren’t they? We both want to find Gartenberg and get back the thirty-five million dollars he stole. There’s room for us to work together on that.”
“I’ll get back to you.”
“In the meantime, do you mind if I use your part of the tunnel to walk over to the Old Main portion? I want to see the tunnel leading up to what’s left of the Old Main basement.”
“I’ll tell you what. It’s okay to cross over onto Old Main property, but I’m going to send the robot along to keep you company until you get there.”
“Understood.”
“And remember, no digging, no exploring, and no photos as long as you’re in our part of the tunnel.”
“What’s the name of the guy running the robot?”
“Ernesto. He handles all of our robotics. They’re expensive but they don’t sleep, they don’t get sick, and they don’t need to be fed.”
“Call me after you discuss things with your father.”
“I will.”
“Thanks, Luis.”
Chapter 42
As soon as Beth took her first steps into the tunnel, she noticed that the right-hand wall had what looked like drainage or ventilation pipes sticking out every few feet. Some were white PVC and others were metal, maybe lead. They had to be coming from somewhere, and she was determined to find out everything she could before leaving the tunnel.
The first thing she had to do was get rid of the electronic chaperone humming along behind her, televising her every step back to some dude named Ernesto. As she reached a spot where the string of lights ended, the slippery floor provided a perfect opportunity for her, and she engineered it with a scream and a fall, all caught on TV.
Ernesto responded immediately with a concerned “How are you? Are you okay?” and it provided her with the opportunity she sought.
“It’s too dark to see clearly, and I fell. Can you send the robot ahead to light the way?”
“Are you hurt?” He didn’t want to have to explain to Luis what had happened.
“I’ve hurt my ankle, but I can manage to walk.”
“Okay, I’ll turn on the robot’s high beam and move it ahead of you.”
“Thanks, but please move it slowly. It’s hard for me to walk.”
With that, the robot slowly chugged ahead of Beth and lit up the entire tunnel. Beth took out her cellphone, keyed up its camera lens on the widest angle, and took picture after picture of the tunnel itself, with light provided by the robot.
Then she set the camera lens on its highest magnification and methodically stuck it into every drainage pipe they passed, hoping to record whatever was on the other end. She took several pictures at each pipe, not taking time to look at the results, but intent instead on texting copies back to the office, courtesy of Robby the Robot’s WiFi.
After following the robot for about ten minutes, Beth came to an intersecting tunnel leading off to her right. She checked her tunnel map and pinpointed the location where the tunnel she was in crossed under Park Avenue and became Old Main property. Despite the fact that this tunnel was totally dark, she did her be
st to photograph whatever the camera could disclose. Then she entered the new tunnel, intrigued by the sound of a gasoline-operated generator she heard in the distance.
At that point, the invisible Ernesto turned his robot around and proceeded to follow Beth down the tunnel. The light from the robot allowed Beth to actually spot the generator several hundred feet away. She stopped walking, but the robot continued to approach her, closing to less than ten feet away. It was only then that Beth noticed the robot’s arm held a taser, well within range of her exposed body. A laser beam mounted on top of the taser was searching the area for her.
Beth had no intention of being a target or victim for the robot. She immediately dropped to the ground, remaining there until the robot passed her. Once it had passed, she got up on its blind rear, grabbed the taser from its arm, and put all of her strength and weight into pushing the robot over onto its side, rendering it incapable of any movement or action. Its tread continued to function uselessly for a few seconds, then it stopped and the robot’s light went out.
Now approaching the generator without her escort, Beth followed the narrow path lit only by her flashlight, continuing to stick the lens of her cellphone camera into each pipe that she passed. She resisted the urge to look at any of the photographs, intent on getting her inspection finished. Somewhere in the tunnel complex, she knew that a very pissed-off techie by the name of Ernesto could appear at any moment, and that was a risk she preferred to avoid. Physical confrontation was not part of her retainer agreement with Carlos Pendayan, although with her Glock in one pocket and the robot’s taser in the other, she was prepared for any encounter.
She continued on, walking carefully, following the beam of her flashlight, but stopped when she noticed a very narrow passageway off to her left. There was a wooden cross attached to the tunnel wall just above the opening. Beth squeezed herself sideways through the passageway and entered into a large area off the main tunnel covered with the unmistakable remnants of crosses stuck in regular intervals over the floor. She had obviously located an old cemetery.
She examined the crosses, looking for any means of identification, but the markings had been long since erased, except for the occasional year indication, all around the 1850s, making it literally an “underground cemetery”; Beth wondered if it had been used by escaping slaves to bury their dead. What interested her most about it was that several of the graves looked much fresher than the rest. Someone was either tending to old graves or adding new ones. As soon as she finished photographing the cemetery, she reentered the main tunnel.
It was not until she actually reached the generator that Beth realized she had backed herself into a corner, an absolute dead end, and she didn’t know where she was in terms of the surface above. She was probably underneath some part of the Old Main property, but she could also be under the abandoned Ocean Spray Cranberries factory next door. She checked her cellphone, but without the robot, there was no signal available.
The generator stood right by a cinder block wall that sealed off any further access to the tunnel in that direction. The only way out for her was to turn around, and she did, half expecting to see an “angry” robot blocking her escape, relieved that there was nothing to be seen.
It was then that she noticed what looked like a massive wooden boat hatch on the right-hand side of the tunnel, largely hidden by the generator. Heavy-duty wires from the generator ran under the hatch, supplying electricity to whatever was on the other side.
Chapter 43
The hatch was secured by a thick wooden latch. Beth debated briefly with herself about whether to open it and explore whatever lay beyond. She won, and she did.
Once she wrestled the hatch open, Beth saw a flight of stone stairs going upward from the tunnel toward a door. She climbed up, opened the door, and entered a large room. It was air-conditioned, brightly lit, and furnished with a dozen stainless steel tables. Each table was equipped with two metal chairs and spotlessly clean.
On top of each table, there was a box of surgical gloves and a box of pint-sized plastic bags. Under each table were large containers of talcum powder and cornstarch, leaving little doubt that she was in a drug factory. The air was heavy with the antiseptic smell of cleanser, and she counted at least four security cams on the walls. There was nobody in the room, and nobody replied when she offered a firm “Hello, anyone here?”
On the far wall, Beth noticed a large console with five LED monitors sitting on top of a desk. The desktop itself was loaded with computers, keyboards, modems, and other electronics she couldn’t identify. On the floor next to one side of the desk were a shredder and a garbage pail filled with torn documents and ripped plastic bags destined for the shredder. On the other side of the desk was a door leading to wherever.
After photographing the entire room, Beth walked back over to the garbage pail and took several of the torn documents out of it. They seemed to be fragments of email strings. There was a sender on one named Tank and a sender referred to as St. Nik on another. The subject line was the same on both, “Red Nose,” but the rest of the message was missing. She grabbed several large handfuls of the torn paper along with a few of the plastic bags and crammed them all into her shoulder bag for later research.
Each of the monitors on the console had a flashing cursor demanding the input of a password for admittance to its dedicated computer. All of a sudden, one of the monitors came to life on its own and Beth saw a mirror image of herself in full living color staring at the console. She identified the offending video camera, twisted it off its mount, and threw it on the floor, ending the interactive display.
Then another monitor woke up, and Beth saw the robot heading down the tunnel toward the hatch. This time, it had a very nasty-looking, very real gun in its mechanical arm. Ernesto was definitely seeking a more permanent resolution to the dispute than he could get with the taser. It was clearly time for her to vacate the premises.
When she tried the door next to the desk, it opened a little but not nearly enough for her to get out; it was jammed shut by something on the other side. The chances of a dangerous confrontation with the robot increased from a possibility to a probability.
She gave up trying to force the door and went over to the desk again, this time crouching down to use it as a shield. She took out her Glock, slid a round into its chamber, and waited behind the desk. In a minute she heard the tunnel door open across the room. She took a quick look and saw the robot enter, its video camera rotating in search of her.
“Beth Swahn. You continue to trespass and must cease immediately, then erase all photographs of the property. You will then be permitted to leave.” The voice coming out of the robot was Ernesto’s.
“First put that gun down,” Beth replied, “and then we can discuss your demands.”
“That will not happen until you turn over your cellphone and submit to a search.” The robot began to maneuver itself through the room on its way over to the desk, led by its arm holding the gun.
Beth reached onto the desk for anything loose and throwable, and grabbed what turned out to be a thumb drive. She tossed it across the room where it bounced off a table and fell to the floor. The robot reacted to the noise, fired two shots in the direction of the sound, and then moved in the same direction, opening a path for Beth to the tunnel door.
She reached up onto the desktop for another throwable, came down with a wireless mouse, and threw it to her right while at the same time crawling toward the open tunnel door on her left. The robot fired twice toward the desk that Beth had just left, but then turned and switched its aim to the sound of the mouse hitting the far wall.
That gave Beth the opportunity she needed. While the robot’s attention was focused on the other side of the room, she stood up, took careful aim with the Glock, fired, and kept firing until the robot stopped moving, its lights went out, and it went to robot heaven.
She then walked qui
ckly over to the door, down the stairs, and back through the hatch into the tunnel. She hurried through the dark tunnel, ignoring the occasional rat scurrying around, until she reached the end of the string of lights, and this time turned right toward the Old Main. When she heard footsteps approaching from the tunnel under the infirmary office building, she ramped up the walk into a trot.
Beth followed the tunnel and finally reached another set of stone stairs. She climbed without hesitation and found herself walking out into the rear yard of the Old Main, with nothing but the sky above her and the ruins of the Old Main all around her.
She crossed over rusting freight tracks coming from the adjacent Ocean Spray Cranberries factory and walked around the rubble to her car in the BMI parking lot. She noticed two men in the process of crossing Park Avenue from the lot, heading toward the infirmary office building. One of them stopped and turned to look at her, but then kept on walking until he reached the entrance to the office building. He then turned again and just stood there watching her.
The doors to her car were locked and everything inside appeared to be in order, but before getting in, she decided to check for GPS-tracking devices. Her diligence paid off as she found one under the first fender she checked. Not satisfied, she checked the remaining fenders, and found another.
In full view of her audience watching from the office building, she squashed both of the bugs into the ground with her heel, got into the car, and headed back to New York. The man took out his cellphone and texted out the unexpected development.
Chapter 44
It was Saturday, so Beth went to her spin class at the Y and showered there when class finished. She was in the office by 8:00 A.M., ready to review the docs and photos she had taken from the tunnels in Bordentown.
First she had to match up and assemble the torn documents. The office was weekend quiet, and since most of the pages were torn only into halves or quarters, the job did not take her very long. Beth had the pieces matched up and taped together by noon. She then scanned them into her computer, put the originals into a folder for safekeeping, and locked them up in her credenza along with the plastic bags she had taken out of the garbage pail.
Alumni Association Page 11
