by Jeff Dixon
“But is everyone accounted for?” Her concern showed in her eyes and her voice.
“Yes, everyone is accounted for, no one is missing . . . They’re all just busy or not feeling well.”
“So what do you want to do?”
“Nothing . . . yet.” He looked toward the saloon girl figurine. “We’ve added another to the collection.”
Kate turned it over, and like before, there was a collectible pin attached. The priceless work of art released the pin with a gentle tug, and Kate held it in her hand. The Donald Duck pin was intricate and detailed just like the others. Spinning it around, she displayed the QR code attached to the back. Hawk already had his phone out and was touching the screen. He scanned the code. After the usual few seconds of processing, the old film appeared on screen. Hawk tilted it so they could both see, and the image of George Colmes began talking directly to the camera. He was still in motion, the background a blur behind him, but this time Hawk noticed a familiar landmark, a post that passed behind George in a wave of motion, and then the camera jumped unsteadily.
George spoke. “Don’t let this clue throw you off track. This light on the water will show you the way . . . but beware the dog and the gators . . . don’t let them swamp you as you search . . . ” The screen went black. After a few seconds, Hawk rose to his feet, then helped Kate to hers. Wordlessly, he motioned for her to join him. They retraced the treacherous pathway back toward where they had entered, and upon rounding the corner, he heard the crowd waiting in line once again clamor for their attention.
Kate again acknowledged the crowd with a wave. Raising an arm toward Neil, Hawk swirled his hand in a circle, giving the signal to crank up the ride. His watch told him they had shut the attraction down for only thirteen minutes. They pushed through the gate, back into the streets of Frontierland.
CHAPTER FIFTY
* * *
“IS THIS DANGEROUS?” Kate asked, as she and Hawk crept along the train tracks.
The ground was sloped, and occasionally she would bump into him or he into her as they walked along the edge of the railroad tracks circling the Magic Kingdom. They had emerged from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and now headed back to the Frontierland Train Station. It was extremely dark in some sections of the walk, and then an occasional light would shine through. As they walked past the opening that gave train riders a chance to glimpse the mine cars of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, they were able to look back across at the expertly crafted scene of the town of Tumbleweed, where they had just been.
“Only if a train comes by.” Hawk turned to see if she was really concerned or just wanting to talk.
“I figure you already have this next clue figured out?”
“I’m working on it, but I have an idea.”
“Do you know as much about other things as you do about Disney?”
“Probably not. I am such a huge Disney fan. Have been for as long as I can remember. I listen to podcasts, I read the books, I notice and explore the details. I did all of that long before Farren Rales ever turned my life upside down.” He smiled at the memories. “The Disney parks are the greatest places to spend time.”
“I will say, to be honest with you . . . I have never had a trip to Walt Disney World like this one.” Kate shook her head. “Or had a trip this fascinating and confusing.”
“Well then, we won’t be asking you for a celebrity endorsement, will we? Come to Walt Disney World for the most fascinating and confusing time of your life!”
They both laughed but were interrupted by the sound of Kate’s cell phone ringing. She answered it, and Hawk could hear only her half of the exchange.
“This is Kate . . . Oh, hi, Allie . . . Really? Tell me more.”
Hawk saw Kate’s expression grow dark. Her eyes narrowed.
“That is interesting. . . . No, I don’t know anything about it.”
Kate now cut her eyes toward Hawk. He saw them flash with anger as they met his.
“The answer is no . . . There is no way under the stars we are going to that, and I don’t care what they threaten . . . We can let the one segment go viral online.”
Hawk felt his insides crumble and sink to the pit of his stomach. He didn’t know what she was hearing, but it wasn’t good. The way she was looking at him made him feel guilty, but he wasn’t sure what he might have done.
Kate stopped, her voice snapping, emphasizing each point with her hands, although the person on the other end of the call would never see.
“You make sure it’s locked away . . . No one sees it, no one touches it. Got it? Thanks, Allie.” Kate ended the call and remained in place with her eyes closed. When she opened them, her gaze was burning.
He thought he’d start with the obvious. “Something is wrong.”
“Total Access just got an interesting call.”
“A call?”
“Yes.” Kate placed her hands on her hips. “The call was from the Walt Disney Company, requesting we turn over all of the footage we’ve taken of you during our stay here. Since we are no longer going to complete the project we came here under contract negotiations to do, we are not allowed to use any of the footage we have taken. That would include the cemetery footage, the footage of you in Pirates of the Caribbean, and the interview footage.”
“That’s . . . interesting.”
“Is that all you have for me? That’s interesting?” Kate’s words sliced at him with a sharp edge.
“You think I know something about this?”
“You’re the head of the company.”
“But you’ve been with me—I’ve been running around with you. I didn’t place the call.”
“Of course you didn’t do it yourself.” She stepped toward him, invading his personal space. “I did what you asked me to do.” Her voice was shaking slightly. “I lived up to what I promised. Together we were supposed to decide how to tell the story. But that does not mean I am turning over the footage I have so that your company can lock me out of my story or try to renegotiate our deal later.”
“Calm down. Who did the call come from?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Allie didn’t say. It came from your staff.” Standing this close to her, he could see a vein on the side of her neck twitch with her rage.
“Kate, I’m sure this is some mistake or some formality.” Hawk held up his hands. “It probably came from Reginald’s office. He’s not up to speed on what we’re doing and what we have agreed on. Your deal with Farren is an agreement we will honor. To be honest, I haven’t figured out how yet. But like you, I’m willing to work it out. It’s a mistake. Keep the footage, hang on to it. We don’t want it.”
They stood there facing each other in the darkness. Hawk could see her chin held high, hear her breathing, and tension radiated from her. He understood but had no idea who might have placed the call or why it had been placed. Normally, Juliette would be the point person for matters like this, but she wouldn’t have placed the call without covering it with him first. In the clash of Kate’s anger and his confusion, he wanted to reassure her.
“I’ve already told you to keep the footage. I will get it straightened out later. Alright?” Hawk waited, but Kate remained silent.
He saw her body grow slightly less rigid, and she relaxed. She nodded her agreement and then waved her hand for him to continue along the tracks. Walking side by side, they covered ground at a fairly brisk pace. The uneven terrain slowed them more than he had hoped, but eventually they wound past the edge of Monument Valley, then entered the curve that took the train along the outside of the Rivers of America. After a few minutes of walking in silence and trying to concentrate on their footing in the dark, they moved away from the tracks a few feet to nudge closer to the tree line.
“So what did the key that Walt Disney sent you unlock?”
He knew he needed to answer carefully. “Kate, it was similar to what we’re doing right now. It sent me on a search for a number of things. When it was all done, I had to take all
the pieces I had found and learned, and then I had the resources I needed to figure everything out.”
“What was the everything that you figured out?” Kate tossed the question that Farren had deferred to let Hawk answer.
“I discovered,” Hawk answered slowly and methodically, “the deepest, the most important, and the most private secrets of Walt Disney, of Roy Disney, and of their vision for the company.”
“Like what?”
“That is where it gets tricky.” Hawk felt obligated under Kate’s relentless gaze to offer her as much of the truth as he could risk giving. “I am leading while unpacking what I have learned and discovered a little bit at a time. So eventually what I have learned, everyone will find out. Does that make sense?”
“I suppose.” She continued to watch him, riveted. “That’s just not very . . . satisfying.”
“For a reporter, I guess it isn’t. But don’t take it personally.” Hawk chuckled. “The thing is, the people so intent on taking control, whoever they are, don’t even know what they are trying to take or how to use it if they get it. And now we are trying to unlock what never was, to protect what is yet to be.”
“And what exactly does that phrase mean?”
“That is what we are trying to figure out, Ms. Young. . . . And when we do, then and only then will we understand.”
Coming to an opening in the trees, they looked down to their right and saw the Rivers of America, the waterway that surrounded Tom Sawyer’s Island, which, in the daytime, was full of tourists. Closing at dusk, the river was quiet, and the activity around it was calm. Hawk turned to his right and began making his way down to the water, and they drew closer to the back of a wooden cabin. Visible from the train and from the Liberty Belle steamboat that circled the river each day, this cabin had been viewed by guests for years. Sensing Kate dropping back behind him, Hawk turned and looked back up the hill toward her.
“Everything alright, Kate?” he whispered, although he didn’t know why.
“I saw someone sitting there.” She pointed toward the cabin. “On the other side, on the porch, by the water.”
“It’s OK, he’s expecting us.”
“What?”
Hawk held out his hand for Kate to keep making her way down the hill. Carefully finding her footing, she made it to where he was waiting and clasped his outstretched hand. Together they moved over the grass that was growing damp and slick in the evening air. The breeze off the river blew cool and sent a shiver over them both. Reaching the back of the cabin, they walked around to where the man sat motionless in a chair. Once they moved to the side, they both had a good view of the white-haired man in the chair, and Hawk smiled as Kate saw he was not real.
“Kate, I’d like you to meet Joe.” Hawk made the formal introduction. “And Joe, I’d like you to meet Kate.” Then Hawk leaned into the life-sized figure sitting on the porch and added, “But I wouldn’t talk to her too much— she’s a reporter. My advice would be to say nothing.” He smiled, pleased with himself.
“You are not as cute as you might think,” she scolded. “And we are here because this is part of the clue, right?”
“It is. This old guy here has been sitting on this cabin porch forever. As a matter of fact, his face can be seen here at Walt Disney World in Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. But George said, ‘Don’t let this clue throw you off track.’ That is what caught my attention—the off track is a reference to the train track. The clue didn’t throw us off track, he drew us off track. It means the train track, which is right there.” He pointed up the hill to where the track ran past them.
“Then George said, ‘The light on the water will show you the way,’” Kate added. “Hawk, there are no lights out here. As a matter of fact, it’s so dark, we’ve been stumbling around.”
“But you’re wrong. There is a light on the water.” He was impressed she remembered the second part of the clue so exactly. “The figure has a name. His name is Beacon Joe. A beacon of light on the water will show you the way.”
“OK.” She stepped up closer to Hawk as they looked at Beacon Joe.
“But beware the dogs and the gators . . . don’t let them swamp you as you search . . . The rest of the clue is right in front of us.” He pointed to their left, where a display portrayed a dog standing in a boat, catching fish as they jumped past. “His name is Rufus.”
“I didn’t even notice the dog.”
“The rest is right here.” He pointed to the sign on the shack itself. It read Alligator Swamp. “The swamp and the gator would be right there, wouldn’t they?”
“So the clue must be . . .”
“Inside the swamp shack,” Hawk said, as he opened the door and stepped into the dark interior of the shack.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
* * *
HAWK STEPPED OUT OF THE SHACK, holding another burlap-wrapped package in his hand like a conquering hero would raise a sword. Kate clapped her hands together without actually allowing them to touch, and he laughed at her overdramatic silent celebration. Hawk immediately held out what he already knew must be another priceless figurine, to allow Kate to unwrap it.
The voice from the side of the shack sounded like a rifle firing in the blackness of the forest. “Give me that package and the one you have tucked in your belt, if you wouldn’t mind.”
Out of the darkness emerged a man dressed in the now-familiar presidential mask that Hawk had first seen outside the Hall of Presidents. Stepping onto the porch, he stood at the edge of the shack with his hand outstretched, waiting for Hawk to pass him the discovery. Hawk smiled and, with a shake of his head, took a step back. Hearing a sound of struggle behind him, he turned and saw another man in black, face covered in dark mask, grab Kate from behind and lift her off the ground. With her arms pinned behind her, she was securely held in place. Fear flashed in her eyes.
“As I said, give me the package, or . . . well, let’s not talk about what will happen. Both of you could so easily have a tragic accident, but this doesn’t have to become a tragic kingdom for either of you.” The masked figure gestured for Hawk to comply. “It would have been so much easier if you would have just given me the key when I warned you. Trust me, you will not only give me what you have found, but you will give me the key as well. Let’s start with the package . . . Now.”
The train whistle blew in the distance as the train pulled out of Frontier-land Station.
“Perfect timing,” the masked figure said in a muffled voice. “When the train passes and the whistle blows, no one will hear Kate Young scream.” He stepped closer to Hawk. “It doesn’t have to be that way though. Just give me the package.”
Grayson Hawkes once again was facing what he dreaded the most. Someone he cared about was now in harm’s way because of him. Whoever this enemy was, he was good, but not good enough. There was no way Hawk was going to lose the kingdom or the girl—not here, not tonight, and not this way.
Hawk held out the newly found package toward the man, who reached out to take it. In the same way children play practical jokes with one another, he drew the package back just before the masked man could close his hand around it. Hawk snickered, and the man in the mask raised his head from the package to look back at him.
“Kate, run!” Hawk yelled as he spun toward Kate and her captor. He sent a right hook whistling through the air, narrowly missing Kate’s face. His fist flew over her shoulder and buried itself to the knuckles in the mouth of the man who had pinned her arms. The captor’s head snapped back, and he released her arms instantly.
Raising her foot, she sent a spiked heel crashing downward, on the top of the man’s foot as he stumbled away, causing him to cry out in pain.
Kate was now loose, and Hawk lunged toward the man in the Jimmy Carter caricature mask. In one fluid motion, Hawk spun and jumped into the air, throwing an elbow that caught the man in the jaw.
The man snarled and kept coming.
Hawk aimed low, sending a shattering blow into t
he man’s midsection. The recoil was instant, and the man groaned, staggered backward, then fell off the porch into the water.
Not waiting to see what happened next, Hawk took two quick steps around Beacon Joe and then past the other assailant, who was crumpled on the ground and holding his foot. The man reached out in a halfhearted attempt to trip Hawk, but the CCA hurtled over the man’s arm as it swiped past him.
He headed up the hill toward the tracks behind Kate. She was struggling, and one of her shoes had fallen off.
“Faster,” Hawk urged her.
“Take my shoes.” She kicked off the other one to run barefoot over the wet grass up the hillside.
Hawk grabbed both shoes as he passed them and scrambled to catch up with her. She was able to run faster now, and the train was thundering around the corner as they drew closer to the tracks. The engine passed them, and the passengers in the nearly empty cars were startled to see two people heading toward them from the river.
“The train, Kate, get on the train.”
As she arrived at the crest of the hill, she began to run parallel with the train. Hawk was behind her, giving pursuit. He could see Kate was having trouble reaching out to grab the bar of the passenger car to pull herself in. He increased his speed and sprinted past her toward the moving train. Reaching out, he grabbed the bar, leaped aboard the train, tossed the wrapped package and her shoes onto the empty seat, and swung around. He held the bar with one hand while extending his opposite hand toward her. She grabbed it and ran a few steps alongside him.
“Jump!”
She closed her eyes and jumped toward him. He heaved against the speed of the train and pulled her up and into him. As their bodies collided, she embraced him, and together they fell back onto the seat in a heap. A voice crackled through the speakers above them in the car.
“For your own safety, please remain seated at all times when the train is in motion. Please keep your hands, arms, and legs safely inside the passenger compartment.”
