“Indeed,” Aaron agreed. They walked out of the room and onto a balcony, waiting for Wade, Regina, and Brian to get to their designated points.
Below them was a chasm, a deep drop of about a hundred meters. This was where the majority of mining took place back in the days of looking for gold. There were a number of sites like this in the cave, with the largest drop being over a hundred feet deep. That was a natural occurrence, most likely from an earthquake. That was the part that was most unstable and likely to give way at any time.
Wade arrived first, looked about him, and then up to where Aaron and Zeek were standing.
“Asshole, get down here and fight me like a man. What are you doing all the way up there?” Wade balked, looking at Zeek. His tirade was, however, drowned out by the sight of Regina and Brian making their way in from the opposite side.
They were at least ten meters apart; below them was the chasm.
Regina looked from Aaron to Wade and then back to Aaron.
“Richard, it’s you?” she said.
“I should start with a grand intro. I’m Aaron, a.k.a. Richard, the mastermind of this operation. I have been your observer and watcher, watching and waiting to deal judgment on you people. I hope you loved my lovely drawings. My man, here, is Zeek, the tech. He’s been my eyes and ears. My right-hand man.”
“We don’t give a shit who you are,” Wade retorted, balling his fists. “Where are Chloe and Taylor?”
“Chloe and Taylor?” Regina cried with surprise and fear.
“The girls are here?” Brian asked.
This was so much better than he thought. The drama, the excitement. It was riveting.
“Yes, they are here,” Aaron declared. “So here’s what you’re going to do. Regina and Brian, you may take the door on your right. That will lead you to a computer where I will meet you to do the bank transfer. You may then have Ben. Wade, Zeek has your instructions.”
Zeek had some crazy plan for Wade.
“If you all survive our set tasks, you just might be able to stop this bomb from exploding.” Aaron pulled out the miniature bomb from inside his jacket. It looked small and harmless but was designed to pack a punch. It contained a quarter of a microgram of plutonium. Equivalent to five thousand tons of TNT. Once activated, the effect was to cause a ripple of explosions. It would take out the whole mountain. He held it out for them to see. “I think you can deal with this one, Regina.”
The looks on their faces were classic. He couldn’t help but laugh out loud. This was it. The moment of reckoning. The day for justice.
It wouldn’t bring his mother back. Nothing would fix the loss he still felt, but this was something.
The show was about to come to an end.
Wade
Wade looked to Zeek who straightened up on the balcony, looking all smug.
If Wade could get his hands on him he’d snap his neck in half. Murder was something Wade never thought he was capable of until he found out Zeek killed Merissa. Today sealed the deal. These crazy bastards had Chloe and Taylor. They’d fixed everything so that his mother and Brian were here, too. And his father?
Where was he? Wade didn’t know what had happened.
“So tell me, idiot, what do I do?” Wade cried.
“Calm the hell down, Wade,” Wes hissed from the small, undetectable microphone in Wade’s ear.
Aaron may have talked Zeek up to be his eyes and ears and tech, but Wade had his own eyes and ears and tech.
He and Wes had detoured to Wes’ house, which to Wade looked like something from a Marvel comic book. Like Iron Man’s house. Wade figured that was the look he was going for. They’d stopped to get supplies, Wes called it.
What he came out with was some surveillance equipment that allowed him to stay outside and keep in touch with Wade and see all that was happening inside. Wade didn’t know how Wes did these things, but it was amazing how his brain worked.
They’d called Detective Fray, too, who of course told them to stay and let the police deal with things, but there was no way that was going to happen.
“Come and find me, once we do the transfer you can have the girls and figure out how to get the bombs off them.”
“Son of bitch, you’ll take those bombs off them now!”
“Take the door to your right, Wade. I hope you enjoy the games ahead.” Zeek laughed.
Wade watched, seething as he and Aaron took a grand bow and walked through opposite doors. Wade then looked across at his mother and Brian. “What are you guys doing here?” he asked them.
“We got a call from Aaron saying your father was taken.”
And they came? Both of them?
“I’m going. I don’t want to prolong this nightmare.”
“Mom, this is a trap. You guys go back outside and let me deal with this.”
“Son, I’m sorry, but I’m not going anywhere,” Brian interrupted.
“And I’m not leaving you. Ever again.”
Wade looked at his mother as she spoke. She was looking at Brian with sad eyes.
“Okay, guys. Let’s do this and be careful. We meet back on the outside.”
His mother nodded. “Be careful, Wade.”
Wade sighed and walked through the door to his right. He’d come here as a kid on a school trip. He’d never come up as far as here, though. The idea of going into a mountain was cool when he was younger. Him with that element of danger and love of adventure. Now that he was older, he knew the real danger that existed in venturing off into a mountain like this with caves that went on and on. The old mining ones were the worst. The most dangerous.
“Wade, stop,” Wes said.
“What’s up?”
“I’ve just hacked into the surveillance of the place so I can see where you are. Zeek’s rigged the whole passage with all sorts of traps. You’re going to have to seriously trust me.”
Wade chuckled to himself, maybe he was going mad and had lost his mind from all that had happened. “I trust you.”
He did trust Wes. He never thought he’d live to see this day, but he trusted the guy.
“You’d better, because you seriously need to.”
“What am I up against?”
“Sections where there’s no ground, bear traps, snares, and walls with knives. Minus the chasing bolder and the snakes, we’re talking the making of an Indiana Jones film,” Wes babbled on.
“Shit. What do I do?”
“Use the flashlight I gave you and make sure you can see at all times. Also, there’s a path that leads straight to the girls, but you’re going to have to cross a swinging bridge to get to it. To get out it’ll be best to use the tracks. Those are fine. There are solid tracks leading down the east and the north. Try to aim for the north side of the mountain, but the important thing is you all get out.”
“What about the bombs, Wes? It sounds like they both have active bombs, and there’s a third.”
“Just get them to me. Detective Fray is on the way, too. I’ve told him about the bombs so we just need to get to the right side of the mountain in time.”
This sounded crazy. “Okay, let’s get going.”
“Put your flashlight on.”
The minute Wade did, he saw a row of bear traps all waiting to snap him up. Zeek had laid them out so that it looked like it was all part of the rubble. If Wade had taken one more step, that would have been it. His foot would have gotten caught. Then he would have fallen, and set the rest off around him. One of them would have taken his head off.
This whole thing was literally a trap.
“There’s a path to your left. Walk carefully along it and then shine the flashlight to the center when you get to the end.”
Wes wasn’t kidding about this whole trusting thing. This was trust beyond measure.
Wade did as instructed, got to the end of the path and then shone the flashlight. A large wooden door came into view. It seemed to have some motion-detecting sensory because it lit up when Wade got closer.
“What’s this
, Wes?”
“The mother of all traps. You have to get the code right.”
“What code?” Wade couldn’t see anything.
“Put your hand on the door or something.”
Wade placed his hand lightly on the door. When he did this, the middle of the door lit up in green and showed some Egyptian symbols on some square panels that eased out of the green light.
“What the fuck is this, Wes? How the hell are we supposed to get this right?” This was insane.
“Give me a minute,” Wes said.
Wade was still standing there at least ten minutes later. “Wes, come on, let’s just guess what this thing is. Is it a game?”
“I’m guessing you have to decode the sentence and press the panels in order. This guy is good.”
“Better than you?” Wade had to ask.
“Clever, but not better. The symbols don’t make any sense. I don’t think the intention here is to let you through. None of those form a sentence at all. Hold on.”
Wade waited a minute.
“Wade, there’s a hole at the top that may be just big enough for you to get through. There is a drop on the other side, though, so you’d have to be careful to climb down.”
“I rock climb. That should be easy.”
“Try that.”
Wade put the flashlight in his mouth and grabbed onto the closest rock that jutted out. That helped him to lift himself up. Once he got to the top, he could see the hole Wes talked about. It was to the left of the door frame.
Twisting himself around, he pummeled himself over to it and, yes, it was just big enough to slide through. Wade got to the other side and looked through, holding the flashlight down.
It really was a long drop, for sure, so he’d need to be careful.
“Watch your step, Wade,” Wes cautioned.
Wade did. Just like before, he grabbed onto a rock that came through and climbed across that way.
“How dare you cheat me?”
He suddenly heard Zeek’s voice. Wade wasn’t sure where he was, but his voice echoed around him. “I’ll teach you, Wade Vanderville.”
Shit, the first blade pierced his arm. Wade held the flashlight up to see the vague outline of several arrow-like blades raining down on him. One went straight into his hand and made him lose his balance.
Before he knew it, he slipped and fell.
Regina
“You should have turned back,” Brian argued. He’d been trying to tell her this since they got here, but she wouldn’t listen.
Originally she just thought they’d come here for Ben, and had said to him that Ben wasn’t his responsibility. But now that she knew both Taylor and Chloe were here, she was besides herself with worry and was determined to get to them the minute she was able to.
This damn place was like a maze and she got the feeling that they were wandering around in circles.
She also got the feeling that Richard—Aaron—knew that.
God almighty. She couldn’t believe that Richard was Aaron. When she explained that part to Brian, he was enraged.
“I’m not turning back, Brian, so stop asking me. We have to keep going together,” she retorted. Regina couldn’t believe he expected her to listen. Then what would she do, go back to the car or something and sit there?
No way. She stopped abruptly and looked around. He stopped, too. This was insane, where were they? She’d assumed that where Aaron wanted them to go wasn’t that far from where they’d been. But yet, they’d walked around twisted paths that she swore led them down farther into the mines. One section had gone up, but that was the only ascent they’d come across. She just didn’t know if they were going the right way. Thank God they’d had the good sense to bring flashlights. Actually, that was Brian’s idea. He’d taken one look at the address, saw it was literally the mountain, and knew in an instant that they must have been going inside the mines.
How was Wade doing? She’d wondered that from the second she’d seen him. In that moment, she saw the essence of this whole trap take fruition.
“I don’t know if we’re going the right way,” she stated, running her hands through her sweaty hair. It was so hot in here and she was hardly dressed for the occasion.
“It’s the only way we know,” Brian replied. He was hot, too. His hair was wet with sweat and slicked down to the back of his neck. “We have to just keep going.”
That was literally all they could do. Keep going. Keep pushing forward. Keep moving.
So she did.
Aaron had a bomb. She wondered what they’d do about that. No part of this excursion felt like he was going to allow them to leave alive. She felt that no matter what they did, the end result was for them all to die in the worst way possible.
Again she wondered how Wade was doing. All by himself on the other side of the mountain, where only God knows what he must be going through.
The earth suddenly gave beneath them and the walls shook. It felt like that time when she went to India and there was an earthquake.
Brian took her hand at the same time she saw the floor behind them crumbling away, as if something was picking it apart.
“Run!” Brian yelled and tugged her into motion. They ran as the floor caught up with them, but then it wasn’t just the floor—the ceiling and wall above them were crumbling away, too.
“There, let’s go down that path,” she directed, pointing down a narrow passage.
Brian pulled her along as quickly as he could. However, he wasn’t quick enough. A cascade of rocks came tumbling down on them, separating them. She let go of his hand as a rock hit her on her head, and in that moment she lost him. Before her, now, was a solid wall of rocks.
“Regina!” Brian called to her from the other side.
Thank God, he was okay.
“I’m here!” she called back.
“Regina, stay there. I’ll get help and come back for you.”
What choice did she have? The floor behind her was no more, so she couldn’t even go back the way she came, and there was a wall of rocks in front of her. She looked up and shone the flashlight. An idea crossed her mind.
What if she went up? Up to where the ceiling crumbled. With only about two meters of floor behind her she didn’t feel particularly safe waiting around here.
“Brian, I’m going to go up.”
“No, stay there!” He sounded panicked and worried for her. “Regina, please.”
“It doesn’t look stable here. The rest of the floor could give and I’d have nowhere to go besides up, and then that may not be an option.” It was true. That could definitely happen.
“Okay, please be careful. I’m going to go down the passage we saw. But go up first and shout back to me so I know you’re safe.”
“Okay… I’ll try now.” She hadn’t climbed anything since she was in her teens. She only hoped that she could pull this off. She placed the little flashlight between teeth, used the wall that was already there and the rocks that had just come down to stable herself, then she moved up.
Holding her breath, she secured one foot then the other on the formation, shining the flashlight as best as she could in front of her.
She released that breath when she poked her head out of the top and shone the flashlight around. The area up here was much wider, at least twice as wide as where she previously was.
“I’m up, Brian, and I’m safe,” she called back. “The area looks stable so I’m going to go this way.”
“Be careful,” he returned. “Regina…” His voice trailed off.
“Brian, are you okay?” Her heart pinched at the thought of being separated from him.
“No, I’m not, bellezza. Just in case this is it, I love you.”
That was a horrible thought she didn’t want to contemplate. “Don’t you dare say that to me! I love you, too, and this is not it. I’ll see you in a little while.”
He didn’t answer for a few seconds, then she heard him clear his throat. “Be careful.”
“I will,” she promised.
Regina continued up onto what was now her floor. It was best to keep moving. Just in case she lost this section, too.
This mine was off limits for a reason. She’d always heard how unstable it was. She’d bet their presence alone had caused the floor to crumble.
She looked back to where she came and thought of Brian. Getting back to him was a must. This couldn’t be it for them. She wouldn’t allow it.
She continued on this path for about fifteen minutes. There was a faint light ahead of her that flickered. She followed it, speeding up as she went along.
When she got to the end of the path, she saw it twisted onto another path and the light was part of a cascade of old lamps fixed to the ceiling. She followed the path and it brought her to what must have been an old work area. There was an office area, a cart on a track, and more connections that led to other paths.
Worst of all, though, was a deep drop into the chasm, which screamed certain death, beyond a very unstable-looking metal frame rail.
They’d called Detective Fray before they left, but never got to speak to him. The message they left, however, was enough, and she was sure the police would come to their aid. She and Brian had just left the house, despite being cautioned to stay home and allow the police to handle it. That was what the officer she spoke to said.
The thought was tempting, but what made her go were Aaron’s taunts of not knowing who else she may be able to save. He was clearly referring to Taylor, Chloe, and Wade.
“Resilience,” said a voice from one of the corners. She knew that voice all too well to not recognize it.
Aaron walked out from the shadows with a broad smile on his face. The lights brightened as he did, bringing him into full view.
“Richard, oh sorry, I mean Aaron.” She knew now wasn’t the time to be cocky or arrogant, and definitely not with him, but she couldn’t help it.
His smile widened. “Had you all fooled, didn’t I? Did you know I even worked as one of your gardeners for a year and none of you even clocked on that I was the same person when you met me as Richard?”
“How was that possible?” She couldn’t imagine that.
Into The Rabbit Hole (Vandervilles Book 3) Page 17
