When the Walls Fell

by Monique Martin

  Elizabeth nodded. “Sorry. My first jailbreak. Got excited.”

  “Of course,” Simon said.

  She turned to Olaf. “I’m sorry about before, Olaf. Please, get your family, if you have one, and get out of town. Tonight. The…the police will come looking for you.”

  The big man nodded.

  “Good luck,” Elizabeth said.

  “And to you,” the big man said before he ran off into the night.

  “Leaving, what a good idea,” Max said from the shadow of a tall elm tree. “Shall we?”

  The trio hurried down the dark, empty streets, up one block and down another until they came to Max’s car. It was a miracle the entire city didn’t wake when he started the damned thing. But somehow they seemed to have the whole world to themselves. Max put the car in gear and they sped off into the night.

  ***

  “What are we doing here?” Simon asked as they pulled up in front of Teddy Fiske’s house. “We should leave town now. The earthquake can’t be more than a few hours away.”

  “The what?” Max said.

  “We’ll explain later.” Elizabeth would have loved nothing more than to have piled Max’s car full of the people she’d grown to love here and get the hell out of Dodge. “We still have a few things to do.”

  She got out of the car and hurried up the path to Teddy’s.

  “What’s she talking about?” Simon asked as he and Max trailed along behind her.

  “I’m just the driver. She’s the brains of the outfit.”

  Knowing it would be left open for her, Elizabeth didn’t bother to knock on the front door. She pushed it open and ushered the two men inside. They made their way down the hall past the butler Donald, who was tucked in under an afghan and soundly asleep in his chair.

  She led them down the hall to the library and smiled as she heard Simon’s intake of breath. “I know,” she said. “I want.”

  She led them over to the bookcase and pressed firmly against Memoirs of the Twentieth Century and the wall spun away.

  Simon paused at the threshold. “Does he know we’re coming?”

  “He knows a lot more than that.” She and Teddy had talked about more than just how to break Simon out of prison the other night. They were fairly even on the secret swapping scale. He understood just how important what she was doing was and he’d given her permission for Simon and even Max to see his laboratory.

  She led them through the hall to the other door and then down the winding staircase.

  “Teddy Fiske, you mad genius, you,” Max said as they emerged into the lab. He left Simon and Elizabeth to Teddy and wandered around the lab trying to soak it all in.

  Teddy, who was sitting on a stool and hunched over a table, turned and smiled sheepishly. “It…it worked?”

  Elizabeth took Simon’s arm. “Perfectly. And the rest of it? Can you do it?”

  “Yes, I think so. I’m guessing on a few things, but this really is a remarkable thing.” He turned back to his worktable and Simon’s eyes went wide at what he saw. Teddy was working on her watch.

  “You do good work,” Elizabeth said. “Or you will.”

  Teddy giggled and started to reattach the case.

  “Elizabeth?”

  She knew Simon wouldn’t be happy about her apparently complete and utter disregard for the timeline. “Try and think of it as a minor spoiler,” she said hopefully. “I mean, Teddy would have seen a watch soon anyway when he invented it.”

  He gave her that face; that “we are not amused” face that seemed to come included with every Englishman. “I did what had to be done, Simon. Need I remind you that I couldn’t have saved you without Teddy’s help.”

  She knew she had him with that one.

  He nodded grudgingly. “Thank you for that, Teddy.”

  Teddy didn’t look up from his work and waved a hand over his shoulder in acknowledgement.

  Before Simon could argue further, Elizabeth played her trump card. “A wise man I know once said that we simply have to assume everything we’ve done is meant to be.”

  “Sounds like something an idiot would say,” Simon grumbled.

  “Call it determinism or destiny, if it makes you feel better. I’m calling it saving our butts.”

  She could see that Simon didn’t like it, but he conceded the point. They were too far into it now to back out.

  “What’s he doing with it?” Simon asked. “It’s the only one we have now.”

  His words hit her like a fist to the solar plexus. The only one?

  “What do you mean? Yours is…” and she put it together. “Ooohlaf. You used the second set of compounds on his cell door, didn’t you?”

  “It seemed like the proper thing to do at the time.”

  “Proper? Oh, Simon,” she said taking hold of his arm. He was such a doodle sometimes.

  Simon frowned uncomfortably. “As long as your watch works,” he said, “it doesn’t really matter.”

  She felt a sudden rush of swelling panic and the tingle of adrenaline coursing through her system. She hadn’t considered that her watch would be their only means of escape. She’d just stupidly assumed that Simon would have his. Now, they were going to be stuck here.

  Oddly, the prospect didn’t frighten her as much as she thought it would. All she’d wanted since this crazy business had started was to have Simon safe and by her side. If they survived the night and had each other, none of the rest of it mattered. At least, it didn’t matter to her.

  “It will work, won’t it?” Simon asked.

  “Oh, it’ll work, sort of,” she assured him. “But it just won’t be working for us.”

  “What exactly do you mean ‘not for us’,” Simon said pinching the bridge of his nose. “I think you’d better explain to me what’s going on here, Elizabeth. From the beginning.”

  “Right.” She pulled one of the stools out from under the table. “You’ll probably want to sit down for this.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Max parked the car on a side street near the park. Elizabeth had trouble letting go of the seat and it wasn’t because of Max’s driving. As she’d told Simon about her plan, the enormity of what was at stake hit home. Again. Simon’s life was still at risk. And so was Mary Graham’s and her child’s. And Max’s.

  After Max pulled on the emergency brake, Elizabeth turned to him and said, “You don’t have to do this.”

  He smiled. “I know.”

  “But you don’t even know what this is all about and yet—”

  “I like you,” he said simply and then cast a glance at Simon and raised an eyebrow. “Both of you.”

  He opened his car door and stepped out. “I learned a long time ago that life is vastly more interesting when you say yes to it.” He smiled that winning smile. “Even when no one asks the question.”

  “Thank you,” Elizabeth said, knowing it was hardly enough to give to someone who was about to risk his life for her.

  They made their way across the street and into the grove of trees that lined the edge of the park. It was less than half an hour until the earthquake. The building anticipation was fraying her already well-frayed nerves. She could only hope that Travers had been right about Mrs. Eldridge’s house surviving the quake. She’d ordered Teddy to take his butler Donald there and wait until she returned. She wasn’t sure if she believed in God or not, but she prayed to whomever might be listening for their safety.

  The park was beautiful, but eerie. It was always strange to be somewhere deserted that was usually so filled with life. In that last hour before dawn, it felt as if nature itself knew what was coming and forced itself be still in anticipation. They slipped in and out of the trees, as Max led them toward the Temple of Music.

  They emerged from the grove of trees onto the large open music concourse. Several rows of large shade trees lined a wide path that led to the base of the Temple. It was impressive, but not the best place to ride out an earthquake. The Temple, an outdoor music theater
, was really an immense marble colonnade. Corinthian columns lined either side of a large inset band-shell, a sort of coffered-arch shaped stage.

  Three figures stood at the top of the steps – Madame Petrovka, Stryker and Mary Graham. Elizabeth felt her heart pounding against her ribcage. This was it. She and Simon and Max walked forward. The gravel under their feet seemed absurdly loud in the quiet of the park.

  They stopped about ten feet from the bottom of the stairs. Elizabeth’s throat was dry and her voice sounded strained. “Are you all right, Mary?”

  Mary Graham was visibly shaking, but appeared unharmed. She started to step forward, but Stryker grabbed her arm. “I’m…I’m fine,” Mary said.

  Madame Petrovka eyed Simon and Max carefully before addressing Elizabeth. “As you can see, I’ve held up my end of the bargain. Do you have yours?”

  Elizabeth pulled the watch from her coat pocket and held it out.

  Madame Petrovka nearly reached out, but stopped herself. “Very good,” she said breathlessly. “Bring it here.”

  Simon put a hand on Elizabeth’s arm. “Send Mrs. Graham down first.”

  Madame Petrovka cocked her head to the side and made a show of thinking about it. “I don’t think so.”

  “I’ll bring the watch as she comes down,” Elizabeth said. “That’s SOP for this sort of thing, isn’t it?” She held out her hands to show she didn’t have any weapons. “No tricks.”

  Madame Petrovka laughed. “Yes, we don’t like tricks, do we?” She nodded to Stryker who started down the steps with Mary Graham.

  “Let me go,” Simon said as he held out his hand for the watch.

  “I can do this,” Elizabeth said.

  Elizabeth took a deep breath and started toward the steps. There were probably a dozen shallow steps between them. Stryker and Mary were nearing halfway. Elizabeth picked up her skirts, climbed the stairs and met them in the middle.

  Mary Graham’s eyes were filled with tears and she looked like she might pass out at any moment.

  “It’ll be all right,” Elizabeth said.

  Stryker held out one hand, the other still gripped Mary’s arm. “The watch?”

  Elizabeth held the watch out and waited until Stryker let go of Mary before she dropped it into his hand. He examined the cover quickly. Then, he turned and ran up the steps toward Madame Petrovka. She snatched it out of his hand and held it up to the moonlight.

  Elizabeth put her arm around Mary’s waist and started down the steps. They were almost halfway down when Madame Petrovka spoke.

  “Kill them.”

  Just as Elizabeth turned she saw Stryker stride forward and pull a gun out of his pocket. Elizabeth shoved Mary toward Max as Simon leapt forward and grabbed Elizabeth’s arm, pulling her down to the ground. The gunshot echoed against the band-shell and Elizabeth heard a grunt.

  Simon rolled on top of her. Was he hurt? Had he been shot? “Simon?”

  Mary Graham screamed and a second shot rang out. But it wasn’t like the first. It was louder, and yet, farther away. Elizabeth saw Simon’s face above hers. His eyes were clear, worried, but he seemed to be all right. Thank God.

  She looked toward the stairs and saw Stryker’s hand spasm. The gun slipped out of his fingers and fell onto the steps.

  Stryker stood frozen in shock for a split-second before he fell backwards, his head hitting the stone steps with a loud crack.

  Simon’s hands cupped Elizabeth’s cheek. “Are you all right?”

  They’d hit the ground so hard it had knocked the wind out of her. All she could do was nod.

  Simon hurriedly got up and lunged for Stryker’s gun. He stood above Stryker ready to fire when he slowly lowered his arm. He turned back and looked behind them, where the second shot had come from.

  “Petrovka,” Elizabeth said, gaining her breath again.

  Simon ran up the rest of the stairs gun at the ready.

  Elizabeth got to her knees and turned toward the woods behind them. In the distance, a dark figure stepped out from behind one of the trees of the colonnade, smoke still curling out from the end of his rifle. She’d know him anywhere.

  “Gerald.”

  She was about to go to him, when she heard mixed in with Mary Graham’s sobs, Max’s groans. She hurried to them and found Mary Graham kneeling over Max.

  “He’s been shot,” Mary said between tearful sniffles.

  Elizabeth saw the blood seeping through Max’s shirt. There was a splayed bullet hole in his shirt. Why was it splayed outward? Was he shot in the back? She rolled him onto his side and saw a small hole in his back just beneath his shoulder. Through and through was better. Wasn’t it? Or was it the other way around?

  “Oh, Max,” she said. He shouldn’t have come with her. What had she done?

  “Told you I’d see this through to the end.”

  Elizabeth eased his jacket lapel back to see the wound. A dark red circle blossomed near the armhole of his waistcoat. She tried to carefully move his shirt material to the side, but he gasped when she did.

  Mary Graham cried louder in response.

  Gerald knelt down next to them and laid his large musket down on the ground. “Let me see.”

  “Tell my Aunt Lillian I love her.”

  “You can tell her yourself,” Gerald said.

  Max frowned. “What?”

  Gerald pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and stuffed it under Max’s jacket over the wound. “Keep pressure on it,” he told Mary. When she didn’t respond he took her wrist and placed her hand over the wound.

  With the help of his rifle, Gerald stood.

  “He’s not dying?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Not even a little. I’ll clean the wound when we get him home,” Gerald said and joined Simon at the top of the stairs.

  Max lifted his head off the ground. “I’m not? Really?”

  Elizabeth couldn’t help but laugh and despite the pain, Max grinned.

  Mary Graham brushed some dirt off his cheek. “You were very brave.”

  “I was?” Max said.

  Elizabeth left them and started up the stairs toward Simon. She passed Stryker’s body. A thick puddle of blood spread out behind his head and a single tear of blood spilled out of the socket where his eye had been. Part of her wanted to look away, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. It was a sickening thing to see a man die and worse still to be glad of it.

  “Gone.” She heard Gerald grumble.

  Pulling herself away from Stryker, she joined Simon and Gerald at the back edge of the main platform. Both men stood staring out into the darkness.

  She touched Gerald’s arm and when he turned to look at her, she didn’t know what to say. He’d saved all of their lives. She wanted to give him a huge, sloppy hug, but knew he probably wouldn’t like it. She tried to resist the urge, but she couldn’t and threw her arms around him and squeezed for all she was worth. “Thank you, Gerald. Thank you.”

  After a moment, she felt him awkwardly pat her back and then clear his throat.

  Eventually, she let him go. “That was one heck of a shot.”

  Gerald allowed himself a small smile, but then turned his attention back to dark woods. Once a soldier always a soldier.

  “I still don’t like the idea of her out there with a watch,” Simon said.

  “If Teddy did his job, she’s got a one-way ticket.”

  “Even so,” Simon said shaking his head.

  “We did what we had to do.”

  Simon turned to her. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “I’m fine, but I think we should get Max out of this chill.”

  “What time is it?”

  Gerald checked his watch. “Quarter till.”

  Simon nodded. “We need to get Mary and Max back to Mrs. Eldridge’s. It’s safe, isn’t it?”

  Elizabeth nodded. “That’s what Travers said.”

  “It’ll have to do. As much as I’d rather not be inside, fissures can open anywhere. Too many unknowns.�
� He held out his hand for Elizabeth to help her down the steps. “I think we’ll be safest at the house, but we need to hurry.”

  Gerald and Simon helped Max to stand.

  “Can you walk?” Simon asked.

  He nodded. “But I can’t drive.”

  Under Max’s tutelage, Simon managed to get the car started and after a few false starts, he got them home.

  They arrived at Mrs. Eldridge’s with just minutes to spare. Unfortunately, Simon wasn’t used to driving a car without power steering or power brakes and he parked the car in Max’s usual spot, in the begonias.

  Mrs. Eldridge and Teddy ran out to meet them.

  “Maxwell!” Mrs. Eldridge said when she saw that he was hurt.

  “Just a scratch,” he said.

  She pursed her lips. “You ruined your best suit.”

  He grinned. “Good to see you too, Aunt Lillian.”

  With Mrs. Eldridge on one side and Mary Graham on the other, Max made his way up the front steps and into the house.

  Teddy ran to Elizabeth’s side. “I wanted to come and help, but Gerald locked me in the bathroom.”

  “You did help. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “Everyone into the main hallway. In the back, away from the chandelier,” Simon ordered in a voice that brooked no argument. “Take down all of those paintings and plants. Anything that can fall.”

  “What’s going on?” Mary asked.

  “In about one minute we’re going to have an earthquake, Mary,” Elizabeth said. “A really, really big earthquake. I need you to look after Max, can you do that for me?”

  “Yes.” They both helped Max down to sit on the floor.

  Max grimaced, but didn’t seem to be doing to badly. “About that earthquake…”

  “I’m afraid, you’re just going to have to trust me on this one.”

  Simon had grabbed cushions from the salon and handed them out. “Get down and cover your heads with these.”

  Elizabeth had always thought the worst part of an earthquake was the surprise of it. Now, as she waited for one to come, she wasn’t so sure.

  Teddy and Gerald helped Donald down to the floor. Teddy handed him a pillow and put his arm around the old man.