“I sent an agent over to the shopping center you ended up in last night, but that was a dead-end. He didn’t learn anything of value. Most of the shops there have gone out of business. He checked with the few stores that are still open, but no one saw the truck, and did not think Davis looked familiar from the photo he showed them.
“We traced the license number and found that the tag was stolen from an elderly man’s truck over on the other side of town. We talked to him this morning. He didn’t remember exactly when it was taken, because he hardly ever drives anymore. DMV records show that he applied for a new tag roughly two months ago.”
“What about the business card? Was it any help?”
“Somewhat—there were no usable fingerprints, but the men at the auto shop think they remember a guy bringing a black pickup in for an estimate. However, the description we gave him of Major Davis does not fit, and you were unable to get a look at the other guy.
“One of the men who does the body work at the garage remembers telling him that he really shouldn’t be driving it at all because it is illegal to operate a vehicle that has both taillights broken.”
“What about Major Davis? Has anyone talked to him?”
Dave shook his head. “We still are not sure if he is involved, but in any case, no one can locate him. You know, Alex, this is touchy business having Major Davis brought into this. He has built a considerable reputation for himself and is well respected. Are you absolutely sure that he is the guy you saw outside the window?”
“I’m positive. He has thick eyebrows that almost touch in the middle. I noticed that when I saw him at the window. Plus, when I was following him through the woods, he was wearing the same coat as the one he put on when he left our house after dinner. It was a trench coat with plaid lining. Besides, if the major isn’t involved, who dropped the business card? How did it get in our basement?”
“I can’t answer that any better than you. There are no taps the phone wire coming into the house or on any of the phones. If he did go into the basement for this type of mission, he didn’t finish—or he was down there to remove something that had been placed there previously.”
I fiddled with the lid to the cream cheese container in front of me. “You know, there is one thing. I just can’t quite remember it. It has to do with that truck—and what you told me regarding the repair shop.”
“Go on—anything at all could be useful.”
I leaned back in my chair. “In my mind, I’m standing there behind the truck, getting the license number… That’s it! That truck had a wrecked back end, but the taillights were both there. They weren’t broken!”
Dave nodded enthusiastically. “So if they got replacement lights, they had to get them somewhere. And, with the age of that truck, the lights probably had to be special ordered.”
He got up from his chair. “I’m going to see what we can find out.”
I loaded my empty mug into the dishwasher. I looked over at Dave, “I’m going out for a little fresh air if that’s okay.”
“Sure thing—just don’t go pulling the same stunt as your uncle did.”
“Dave, in case you haven’t noticed, this place has detectives and agents everywhere. I couldn’t disappear if I tried!”
Chapter 14
The brisk air felt good as I walked down the back steps. The sun was attempting to show. I turned up the collar of my jacket, shoved my hands down in my pockets, and rambled toward the fort.
What I hadn’t said to Dave was that there was more that I felt on the verge of remembering. Actually, remembering was not the right word for it. Maybe I hadn’t forgotten, but rather, just needed to understand what I did remember.
I walked through the woods past the fort, and climbed the embankment. I sat on the railroad tracks in much the same spot as I’d sat with Charlie only days before. I hunched my shoulders to help ward off the cold breeze. Wind moves through something—and one can feel it on the other end. My heart started to pound. I knew I was very close to what I needed to understand.
Ben’s car had gone crazy in the study at least twice. Charlie said it could be because of interfering radio waves. I had felt a breeze in that same room through a hole in the paneling one night. How can a breeze from an inside wall?
That breeze had to come from somewhere! (Duh)
When I had followed Major Davis, he had disappeared from my sight. Moments later, he had reappeared accompanied by another man.
There had to be a tunnel from our house to the old railroad. My search inside the house had turned up nothing, but, this time I was going to look for it from the railroad end. Now my search wasn’t for fun and games.
I stood up and looked around. Where was the logical place for a tunnel to come out? I looked up and down the strip of railroad track. Of course! It would be over where the truck had been parked. I hurried over to where the ground rose above the tracks.
I wished Ben was with me. Everyone says he has hawk eyes.
I kicked at a branch of gnarled laurel—and my foot got caught. When I leaned over to extract it, I saw that the leaves were wilted. A closer look revealed that it had been cut. It wasn’t attached to anything. It was loose on the ground—as camouflage?
I plunged into the thicket and had soon moved enough loose brush to see that a path had been covered with cut branches. The path led to the side of the hill that was about fifteen feet away.
Then I saw the door in the ground. It was the same type of metal hatch door that our house had for access into the fruit cellar located just outside of the northern basement wall. I reached for the handle and pulled. It was heavy—and it took a lot of effort to lift it.
I know what you’re thinking—and you are absolutely right. I should have gotten someone from the investigative team to go with me. The trouble with that was that it would probably mean someone going instead of me!
Even though it was brighter on the outside, it didn’t appear to be completely pitch black down there.
A light, just like a breeze, has to come from somewhere! Slowly I descended the flight of steps. There were gas lights running the length of what appeared to be more of a hallway than a tunnel. The lights were spaced far apart; the tunnel was mostly dark, punctuated with pools of light. `
The gas line from our house must still be connected to the tunnel—even after all of these years!
Panic gripped me. Was the person who lit them still down here? More importantly, could my uncle be here somewhere?
I looked around. The walls were plastered and the ceiling sloped down on either side like an attic ceiling.
I saw an old fashioned sofa with a picture hanging on the wall behind it. Next to it was a coat tree, and in the corner, there was an umbrella stand with a dust mop propped upside down in it. I was standing on a dark oriental carpet. Beyond the entrance, the hall had the same type of hardwood floors as our house. There were some cobwebs and dust, but not nearly as much as you would expect for a place that had been forgotten for so many years.
It was deathly silent. With apprehension, I slowly moved down the corridor. I was wearing sneakers, but my footsteps seemed loud. This is not a whole lot of fun, I thought. After this, I am through with all of this detecting. I will absolutely leave it to the professionals from now on!
Then I reached our house. I guessed it was our house, anyway. There was a flight of four steps to my left, and to my right were a leather wingback chair and a small table with a lamp on it. On the floor in front of the chair was a green hooked rug with rose-colored flowers on it.
I climbed the short stairway and examined the door at the top of the steps. It seemed to be a double door, but there was no handle. On the wall, next to the doors, was a light switch with two buttons. I pushed one, then the other. Nothing happened—the doors didn’t move and the lights didn’t change. I tried to pry the doors apart
, but they didn’t budge. They looked like they could be elevator doors, but made of wood rather than metal.
Disappointment washed over me, I had half-expected to find my uncle, but he wasn’t here. Other than the lights being on, and a notable lack of dust, there was no sign that there had been anyone else here either. There was no telltale evidence lying around—no cigarette butts, empty soda cans, or surveillance equipment, and no Charlie.
The hidden tunnel seemed to have been untouched for a hundred years.
• •
I felt a rush of cold air, and the gas lamp near me flickered. The outside door must have opened! I looked around frantically for somewhere to hide.
I tried again to force the doors open, but they didn’t move in the slightest. I hurried back down the short flight of stairs, desperate to find a safe place to conceal my presence.
I ducked behind the leather chair, but it was not enough cover to avoid being discovered.
What I saw possibly saved my life. There was a scooped out groove in the wall under the four steps. I curled my fingers into it and pulled. It was a handle carved into what turned out to be a small door.
Inside was barely a cubbyhole. What this tiny closet was originally intended to hold, I didn’t know or care. It was big enough to hide me—and that was all that mattered!
The men were coming. I could hear them clearly.
I recognized Major Davis’s voice. “No, not a soul here, Bill must have left the lights on in his hurry to get Dr. Massey out.”
So my uncle had been here!
“Let’s hurry and get this last piece of equipment and be gone! We’re really taking a chance coming back like this. This whole area is teaming with feds,” the major said.
The other guy grunted. The floor creaked. I could sense them moving closer.
“Hey, Davis look at this! Come over here and see what I found.”
I held my breath and was as still as a statue in my crouched position.
“Look at the third step, over on the side. Isn’t that the imprint of a sneaker in the dust there?”
There was a pause, and then the major said, “Yeah, I’ll bet it was that Alex kid. I think he suspected something last night.”
I felt like I was going to be sick! I just knew that they were going to find me. If I was able to see that groove of a handle with my poor eyesight, there was no way that these men were going to miss it.
The floor creaked again. No one was saying anything.
“He must have gotten scared and run off.”
“Our prints are wiped clean and we have everything. There is nothing left to tie us to being here, so let’s get going.”
What equipment were they talking about, and where had it been? I hadn’t seen anything.
Their footsteps receded—and the light that could be seen under the door of my hiding place went out.
I wanted to wait to make sure that they weren’t trying to trick me into coming out while they were still there. In fact, the way I felt right then, I was content to stay hidden for days!
It was cramped in there though, so I slowly pushed the door open and unfolded myself from my crouched position.
It was totally dark. I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face. Guided by the tiny pinpoint of light that was coming from the door above the stairs, I started creeping forward with my arms stretched out in front of me like a sleepwalker in the cartoons.
I hoped to make contact with the wall and find my way outside. What my fingers found, however, was a man’s coat—with a man inside of it!
That was very bad. But what was much worse was that he felt me run into him!
Chapter 15
The man grabbed at me, but I tore loose and slammed into the wall in my hurry to get away. I fell to the floor. I could hear his breath. I started to creep away when his foot made contact with my arm.
He dove for me, but I rolled out of his reach, lurched to my feet, and started running blindly down the corridor.
“Get a light on!” he shouted, and the chase was on.
I ran through the blackness. I could see nothing at all, and the footfalls of my pursuers were after me.
After an instant, a light came on behind me. Did that mean that they were both behind me, or would I be running into waiting arms at the end of the tunnel?
I ran harder through the darkness. It seemed that I was gaining ground. I gradually pulled away—and I could hear that there were two pairs of footsteps. There should be no one waiting for me at the door! I sped toward freedom with renewed energy.
Think! I said to myself. Do something to slow them down. In my mind’s eye the coat tree at the foot of the stairs.
I stumbled onto the first step at the entry. I reached out and the coat tree toppled over with a crash behind me. As I started up the stairs, I heard the second crash of the men tripping over it!
I shoved open the hatch and hurled myself toward the bushes. My heart felt like it was going to pound itself right out of my chest. I was certain that death was imminent if I didn’t catch my breath soon.
There was no time to stop—or even slow down. I had to get close to the house for protection. I crashed through the underbrush, trying to dodge the overhanging branches of the brier bushes.
Major Davis shouted, “I see him. He’s over there!”
Moments later, the tips of his fingers reached my shoulder blade. He couldn’t quite reach me enough to grab me.
In front of me was a tree limb, but I ducked. He didn’t—and I looked back in time to see it catch him right under the chin. I ran headlong into another branch and it ripped my glasses from my face.
What happened next was surreal. Everything slowed way down. It felt like it was lasting minutes rather than just a split second.
I caught a glimpse of the other man with something shiny in his hand. He raised it and brought it down toward my head. I saw a bright flash of light and felt myself falling, falling, falling to the ground.
There was a loud buzz. I hoped that I hadn’t fallen on a wasp’s nest. I was conscious of something hot running down my neck—and my ear felt funny. Blackness engulfed me.
• •
I woke up to the roar of a waterfall, but there was no waterfall—and I was still on the ground. My head was pounding with a headache like I’d never felt before, and the sound would not go away. It seemed that I was alone. I struggled to my feet and made a feeble attempt to find my glasses. My whole world was spinning, and I gave up on the search in favor of making my way up to the house.
My pursuers were gone. There were no signs of anyone.
I was disoriented and it took a while to find the right way, but eventually I broke into the clearing of our yard.
I weaved and stumbled toward the driveway. “Help! Someone please help. Charlie’s kidnappers are out here!”
In an instant, I was surrounded by people. I had difficulty hearing what was being said because of the roar inside my head.
I heard Mom telling Savannah to call 911. I looked down and saw that there was blood all over my sleeve.
Even though one of the FBI agents was asking me where I had been, all I could think of was going to that welcoming darkness that was beckoning me.
I floated back down to the ground. At least it felt like I floated. Thinking back on it now, I know it was more like an ungraceful collapse!
I wanted to get up and show them the tunnel, but the roar in my head was getting louder and louder, and that was the last thing I heard.
• •
There was a bright light shining in my eyes.
“That’s it, Alex. Take it easy and just let me take a look in your eyes,” a man said as he held my head to the side, and brought a penlight close first one eye, and then my other one.
My mom asked
, “Is he going to be all right?”
“He should be fine.” The bearded face of our family doctor came in close and he focused the light back into to my right eye. “I’m going to stitch up that cut you have on the side of your head now. You try and hold nice and still.”
“Okay, Doc,” I mumbled.
As he stitched he said, “Alex, I’m going to ask you some questions to check your memory, and then I want to do a neurological exam to make sure your balance and coordination are normal.”
I started to nod that I understood, but he quickly said, “No, don’t move; I need you to keep still. I’m almost finished sewing you up.”
A nurse came into the room and said there were FBI agents waiting in the hallway. They wanted to talk to me about what had happened.
My doctor shook his head vehemently, “No questions. Not until tomorrow. Alex has all the signs of a concussion and he needs his rest.”
Well, I could certainly agree with that! All I really wanted to do was go to sleep, and I didn’t even protest when the doctor told me I would have to stay in the hospital overnight. I was just happy to have the exam completed, and not have to answer any more questions.
Chapter 16
I awakened to the muffled noise of a public building. The sound of someone being paged over a loudspeaker broke into my dream.
Slowly I opened my eyes. It took a moment to remember what had happened. My head throbbed terribly; when I raised my hand to my eye, it felt sore and puffy. Most of the right side of my head seemed to be covered in a bandage.
Dave was leaning against the wall with his eyes shut and his suit jacket off. He wore a shoulder holster with a gun in it—and reality started to set in for me.
My gaze drifted around the room, taking in the nightstand and the I.V. bag hanging from a pole, its tube draped over the bed rail and into a needle in my arm.
“Ah, so you’re awake. How are you feeling?”
I turned my head to follow the voice.
“Hi, Dave, What are you doing here?”
Alexander, Spy Catcher Page 5
