Pop Travel Page 16

  Cooper rolled his eyes, then looked at her.

  “I would have gone to Plan B.” He grabbed the flashlight. His raised eyebrow told her he tired of her doubting him.

  “There’s a Plan B?” she asked, raising a doubtful eyebrow at him.

  When he shined the light into the opening, they could see pieces of wood barely sticking out of the dirt on one side as a makeshift ladder leading down. Imagine that.

  “When necessary, there’s always a Plan B. Come on.” Throwing the saw to the ground below, he carried the flashlight and descended the crude ladder.

  His determination had been rewarded and deserved admiration.

  “Right behind you!” she called.

  Cooper helped her down the last rungs. When she stood up straight, her hair just grazed the top of the tunnel. The low ceiling wasn’t made for a tall man. Knowing Cooper would have to duck most of the way, she hoped it didn’t grow smaller farther down.

  “Brr, it’s cold down here.” She shivered.

  “Go ahead and put on my jacket. So how far do you think we are from the house?”

  “About half a mile?”

  “That was my guess, too. Good. We should have enough air to get there,” he said.

  “Enough air?” Geri gasped and put her hand to her chest.

  “This would probably be the point of no return.”

  She firmed up, squaring her shoulders.

  “Not on your life. I’m with you all the way.”

  “Good thing. Since you did just seal yourself in.” Cooper smiled.

  He aimed the flashlight into the awaiting tunnel. The sides were brown and gray dirt layered with red clay. There were a few rough patches, small erosions where mud had come loose and slid to the floor. From the top, small roots hung down. Every ten feet or so, she spied a simple support made of three beams of wood, one on each side and one overhead with two smaller pieces in the corners.

  The shaft extended farther than his light revealed. After nodding to each other in acceptance of the challenge, they began their journey into the dank and gloomy depths.

  FBI – Atlanta Division

  7:30 p.m., Friday, July 26<

  nce Cooper and Geri went underground, Nate’s audio and video feeds fuzzed out.

  “Do you think it would be okay to disturb Ed now?” Nate smirked at his buddies.

  They chuckled.

  Nate had waited to call until he confirmed the secret passage existed. When Cooper and Geri found it, the techs high-fived each other and money changed hands. Now they chattered like squirrels at a nut convention, all geeked about it. Nate knew all along Cooper’s paper had something worthy on it. No one ever listened to him.

  He dialed his boss.

  “What is it, Nate?” Ed asked.

  He had a scowl on his face. He always looked constipated. Take an ex-lax, buddy.

  “Cooper and Geri found a secret passage. You know, from the map he had,” Nate said, rubbing it in.

  “What?”

  “They dug it up and just went down into it. We lost audio and visual.”

  “I see.” He sat back and digested this development, taking his surprise down a level. “Not to worry.”

  “You don’t want me to do anything? Send in another agent?”

  “I already have one at the party,” he said. His smile beamed confidence.

  “Blake?”

  “Blake,” Ed agreed. “Nate, didn’t you know I was a Boy Scout? Always be prepared. Geri’s tracking device is operational, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, sir,” Nate answered looking at the blip on his imager.

  “Good. Just keep an eye on their location. Let Blake know what they’re up to and tell him to locate the tunnel and be ready for security breach protocol at the party.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Call if it gets interesting. I’ll be there in an hour.”

  “Will do,” Nate answered and disconnected. He shook his head. Of course, Blake was there. Could have told me that earlier.

  Nate filled Blake in. He fidgeted in his monkey suit, but the news put an eerie smile on his lips, which gave Nate the creeps. That guy is not normal.

  “I guess Ed always has a Plan B, too,” Nate joked to the guys.

  They laughed and dispersed. Nothing more to see for a while.

  Beasley Hills Plantation

  7:30 p.m., Friday, July 26

  Dinner was served. Ray Saffioti stared at his lobster, still dumbfounded he had seen Mr. Cooper. Across the table, Vivienne caught a shrimp some young stud dangled over her mouth. She had said she would take care of the detective. Something must have gone wrong. Now, the guy made it into the party and was snooping around the compound.

  “Vivienne?” Ray asked, interrupting the pampered goddess.

  She froze, mouth poised to take a dainty bite, and glared at him.

  “Yes?”

  “Did you see him?”

  “See who?”

  “Mr. Cooper.”

  Vivienne winced.

  “Antonio, would you be a love and refill this?” The young man took her glass and dashed off. Where does she find these boys? She didn’t come in with him.

  “Yes, Ray, I saw him.” She picked up a roll and plucked tiny pieces from it.

  “Why is he here? I thought you were going to handle him.”

  Her eyes blazed.

  “That low-life I hired got himself killed. Nothing I could do about it.” She waved her hand in the air. Then she moved her hand to her cheek, hiding her mouth, as if telling him a secret.

  “You-know-who probably did it,” she said in a loud whisper. Her buzz made her careless and scarier.

  “What do we do now?” Ray knew who. Cowering in his chair, his eyes darted around, looking for Mr. Cooper or possible FBI agents. They could be lurking anywhere.

  “If you-know-who is watching him, we don’t have to do anything. Let them deal with it. They obviously don’t want our help.”

  “Maybe I should call Ed.” Ray reached for his QV.

  Vivienne threw the rest of the roll at him.

  “No! Let them be the scapegoat here. The less we know, the better. They probably did us a favor.” She fluttered her eyes and put on her best innocent pout. “But the big man said it was all right,” she said in a high, whiny voice, looking up at invisible accusers.

  “Fine.” He frowned. He still couldn’t eat.

  Ray hated waiting.

  Walking for what seemed like hours, Cooper estimated they were about three-quarters of the way to the house. So far, the tunnel had been wide enough to allow them to walk side by side. He’d be happy when he could stand up straight again. Rubbing his neck, he dreaded the sore crick he would have later.

  “How are you doing, Geri?” Cooper asked. She had done a good job keeping pace with him.

  “I’m fine. And you?” She flashed him a flirtatious smirk.

  He smiled back, soaking up her transfixing aura.

  “That’s good, because it looks like we may have to crawl soon.” He pointed up ahead with the flashlight, showing her how the tunnel narrowed. They were about to get cramped and dirty. He would see how she dealt with a little drop in elevation on what had been a smooth flight up to then.

  “That sounds lovely,” she answered in a sarcastic tone.

  “I thought you’d like that.”

  “I’m sending you my dry-cleaning bill.”

  As the tunnel quickly tapered, they were forced to crawl on their hands and knees. Shoulder to shoulder, they continued to scrunch down until they were dragging themselves on their bellies with their elbows. Then they came to a dead end.

  “Are we there yet?” Geri asked.

  “I don’t think so. Looks like a cave-in.”

  “So what do we do? Go back?”

  Cooper tilted his head at her, giving her a Really? look.

  “Now we dig,” he said, in a matter-of-fact tone. Cooper set down the flashlight and shoved the saw into the dirt in front of them
to test its depth. “It doesn’t feel very thick. And it’s soft. We will be through in no time.”

  “Sure we will.” Geri backed out a bit to give him some room.

  He couldn’t tell if she was being serious or sarcastic again, but at least she wasn’t complaining. His awkward position, lying on his stomach while he held up his head and arms, made progress slow and difficult as he pulled away the soil. Geri scooted further back to avoid getting splattered with dirt. Every so often, Cooper would push to test the thickness of the blockage. After a few minutes, his hand broke through.

  “There. You see?”

  “We can’t fit through there.” Geri smiled.

  “We only need room to pass through one at a time. We’re almost at the end.” He dug some more around the hole.

  “Look! I think I can fit!” He shoved the saw through and stuck his arms into the opening. Squeezing his shoulders through one at a time, he wriggled his body the rest of the way out. Geri snickered.

  “You’re next, you know,” he called back to her and she hushed.

  After he righted himself and faced her, she handed him the flashlight and his jacket.

  On the other side, he slid down a small slope of dirt. He used the flashlight to scan ahead. They would have room to walk upright again in just a few feet. Turning around to tell Geri the good news, he accidentally spotlighted her in the face.

  She had started to pull herself through the opening and he caught her in a pirate ship’s mermaid pose, with her arms pressing down and her back arched, as she struggled to pull her other half through. He couldn’t help gawking.

  “Hey! Watch where you’re shining that thing,” she said, waking him out of his trance.

  “Oh. Sorry. Here, let me help you.” His eyes hit the floor, ashamed for staring at her exceptional breasts, and he set the flashlight down. Climbing the short way back up the mound, he grabbed her arms, and she let him pull to help her escape the tight-fitting fissure. Once she passed through, she rolled down and righted herself to sit on the mound.

  “Thank ya kindly, J.L.” Geri futilely brushed at the dirt and ground-in mud on her dress. The gown was a goner. Cooper picked up the flashlight and shined it down the tunnel again.

  “Look up ahead. There’s more room.”

  She glanced up.

  “What a relief. Are we almost there?”

  He watched her pout at her dress again, then shrug it off. It was a good thing there wasn’t a mirror around for her to see her mussed hair and smudged face. As a warm feeling grew in his gut, a smile spread across his lips. In her disarray, Geri looked even more attractive.

  “Shouldn’t be much farther,” he said, pushing the moment aside. With the light showing the way, they started walking again. The glow faded down the tunnel. It still stretched farther than they could see.

  Fifteen minutes later, Cooper’s heart jumped.

  “Look!” he shouted and pointed.

  Geri grabbed his arm and cheered.

  “A ladder! Hallelujah!”

  In a far tent, away from the blasting music, Blake waited. As he watched the guests mingle, he listened to the security comlinks through his earpiece, courtesy of Nate’s hacking expertise. That geek has his advantages.

  Most of the night had gone without incident. When he heard a guard at security headquarters mention a couple had gone into a locked maintenance closet two hours ago and still hadn’t come out, Blake smiled. The bozos finally detected his unwitting partner, Geri and her mark, Mr. Cooper. Security dispatched two guards to go check it out.

  After searching the closet, the guards reported nothing appeared unusual or out of place. In the middle of the report, Blake heard a crash over the comlink.

  The guard whimpered, holding back his laughter.

  “Are you okay, Vincent?” he asked.

  Blake huffed at their sloppy antics.

  “Yeah. Get down here and help me check this out,” the other guard growled.

  “We just stumbled into something. I’ll call you right back,” the first guy said to Security.

  Blake sipped his water and smiled. Any minute, the real party would start. Knowing he would move soon made the waiting easier. That, and the hysterics he heard on the comlink from the discovery of the hidden passage. What a joke.

  The head of Security came through the clearest, putting the evacuation procedure into effect.

  “We have a code Yellow. When Kadir makes the announcement, move guests in waves to the trams in an orderly fashion and keep them calm. Transport personnel are prepped with departure information, ready to transmit.”

  The Creator’s personal guards were told to escort him quietly out to a hovercart and take him to the manor house. He needed to be secured there until Security gave the all-clear signal.

  Led past Blake by his guards, the Creator protested, complaining about the early time and how he wanted see what happened. Such a spoiled boy.

  Blake shook his head. Time to move. He followed the Creator and his escorts at a safe distance. They would lead him to the house where he should find Geri and Cooper at some point.

  Blake stayed in the shadows and watched the guards help the Creator into a hovercart at the end of the stables. When they drove up the road, headed for the house, Blake scanned the area. Only one android sitting in another hovercart to dispatch. The rest of the guards and androids were helping with the evacuation.

  Blake glided up behind the security droid. As it turned to identify him, Blake Tasered it with his electrogun at the base of its neck. The android slumped, and Blake pulled it into the bushes. Taking off in the cart, Blake left the lights off and chased after the Creator and his guards, keeping their cart in his sights.

  Ray had lost sight of Mr. Cooper and the agent, Geri Harper, but he didn’t care anymore. When he saw Ms. Harper with the detective, he had breathed a sigh of relief. He even drank a few cocktails to celebrate. The FBI still had his back.

  Then Kadir halted the concert and made an announcement.

  “Thank you all for coming. I regret to inform you it is time to go. There has been a security breach. Please do not be alarmed. You are not at risk. But we must request that you proceed to the tram in an orderly fashion for identification and transport home. So sorry for the inconvenience. The Creator trusts you enjoyed your time here at the Beasley Hills Plantation. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. Good night.”

  Ray’s heart sank. As the androids and guards started their sweep, gathering the crowd to prepare for inspection and exit, he stared with his mouth hanging open. No, no noooo!

  He yanked one of the guards’ earpieces off his head and screamed at Manny Ramos, head of Security.

  “What the hell is going on, Manny!” he demanded.

  “Mr. Saffioti? No need to worry, sir. Probably just a deer running through the laser fencing. The Creator has been secured. Nothing to be concerned about.”

  As the serving staff walked among the guests, they continued to serve drinks, since moving them all back to the transport house would take a while. Ray grabbed a Scotch and stormed out, headed to the security house.

  Beasley Hills Manor House

  8:00 p.m., Friday, July 26

  Geri suppressed her urge to turn a cartwheel and shout a cheer when they spotted the wooden protrusions barely visible in the dirt wall. The exit was within reach! Cooper told her earlier he hoped it would open up to the now-attached kitchen and not just open air. Either way, they surely would emerge past the inner laser fence surrounding the house.

  Cooper climbed up and pried away the boards covering the opening. As he removed them, the layer of earth above sent clods plopping down on them.

  “Watch out, Geri.”

  “What?” She looked up and a particularly large chunk landed on her forehead. “Oh,” she said, brushing it off, spitting dirt out of her mouth. She backed away. Thanks for the heads up, she thought wryly.

  Cooper dropped the planks as he got them loose, each followed by a small sho
wer of clay and dirt raining down. When he had removed most of the wood, he scraped away at the dirt for a few minutes. Breaking through, he paused.

  “It’s plastic coating! We made it!”

  “I hope so. We don’t know where we are yet.”

  “It’s the house. It has to be. I can feel it.” His voice rose with heightened excitement. Piercing through the plastic, he dug out more dirt. As soon as he had an opening large enough, he poked his head through.

  He popped back down to tell her about it.

  “This is it! Crawl space!” His excitement reminded her of her little nephew winning a rigged game at a carnival.

  Cooper dug faster to make the hole bigger and scrambled up.

  “Come on up, Geri! We made it!” He called down to her.

  “On my way.” Relieved this messy part of the journey was over, she climbed the ladder and blew a kiss good-bye to the tunnel.

  “You’ve been great, by the way,” Cooper said, giving her a hand up.

  “Whew! Couldn’a done it without me, right?” she asked as she reached the top.

  “Well, it might’ve taken longer, but I’m sure I would’ve managed.” He obviously hadn’t thought through that callous response before blurting it out.

  “Really?” Geri smacked his arm.

  “Ouch!” He rubbed it and corrected himself. “I mean, no. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “That’s bettah!”

  As they scrunched in the two-foot-high crawl space, Geri longed to stretch out and breathe some fresh air. She wondered how long the feeling of imaginary bugs crawling on her skin would last. Georgia has too many cockroaches!

  After Cooper pressed his ears up to the subfloor and listened a minute, he nodded at her and chose a spot to go to work on. Everyone must still be at the party. She wondered if anyone had found the tunnel yet and poised herself at the hole, ready to deal with anyone who might come up.

  Cooper’s enthusiasm amazed Geri. He sawed away at the flooring above and had an opening cut out in no time. After breaking it off, he finished carefully cutting through the linoleum floor. When he finished, he pushed it up an inch and peered into the dark. Darkness was a good sign.