Blood Orchid (30 page)

G
rant shifted his body until he was lying close behind Holly, and he put his lips close to her ear. “Can you roll over and reach my cellphone?” he whispered. “It’s in my inside jacket pocket, down low. Your hands are near it now.”

Holly groped behind her and felt his belt buckle.

“To your left six inches,” Grant said.

Holly found the phone.

“Now, pry it open—it’s already turned on.”

Holly got the phone open.

“Press one and hold it down for a few seconds.”

Holly felt the keypad of the phone, located the number one, and held it down.

Grant waited a moment, then began shouting. “Now!” he yelled. “Do it now!”

“What?” Holly asked, as if he were talking to her.

“You two shut up,” the man with the shotgun said.

“Why now?” Holly asked, hoping to confuse the man.

“Now! Do it now!” Grant yelled again.

The man with the shotgun rapped him sharply on the top of the head with the barrel. “I told you to shut up.”

“Why do you want to lock us in a vault?” Grant asked the man loudly. “Why can’t you just shoot us?”

“Believe me, I’d just as soon shoot you, but the boss says to put you in the vault!” the man yelled back. “He didn’t say I couldn’t crack your skull first, though, and that’s what I’m going to do if you open your mouth again!”

The van stopped, and the driver got out and opened the rear doors. He dragged Holly and Grant to their feet, and the two men unlocked the front door and shoved them roughly into the building, then into the elevator.

Holly and Grant each stood in a corner of the elevator, looking at each other as they descended one floor.

“Don’t open your mouths,” one of the men said.

They were dragged off the elevator in the basement and taken down a hallway to a vault, the door of which stood open. The two men kicked them into the vault and then swung the foot-thick door slowly shut.

Holly heard the mechanical sound of the bolts closing. “Well, shit,” she said.

“My sentiments exactly,” Grant replied.

“Back in the van, who was on the other end of the cellphone?”

“I hope to God it was Harry,” he said. “He’s out there somewhere with forty or fifty men.”

“Out where?”

“Outside Blood Orchid, ready to storm the place at my signal. At least I hope he is; that was the plan. I didn’t have time to tell you everything in the car. As soon as we figured out who Shine was, Harry went into action, getting warrants and marshaling resources.”

“You think he got your signal?”

“I was yelling loud enough, wasn’t I?”

Then came the sound of running water.

“What’s that?” Grant asked.

“The sound of running water,” Holly replied. “Do you think that was what Ed meant by ‘emergency mode’?”

“Oh, shit,” Grant said, and as he spoke a sheet of water made its way across the floor of the vault. They heard the sound of another valve opening, and more water began to pour in.

“Why the hell would anybody want to put water into a vault?” Holly asked. “Apart from drowning us, I mean?”

“I think the vaults at Fort Knox can be flooded. Maybe that’s where they got the notion. Any ideas?” Grant asked.

Holly stepped around him and nuzzled close. “Put your hand in my pocket,” she said.

“Is sex all you can think about at a time like this?”

“The left-hand pocket,” she said. “Get ahold of my car keys.”

“You want to drive somewhere? That’s okay with me.”

The water was up to their shins now, and rising fast.

“There’s a handcuff key on my key ring,” Holly said.

“Oh,” Grant replied, groping in her pocket. “Got them.”

Holly turned around and backed up to him. “Now, unlock my cuffs and don’t drop the keys.”

Grant dropped the keys.

“I told you not to drop them!” Holly moaned.

“I’m sorry, they were slippery.”

She put her back against the wall and slid down into a sitting position, then began groping around the floor for the keys. Sitting down, the water was up to her chin. “Don’t just stand there, help me!”

Grant sat down beside her and joined the effort.

“Got them!” Holly said, and her mouth filled with water. Leaning against Grant, she struggled to her feet. “Can you stand up?”

“I’m trying,” he said.

“Lean against me.”

He managed to get to his feet.

“This time, I’ll do the unlocking,” she said, feeling for Grant’s wrists. After a moment she got one of his cuffs off.

He took the key and unlocked her cuffs and his other wrist. “There,” he said, “that’s better.”

“Not much,” Holly said. “What do we do now, the backstroke?” The water was waist deep and rising.

“Brackish,” Grant said, tasting a finger. “River water.”

“What is this, a tasting? Or do you want to get us out of here?”

“My cellphone’s in the van; how about yours?”

“Dead battery; I tried it in the ladies’. I doubt if we could get a signal inside a steel basement room, anyway.”

“You have a point,” Grant said, then he ducked under the water and started feeling the vault door.

Holly watched him, wondering what the hell he was doing.

Grant came up for air. “There’s got to be some sort of safety feature in this thing. Surely they can’t let people get locked into vaults these days without having a way out.”

“Let’s both look,” Holly said “At least the lights are on.”

The lights went off.

“We’ll just have to feel,” Grant said.

Holly took a couple of deep breaths and began
running her hands over the inside of the vault door. Her air gave out, and she came up. The water was up to her neck.

Grant surfaced. “I don’t think this is going to work,” he said. “Anything you want to say to me before we drown?”

“Yes,” Holly replied, “what are you working on in Orchid Beach? What’s your assignment?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Grant replied. “It’s a secret.”

Holly burst out laughing. The water was up to her nose now, and she was forced to tread water.

“Come on, let’s keep trying,” Grant said, and went under again.

Holly dove after him, wondering if there would be any air left in the vault when she came up.

63

H
olly came up for air again, and her head bumped against the ceiling before her nose cleared the water. She leaned back and sucked in air, trying to pack it into her lungs. She heard Grant doing the same thing. Then she dove under again.

She swam to the bottom of the door, running her hands desperately over the smooth surface. Then she came to a handle, like that on a cupboard. She turned it and a door opened. Inside was another handle, like a lever. She pulled hard on the lever. Grant was above her, doing something.

Then, in the darkness, three green lights began to flash in sequence. She watched them, her lungs bursting, and then she heard a mechanical noise.

She didn’t even have to push the door; the pressure of eight feet of water did that. Light streamed in from the hallway as Holly and Grant poured out of the vault along with the water.

Holly landed on top of Grant as they both sucked in lungfuls of air.

“What happened?” Grant asked.

“I found a door and a lever, and I pulled it.”

“I knew something had to be there.”

“I’ll remember that if I’m ever locked in a flooded vault again.”

They sat on the floor, leaning against the wall.

“I don’t know if I can stand up,” Holly said.

“If you can do that, help me.”

Together they struggled to their feet. “Let’s get out of here before somebody comes,” Grant said.

“Not the elevator,” Holly said. “The electrics may have gotten wet.” They were splashing around in a couple of feet of water. She pointed at a lighted exit sign. “There, the stairs.”

A moment later, they emerged one floor up into the upstairs lobby. The front doors were locked.

There was a small steel table and a chair in the lobby, as if for a guard to use. Grant picked up the table and hurled it at one of the glass doors, which shattered. A siren went off, and lights began to flash.

“Follow me,” Holly said. “I know how to get out of here.” She ran around the building and into the woods. There was a moon, and after her eyes had become accustomed to the dim light, she could see her way. “You with me?”

“Right behind you. Where are we going?”

Holly stopped. “What was the plan?”

“What plan?”

“The plan for Harry and his people to take this place? Where were they going to come from?”

“From all sides,” Grant said.

“Let’s head for the airfield. When the balloon goes up, Ed might try to get out that way.”

“Whatever you say,” Grant replied.

Holly set off at a trot, with Grant close behind. After two or three minutes, she stopped.

“What is it?” he asked.

Holly looked above her. “I’m looking for something.”

“What?”

“Just something. Hang on for a minute.” She knew she was somewhere close by.

“Holly, we’re in the middle of the woods. What are you looking for?”

“There; this is the tree. I don’t have a knife. Have you got one?”

Grant fished in his pockets and came up with a pocketknife.

Holly took it and began carving something in the tree trunk.

“That’s sweet of you, Holly, but I don’t think this is the time for you to carve our initials into a tree.”

“Not yours, just mine,” she said, pointing at an
H
. “Okay, we can go now. I want to go back to the guest cottage.”

“Why?”

“It’s on the way to the airfield, and I want Daisy with me. Come to think of it, my gun is there, too.”

“You take Daisy, I’ll take the gun.”

“We’ll see.” She stopped him at the road’s edge and looked around. “Come on!” She sprinted across the road and onto the golf course. It took her less than a minute to cross the course to the trees on the other side, and she stopped to get her breath.

Grant pulled up beside her. “Jesus, I haven’t run that fast in years.”

“It’s not much farther. Come on.” She jogged off in the direction of the cottage. There was still a light on in the living room, and she looked through a window before opening the door. Daisy was on her feet, alert.

Holly rushed into the room and hugged the dog.

“Hi, Daisy,” Grant said. “Holly, where’s the gun?”

Holly went into the bedroom and came back with her Beretta and two clips. “You think we can risk using the phone to call Harry?”

“We can’t,” Grant said.

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t remember his cellphone number. I had it programmed into mine, and that’s in the back of the van now. Where’s yours?”

“In my purse, back at the clubhouse.”

Holly picked up the phone, dialed nine, and got a dial tone. She dialed a number she knew by heart.

“Hi, this is Hurd,” the machine said, “leave a message.” Holly hung up and dialed another number.

“Wallace,” he said.

“Thank God you’ve got your cellphone.”

“What’s up, Holly?”

“Everything.” Then she stopped herself. If someone was listening, she couldn’t blow the imminent arrival of the FBI. “Call your former workplace,” she said. “And order a six-six-six.”

“Where?”

“You know where. I’m heading for where you found the shell casing.”

“Got it.”

Holly hung up.

“What’s a six-six-six?” Grant asked.

“Doesn’t the FBI have a six-six-six?”

“No. What is it?”

“It means everybody converge with everything they’ve got. Devil’s drill.”

“I hope they don’t think it’s a drill.”

“I hope they don’t start shooting at the FBI,” Holly said, “but we’ve got to get
somebody
here.”

A car’s lights flashed across the windows, and there was the crunch of gravel in the driveway.

“Let’s get out the back way,” Holly said, crouching and running. “Come on, Daisy.”

64

H
olly ran out the back door, through the bushes, across a road, and into more bushes. Two minutes later, they could see the landing lights of the runway, ending almost at their feet. Ed Shine’s King Air was sitting on the ramp, near the middle of the runway, and two pilots in white shirts were walking around the airplane, as if to preflight it.

“I don’t suppose you’re a good enough shot to hit the tires of that airplane from this distance,” Holly said.

“How far is it?”

“The runway is six thousand feet, so three thousand, give or take.”

“More than half a mile, with a handgun? Yeah, sure.”

“Me neither,” she said. “We need to get closer to the airplane.”

“It’s all open ground between here and there,” Grant said. “And there’s a moon up there, remember?”

“They’re not expecting us,” Holly said. “And they’re looking at the airplane. Come on.” She got up, crossed the runway, and began running down the opposite side, Daisy keeping pace with her. As she ran, she saw
the headlights of a vehicle approaching the ramp, down the road on the other side of the runway. From the direction of the main gate she heard four or five gunshots. She began to run faster. How long did it take to run half a mile?

She could see the van stopping at the airplane and people getting out. Their movements were not leisurely; they were in a hurry. Half a dozen people boarded the airplane.

“We’re not going to make it,” Grant said.

Holly stopped running. They were still at least five hundred feet from the airplane. “We don’t have to,” she said.

“What?”

“I can get a shot from here.”

“Holly, you might hit something with a rifle and a scope, but not with the Beretta.”

The airplane’s engines started, and it began to move.

“They’ve got to use the runway to take off; let’s let them come to us.” The airplane was taxiing down the runway in the opposite direction.

“Where’s he going to go?” Grant asked.

“The Bahamas? The Dominican Republic? Haiti? Wherever he can get fuel, and then he’s off.”

Grant lay down on the ground and pulled his knees up. “Brace on my knees,” he said. “Keep your arm straight and fire one round at a time—no rapid fire. Try for the nosewheel.”