Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00 (21 page)

While he did that, I took
another round of photos; then put the documents back in the secret compartment
where I found them. When I attempted to close the drawer, it wouldn’t shut. I
felt around to see what was blocking it, and came across a manila folder. I
pulled it out.

“This is unbelievable.”

Cody walked over. “What now?”

“They’re selling the club, and
opening a new resort in Mexico. To celebrate, they’re having a big Mardi Gras
party at The Humidor.” The Humidor wasn’t that in my mom’s notes?

“Get out…!” Cody grabbed the
file out of my hands, and started reading. “Syd, they’re not just having a
party. The Humidor is a private cruise ship. It’s scheduled to set sail later
tonight, at zero hundred hours. It’s headed to Mexico. They’re smuggling the
victims across the border.”

“
This is human trafficking
.”

“Oh my God! Cody, we have to
check the other room!”

We put everything away exactly
as we found it, and locked the door on the way out. In the hall, Cody hurried
over and started to work the lock. For some reason, the lock took forever. The
anticipation that victims could possibly be inside, had both of us on edge. Why
didn’t we check that door, first? When I finally heard the click of the lock, I
braced myself. Cody opened the door, and we looked inside, terrified of what we
might find.

“No!!!!!”

Cody and I stared into the room.
It was the same room that we saw on the DVD, the one with several bunks and
innocent victims chained to them, only the victims were gone.

“Cody, we’re too late!” I cried,
feeling an overwhelming amount of grief. “They’re gone!” I started to lose it.

Cody draped his arm around me.
“Syd, they’re not gone. They’re on The Humidor! They don’t leave until zero
hundred hours. We’ll find them, Syd.”

It took me several minutes to
pull myself together. When I finally calmed down, we closed the door and Cody
ushered me back up through the pantry. We put the paneling back on the wall,
and tried to make sure everything was the way we found it. We locked up on the
way out.

The next few hours were spent
filling Carter in on everything we found, so he could deal with the department
bureaucracy and attempt to get a warrant. At the same time, we worked on our
own plan.

FROM THE window in the living
quarters of the firehouse, I had a clear view of the Sutter Beach Harbor. The
Humidor was docked at the marina, its image reflected off the water from the
light of the moon. With a quick search, I found out the private cruise ship
pulled up to the dock just two days ago, and was supposed to set sail at Zero
Hundred Hours, like Cody said. I stared at it. Anyone who looked at the awesome
view would have no idea that innocent victims were somewhere on board, probably
chained in some small space, and terrified.

Were they cold?

Did they know what was in store
for them?

I shivered at the thought.

I returned to the sofa where I
had documents and photos spread out on the coffee table. I wanted to keep all
the sordid details of this case fresh in my mind. In just a few hours, Cody and
I were going to attempt to crash a party. We didn’t have invitations, but we
were the right age, so we figured if we could make it on board we could blend
in. That was the problem, how to get on board undetected?

We went through all the
scenarios. First, we combed the internet looking for images of that type of
ship. The Humidor was a small, privately owned cruise ship, so we couldn’t find
the exact layout, but I found one that was similar. We didn’t waste time trying
to figure out ways to get past bouncers collecting invitations at the door. It
wasn’t a nightclub, or rave, so we couldn’t just bribe our way in. Cody and I
both knew how to scuba dive, so we could get over to the ship that way. But the
heavy gear would complicate matters when trying to get on board during the
party. Plus, we had to be dressed to the nines like the rest of the guests
expected for the evening. Cody recommended a tandem-chute-jump from the Sutter
Beach tour chopper. But I was afraid the sound would alert them to our
presence, and it would be expensive to take a tour at night.

In the end, Cody and I came up
with a plan we thought might work - at least we hoped so. We watched a couple
of YouTube videos and walked ourselves through the steps a few times, until we
had a timeline down. All we needed were a few supplies and a few hours. The
party wasn’t until evening, so we had the morning and afternoon to put the plan
into action.

I gave Cody some of the cash
from the six-hundred-dollars Summer paid me. So much for making money. Then, he
and Jaden went to a sporting goods store and a local spy shop. I stayed home to
rifle through my mom’s closet for something to wear. I didn’t think Levi’s
would pass for Mardi Gras attire. Now that I was closer to possibly knowing who
took her away from me, I couldn’t help but get angry, as I sat on her bed and
looked around at the photographs of the two of us.

***

At fourteen-hundred hours, when
employees of The Humidor were busy prepping for the party, Cody and I donned
our scuba gear, grabbed a waterproof duffel bag and swam around to the back
side of the cruise ship. Thank goodness for the warm Santa-Ana winds. The water
was comfortable. When we were sure the coast was clear, we grabbed onto metal
clamps just under the emergency rafts and hefted ourselves onto the rail of an
exterior stairway; then ascended up to the top deck.

I kept watch while Cody removed
the supplies from the duffel. Then, he secured one end of a quarter-inch
galvanized aircraft cable and a bungee brake to an outer rim of the ship, but
in a location where it wouldn’t be detected - hopefully. The cable was
two-hundred-feet long and would stretch over the distance from the ship to
land. Once he was finished, he held onto the spool of cable and we slipped back
into the water, loosening the wire along the way. When we reached land, he
pulled the wire taut and we trekked up a hill to where Jaden was waiting.

While we slipped out of the
gear, Jaden secured the other end of the cable wire to a tree, forming a zip
line for us to cross over in the dark of night.

“We have to pull this off,” I
said to both of them. Images of the victims chained to bunks kept going through
my mind.

“Their lives are in the hands
of two eighteen-year-olds…”

A FEW hours later, Cody and I stood
at the top of the hill overlooking the harbor. We were both dressed in
dark-jump suits and night-goggles. Rope gear and harnesses were secured around
our waists. At the marina, The Humidor was lit up with thousands of twinkling
lights, indicating the party was underway. Limousines, Hummers and exotic
sports cars continued to drop off late arrivals dressed to the nines at the
red-carpet plank that led to the main deck where the party was underway.

At the sound of a car door shutting
behind me, I turned around to see Jaden as he trudged up the incline, carrying
Cody’s camera bag. When he reached us, he opened it and pulled out Cody’s Canon
camera and the tri-pod.

I looked at Cody, aghast. “You’re
having him film this?”

Cody shrugged. “Are you kidding? This
is the perfect advertising tool.”

“It’s not a spy flick, Cody.”

“C’mon Syd, how often do sleuths get
to handle situations like this, saving victims on a frigging cruise-liner? Man,
we’re doing something no veteran P.I. ever gets to do. It sure beats rifling
through documents in a cold basement.”

I shuttered. “What if we don’t save
them? Have you thought of that? This is serious stuff, Cody.”

Cody put both hands on my arms, and
stared into my eyes. “Not saving them, is not an option. You got us here, this
far. We will save them!”

Tears welled up in my eyes. I hate
crying, but lately, I seem to be doing it, a lot.

Jaden nodded, and he looked serious and
sincere. “I hate to say it, Syd. But numb-nuts is right. You took the skills
your mom taught you, and you worked this case. You have a chance to stop what’s
happening, long before that boat takes them anywhere.”

I inhaled a gulp of air and let it out.
“Okay,” I finally responded, after what felt like an eternity.

Cody looked over at Jaden, and
chortled. “Numb-nuts…? Sounds like something my grumpy grandfather would say.”

Jaden shrugged, and proceeded to set
up the tri-pod and camera. “Okay, all set?”

Cody looked at me. “I’m ready.”

“Me too,” I said, and I took another
deep breath.

Jaden gave us both a look that went
from fear and admiration, all rolled into one. “Promise you won’t do anything
stupid.”

He did a hand-fist with Cody. Then
clumsily gave me a bear hug. “And get back here in one piece, or I’ll have to
kick both your asses.”

We did one more check of the zip
line. It should hold up to three-hundred-fifty pounds. Cody probably weighed in
at one-seventy-five. I was one-hundred ten soaking wet, so we should be fine.
Using a carabineer, I secured the harness around my waist to the harness on
Cody. A few seconds later, I was hanging onto his waist as we were gliding in
tandem across the Pacific Ocean - high above the waves - the same way we used to
when flying down from the firehouse roof. If it weren’t for the danger we were
heading into, this would have been a friggin blast.

The bungee brake Cody installed
earlier; stopped us from crashing into the boat at a high-rate of speed. We
took a couple minutes to catch our breath, and make sure the coast was clear.
When Cody gave me thumbs up, we latched onto the railing, hauled ourselves over
and landed with a thud on the deck. We hurried out of the jumpsuits and
goggles; then smoothed out the wrinkles of our party clothes, and tucked the
gear out of sight. It was pretty dark up on the deck, so someone would have to
be physically looking for them to find them. I spotted the stairwell when we
were on board earlier, so I grabbed Cody by the hand and led the way.

WE MADE it down to the door to
the Starboard Deck, the floor of the ship where the party was in full swing.
Before we opened the door, we adjusted our attire. Cody was dressed in a rented
black tuxedo with a matching black-collared shirt.

“Will this suffice?” he said,
while looking to me for approval.

I gave him the once over. The
cheerleaders would think he looked like a model straight off the cover of a
romance novel, but I tried to push thoughts like that out of my head. I didn’t
want to ruin a perfectly good friendship. Plus, I didn’t want to encourage his
already-inflated ego.

“It’ll do,” I teased. But, he
did look good, a little too good for comfort. My stomach did a little flip
flop, something I’ve never experienced before the last couple days. Could my
mom have been right about Cody and me, and any possible feelings we might have
for each other?”

I stepped out of the cover of
darkness, and it was his turn to gawk, but probably not for the same reason. He
was stunned. I found a silver halter dress in my mom’s closet and picked up a
matching pair of sandals. I had to practice walking in front of a mirror for a
good twenty minutes before I was used to them. It would have drawn attention to
us, if I walked in looking like a bumbling idiot. My entire life was spent in
cowboy boots, Uggs, or my Reebok Cross-Trainers, none of which had three-inch
heels. I also purchased a mask with feathers to fit in with the Mardi Gras
theme. It would also keep my identity hidden.

“Are you turning into a girl?”
he mocked. “First I see you in makeup, and now this. You look … different.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant by,
different, and I was afraid to ask. But, I think he approved.

“Well, don’t get cocky,” I said,
and I gave him a light punch on the arm. “I can still kick your butt if I have
to.”

He chuckled. “I knew you were in
there, somewhere. But, if I recall, it was you who landed on her butt during
our last workout.”

“Yeah, but it’s you that is in
the monkey suit.”

“Touche,” he said. “Um Syd,
where’s the gun?”

The dress had a slit up the
side, so I pulled the material to the side. A Walther CP99 pistol - fully
loaded - was strapped to my thigh. The pistol only shoots eight rounds of
pellets, but I had Cody pick up a pack of hi-impact hollow points. The bad guys
have real guns, but I was hoping they wouldn’t get a chance to use them. If
they did, I was fully prepared to fire back. Besides, until a pellet flew out
of the weapon, the gun resembled the real thing, so it could at least keep
someone at bay. It was the gun my mom let me use when she went to the shooting
range for target practice, and I conned her into taking me along. I wouldn’t go
out in public with it. They have become a major problem for law enforcement in
recent years, because the gun looks so much like the real thing. The pellets
could knock the wind out of you, and give you some good welts, but they weren’t
fatal.

Cody smiled. “Sweet.”

“I also have a nail file from my
army knife, in case we need to pick any locks,” I said, and showed him a metal
clasp with a magnet that I sewed inside the dress. The nail file was stuck to
it.

“Cool. Any news from Carter?”

“Not yet,” I said, reminding
myself that he’s on it, but he has to get through the bureaucracy first.