Into the Storm (10 page)

“You the only one?”

“Yes, sir,” Ryan said.

“Let me see your money,” the cabbie said.

Ryan held out a few wadded bills and some loose change.

“I counted it,” he said.

“There’s twelve dollars and about $1.37 in change.” Ryan handed the man the address.

“You think it’s enough?”

When they arrived, the cabbie shut off the meter.

“That’s $10.50,” he said.

Ryan looked at his money.

“I don’t know how to do tips,” he said.

The cabbie rolled his eyes.

“If I do a lousy job, don’t tip at all. If I drive carefully and show my wonderful personality, you could give me 20 percent.”

“How much is that?” Ryan said.

“I don’t know,” the cabbie said.

“Just give me the $10.50 and we’ll call it square.”

Ryan handed him the whole thing.

“Keep the change,” Ryan said. Before he shut the door, he looked back.

“I’ve always wanted to say that.”

Late Friday night, Judd sent the final draft of his article for the Underground. Talking with Vicki via E-mail was fun, but it wasn’t the same as being face-to-face. He admired her for the way she had kept going. That she was preparing another newspaper for the people at school showed she cared.

She could have played it safe. Not Vicki.

Judd wondered whether his life would ever be “normal” again.

Would he be able to go out in public? After questioning Taylor Graham and Mrs. Stahley, would the GC

turn to him for answers?

He was tapping his fingers against the computer keyboard when he heard a strange thump come from the hangar. He turned off the light and moved toward the door. The hangar waspitch black.

“Anybody there?” Judd said in a loud whisper.

Nothing.

“Oh, well,” Judd said out loud. He turned,then heard it again. It was coming from the door.

Heart racing. Thinking of a way out. If it’s GC, what do I do?

Surrender? No way.

Judd heard a creak,then felt something against his skin.

Night air. The smell was wonderful. Fresh. Then Judd realized someone had found the mechanical box near the woods. They had probably seen the door open by now. Judd stood back. Armed guards would descend any moment. How could he escape?

Judd had located two motorcycles in the hangar while jogging. One was smaller, and from the size of the helmet, he guessed it was Darrion’s. The other was a large dirt bike. He hadn’t tried to start it for fear it would alert the GC team on the other side of the wall. Now it didn’t matter. They knew.

Judd ran to the motorcycle. He strapped on the helmet,then looked for the ignition key. It wasn’t there.

On the wall inside the study! Judd thought.

There wasn’t time to retrieve the key and start the machine, so Judd rushed to the door and hit the button to close it. In the moonlight he saw a figure running toward him.

Come on, door!

Judd rushed for the key, grabbed it, and turned. Before the door closed, the figure somersaulted into the room.

“Ryan!” Judd exclaimed.

“What are you doing here?”

Ryan smiled and cocked his head.

“I came to help,” he said.

“You goingsomewhere?”

Judd took off his helmet and shook his head.

“You could have been shot!” he said.

“You might have led them right to me.”

“I didn’t,” Ryan said.

“But you were right about them being around the house. There have been three out there all evening.”

“How long have you been here?” Judd said.

“Long enough to know we’d better find that entrance,” Ryan said.

Judd took off his helmet and shook his head.

“You could have been shot!” he said.

“You might have led them right to me.”

“I didn’t,” Ryan said.

“But you were right about them being around the house. There have been three out there all evening.”

“How long have you been here?” Judd said.

“Long enough to know we’d better find that entrance,” Ryan said.

Judd and Ryan searched the room again, taking out every book and every drawer. Nothing. Early Sunday morning, Ryan suggested they have some kind of church service.

“Let’s get Tsion in on it too,” Judd said.

Tsion joined them by computer. Judd felt weird singing with just two other people. They sang softly so they wouldn’t be detected. Tsion asked Ryan to read a passage from Luke.

Ryan read, “” As they were walking along someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you no matter where you go.” But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but I, the Son of Man, have no home of my own, not even a place to lay my head.”

“There is a great cost to following Jesus,” Tsion said.

“Those who were his disciples did not realize it at the time, and I confess I am like them. And you are as well. We had no idea what would happen, and where God would take us. But here we are. God be praised.”

Tsion talked further of being willing to go and do whatever God wanted.

Judd and Ryan prayed for wisdom and courage for the days ahead.

As Judd prayed, he opened his eyes and looked up. He noticed a panel in one corner of the ceiling he hadn’t seen before.

When they had said good-bye to Tsion, he got a chair and looked at it more closely.

“What’s up?” Ryan said.

“I think we may have been looking in the wrong place,” Judd said.

“I thought the entrance in here would be through the wall, but maybe it’s up here somewhere.”

Judd poked and pushed at the three-foot square, but nothing happened. When he moved the chair he saw another square on the floor the same size and in the same spot as the one above.

“I don’t get it,” Ryan said.

“Is the entrance up there or down here?”

Judd sat back and scratched his head.

“Maybe it’s nothing,” he said.

Ryan took a run and jumped on the square in the floor. Ryan’s feet came down hard. Judd heard a noise. The panel above moved to the side to reveal a hole.

At the same time, the panel Ryan was standing on raised off the floor.

“Hurry and get on,” Ryan said.

Lionel tried to figure out why the men would have taken him.

He received the answer from Conrad.

“They have a lot of ways to get kids,” Conrad said.

“They snatch some off the street. Some they go after for a reason.”

“Like you?” Lionel said.

“My older brother is in the GC,” Conrad said.

“My hunch is they brought me here to punish him for something.”

“What about me?” Lionel said.

“A guy came to my school. He had papers.”

“Somebody had to have tipped them,” Conrad said.

“I know they have shady connections to people in prison. Does anybody in jail know you?”

“Leroy and Cornelius!” Lionel said.

“Of course.”

“Who are they?”

“Two guys we helped the cops put in jail,” Lionel said.

“They killed my uncle. Either one of them could have given my name out of revenge. “

“It doesn’t matter how you got here,” Conrad said.

“The question is, what’re you gonna do about it?”

Lionel shook his head.

“These guys are getting’ in my head,” he said.

“They make us exercise until we drop, then only give us a little food. Then they say the same things over and over again. And most of the guys are falling for it.”

“Most of the guys don’t know the truth about the GC,” Conrad said.

Lionel sat up.

“And you do?” he said.

Vicki rode with Chaya to the service atNew HopeVillageChurch. A week after the service for Bruce, the pews were packed. Vicki thought Bruce would be pleased. On the way home, Vicki talked with Chaya about Amanda’s suggestion.

“I don’t think my father would allow me inside the house,” Chaya said.

“You can call him and try,” Vicki said.

“Maybe I’ll call the rabbi and ask him to help,” Chaya said.

“Perhaps the grief over my mother has softened my father’s heart.”

The panel lifted until Judd and Ryan were through the ceiling. A ladder was fastened to the wall and led up.

“Let’s see where it goes,” Ryan said.

“Not now,” Judd said.

“We’ll wait until late tonight.”

Lionel listened as Conrad talked about his brother.

“He flies for the GC,” Conrad said, “but he told me he doesn’t trust them.”

“Why does he still work for them?” Lionel said.

“He’s loyal to his boss, not the whole GC,” Conrad said.

“When they grabbed me, I heard them tell my brother not to do anything stupid.”

“What are they trying to do to us?” Lionel said.

“I can’t figure it out,” Conrad said.

“I know they want us to be part of the Global Community in some way, but it’s not dear. They’re definitely using mind control on us.”

“Mind control?”

“The way they make us parrot stuff back to them,” Conrad said.

“They say things over and over. In the small groups it’s almost like some of the guys are in a trance.”

“They’re not gonna control me,” Lionel said.

“How can you fight it?” Conrad said.

“I was hoping you’d ask,” Lionel said.

Judd tried to sleep during the day, but he and Ryan were too excited. They heard very little movement on the other side of the walls, but they didn’t want to take any chances.

Late that night, Judd and Ryan activated the entrance and climbed the ladder into the secret passageway. When they got to the top of the ladder, they stepped onto a small landing in front of a huge panel. Judd turned on his flashlight and noticed a blinking sensor on the wall. There was no slot for a key, so Judd put his hand over it.

A latch clicked. The panel moved slightly open. Judd nodded, and Ryan pushed the panel slowly. Ryan and Judd stepped through the opening. They were now inside the plush Stahley house.

On the other side of the panel was a painting of the Stahley family.

“Don’t close it all the way,” Judd whispered.

“We might not be able to open it again.”

The two stood still and listened. No movement in the house.

Judd saw that they were on the main floor of the house, and they would need to go up a flight to find Mr.

Stahley’s office.

They took a step,then realized their tennis shoes squeaked on the tile. They took off their shoes and placed them gently by a pillar that held an antique vase.

When they reached the stairwell, Judd saw movement through the windows. He held up a hand, and Ryan stopped. A GC guard with a gun was moving back and forth on the patio.

On the second floor they tried three rooms before they found Mr. Stahley’s office. If they turned on a light or even used the flashlight, Judd knew the GC might notice. Pictures and papers were strewn about the floor. Judd found the desk,then groped in the dark for the filing cabinet.

It was locked!

“Try opening the middle drawer,” Ryan said.

“Sometimes that releases the others.”

Judd opened the middle drawer,then tried the other. It opened!

Judd patted Ryan’s head.

Judd grabbed half the stack of files and moved away from the desk. Ryan followed his lead and took the other half. They slipped down the hall to the bathroom. Laying the files in the tub, Judd drew the shower curtain, placed his hand over the flashlight, and turned it on. A reddish glow provided enough light to see.

“You flip through them while I hold the light,” Judd said.

The files looked like any homeowner’s. There were folders for investments, bills, warranties, and taxes.

Mr. Stahley was organized.

Ryan flipped through them and shrugged.

“What would it beunder. Secret Safe Combination?”

“What did Mrs. Stahley say about the combination?” Judd said.

“Just that it was in a file in Mr. Stahley’s study,” Ryan said.

Judd flipped to a file tided “Construction.” Inside he found bills and contracts for the house. There was nothing listed about the underground hangar. Next he looked in the warranties. There were receipts for a home theater, several cars and motorcycles, and household appliances. In the back was a small receipt from The Stockholm Safe Company.

Judd scanned the writing but found no unusual set of numbers.

“This has to be it,” he said.

“Look on the back,” Ryan said.

Judd turned the paper over. On the bottom corner of the page was a string of numbers. Judd stuffed the paper in his pocket and turned off the flashlight.

Judd and Ryan stopped when they heard a door open and close downstairs.

Voices. Two men.

Judd’s stomach tightened. His heart beat faster. If the men noticed the open picture, they were sunk. A light went on.

Judd and Ryan moved into the shadows.

“What’s this?” a man said.

“I didn’t see those here before.”

“Somebody’s here!” the other man said. He keyed his walkie-talkie and ordered other guards inside.

“You search upstairs, I’ll go downstairs.”

Judd and Ryan watched as a guard ran up the stairs. The man’s gun was equipped with a laser. He looked both ways at the top of the landing. Judd and Ryan were to the right. The man ran left, down the hall. It would only be a few moments before he discovered the files in the bathtub.

Judd and Ryan quickly moved down the stairs. The front door opened, so Judd waved Ryan through the kitchen. Two more guards were in the house.

“Where do you want us to search?” the man said into the microphone attached to his shoulder.

“Main floor and the kitchen,”came the reply.

Judd and Ryan stole to the other entrance to the kitchen. If the guards came this way, they were dead. If they came the other way, Judd and Ryan still had a chance.

Judd saw two pinpoints of red light behind them and moved into the living room. He and Vicki had first met Mr. and Mrs. Stahley in this very room. They kept moving, quickly but quietly. They passed the stairs and heard the guard yell, “I’ve found something! There’s stuff in the bathroom.”

Now they ran full speed toward the opening in the wall. Judd wasn’t about to worry about his shoes at this point. He wanted to get into the wall and latch it shut before the guards saw them.