Run into Trouble (30 page)

Melody was attracted to several manuals she
saw sitting on a bookshelf. They looked familiar. She walked over
to one and glanced at the cover. She gasped and opened it up.

“Slick. Look at this.”

Slick ambled over and came as close to
showing emotion as Melody had seen from him. “If I’m not mistaken
that’s Russian.”

“This is identical to a manual Drake and I
saw on the sub.”

“Proof that Big G is dealing with the
Russkies.”

“Worse. It’s proof that Big G made the
attack on Malibu. This was a training room for the crew. They slept
here; they studied here.”

“Ah, the light dawns. Casey faked the attack
to aid his quest for power.”

“I remember now. A helicopter flew along the
beach just before the attack. It must have been communicating with
the sub, telling it when to fire to catch the tail-end of the
runners. Killing one was acceptable to Casey, because it helped
rouse the public to demand security.”

“I wonder if those generals and admirals
downstairs know about this.”

“I doubt it. They’re trained to defend their
country, not attack it.”

The only inside door leading from the room
was to a bathroom. The training center was isolated from the rest
of the building. Melody and Slick went back outside and continued
around the building in a counterclockwise direction, looking for
another way in.

CHAPTER 37

Drake walked slowly toward the doorway,
trying to stall as long as possible. Where were Melody and Slick?
He had lost track of the time. He had allowed this two-bit guard to
get the best of him. Now he would die for the cause of freedom.

Millions of Americans had died for freedom
already, but his was a useless death because Casey had won. He felt
the pressure of Artie’s gun in his back. Drake faked a limp to gain
time and wondered how he could disarm Artie while handcuffed
without getting himself killed.

He stepped outside into the cool night. At
least the floodlights on the building allowed him to see. He took a
step to the left toward the front of the lodge where Melody and
Slick would be most likely to spot him. Artie grabbed his arm and
roughly swung him in the opposite direction toward the lowest
corner of the building.

Still moving slowly, Drake reached the back
corner. Beyond and downhill from them were trees. They were headed
away from the road and away from civilization and any chance for
help. Drake glanced over his right shoulder, ostensibly to glance
at his captor, and swept his eyes uphill along the back of the
lodge, looking for a sign of Melody and Slick.

In that split second, he thought he saw a
movement. He wasn’t sure, and didn’t dare look again, because he
was afraid of directing Artie’s attention behind the building. Even
if it were a person, it might be that other guard on patrol.

Artie suddenly pulled him away from the
corner, so that they were no longer visible from the back of the
building, and directed him downhill in a slightly different
direction. Even if what he had seen was some combination of Melody
and Slick, if they hadn’t seen him at that exact same moment, they
wouldn’t know he was here.

Drake whistled the same four warning notes
that Melody had used to warn him about Sterling’s gun in the motel
room: C, F, G, A. Then in rapid succession he added the next four
in the sequence: F, B flat, A, G. They had made up lyrics for the
notes: “He’s got a gun; this isn’t fun.”

Artie hit him on the side of the head with
said gun, almost knocking him over, and growled, “Shut up.”

Drake stumbled and wished his hands were
free to help him regain his balance on the downhill slope.

***

“There’s somebody down there.” Slick spoke
softly. Melody followed his gaze toward the downhill corner of the
building; she didn’t see anything. They had just been trying to
look in a window, but it was dark inside. They were contemplating
breaking the glass to gain entrance.

“It could be another guard. Stay behind
me.”

Slick moved silently downhill, keeping his
gun in front of him and his body hugged against the wall of the
building.

Melody heard the eight notes clearly in the
still night. They sliced through her body like a scimitar. “That’s
Drake. He’s in trouble.”

She ran past Slick down to the corner of the
building and looked around it. She saw two figures by the glow of
the spotlights, heading downhill toward the trees. The one in front
was stumbling, and it appeared that his hands were tied behind his
back. Drake.

Slick came up behind her and looked over her
shoulder.

Melody whispered, “A guard is taking Drake
toward the woods. I bet he’s going to shoot him.”

Slick sucked in his breath. “We can’t storm
them, or Drake gets it. I’ll go left. You go right. We’ll approach
from either side.”

“Hurry.”

Slick had to go uphill a bit to approach
them from the left side. Melody’s route was downhill; she went as
fast as she could while making a minimum of noise and keeping a low
profile. Fortunately, Drake and his guard were walking noisily.
Drake was undoubtedly doing it on purpose.

She sped up as the two reached the trees,
knowing that it would be more difficult for the guard to spot her
now. How far was he going to take Drake before shooting him? Only
far enough that the noise of the gun wouldn’t alert the men in the
meeting. It was dark in the woods, but the guard had turned on a
flashlight. Melody worked her way toward its beam, being careful
not to trip over a root, knowing that she and Slick had to act
fast.

***

Drake knew that the end was near. He had to
take some action, not go out like a pantywaist. He was just about
to try to knock Artie over when he heard the first two notes of the
code he and Melody used. They came from close by on the right. He
immediately dropped to the ground.

Artie swung his flashlight in the direction
of the notes. Two gunshots came from the opposite direction. Artie
swung the flashlight in a 180 and pointed it toward where the shots
had come from. He fired in that direction as more shots came from
there and behind him.

Artie grunted and dropped the flashlight,
but he was still standing. Now Melody and Slick wouldn’t be able to
tell where he was. Drake could see by the peripheral light of the
flashlight, now lying on the ground, that Artie was aiming the gun
at him. He was going to make sure of his original objective.

The beam of another flashlight zigzagged
rapidly toward them from the left, along with the sound of somebody
crashing through the brush. It must be Slick. Artie whirled and
fired toward the beam. There was a thud, and the flashlight
disappeared. Another shot came from almost right beside them. Artie
staggered as several more shots followed it.

Artie was still on his feet. Melody was
having a problem aiming in the dark. Artie turned and was about to
fire at Melody who couldn’t be more than five feet away. Drake
braced his arms on the ground beneath him and lunged upward with
his feet toward where Artie’s gun must be. He managed to kick the
gun, deflecting its aim as Artie fired.

Melody was now right beside them. She put
her gun to Artie’s head and fired one more time. He dropped to the
ground. She kept the gun aimed at him, but he didn’t move. She
carefully picked up the flashlight and shone it on his face. She
spoke in a shaky voice. “I think I got him. He wouldn’t go
down.”

She pulled Artie’s gun out of his hand.

Drake said, “Good job. Are you okay?”

“Yes, and you?”

“Fine but handcuffed. I think he hit
Slick.”

Melody took the flashlight and went to find
Slick. Drake struggled to his feet and followed her. Slick was
lying on his stomach at the base of a tree with his head to one
side. Melody knelt beside him and called his name. She put her
fingers to his neck.

“He’s still alive.”

Drake said, “We have to get help. And tell
the brass about this.”

Melody shone the light on Slick’s face. She
noticed for the first time that he had beautiful blue eyes.

“I’ll stay with him. Maybe I can help
him.”

Slick spoke so that they could barely hear
him. “Go with Drake. Tell them about the training center.”

“You need help.”

“Go. Stop the craziness. Don’t worry about
me.”

Slick lapsed into silence. Melody tore her
eyes away from his face and stood up. She shone the light on Drake
and saw his handcuffs.

“We need to find the key and set you
free.”

“Later. We’ve got to work fast. Let’s get to
the meeting.”

She directed the flashlight ahead of them,
and they carefully walked out of the woods. A trio of uniformed
men, lit by the floodlights, came toward them from around the
corner at the front of the lodge, waving handguns.

Drake said, “Drop your gun.”

Melody was still carrying it, unconsciously.
She let it fall to the ground.

The men spread out and covered the two. It
was obvious that they were itching to shoot somebody. Melody raised
her hands. Drake realized that they must be aides for the Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs. He turned so that they could see his handcuffs
and spoke to the officer with bars on his shoulder.

“Casey’s man just shot a government
agent.”

Melody pointed at Drake. “He’s the son of
Admiral Drake. The guard was going to shoot
him
.”

The three looked confused. That could be
dangerous. They needed to be won over. Drake tried again. “Casey’s
trying to overthrow the government with the help of the military.
Giganticorp built the submarine.”

That wasn’t news. Melody interrupted. “Casey
planned and carried out the Malibu attack. The USSR had nothing to
do with it.”

The three looked more confused. Melody
continued. “The top floor of this building was used as a training
center for the sailors of the submarine. They’re probably all
Americans, but we saw training manuals written in Russian to
deceive us.”

The soldier who was wearing captain’s bars
spoke. “Are you saying that Casey—Mr. Messinger—engineered this
whole thing, and that there’s no threat from the USSR?”

“That’s correct.” Drake was relieved that he
had caught on. “We need to talk to your boss.”

“Where’s the agent?”

“In the woods. He’s hurt bad. That
direction. The guard is there, too. I think he’s dead.”

The captain turned to the other two
soldiers. “Call for help. There’s a phone in the rec room. Find the
casualties and do what you can for them. I’m going to take these
two to talk to the Chairman.”

Melody gave her flashlight to one of the
soldiers. She and Drake went up the hill, followed by the captain,
and around to the front of the building. They went in the main
doorway; they could hear voices coming from the next room—or
rather, Casey’s voice.

“…need for us to fill the void left by the
government and provide national security, the first job of any
government. If the president won’t step up to the plate…”

CHAPTER 38

Casey stopped talking as they entered the
room. A dozen heads swiveled to stare at them. The bodies beneath
the heads were clad in civilian clothes. The captain spoke to one
of them.

“Two men have been shot in the woods, sir.
One is a Giganticorp security guard. The other is a government
agent. Ferguson and Baker are calling for help and assisting them.
The situation is under control.”

The man the captain had addressed looked at
Drake and Melody.

“Who are these two?”

“We’ve got intelligence about the Malibu
operation, sir. This is Mr. Drake. He’s the son of Admiral
Drake.”

All eyes were on Drake and on his handcuffs.
He must look a proper mess with the gash in his forehead and a lump
on the side of his head.

The men were sitting around a long,
rectangular table. Casey was at the far end. He glowered at Drake
but didn’t say anything. Drake spotted his father whose expression
registered disbelief. Drake directed his remarks to the man the
captain had addressed. He must be the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs.

“Melody and I have been working with
undercover agents to get more information about the Malibu
incident. One of these agents was just shot by Casey’s guard. Casey
told me this was going to be a bloodless coup.”

Drake paused to let that sink in. “You’re
trying to protect the freedom of the U.S.A., which is admirable,
but you’re doing it in such a way that we, the citizens, will lose
our freedoms. You’ve been led to believe that we’ve been attacked
by an enemy power. The president wanted proof, but some decided
that he wasn’t doing his job. I’m here to tell you that the
president is right.”

Drake hoped that Melody knew what she was
talking about. She almost always did. He parroted her words about
the training operation in the building. Casey tried to interrupt
him. The Chairman told Casey to shut up.

When Drake paused, the Chairman spoke. “Of
course we’re going to investigate the room you’re talking about.
This is a very serious charge. If true, it completely changes
things—”

“If I may, sir…”

All eyes turned to Admiral Drake, including
the Chairman’s. “My son and I haven’t always seen eye to eye. But
I’m proud to say that there are at least two things we agree on. We
both love our country, and we both tell the truth. If Oliver says
that Casey is behind the Malibu incident, I believe him. I’ve had a
sour taste in my mouth ever since I arrived at this meeting. I
haven’t been able to reconcile my respect for our founding fathers
and the Constitution with what we were doing. I’m glad my son
arrived to shock me back to reality. I will no longer have anything
to do with what has been referred to as Casey’s plan.”

There were murmurs of what might be
agreement from around the table. Casey was desperately searching
the faces of the other men for support. Those faces were turned
away from him. Drake decided to seize the opportunity. He addressed
the Chairman. “Sir, I need to make a phone call. I have to call the
boss of the agent who was shot.”