Chapter Sixteen

The beach below the Wildecliff estate was a sheltered cove, with minimal access on either side. Happy and Toby had to hike for three miles, climbing over rocks and wading through the surf along various points of the way.

"You're like a mountain goat," Toby said as his foot slipped on yet another rock. He was wheezing and his knees hurt and he was perspiring like a pig. She hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Maaa," she said, sticking out her tongue. "If you'd spend some time outdoors instead of in seedy smoke-filled dens of iniquity, you'd be in better shape." She took a drink from her canteen before handing it to him.

"Dens of iniquity." He rolled the last word over his tongue. "It sounds so dirty when you say it. And I thought you liked my shape?" He passed the canteen back to her after swallowing a mouthful of the lukewarm water.

"Perv." Using one hand to shield her eyes from the sun, she pointed with the other to a whitish strip of sand a few hundred feet away. "I think that's it up ahead."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," he said, looking up at the sky.

"Shut up and come on," she said as she started walking toward the private beach.

"Okay." Toby struggled to catch up. "Can you slow down a bit?"

Happy whirled around, and he took a step back when he saw her face. "No, I will not slow down. Every second we waste, could be the second that. . ." She closed her eyes for a moment, obviously fighting back tears. "Walt is the big brother I never had, and Paige, well, she's kind of like an annoying older sister. She's a pain in the ass but you still l. . ." Her words trailed off as she glared at him. "So no, I will not slow down. I suggest you speed up because I'm not waiting for you."

Toby watched as she spun around and marched off. Wisely, he kept his mouth shut and jogged up behind her, trying to match her nimble steps.



A short while later, they stood at the base of a concrete shaft over 200 feet high. "Whoa, that's a big sucker, ain't it?" Toby tilted his head back, his hand on his hat to keep it from falling off.

Happy ignored him, no doubt still stewing over her earlier outburst. "Standard pass key lock. I don't see an alarm but that doesn't mean there isn't one," she said, walking about the perimeter. "This beach is hard to get to, probably doesn't get too many unwanted visitors. I'd say the odds are in our favor I'm not going to trip something when I pick the lock."

"I concur."

She got out her tools and selected one which slid smoothly into the keyhole. Toby looked at his watch. Ten seconds later, he heard a click He helped her push up the protective metal door which had blocked access to the elevator controls. Happy tapped her com.

"We're in."

"Copy that," Cabe's voice came over their earpieces. "We've got the property surrounded. ETA on reinforcements on your end is fifteen minutes."

Both Happy and Toby turned to look back the way they had come and could see heads bobbing up and down in the distance. "We can see them," Toby verified. "We're on our way up."

"Copy that. Over." The com went silent. Happy pressed the up arrow on the control panel. She watched as the car lumbered down toward them.

"You're quiet."

"I am," he said. She had exposed a piece of her heart back there, terrified by the possibility she could once again lose a family she'd come to care for and rely on. And he knew she was angrier at herself than at him for doing so. He'd learned when to back away.

"Listen, Doc, here's the deal," she said, still looking upward. "You do what I tell you, don't ask dumb questions, and if you can manage not to annoy me for the rest of this case, there'll be a special treat in it for you when we're done."

"What kind of special treat? Are we talking ice cream. . .?"

"What did I say about dumb questions?"

"Don't ask them?" He held up his hands. "I haven't agreed yet." She turned to stare at him. "But yes, I accept those terms." Lowering his hands, he wiped them down his pant legs. "I feel like we should shake on it. . .or something."

"Pushing it."

He opened his mouth, thought better of it, which was just as well, because the elevator had finally made it to the bottom. The door glided open and they stepped inside. Happy pressed a button again and the cage shuddered as it started its climb back to the top.



"Sylvester."

Sly glanced up from his computer as Ralph approached his desk. "Do you need something, Ralph? Your dad should be back from Kovelski's soon."

"Do you think my mom and Walter are going to be all right?" the boy genius asked. He sounded younger than his eleven years and very scared.

"I'm sure they'll be okay, Ralph," the human calculator replied with false cheerfulness, which evidently did not fool the youngster because he frowned.

"We should have heard something by now," he said.

Ralph had a point, Sly conceded. He had no idea how to tell the boy his mother, who had been his whole world for nine years, and the man whom he idolized, who had been more of a father to him than his real father had ever been, would be probably dead in a few hours. . .if they weren't already. The odds were slim any of the group's demands would be met, meaning Walter and Paige's odds were dropping with every passing minute.

"Well, you know what they say," he said, "that no news is good news." He flashed a smile he knew was insincere.

"I don't know if I believe that," Ralph said. "Wouldn't no news just be no news and good news just be good news."

The boy had a good argument. He had never believed in that old adage either. Sometimes no news was bad news.

"Come here, Ralph." He pulled the youngster into his arms for a backward hug. "Walter has a 197 IQ. And your mom is tougher than the rest of us put together. If I was a gambler like Toby, I'd be putting my money on them. They'll be fine."

"Thanks, Sylvester." Ralph went back over to Paige's desk and started playing the game he had paused on his computer.

Sly sighed. He hated lying.



Shell Shocked Chapter Seventeen

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