Chapter Seventeen
The elevator came to a jerky, clunky halt. Happy grimaced. "Damn, too loud.
If they've posted guards down here, we've just announced our arrival." She
glanced over at Toby. "Get ready to hit the deck, Doc."
With a ominous creak, the door began to slide open. They dropped to the floor
and crawled out, waiting until the door squealed closed again. She handed
him a penlight before turning on her own. Light flashes revealed nothing
in the room except them and the door Sylvester had discovered.
Armed with the blueprint and schematics Sly had provided, they knew a long
hallway with rooms on either side lie just beyond their current position.
The mechanic tapped Toby on the arm, and they got to their feet.
"The utility room is on the other side of this floor," she hissed.
"Someone must have been down here recently," Toby commented. He shone his
light on footprints left in the dusty floor.
"Must have done a quick recon." Happy narrowed her eyes and frowned. "I don't
like this. It's been too easy."
"Maybe they figured no one would be insane enough to hike three miles over
giant boulders to get here from the beach."
"Was that a dumb question?"
"No, an astute observation."
She glared at him for a moment before turning away. "Let's go."
They made their way through the lower level of the mansion until they reached
the room where the fuse panels were located. "You'd think they would be concerned
about their guests' safety," Toby said as he helped Happy search for what
they needed. "Who uses fuses anymore?"
"If they cared about their guests, they would have updated their alarm system
at least a decade ago." Happy found the circuit breaker for it. "This one
is older than I am." She shook her head. "It's not even computerized. Well,
here goes."
She unscrewed a fuse, and removed it from the panel. Silence. "Good, no back-up
system."
"One down, two to go," Toby said.
"And no time to waste."
She made easy work of opening the gates, frying the circuits so it wouldn't
re-close. A few minutes later, Happy was peering around the corner into a
room where two men sat watching surveillance feeds from various locations
around the manor. Most of the cameras were aimed down hallways, but it appeared
all the public rooms were also monitored, along with supply rooms and the
kitchen area.
"We need a distraction," she said.
"Finally, something I'm good at." Toby adjusted his hat then strolled into
the room. "Hey, can you tell me where you're holding my friends hostage?"
The guards spun around in their chairs. "What?" "Who are you?"
"A Harvard trained doctor. Boo!" He spun on his heel then took off running.
One of the men, the younger and slimmer of the pair, started after him, leaving
an older, more rounded man who was about to notify a superior about the intruders.
Not today, Happy thought as she entered the room. She grabbed the man's arms
and forced them around the back of his chair. Whipping out a zip-tie, she
bound his wrists together.
"Who are you?" the guard ask.
"Shut it," she snapped as she scanned the displays, "unless you want me to
gag you too."
The man wisely shook his head.
"Come on, come on, where are you?" Happy's hands were feeling around the
control board as she kept her eyes on the screens. "Hey, why is that one
blacked out?" she asked as she indicated a blank square on the upper left
hand corner of one of the displays.
"Crazy bastard tore the camera out of the ceiling. Guess he didn't like us
watching him getting b. . . Hey, what are you doing?" he objected when she
found the panel she was looking for. Popping it free, she accessed the wiring
inside, assessed it, then pulled out a handful.
All the monitors blinked off. "The crazy bastard, where is he?" she demanded.
"Storage room on the third floor," the man replied. "Hey, you said no gag."
"I lied." She pulled the cloth over his mouth and tied a quick knot at the
back of his head. "And you better hope that crazy bastard is still alive
or I'll come back and be even crazier."
She ran out of the room into the hallway where Toby was walking toward her.
"I know where Walt and Paige are," she announced when she stopped in front
of him.
"Good." He jerked his head back the way he had come. "Zip-tied and gagged.
Yours?"
"Yes. Walter and Paige. . ."
"Surveillance down?" he asked as if he hadn't heard her. Giving him an impatient
nod, she tapped her com. "It's down. Cabe, I know where they are. Storage
room on the third floor."
"Copy that," the agent replied. "Now get out of there. I don't want you two
caught in the crossfire. Gallo out."
"Copy that," Toby repeated before shutting off his com. "Our work here is
done."
"What about Walter and Paige?" she asked.
"You heard Cabe, the bullets are about to fly."
"So you'd just leave them because you're afraid of getting shot?"
"I've been shot before, so yeah, I have a healthy fear
of being so again." He put his hands on her shoulders. "Happy, the cavalry's
here. We'll just get in the way."
"I'm not leaving here without them. It could be another hour or more before
anyone would even bother to go look. I don't know about you, but I'm not
waiting that long."
Toby stared at the woman he loved as she fought to hold back her tears for
the second time that day. "Dammit. Okay," he capitulated. "But if I do get
shot, you have to nurse me back to health."
"Deal. Come on."
Momentarily stunned by her speedy acceptance to play nursemaid, he had to
run to catch up as she crept down the hallway.
aige's eyelids fluttered as she tried to remember where she was. Something
solid and warm was wedged against her. Warm. . .
Oh God, Walter. Her hand was still splayed over his chest and she could feel
his heart beating weakly underneath it. He was alive, at least for the moment.
His breathing was so shallow, she couldn't even see his chest move anymore.
She sagged against him, feeling weak and dizzy. Her throat and mouth were
so dry, her lips felt cracked and sore. It had to be close to the deadline.
Why didn't they just get it over with?
A strange sound came from the direction of the door, and Paige tensed until
she realized it wasn't the key being turned but a different sound, more like
someone was picking the. . .
There was a click, then the door was cautiously opened to reveal Happy and
Toby.