Big Three-Thriller Bundle Box Collection (25 page)

“You’ve got a car, then,” Sampson said.

“Yes. Yes, I do and although it is an especially fine car, it is still not big enough for our entire band of merry men, woman and canine. It is a Volvo and does not have big guns. But it does have a sticker pass on the front bumper.”

“Okay, Rajiv,” I asked, “what’s your plan?”

“I will leave you here and leap across fences and bushes . . .” He held his thumbs to the sides of his head with his fingers splayed. “ . . . like a horny deer until I come to my home and get my car. I will meet you on the road to the Mount Rainy Biotronics parking lot. You will recognize my car as it is small and blue. You stay put in this road-warrior’s nightmare we are in now until then. If I were to guess, I would say there will be a roadblock after the last curve before the facility. If you can find a place to wait in hiding before the curve, we will find each other. Without my spare tire, my croquet and bad-mitten sets, there is room for perhaps two people in my trunk.”

Sunny asked, “How do you know where the road blocks might be?”

“Biotronics has run many emergency drills in the past. That is always where they block the road. We must be cautious for there might be blockades elsewhere, also.” He glanced at his watch. His seemed keeping better time than mine had. “I will watch for you along the road. We must hurry. It is after eleven o’clock. Within thirty minutes, the third shift workers will be driving to work. This entire road will be like a huge jar of traffic jam.”

“What happens when we get to Biotronics?” I asked him. “Their security won’t let us waltz right in.”

“It may surprise you to find out I am not only a neurosurgeon but also what could be called a computer whiz. I can whiz on computers as good as anyone. My friend Carman Campa gave me access codes to all of Biotronics’ security programs when he thought something was fishy smelling. I have been careful not to use these codes because access of the high security programs is checked on a regular basis. But since we will soon blow out of this joint, I will get in and get you fixed up, my fakir. Because you are a patient, I am sure your handprints and fingerprints are on file, as are most all of the residents of Gold Rush.”

Sunny asked me, “Did he just call you his — “

“Fakir,” I interrupted. “It’s some kind of Hindu miracle maker.”

Sunny frowned and nodded as Rajiv continued, “While you wait in my car in the parking lot, I will copy your prints, photo and other pertinent information to the top-level security files, authorizing you access through any door in the facility. I will also appropriate the proper attire for both you and your lovely companion and bring it back to my car as you wait in the parking lot. Then, you will be able to enter the building and as long as you do not run into someone who is familiar with you, you will be able to snoop and poop on as much as you wish.”

I glanced at Sunny and Gunny Sampson. They both nodded. “Good luck,” I told Rajiv.

“And may God be with you,” he said and got out. He ran, not quite like a deer, but more like a two-year-old with diaper rash.

The dog whined and nuzzled my hand as I watched Rajiv’s departure. I realized I’d stopped petting him, and he encouraged me to continue with less than gentle nudges. How could I refuse? The large canine was nearly a hundred pounds, possessed fangs the size of a mountain lion and had his head in my lap. His eyes angled up at me, and he watched me intently.

“What’s the deal on the dog? If I don’t cooperate, he’s going to bite my balls off, right?”

“Don’t worry, he minds well.” Sunny patted his head. “No snacks before supper, Sarge.”

Chapter 23

We pulled onto the road again and drove cautiously without lights. Within a mile, just outside of town, we came to the main road leading to Biotronics. Scouring over the town behind us, helicopter searchlights lit up the snowy sky. Red lights flashed from emergency vehicles. Sirens blared.

It would be only a matter of minutes before one of the choppers came along the road we were on and spotted us. Still without lights, we turned onto the pavement. With only scant light reflected from the white blanketed earth and the hazy, full moon appearing from behind the clouds on occasion to help illuminate our way, Sunny relied on her night-vision goggles and stomped on the gas. The small but potent engine roared, and she slammed it into second gear, the tires chirping, and then third and fourth gear, and we were quickly speeding along at what felt like ninety. She seemed an unlikely driver of such a war machine, but then, I’d found out early on that she was much more than what she appeared.

About a mile from Biotronics, we came to a curve, and over the rise a red glow flashed that we figured came from a police car. Rajiv had been correct about the roadblock. We angled to the side of the road again. There was no way to get to Biotronics except by that road. The facility had been cut into the side of the nearly vertical face of the mountain.

“What now?” I asked as all of us ducked low in the reactive-camouflaged vehicle, apprehensively watching a car pass and head toward the roadblock and Biotronics. I wondered what its occupants might of thought if they’d been able to make out much of our vehicle and the .50 caliber machinegun mounted on top. Hopefully, they thought we were supposed to be there — or a mirage.

Sunny said, “Any ideas, Sam?”

“I say, I drop you off and you get out of sight until Rajiv picks you up. Then I’ll go back for the chopper. You push that panic button around your neck when you’re ready — or in trouble.”

“No,” I said. “I go alone.”

“Bullshit,” Sunny blurted.

“It’ll be too dangerous.”

Another car went by, and we ducked protectively.

Sampson said, “We don’t have much time.” He nodded back toward town.

A line of headlights approached from down the road.

Sunny gave me a penetrating look. “What do you think it’s been up until now, a game of patty-cakes? I’m going with you.”

I knew it would be useless to argue.

Sunny and I got out and Gunny Sampson handed her a backpack and what looked like a ragged blanket roll as he climbed into the driver’s seat.

I patted the dog on the head, and he whined and licked my hand. Sunny embraced Sampson, while the big man glared back at me.

“You’d better bring her back in one piece,” he said. “And make sure you get my buddy back, too.”

I nodded to him.

When Sampson pulled a U-turn, Sunny and I trotted down into some high weeds in the ditch. From there, we would wait for Rajiv.

Sunny untied the blanket roll and shook it out. “This is an active camouflage ghillie,” she said, her voice low, as she threw part of it over my head, then ducked under it also. “Like a poncho. We only have the one — I left the one I had in the park when I spotted you.”

I realized that she’d placed her head through the opening in the ghillie.

“Cozy,” I whispered.

She slipped her head back inside, and what little light came through allowed me to see the outline of her face only six inches away, and I felt her breath on my lips.

“I think we’re okay for a while,” she said and turned on a small red light. “We should be able to hear Raja’s car when it pulls to the shoulder

We sat there for some time, listening to the traffic, staring at each other silently. Her soft, large eyes seemed to explore me from the inside. I wondered what kind of a woman she really was, and felt she was wondering the same thing. The poncho provided warmth on the chill night
— but there seemed a warmth in the air outside of what could be measured by thermometer. It was pleasant, sensual. We stared at each other, almost unblinking, and for a long moment, I felt as if we made some sort of connection, psychically, as if I could read this woman’s thoughts, or at least her intentions. What I read was complete good will and passion.

We’d been under the ghillie for probably ten minutes, and I felt as though we might be transcending into something even deeper mentally, when Sunny broke away and raised her head through the opening.

“Here he comes,” she said.

I raised the edge of the ghillie and looked down the highway. Rajiv’s Volvo slowly came up the road. Several cars passed his as he drove tentatively watching the shoulder and ditch for Sunny and me. I slipped from our concealment and held out my hand toward the pavement when he was close enough to see me, and he steered to the shoulder to pick us up. But the line of cars behind him had grown, and their horns began honking. A car that had started to pass him turned on its red lights. It was a dark-blue Biotronics security jeep. I shrank back under the ghillie and only peeked out.

Rajiv parked directly beside us and the Jeep with two security officers pulled in behind him. The two officers stepped up on both sides of our friend’s Volvo. The one on the driver’s side asked for Rajiv’s driver’s license and registration. As the long line of cars heading toward Biotronics continued to drive past, the officer asked why Rajiv had been driving so slowly. Rajiv said something about trying to avoid a horny deer, putting his splayed fingers to the sides of his head like antlers again. The second security officer glanced around them, shining his long black flashlight into the bushes beside the road.

We were well hidden and the constant motion of light and shadows from the passing cars helped to conceal us. Seemingly satisfied he was not in danger of being attacked by a horny deer, the young security officer went to the Volvo’s trunk and asked Rajiv to open it. The trunk popped open and the officer checked inside briefly, then closed it. He mentioned to Rajiv driving without a spare tire wasn’t wise. After assuring the officers he would drive with the flow of traffic so as to not be a hazard and impede progress, Rajiv was free to go.

I’d hoped the security officers would depart, and we could quickly slip inside Rajiv’s trunk, but they didn’t. Instead, they motioned for Rajiv to go, then leaned against the front of their jeep and watched the traffic while they lit up a couple of cigarettes. Rajiv had no choice but to leave us behind.

It was at least three minutes before the two security men finally finished their smoke, and drove away. To have any hope of catching up with Rajiv, Sunny and I pushed ahead to make up time, stepping quickly along the weed-filled ditch toward Biotronics.

With the line of cars growing, we found the three guards at the roadblock too busy to notice us, and we slipped by without incident. Rajiv’s car was out of sight and the going was slow through the vegetation and snow. Still we had hopes of somehow catching Rajiv before he went through the gate.

After half a mile, we came to Biotronics’ lighted parking lot. It was enormous, probably a quarter of a mile square, and surrounded by an electric fence topped with triple-stranded concertina razor wire. We were surprised to easily spot Rajiv’s blue Volvo, but it was inside the fence, in the stall nearest the guard shack. His car faced the entrance, and I could make out someone sitting inside. I hoped it was Rajiv, and that he hadn’t somehow double-crossed us. Still there was the guard at the gate to deal with.

We got as close as we could without being seen. Cars now lined up four to five deep but passed through quickly. From the ditch, I tried to catch Rajiv’s attention by tossing pebbles at his car while Sunny rose up just far enough to see the parking lot and acted as my forward observer. I stayed low to avoid the eyes of any of the people in the cars.

“Add five meters, three to the right,” Sunny whispered.

I adjusted and pitched another one.

“Down two meters, one to the left,” my spotter said.

I adjusted once more and used a bigger rock with the next toss.

I heard a faint pop this time. Sunny winced. “Good shot. You got his windshield.” She smiled. “He’s out of the car. Checking the windshield. Looking our way. Now, he’s headed for the guard shack.” She turned to me. “You think we can trust him?”

I stood up cautiously and watched him.

“Mr. Guard, sir,” Rajiv called out much louder than necessary as he approached the armed man.

The guard, a forty-five in the holster at his side, was checking the ID of a driver stopped at the crossing arm. He looked over his shoulder briefly at Rajiv. He handed the driver back his ID, raised the gate to allow the car to pass and then lowered it in front of the next car.

“Mr. Guard, sir, please,” Rajiv said again and the guard turned to him.

I slipped from underneath our camouflage ghillie and said, “We have to trust him. But we can’t take the poncho. It’s too obvious — attract attention, looking like some kind a chameleon ghost up close. We’ll be better off appearing like all of the others.”

Sunny nodded, coming out from under the ghillie, and said, “Let’s go.”

I took her by the arm and we trotted up behind the closest car in line. Stepping out and walking by the passenger’s side nonchalantly, we held hands as we passed.

Rajiv said to the guard, “I have a question about my pass, Mr. Guard.” He dug into his pocket.

“Yeah? Make it quick. What is it?” the guard asked with one hand on his hip.

“I do not know, but maybe it is out of date.” Rajiv pulled his hand out from his pocket, and with it came over a dozen, loose hundred-dollar bills. They fell to the ground and several tumbled with the light breeze.

“Oh, my,” Rajiv said. “It is my entire month’s paycheck!”

The guard began chasing some of the bills. Rajiv waved us on from behind his back. We hoped the drivers in the line of waiting cars were too involved with watching the money to notice us, or to care, as we ducked under the gate as if it was something we did every day.

We jogged around to the side of a panel van parked nearby and out of sight, where we waited for Rajiv to come by. He soon scurried past counting his money, and I grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him back from view. He gasped, but then saw it was only me.

“I think that son of a female jackal kept two-hundred dollars,” he said.

I yanked his money from his hands and shoved it into his pants pocket.

“Let’s go,” I said and headed toward the front door of the main entrance as if we owned the place, hoping no one would think any different.

I scanned the parking lot as we went. A number of people were getting out of their cars and walking toward the entrance. I studied the white walls of the building. Five stories high, dug into the mountain. I couldn’t see the peak of Mt. Rainy. We were too close and it was too dark. The building itself must have been nearly a quarter of a mile wide. No windows.

Then I saw them. Cameras. Not hidden but blatantly displayed. One every fifty feet or so had been hung about midway up the side of the building’s wall. I looked back into the parking lot. On each light pole was a box. More cameras. How stupid I had been to think it would be that easy. A hardware storeowner might not have known better, but I felt I somehow should have.

I shoved Rajiv. “Get away from us,” I said. “It may be too late. Get as far away as you can and don’t ask any questions.”

Rajiv stopped and stared at me. Sunny, also.

“Get!” I said, as if I were yelling at a stray cat.

Rajiv backed away and hoofed it for the front door. Sunny and I turned the other way.

“What the hell?” Sunny asked. “Have you gone mad?”

“They’re watching us. Cameras lining the walls. On the lights.”

Sunny’s head turned in all directions.

I continued, “If they haven’t been, they will be soon. If we’re lucky they didn’t see Rajiv with us.”

“What do we do?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m guessing they have one hell of a security system in there. There are probably cameras all up and down the hallways and in every room inside. It’s useless. We screwed up.” I looked at her, eye to eye. “Maybe you should run, too.”

“No,” she said. “What else could we have done?”

“Nothing.”

“There’s one way in,” Sunny said. She started toward the entrance again.

“Wait a minute, they’ll catch us. What’s your plan?” I followed her one step behind.

“That’s it.”

“What’s it?” I insisted.

Rajiv went through the revolving door at the entrance fifty yards ahead of us. It appeared he had made it unmolested.

“That’s my plan
— we walk in. They catch us and we’re in.”

“Okay,” I said, “and the rest of your plan is . . . ?”

“That’s it so far.”

“What? Are you nuts?” This was the one time I missed Harvey. Even my imaginary nuisance would have surely come up with a better idea.

*  *  *

A guard scurried out from the doorway of the control room at the Mount Rainy Biotronics installation. “Dr. Xiang, Colonel Wu!” he yelled down the hall to the two men who were walking in his direction. “I think you should see this.”