While Remington paced the reception area floor, Jarred stood behind Mildred, watching work on the computer. Daniel watched his son in silence, then went to get Harry a cup of tea. "Here you go, Harry."
Remington stopped pacing and took the cup and saucer. "Thanks, Daniel. I feel like we're missing something. Something that's right in front of my nose."
Daniel nodded in understanding. "Perhaps you need to step back a bit, take a look at the overall picture instead of just concentrating on finding Laura," he suggested.
"You're right. But I'm not sure I can do that at the moment."
"Okay," Mildred said, drawing their attention. "Best I can trace the ice cream truck, it was sold at police auction a couple of years ago."
"Who bought it?" Remington asked, putting the barely touched tea on the desk. "Is there an address or anything?"
She punched in a few more letters, then waited. "Grace Condesie. 1423 River Road. It's never been registered since, through."
"There's a phone number," Jarred pointed out.
"River Road," Remington mused. "River Road."
Mildred picked up the phone and dialed the number. "It's been disconnected," she told them, disappointed. Then she dialed again and asked for information. "I need a listing for Grace Condesie," she told the operator.
"There's nothing up there," Jarred told them. "I've got a friend from school who lives out that way. That's a desolate stretch of roadway."
"You're sure? . . . None at all? . . . Thanks." Mildred hung up the phone. "No listing for anyone named Condesie."
"River Road," Remington said again, wondering why the name was so familiar.
"Sorry Boss," Mildred said. "Looks like we're right back to square one. We're no closer now than when we began."
"Where it began," Remington repeated. "Of course. Where this all began. The first time I ever saw Descoine, I thought I'd just hit and killed Henry Spellman up on Highway Five- two miles past River Road! And Descoine was driving the ice cream truck!" He picked up his jacket. "Mildred, call Jarvis, tell him to meet us at the old Covington Inn."
"But- it burned down," Mildred reminded him.
"It's just a meeting point, Mildred," he told her. "Jarred, with me."
"Be careful, Harry," Daniel called after him.
"Good luck."
Remington lifted his hand as he and Jarred left the office. Mildred picked up the telephone and dialed Lt. Jarvis' number. "Jarvis? It's Mildred . . ."
***
With the light on, Laura was able to more fully investigate her prison. It was round, like a turret, with a metal grate in the middle of the gently downward sloping concrete floor. Bending, Laura could hear the water dripping beneath it. Apparently it was for drainage. But why would it require such a large drain, she wondered, and knelt to examine it. She tried to lift it, but it was too heavy, so she turned her attention to studying the concrete walls. There was a narrow ledge about seven feet from the floor, and in the dim light, Laura could just make out cylinders placed on that ledge in six places. She had to stand on tiptoe to reach one of the cylinders, and it took some doing, but at last she managed to tip it from the ledge and into her hand. The label was faded, but Laura held it up to the light and gasped. "Cyanide gas- water soluble seal." She looked up again, inspecting the cylinders. The water was *beneath* the room. And the cyanide wouldn't be released until the seal was dissolved by water.
She peered hard into the darkness beyond the light, looking on the wall- and then she saw it. There were holes just below the ceiling- directly above where each of the cylinders was sitting. The water would hit them, pooling on the ledge just long enough to dissolve the seals- and release the deadly gas, before continuing into the drain on the floor. She could see the marks in the concrete now where the water had fallen before- but never with such intent, she was certain.
She looked around for something on which to set the cylinder in her hand- but there was nothing in the room above floor level that would be safe from the water when it began to fall.
She paced around the room's wall, her eyes down, and noticed that the water didn't fall directly against the connection between the two. There seemed to be an area of about a foot in width that hadn't been damaged by water falling onto the concrete surface. If nothing else, she reasoned, it might buy her a few extra minutes, so she set about pulling all of the cylinders from the ledge and placing them onto the floor against the wall, trying to place the seal away from where any water would reach it immediately.
***
Remington struggled to see through the fog that had sprung up once they left the city behind and headed up Highway 5. Just before the turn off for River Road, they passed through the tunnel where he had first met Descoine, and he slowed.
"Is this the place?" Jarred asked.
"Yes. I came out of the tunnel-" he braked as something suddenly appeared in the headlights- and narrowly managed to miss what appeared to be a man standing in the road. "Damn!" he said, opening the drivers side door and scrambling out of the car.
Jarred joined him as he knelt to inspect the crumpled figure on the pavement. "A dummy?" Jarred questioned.
"The Major's calling card," Remington said angrily, tossing the cloth and plastic figure into the bushes beside the roadway. "He's just letting me know he's here." He looked up the road. "I got the message, Descoine!" he yelled. "Where you are you, you bloody beggar?"
Jarred started to grab for Remington's arm then stopped as he heard the maniacal laughter that echoed eerily through the darkness. He did grab Remington's arm then as his cousin would have followed that laughter. "Don't. He's tryin' t'bait you, Remington."
"You're right," he said, turning back to the car. "But at least we know he's in the area," he told Jarred as they got back inside. "And if he's here- Laura's here as well." He continued through the fog up to the faded sign for the Covington Inn. Turning into the drive, he followed it around until the headlights picked up the charred remains of the old hotel. "You stay here and look around. When Jarvis and the others show up, follow me."
Jarred looked at him. "Where are you going?"
"Take a quick drive up River Road. The address that Grace Condesie gave was up there."
"I really think we should go together, Remington."
"We don't have that much time," Remington pointed out. "It's nearly nine. Three hours is all we have left to find Laura. If I haven't returned by the time the police get here, come looking for me."
Jarred finally nodded and got out of the car, pulling his torch from his jacket pocket as he moved toward the burned out skeleton of the building.
Remington reversed the BMW and turned it back toward the road, retracing his path back 2 miles to the turn off onto River Road. It was a little used road, with potholes that would appear out of nowhere as it twisted along the river which gave it its name.
Suddenly the steering wheel jerked as he saw a flash from the corner of his eyes and heard the sound of a rifle firing. From the way the car handled, he knew the front tire had been shot out. Taking the keys, he locked the car and turned on the security system when he got out. He raised the collar of his jacket against he chilling fog and set off in the direction that the shot had come from, his own gun in his hand.
Water dripped eerily from the trees, and Remington stood, listening for a moment, before continuing onward. The crushed leaves beneath his feet gave silent witness to the fact that he wasn't the first to have come this way. Finally he found his way blocked by a chain link fence that was topped with barbed wire. Sharp barbed wire, he decided when he tried to climb over it to gain access to the dark bulk of a building beyond it.
Giving up, he stared to his left and then to his right. Kneeling, he inspected the sodden leaves and decided to follow whoever had shot at the car to the left. A faded sign hung by one corner on the fence beside a large, unlocked, partially open gate. "River Road Water Station. No Trespassing. Violators will be prosecuted."
Remington pushed the gate further open and entered the compound, looking for any sign of light or life in the red brick and building that loomed before him. He lifted his gun as he pushed open an outer door. The interior was darker than it was outside, and he waited for his eyes to adjust to the deeper darkness, listening. "Laura?" he called, hearing his voice echo through the empty building. "Are you here?" He flicked on the torch he'd brought just long enough to get his bearings, then turned it off. Didn't make much sense, really, though. He'd just given away his presence by calling for Laura. But she was here. He could sense it somehow.
***
Jarred shone the torch around the deserted remains, seeing how the grass had started to grow up in placed where the floorboards had burned away. And there was even a tree starting to grow in the middle of the whole lot.
Hearing a sound, he stopped and turned the light in the direction of a clump of bushes. "Who's there?" he called out. "Come out, whoever you are." Placing a his hand into his the pocket of his jacket, he said, "You should be warned that I've got a gun." The bush rustled again, and he took a step closer. "Who's there?" he asked again. Then he heard it. A definitive giggle. Familiar from the storage building. Minor Descoine was here. He saw her running away from the area of the bushes, and took off after her.
As he rounded the bushes, he realized that he was no longer on grass, but on wood. Rotten wood, that splintered under his weight and sent him on a downward spiral into darkness…
***
Laura stopped pacing to listen, wondering if she was hearing things. That had sounded like - she shook her head in denial. It couldn't be him. It was just wishful thinking.
"Laura!"
She stopped pacing again and then went to the door. "I'm here!" she yelled, banging on the metal door, then shaking it. When that didn't work, she hit it with her fists again. "Remington!"
It was faint at first, but with every step he took it got louder. "Laura!" he yelled again, trying to verify what he was hearing.
"I'm in here!" she called again, he came to a stop to flick on the lighter again. He was standing before a heavy metal door.
"I'm here!" he told her. "I'm here!"
"Thank God. Get me out of here! Descoine's got some cyanide gas canisters in here that could go off any minute!'
"Oh God," Remington said, examining the metal frame of the door and the heavy concrete on either side. No way he could break it down. And a bullet wasn't doing to do much either, with the danger of a ricochet. He tucked the gun into his back again, and dug out his picks, then set to work on the lock. "I'll have you out in a minute," he promised. "Two shakes."
Laura listened at the door, hearing him work on the lock, then, suddenly there was nothing. "Remington?" she called. "Is everything all right?"
Remington was looking straight into the eyes of Major Descoine. The lights had come on with no warning, and he'd felt the cold steel of a gun against his neck, and a warning not to make a sound. Descoine put the key into the lock and turned it, then pushed Steele into the room into Laura and closed the door quickly, laughing.
"Enjoy your last few minutes, Mr. Steele and Miss Holt. Say your good byes." His laughter faded, continuing as he moved away.
Once they untangled themselves, Remington pulled Laura against him. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you?"
"No. What happened?"
"I don't know. The man's like a bloody cat. One minute I was alone, the next, there he was, big as life!" He winced as he moved his arm.
"You're hurt!" she declared.
"Fell on my arm wrong," he told her, nursing his left elbow. "It's nothing. We've got to find a way out of here," he said.
"There's *is* no other way but that door. The lock doesn't go all the way through- and the knob doesn't even turn."
Remington looked at the grate. "What's down there?"
"Some kind of water pipe. I can hear water dripping when it's quiet."
"You mentioned something about cyanide?"
She indicated the canisters along the wall. "They were on that ledge up there," she said, pointing. "Since the seals on the canisters are water soluble, I figure that water could be pumped through those small pipes up there to fall slowly down the wall and onto the ledge, where it would eat through the seals-"
"And release the gas," Remington finished, nodding. "Ingenious. Diabolical, but ingenious, none the less. You're right. We have to get out of here before he turns on that water. Or we're both dead ducks."
"Famous last words, Remington," Laura told him.
***
Jarred heard cars braking on the graveled ground, and opened his eyes to see flashing lights through the circle about twenty feet above him. "Help!" he called out. "Someone! Anyone! Help!" He thought he heard Lt. Jarvis' voice, and a moment later the beam of a torch found him.
"Martindale?" Jarvis asked.
"Yeah. I'm glad you got here, Lieutenant," he said.
"What happened?"
"I was chasing the Major's daughter- she led me right in here. I think it's an abandoned dry well."
"Lucky for you it's dry," Jarvis said. "Are you hurt?"
"I think my leg's broken."
"Where's Steele?"
"He left me here to look around while he went down the River Road. He's been gone for some time." The statement brought another thought. "What time is it?"
"Ten thirty," Jarvis said. "Harris, Jorgensen, you stay here and wait for the paramedics. The rest of you, with me."
Jarred closed his eyes, frustrated that he wasn't going to be able to help after all.
***
Remington glanced at his watch. "Ten thirty." He and Laura were sitting near the door, his arms around her, holding her. "We're not done for yet," he said.
"There's no way out," she said. "We've looked. No secret exits, the door's impassable-"
"Where's my optimistic Laura, eh?" he questioned. "The one who always stands and fights, no matter what the odds? Hmm?"
"Maybe she's just decided it's time to give it up."
"Well, I'm not ready to give it up," he declared, "Not when my life's finally beginning to make some sense." He got to his feet and went back to the drain. "Let's give this another try, shall we?" he suggested.
"My shoulders are still aching from the last time," Laura said, but knelt opposite him and grabbed the metal grate.
"This time, instead of trying to lift, let's trying turning it."
It took every bit of strength they had, but suddenly Laura said, "It moved! Did you see that? It moved!"
"I saw it," he told her, wincing as his left elbow protested any movement. "Let's give it another go. On my count. One- two- three!" With a lot of groaning and grunting, the two of them managed to turn it half way round.
Laura felt the edge. "I think it's coming out," she told him. The adrenalin rush from their success caused them to attack the grate with more effort. "It is! See?"
Remington grabbed the grate, intending to turn it again, but he stopped. "What's that?" he asked, hearing a low pitched humming sound that seemed to vibrate through room.
"Sounds like a pump of some kind-" Laura said, and her eyes widened as they both lifted their eyes toward the water pipes. Sure enough, a trickle of water was being released to roll faster and faster toward the ledge.
"I knew the bugger couldn't be trusted to keep to his time-table," Remington muttered as he met Laura's worried gaze. Without speaking they redoubled their efforts on the grate. "Hurry," Laura told him. "It's almost to the ledge."
At last the grate was free and they lifted it off of the hole as one of the canisters began to sizzle a warning. "Let's go," Remington said, urging her into the hole ahead of him, then dropping beside her. "Let's put some space between us and that room, eh?" he suggested, taking her arm to lead her down the drainage pipe.
***
Jarvis inspected the silver BMW as the Sergeant approached. "According to DMV, it's registered to a Daniel Chalmers Martindale," he said, looking at the pad in his hand. "Malibu."
Jarvis nodded. "Steele's father," he said. "Mildred said he was driving it. Okay, spread out. Let's see if we can't find where Steele disappeared to."
"Lieutenant?" a young officer said nervously.
"Yes, Mallory?"
"The old Water Pumping Station is just through there. It's the only thing out here anymore. My brother and I used to play in it as kids."
"Okay. Let's check it out."
***
"Where do you suppose this leads?" Laura asked Remington as they walked through ankle deep water.
"Either out to the river- or-"
"Or?"
He swallowed heavily. "Back into the plant."
Laura was about to comment on his statement when a loud roaring sound reached her ears. Turning, her eyes widened upon seeing a wall of water rushing toward them.
Remington grabbed her, pointing to a series of metal bars in the pipe leading up to an inspection hatch. "Up here," he told her, and went first, opening the door before reaching back to grab her wrist just as the water reached them. "Laura!" He barely held onto her as she as ripped from the ladder by the flow of water. At last she found her footing and climbed out of the pipe behind him. Dripping wet, he closed the door with an encouraging smile in her direction. That smile faded as the lights came on in the room, and they heard a familiar voice.
"Congratulations on your escape, Miss Holt and Mr. Steele. But I'm afraid it's time to conclude our little game. And the final move- will be mine."
To Be Continued---