Cradle (47 page)

Joy and excitement surged through Nick. He was having difficulty containing himself.
He wanted to sing, to dance, to jump with joy. He had been right after all. The bastards
had
stolen most of the treasure and now he was stealing it back. There is no happiness
quite like the redressing of an old and painful grievance. And to do it with panache…
Nick was already celebrating in his heart. This was his day.

Filling the bags took no time at all. Nick and Troy both felt as if they had infinite
energy. When they had finished picking up the gold bars, Troy gestured down the tunnel.
Nick looked down at the other treasure objects remaining on the floor.
We should take it all
, he thought.
We should leave Homer and Greta nothing. Nothing at all
. But he had to be practical. Each of their bags was virtually full and they would
be heavy enough as they were.

Nick swam off in the direction of the ocean, his buoyancy bag full of gold trailing
behind him. Troy followed. As they passed the bulky door on the right, Troy found
himself thinking again about the circuitry leading to the alarm in the box just ahead,
between the two sections of pipe.
What could those other connections be for?
Suddenly he remembered seeing a diagram in an electronics magazine about advanced
timers that could reinitialize systems and swap out failed parts. By now the component
that Troy had disabled might have been declared a failure by the smart processor in
the alarm box, in which case it would have either been replaced by a redundant part
or the system would be ignoring its output.
In either situation
, Troy thought,
that means the system could be active again
.

It was too late. Nick swam into the field of view of the optical device and lights
came on throughout the tunnel. A metal gate started closing behind Nick and his bag
of gold. It was only with a burst of speed that Troy propelled himself through before
the gate shut completely. But his buoyancy bag full of gold bars was left behind,
on the other side of the gate.

Nick stared at Troy’s lost bag as it floated to the floor. He reached through the
bars, grabbed the bag, and tried to pull it through. It was useless. He shook the
gate. The metal was extremely sturdy. Angry and frustrated, he punched the gate with
his fists. As Nick caught his breath in between punches, he became aware of a strange
droning sound, like a motor, somewhere in the distance behind him. He turned around
to find Troy. He could not see him anywhere.

Troy had been exhausted by his swimming sprint through the closing gate. His energy
spent, he had let himself fall to the floor of the pool in the deepest part of the
cave, halfway between the two manmade tunnels. He took several deep breaths through
his mouthpiece and checked his air supply. He had about ten minutes remaining. He
watched for a moment as Nick, almost out of sight to his right, tried fruitlessly
to pull Troy’s bag through the gate.
Shit
, Troy thought, disappointed that he had lost the gold,
if only I had been thinking. I should have known…
He heard an unusual sound off to his left. Curious, Troy swam over to the entrance
of the other tunnel and right into the path of the robot sentry.

Even though the original distance between them was over fifty feet, the guidance mechanism
of the sentry fixed on Troy as soon as he appeared. Startled and fascinated, at first
Troy did not try to avoid the onrush of the bullet-shaped submarine. The sentry was
three feet long and a foot wide in its midsection. When it was about eight feet away,
the sentry slowly loaded and fired a small but powerful spear, the size of a table
knife, that Troy just managed to avoid as it hurtled past. The spear crashed into
the wall beside him.

Adrenaline surged into Troy’s system and he swam out into the middle of the pool.
The sentry did not follow him immediately. Instead it moved over in front of the natural
passageway to the ocean, thereby cutting off the escape route, and then turned around
to make a systematic search of the pool.
Damn it
, Troy was thinking,
why didn’t I leave while I had the chance?
He wondered if Nick was still over by the gate.

The sentry had now found Nick in its field of vision. He was swimming slowly toward
the exit with his buoyancy bag, unaware that he and Troy were not alone in the pool.
By the time Nick saw the sentry, he was fifteen feet away and within easy range of
its underwater gun. Troy watched the sentry load a spear.
Oh no
, he cried out to himself.
Watch out Nick
. There was nothing he could do.

It happened so fast that neither Nick nor Troy knew exactly what occurred. Troy would
later explain that he felt a sudden warm tingle on his wrist and then something, a
light beam or a laser burst or a stream of plasma perhaps, fired out of his bracelet
and blasted the robot sentry into silence and motionlessness. Nick would say that
the sentry, just when it was going to fire at him, was first distracted by Troy and
then recoiled as if from an impact. Whatever happened, the sentry stopped all activity.
Immediately thereafter the two men swam together over to the shallow part of the cave.
They were temporarily safe.

Carol could not believe how plump and succulent the oysters were. Ellen was sitting
at the other end of the table, opposite her, and was beaming with pride. ‘Would you
like some more, dear?’ she smiled, lifting the huge pot containing the oyster stew.
I’m now going to eat a second portion
, Carol thought.
In addition to the catfish with Nick. Greta would be disgusted
. She smiled to herself and nodded at Ellen. There was at least one thing she had
learned this evening. Ellen was certainly a fantastic cook.

And a very sad person too
, Carol thought as she spooned herself some more spicy stew, rich with the fabled
Appalachicola oysters. Homer had personally answered all the questions during the
twenty-minute interview before dinner. Whenever a question had been controversial
or delicate, such as when Carol had asked about the allegations that part of the treasure
haul had been secretly stolen and hidden by the three of them, he had looked only
at Greta before he made a response.
No wonder Ellen eats all the time. She’s the odd man out. Or is it woman?

‘This stew is fabulous,’ Carol remarked to Ellen. ‘Would you mind giving me the recipe?’

Ellen was delighted. ‘Certainly, dear,’ she said, ‘it would be my pleasure.’ Carol
remembered Dale’s reference to Ellen’s behaviour at the MOI awards dinner and wondered
if there was, indeed, any sexual component to the warmth Ellen was displaying.
I don’t see it
, Carol decided.
This is just a lonely and profoundly disturbed woman. I don’t feel one iota of sexual
tension
.

‘You’ve been asking the questions all evening, Miss Dawson,’ Homer was saying. ‘Now
why don’t we ask you a few?’ He had been surprisingly pleasant and subdued since the
bizarre preprandial shark feeding.
They must be normal sometimes
, Carol thought.
Otherwise they couldn’t survive. But who knows when Mr. Hyde will show up again
.

‘Ya,’ Greta said. It was the first time she had spoken directly to Carol during the
meal. ‘Homer told me you were with Dr. Dale. You are lovers, no?’

You don’t beat around the bush, do you Greta
. Carol partially evaded the question. ‘Dale Michaels and I are very good friends.
We spend quite a lot of time together, both socially and professionally.’

‘He is a smart man,’ Greta said. Those clear eyes stared at Carol and a smile played
at the corner of Greta’s lips.
What is she trying to tell me?

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of a sharp alarm. Carol knew immediately
that something had gone wrong. ‘What in the world is that?’ Carol asked innocently
as the strident alarm continued with its loud bursts.

Homer and Greta were already up from the table. ‘Excuse us,’ Homer said, ‘it’s our
burglar alarm. Probably an error. We’ll go check it out.’

They hurried out of the dining room, leaving Carol and Ellen alone, and headed down
a nearby hallway.
I must follow them and find out what’s going on
, Carol thought, her heart and mind racing together. She took a peek at her watch.
It was five minutes past ten o’clock.
They should have finished by now
. ‘I’m going to the rest room,’ she said to Ellen. ‘Don’t bother,’ she added, as Ellen
started to explain the directions. ‘I’m sure I can find it myself.’

Carol walked quickly into the hall and listened for sounds of Homer and Greta. Moving
very quietly, she followed them until she was just outside a large den on the opposite
side of the house. The door to the den was ajar. ‘It will focus in a second,’ she
heard Homer say. There was a pause. ‘Shit,’ he shouted, ‘it looks like the gold bars
are already gone. They must have moved very fast… The picture is really not very clear.
Here, you take a look.’

‘Ya,’ said Greta. ‘The bars are gone, I think… But Homer, the gold would be very heavy.
Maybe the thieves are trapped in the tunnel… Timmy could search for them.’

‘That would fix the bastards,’ Homer’s nervous laugh sent chills down Carol’s spine.
She backpedalled slowly until she had retreated to the main foyer of the house. She
heard an outside door slam in the direction of the den.
They’ve gone out to turn the sharks loose. Jesus. I must warn Nick and Troy
.

Carol walked into the nearest bathroom in the hallway, pushed the door closed, and
turned on the taps. Then she flushed the lavatory and untaped the small walkie-talkie
that was hidden inside her shirt. She put the unit right next to her mouth. ‘Mayday,
mayday,’ she said. ‘They know you’re there. You are in danger.’ She repeated the message
and then pushed the button that would automatically recycle the communication several
more times.
I certainly hope this damn thing works
, she thought.

She started to affix the tiny unit to the inside of her blouse again. While she was
taping it down, she happened to look in the mirror. Her heart nearly stopped. Ellen
was standing in the doorway, staring at her. The baleful glare in her eyes indicated
that she had seen and heard everything. She took a step toward Carol.

‘Just hold it right there, Ellen,’ Carol said. Carol put her hands up. ‘I have no
quarrel with you.’ The fat woman hesitated. ‘Homer and Greta only use you anyway,’
Carol added softly. ‘Why don’t you leave them and make a life for yourself?’

Anger broke across Ellen’s face. Her eyes narrowed, her cheeks reddened, and she raised
her huge fists to threaten Carol. ‘It’s none of your damn business how I live my life,’
she said menacingly. She moved again in Carol’s direction.

Carol grabbed the thick metal towel rack beside her and pulled with all her might.
The bar sprung free from the wall, dumping two peach bath towels and a wooden end
piece on the linoleum floor. Carol brandished the bar over her head. ‘Don’t make me
hit you,’ she said. ‘Just move aside and get out of my way.’

Ellen did not slow down. Carol aimed carefully and struck her hard, on the right shoulder.
The heavy woman collapsed. ‘Greta,’ she wailed in a monstrous voice, ‘Greta, help
me.’

Still waving the bar from the towel rack, Carol walked carefully around Ellen and
backed toward the door. Once in the hall, she sprinted to the family room and headed
for the front door. Right beside the wet bar she was tackled from behind. Carol fell
forward, hard, and smashed her nose on the carpet. She tried to squirm out of Greta’s
arms but it was impossible. She was pinned. A few drops of blood trickled out of Carol’s
nose and fell on the carpet.

Both women were breathing heavily. Carol managed to turn her body around so that she
was facing Greta. She struggled vainly to free herself. Greta’s strong arms slammed
Carol’s wrists against the floor. Greta bent down until her face was only inches away
from Carol’s. ‘You were trying to get away, ya, and just why were you in such a hurry?’

There was something feral in Greta’s eyes. On impulse, Carol lifted her head and kissed
Greta, full on the lips. Startled, her assailant’s arms momentarily relaxed. That
was all Carol needed. Gathering all her strength, she smashed the bottom of her palm
into the side of Greta’s head. Greta was stunned. Carol pushed her off and made a
dash for the door.

Carol was already calculating when she ran out the front door and down the steps.
Greta will be up in an instant
, she thought.
I won’t have time to open the car door. I might as well run for it
.

The German woman was only fifteen yards behind her, and gaining fast, when Carol turned
on to the lane that led from Homer’s house to the Pelican Resort.
For ten years I have run three times a week. But this is the only time my life has
ever depended on it
. She tried to accelerate. Greta continued to close the gap. Carol was certain she
was going to be caught at any minute. Once she thought she felt Greta’s hand on her
blouse.

But after two hundred yards Greta began to drop back. When she was a quarter of a
mile from Homer’s driveway, Carol dared to look over her shoulder. Her pursuer was
clearly struggling and was now fifty yards behind her. Carol felt a renewed burst
of energy.
I’m going to make it
, she thought.
I’m actually going to escape
.

Greta slowed to a walk. Eventually Carol did too, but not until she was almost at
the restaurant. Even then she continued to look back, to try to find her antagonist
in the moonlight.
Now I’ll call a taxi
, she was thinking,
and go over to Nick’s apartment. I hope that the two of them heard my warning and
are safe
.

She could no longer see Greta. She stopped and strained her eyes.
She must have turned back
, Carol thought. While she was looking back down the lane, a pair of very strong hands
grabbed her shoulders. She spun around and stared into the laughing eyes of Lieutenant
Richard Todd.