Mirrored Man: The Rob Tyler Chronicles Book 1 (41 page)

Talbot quickly did the math. “About
forty-eight hundred.”

Eddie knew that the first and last thousand
yards of tunnel had none of the pipes used in the flooding. But it
had taken them just over a minute to reach that mark. He glanced at
the speedometer. It read seventy miles per hour and climbing slowly
as they continued down the grade, deeper into the ground. They
would reach the mid point and the drain in just under a minute, and
then the tunnel would begin its steep incline. From there, they
would need to travel over a mile to get above the level of the
pipes. Eddie calculated that they would have less than two minutes
to get there. Silently, he began reciting the Lord's Prayer.

They all fell silent as the tunnel began
leveling off and they came to the drain. As they crossed over the
metal grates, the sound that the tires made was an unsettling
reminder that they were only half way out. But seconds later, they
were back on bedrock and the tunnel began to rise steadily into the
distance. Conversely, their speed began to rapidly decrease.
Ghazini kept the accelerator on the floor, but to no avail.
“C'mon!” he urged the old truck.

“Lord, help us.” Talbot listened to the
engine as it began to protest against the strain.

Ghazini couldn't understand what was
happening outside the cab. He felt the truck being buffeted by wind
and, in between the rising and falling pitch of the siren, they
could hear an odd sort of whistling all around them. “Do you hear
that?”

“Hear what?” Eddie asked just as his ears
popped from the growing pressure.

Jimmy was holding his nose, also trying to
find relief. The pipes that fed the water from the river to the
tunnel were long, nearly a mile in places, and they were filled
with air that needed to go somewhere as the water moved through
them.

“What now?” the colonel asked, his sinuses
aching as the truck’s ancient engine began to sputter.

“Please God—”Jimmy said, checking his watch.
They were rapidly running out of time.

The colonel turned his attention to the
passenger side mirror. In the gray distance behind them, he could
see a horizontal pillar of dark water appear at nearly ceiling
level. It crashed against the opposite wall and disappeared into a
cloud of mist. “We should have stayed in the lab,” he said, eying
the tunnel ahead. Suddenly, another pillar appeared just ahead of
them. It pummeled the opposing wall and roared like a freight train
as water began hitting the truck.

Ghazini had no time to react as the force of
the water pushed the truck into the wall.
Bang!
The impact
was followed by the screech of rubber and metal as it made contact
with the rock. The steering wheel jolted violently out of his
hands. He fought to regain control as they passed through the rush
of water. They continued to lose speed as the aged drive train
fought against the steady upward grade of the tunnel. Wisps of
steam could be seen escaping here and there from under the hood
while droplets of oil and antifreeze began to dot the glass of the
windshield before them.

Ghazini searched for the windshield wiper
control but couldn't find it. Giving up, he focused on the tunnel
ahead. “How much further?”

“Too far!” Talbot said.

“Just drive.” Eddie kept his voice calm.

There was another explosion of water as they
passed under an opening. Brown liquid spewed into the tunnel behind
them.

“Sixteen!” Talbot shouted. He had been
counting down the last sections as they passed. “We've got another
three hundred yards to go.”

As they reached the middle of the next
section, the old truck's valiant attempt to carry them to safety
came to an end. As it began to shudder violently, the engine died.
A cloud of steam billowed from the engine compartment from every
possible exit.

“Perfect!” Eddie shouted.

“That's all we’re gonna get,” Ghazini said
as they rolled to a stop. He stomped on the break but the only
thing that happened was the truck began to roll backwards. “Um,
guys—”

“Jump!” Eddie shouted as Ghazini and Talbot
opened their doors.

Taking care not to be hit by the door,
Talbot dove out, hitting the floor like a gymnast and rolling away.
He was followed by Eddie, who had Jimmy by the belt, as Ghazini
made his escape on the opposite side. They saw the truck pick up
speed and slowly cross the tunnel towards the wall to their
left.

“How much fuel is in there, Jimmy?” asked
Eddie.

“I don't know. It felt pretty sluggish. From
all the sloshing around, I'd say that it's at least half full.”

The truck was about fifty yards away and
rapidly approaching the wall. “Run!” Eddie yelled.

It impacted at an angle and the tanker began
a violent skid along the side, tearing a light fixture out of the
wall as it did. A shower of sparks erupted when the conduit
supplying the light with power broke off and punctured the
tank.

BOOM!

The explosion knocked the men off their
feet. As they watched, an orange fireball engulfed the tunnel. In
the same instant a column of water erupted from the pipe that was
between the expanding ball of flames and the four fleeing men,
deadening the concussion with the pressure of the air and water
rushing into the passageway. They quickly picked themselves up and
scrambled up the incline, passing under a pipe just as another
column of water burst forth from it.

There was less than a hundred yards to go
now. The three younger men were outdistancing Eddie. Continuing to
pump his legs, he watched as Jimmy and then Talbot passed the last
pipe with Ghazini on his heels. Eddie could feel the wind in front
of him, carrying with it the scent of a spring rain.

All at once, a pillar of brownish liquid
burst forth, knocking him off his feet just fifteen yards behind
the others. They watched in horror and feared that Eddie would be
swept away in the torrent. But Eddie, filled with adrenaline, was
quickly on his feet again. He dashed to the wall on his left where
the current wasn't as strong and scrambled beneath the deluge to
the other side, and to safety.

Once clear, he turned to look back down the
tunnel. He couldn’t see through the gray mist that the water was
starting to rise a few hundred yards away, but he knew it was
there. He felt a hand on his shoulder and heard the colonel’s voice
yelling over the din, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I'm fine,” Eddie nodded, then checked
himself to be sure what he had said was accurate. Then, looking
back at Talbot he added, “I gotta get me another job.”

“
COVINGTON!” MONTGOMERY
shouted.
“What about Rigby?”

Toni had an uncharacteristic look of concern
when she answered. “He's down.”

Montgomery’s mind went into overdrive as he
considered the implications. Covington surely knew Rigby had been
given orders to eliminate him, and he had to know that the orders
had come from him. Or had something else happened?
Were the men
confronted on the base? Did they accomplish their mission
?
“What did he say?”

“He's calling in, requesting
instructions.”

“What?” He hissed.

Toni couldn't help but smile. “I know,
right?”

“Put him on speaker. When we're finished,
delete the call.”

Toni turned back to her computer and tapped
a few keys. “Go ahead, Alpha.”

“Is the deputy director on the line?”
Covington’s stress-filled voice asked.

“I'm here, Neil. You're on speaker. Go
ahead.”

“We accomplished our objective. But we had a
complication.”

“Oh?” Montgomery said in an almost
too-pleasant tone. “What kind of complication?”

“I told Toni … Rigby's dead. I had to kill
him.”

“What?” Montgomery feigned surprise. “What
on earth happened?”

“He tried to kill me. I had no choice.”

“Well, why would Rigby try to kill you?”

There was a pause, and then Covington said,
“What happened wasn't my fault. If it’s anybody’s fault, it’s Rigby
and the other Charlie. They’re the ones who screwed up and let
Tyler and Phillips get away.”

“Neil, I'm not sure I understand what you're
saying.”

There was another pause. “I'm not stupid,
Director. I know he was acting on your orders. But I did you a
favor by getting rid of that incompetent waste of skin. I'm much
more valuable to you than he ever was.”

Montgomery arched his eyebrows in speechless
amazement.
Why is he calling?
Is he threatening me? Will
he come after me?
Toni looked at him wide-eyed in astonishment
as well.
This is a problem that I have to solve quickly.

“Hello?” Covington broke the silence.

Montgomery cleared his throat nervously.
“What do you intend to do, Neil?”

“Find Tyler and Phillips. That's what I have
to do, right? To get back in good graces.”

“Wait one, Sergeant.” Montgomery gestured to
Toni to mute the phone.

“What do you think he's up to?”

Toni scoffed. “I think his elevator quit
going to the top. He knows that you wanna kill 'em, but he wants to
keep workin' for ya. I mean c'mon, that’s pretty stupid.”
Montgomery gave her a dispassionate look that made her straighten
in her chair. “He sounds like he's out of control, desperate. I
mean, how would you feel if you knew the CIA was gunning for ya? I
think he's wettin' his pants as we speak.”

“Could you spare me the allegory and just
tell me what you think he's gonna do?”

Toni rolled her eyes and said, “Well, he
knows he can't run from us, but he
could
turn himself in to
the Air Force or the local cops for protection. If that
happens—”

“Yeah!” Montgomery cut her off with the wave
of his hand, suddenly annoyed at the very sound of her voice. He
had to get Covington under control, or the rapidly deteriorating
situation would spiral out of control and drag him down with it.
“Get Simon on the other line.”

Montgomery ran through the list of possible
locations where they believed Rob might go, searching for the least
likely. He and June were last known to be heading south, but he
considered it unlikely that they would continue in that direction.
He was sure that the commander would double back and head to South
Carolina and his family, or to a naval base, maybe Jacksonville, to
find help among his Navy friends. But he wanted to send Covington
somewhere else. Somewhere he could be easily found, but more
importantly, where he could be easily set up.

“What did you find out about Tyler's ties to
Florida? Some property or a vehicle or something?” Covington asked
Toni.

She began tapping keys, and then she
scrutinized the information being displayed. “Not the commander.
His father. There's a plane registered in the name of Master Chief
Petty Officer Theodore Brenden Tyler at the Apalachicola Regional
Airport.”

Something clicked in Montgomery's mind. “Why
would Tyler's dad, who lives in South Carolina, keep a plane in
Apalachicola, Florida?”

“I spoke to the airport manager. He told me
Tyler's father uses it to take people island-hopping in the Keys.
As of yesterday, it was parked in the hanger.”

Montgomery knitted his eyebrows in
confusion. “Island-hopping? Is it a sea plane?”

Toni shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“Find out. And have a satellite tasked over
Apalachicola ASAP.”

“That’s gonna attract a lot of attention,
boss,” Toni warned.

Montgomery smiled. “Don’t you worry about
that, Miss Blackburn. We’re searching for a rogue here. A rogue
who’s killed a captain in the United States Navy.”

Toni’s faced displayed a wicked smile.
“Consider it done. Want a BOLO out on Covington?”

Montgomery thought about it. “Not yet. We’ve
been taken by surprise. We want to find out what he’s up to before
we send everyone after him.”

Toni winked. “Okie dokie.”

Tyler's father houses a seaplane on the
coast of Florida
. Montgomery considered the possibilities.
There was something about the new information that made the hairs
on the back of his neck stand up. He would send Pew with a team to
eliminate the threat of Covington, but there was absolutely no
reason he couldn't use him to do some legwork first. He reached
over Toni and punched the mute button. “Still there, Neil?”

“I'm here.”

“Okay, good.” He tried to sound annoyed,
which wasn’t difficult under the circumstances. “We’ve had a very
serious breech here, Neil. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes sir, I do but—”

“No buts,” Montgomery said, cutting him off.
“Somebody had to pay the price for what happened. Rigby and his
partner did screw up and so did you. You should have contained the
situation before the personnel left the complex. They never should
have been allowed to get into that truck. Just look what
happened.”

“But—”

“No excuses, soldier. You dropped the ball.
But that's history now. You need to put it out of your mind.”
Montgomery hoped he wasn't pushing the desperate man too far over
the edge, but he had to at least sound firm.

There was a pause before Covington asked,
“How can I make this up to you, sir?” Covington was still confused,
but also hopeful of the direction the conversation seemed to be
going in.

“Neil, we are professionals. Rigby proved
you're right. You are more valuable to us than he was. We sent him
for you and you took him out and completed the mission. But we've
got bigger fish to fry. We need to fix this. Do you understand? We
have to tie this off.”

Another pause. “Yes sir.”

“Is your head on straight, Sergeant?”

Covington cleared his throat. “Yes sir.”

“Because we need to act fast. If you can't
handle this, I need to know now.”