Pop Travel (25 page)

“This would probably be the point of no return.”

She firmed up, squaring her shoulders.

“Not on your life. I’m with you all the way.”

“Good thing. Since you did just seal yourself in.” Cooper smiled.

He aimed the flashlight into the awaiting tunnel. The sides were brown and gray dirt layered with red clay. There were a few rough patches, small erosions where mud had come loose and slid to the floor. From the top, small roots hung down. Every ten feet or so, she spied a simple support made of three beams of wood, one on each side and one overhead with two smaller pieces in the corners.

The shaft extended farther than his light revealed. After nodding to each other in acceptance of the challenge, they began their journey into the dank and gloomy depths.

FBI – Atlanta Division
7:30 p.m., Friday, July 26<

nce Cooper and Geri went underground, Nate’s audio and video feeds fuzzed out.

“Do you think it would be okay to disturb Ed now?” Nate smirked at his buddies.

They chuckled.

Nate had waited to call until he confirmed the secret passage existed. When Cooper and Geri found it, the techs high-fived each other and money changed hands. Now they chattered like squirrels at a nut convention, all geeked about it. Nate knew all along Cooper’s paper had something worthy on it. No one ever listened to him.

He dialed his boss.

“What is it, Nate?” Ed asked.

He had a scowl on his face. He always looked constipated.
Take an ex-lax, buddy.

“Cooper and Geri found a secret passage. You know, from the map he had,” Nate said, rubbing it in.

“What?”

“They dug it up and just went down into it. We lost audio and visual.”

“I see.” He sat back and digested this development, taking his surprise down a level. “Not to worry.”

“You don’t want me to do anything? Send in another agent?”

“I already have one at the party,” he said. His smile beamed confidence.

“Blake?”

“Blake,” Ed agreed. “Nate, didn’t you know I was a Boy Scout? Always be prepared. Geri’s tracking device is operational, isn’t it?”

“Yes, sir,” Nate answered looking at the blip on his imager.

“Good. Just keep an eye on their location. Let Blake know what they’re up to and tell him to locate the tunnel and be ready for security breach protocol at the party.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Call if it gets interesting. I’ll be there in an hour.”

“Will do,” Nate answered and disconnected. He shook his head. Of course, Blake was there.
Could have told me that earlier.

Nate filled Blake in. He fidgeted in his monkey suit, but the news put an eerie smile on his lips, which gave Nate the creeps.
That guy is not normal
.

“I guess Ed always has a Plan B, too,” Nate joked to the guys.

They laughed and dispersed. Nothing more to see for a while.

Beasley Hills Plantation
7:30 p.m., Friday, July 26

Dinner was served. Ray Saffioti stared at his lobster, still dumbfounded he had seen Mr. Cooper. Across the table, Vivienne caught a shrimp some young stud dangled over her mouth. She had said she would take care of the detective. Something must have gone wrong. Now, the guy made it into the party and was snooping around the compound.

“Vivienne?” Ray asked, interrupting the pampered goddess.

She froze, mouth poised to take a dainty bite, and glared at him.

“Yes?”

“Did you see him?”

“See who?”

“Mr. Cooper.”

Vivienne winced.

“Antonio, would you be a love and refill this?” The young man took her glass and dashed off.
Where does she find these boys? She didn’t come in with him.

“Yes, Ray, I saw him.” She picked up a roll and plucked tiny pieces from it.

“Why is he here? I thought you were going to handle him.”

Her eyes blazed.

“That low-life I hired got himself killed. Nothing I could do about it.” She waved her hand in the air. Then she moved her hand to her cheek, hiding her mouth, as if telling him a secret.

“You-know-who probably did it,” she said in a loud whisper. Her buzz made her careless and scarier.

“What do we do now?” Ray knew who. Cowering in his chair, his eyes darted around, looking for Mr. Cooper or possible FBI agents. They could be lurking anywhere.

“If you-know-who is watching him, we don’t have to do anything. Let them deal with it. They obviously don’t want our help.”

“Maybe I should call Ed.” Ray reached for his QV.

Vivienne threw the rest of the roll at him.

“
No!
Let them be the scapegoat here. The less we know, the better. They probably did us a favor.” She fluttered her eyes and put on her best innocent pout. “But the big man said it was all right,” she said in a high, whiny voice, looking up at invisible accusers.

“Fine.” He frowned. He still couldn’t eat.

Ray hated waiting.

Walking for what seemed like hours, Cooper estimated they were about three-quarters of the way to the house. So far, the tunnel had been wide enough to allow them to walk side by side. He’d be happy when he could stand up straight again. Rubbing his neck, he dreaded the sore crick he would have later.

“How are you doing, Geri?” Cooper asked. She had done a good job keeping pace with him.

“I’m fine. And you?” She flashed him a flirtatious smirk.

He smiled back, soaking up her transfixing aura.

“That’s good, because it looks like we may have to crawl soon.” He pointed up ahead with the flashlight, showing her how the tunnel narrowed. They were about to get cramped and dirty. He would see how she dealt with a little drop in elevation on what had been a smooth flight up to then.

“That sounds lovely,” she answered in a sarcastic tone.

“I thought you’d like that.”

“I’m sending you my dry-cleaning bill.”

As the tunnel quickly tapered, they were forced to crawl on their hands and knees. Shoulder to shoulder, they continued to scrunch down until they were dragging themselves on their bellies with their elbows. Then they came to a dead end.

“Are we there yet?” Geri asked.

“I don’t think so. Looks like a cave-in.”

“So what do we do? Go back?”

Cooper tilted his head at her, giving her a
Really?
look.

“Now we dig,” he said, in a matter-of-fact tone. Cooper set down the flashlight and shoved the saw into the dirt in front of them to test its depth. “It doesn’t feel very thick. And it’s soft. We will be through in no time.”

“Sure we will.” Geri backed out a bit to give him some room.

He couldn’t tell if she was being serious or sarcastic again, but at least she wasn’t complaining. His awkward position, lying on his stomach while he held up his head and arms, made progress slow and difficult as he pulled away the soil. Geri scooted further back to avoid getting splattered with dirt. Every so often, Cooper would push to test the thickness of the blockage. After a few minutes, his hand broke through.

“There. You see?”

“We can’t fit through there.” Geri smiled.

“We only need room to pass through one at a time. We’re almost at the end.” He dug some more around the hole.

“Look! I think I can fit!” He shoved the saw through and stuck his arms into the opening. Squeezing his shoulders through one at a time, he wriggled his body the rest of the way out. Geri snickered.

“You’re next, you know,” he called back to her and she hushed.

After he righted himself and faced her, she handed him the flashlight and his jacket.

On the other side, he slid down a small slope of dirt. He used the flashlight to scan ahead. They would have room to walk upright again in just a few feet. Turning around to tell Geri the good news, he accidentally spotlighted her in the face.

She had started to pull herself through the opening and he caught her in a pirate ship’s mermaid pose, with her arms pressing down and her back arched, as she struggled to pull her other half through. He couldn’t help gawking.

“Hey! Watch where you’re shining that thing,” she said, waking him out of his trance.

“Oh. Sorry. Here, let me help you.” His eyes hit the floor, ashamed for staring at her exceptional breasts, and he set the flashlight down. Climbing the short way back up the mound, he grabbed her arms, and she let him pull to help her escape the tight-fitting fissure. Once she passed through, she rolled down and righted herself to sit on the mound.

“Thank ya kindly, J.L.” Geri futilely brushed at the dirt and ground-in mud on her dress. The gown was a goner. Cooper picked up the flashlight and shined it down the tunnel again.

“Look up ahead. There’s more room.”

She glanced up.

“What a relief. Are we almost there?”

He watched her pout at her dress again, then shrug it off. It was a good thing there wasn’t a mirror around for her to see her mussed hair and smudged face. As a warm feeling grew in his gut, a smile spread across his lips. In her disarray, Geri looked even more attractive.

“Shouldn’t be much farther,” he said, pushing the moment aside. With the light showing the way, they started walking again. The glow faded down the tunnel. It still stretched farther than they could see.

Fifteen minutes later, Cooper’s heart jumped.

“Look!” he shouted and pointed.

Geri grabbed his arm and cheered.

“A ladder! Hallelujah!”