The Flaming Grenade, page 36
That finished, Sung walked to the other end of the room. He put his ear against the door to listen, but the dryer made hearing anything else impossible. He would have to take a chance.
Chapter 127
TRECASTAGNI, SICILY, ITALY
“Where are Robert and Ashley?” Zaira asked me after she got into the car. I looked down at the suitcase on the floorboard, my eyebrows raised in question.
“Don’t worry, they are all there,” Zaira said, reading my mind.
“They decided they wanted to just follow us up there. They didn’t want to squish into our little car. I think they just wanted to be able to leave if they felt like it.”
“I don’t blame them. This may turn into a long day.”
“Where are we meeting them?” Heinrich asked from the back seat. He sat in the middle and leaned forward between the two front seats.
“Just in front of their hotel. Ashley said she had to run up to their room to get something, and they needed to ask the clerk to get their car out of the garage.”
I turned at the next street and followed it to a one-way street heading back to the main piazza and Robert’s hotel. My stomach churned for some reason, and I felt a strong desire to see the badges, to be certain they were there and safe, even though I knew they were. I could feel them.
I started to pull out into the intersection when Heinrich yelled. I slammed on the brake as a moped went whizzing by, swerving dangerously around my front bumper. My heart pounded in my chest. Zaira put a hand to her shoulder where her seatbelt crossed and rubbed.
“That hurts,” she said.
“Sorry, I was a bit distracted. And anyway, those freakin mopeds need to watch where they’re going.”
“Yeah, well, they aren’t going to look, so you’re going to have to,” Zaira said wisely.
“True.”
I pulled out and a small Piaggio three wheeled truck pulled into traffic in front of me. It belched a cloud of thick black smoke. It was stacked high with fruits and vegetables in old wooden crates, and bounced along slowly, lurching as the engine struggled to pull the weight of its cargo. I hit the steering wheel in frustration. What a joke!
The Piaggio came to a stop in the middle of the road and the driver’s door opened. He looked back at me and shrugged. He took his time walking to the back of the truck and untying a crate of artichokes. He hefted it out of the truck and set the box down on the road, the exhaust from the truck covering the vegetables in a film of carbon monoxide. Lovely. The short, wrinkled Sicilian man took the cap from his head to wipe his brow before struggling to pick up the box. Slowly he shuffled to the sidewalk where a storekeeper met him at the door. The storekeeper took the crate and went inside the store while the ancient Sicilian waited. The storekeeper came back outside and passed some money to the farmer. They began to talk, their arms waving animatedly. I was afraid they were going to start a fight, and I almost forgot that we were stuck there as I watched the scene, engrossed.
But they just kept arguing, so I finally honked the horn. They looked over at me then kept talking. I honked again and they both started waving their arms at me. I waved my arms right back, pretending I could understand what they were saying. I must have missed the sign claiming this road belonged to the farmer.
He ambled slowly back to his truck and climbed into the driver’s seat. The truck lurched into gear and belched another thick cloud of smoke. It started forward and thankfully pulled over at the first available place. I squeezed past the truck on the left and was so close to the building on my right I reached out and folded in the rear-view mirror. Once past the truck, I sped up and continued the drive back to the hotel.
Chapter 128
TRECASTAGNI, SICILY, ITALY
Sung took the back stairs two at a time. It was dark, and he didn’t turn on the lights for fear he would attract attention. He reached the lobby level and could hear the clerk speaking on the telephone. He continued up the stairs to the second floor, where he guessed the Americans had their room. Arriving at the landing, he peeked around the corner and saw a partly open door halfway down the passageway. He waited to see if anyone was going to come out of the room, but instead the door was shut by someone on the inside. He stepped into the hallway and walked lightly on the cold tile floor.
He didn’t hear a sound until he reached the previously open door. He stepped close and put his ear against the polished wood. He heard mumbling. He couldn’t make out any words, but was able to make out two voices, a man and a woman. This was the same room he had searched the other night.
He had a choice to make. He could stand back and wait until they emerged from the room or he could knock and try to get inside. He knew he could get them to talk if it came to that. He decided there was no cause for subtlety and was just about to knock when he heard the conversation increase in volume. Sung stepped back behind a bookcase in the hallway. He listened to the loud argument and waited.
Chapter 129
TRECASTAGNI, SICILY, ITALY
“I don’t want to go, Robert!” Ashley shouted. “They almost killed us once, and I’m not going through that again.”
“Who?”
“The men at your house! This whole thing! I’m not doing it!”
“Ashley, why did you fly all the way out here if you don’t want to go? I don’t understand!”
Ashley looked at Robert, begging him to understand. “I can’t do it. I thought I could, but I just can’t go. I’m scared to death Robert. No, I’m terrified!”
Her lips trembled; she began to cry. Robert stepped forward and pulled her close. Her tears turned to sobs, and he held her while her shoulders shook.
“Ssshhhh, baby. It’s OK.” Robert brushed her hair with his fingers and rubbed her back. “I know, I know, I’m scared too.”
Robert stepped back, holding Ashley’s shoulders and looked into her tear-filled eyes. He reached up with his right hand and gently wiped the tears from each cheek. She bit her lower lip, and he could see her eyes pleading with him not to make her go. “You don’t have to go with us Ash, but will you be OK here by yourself?”
Her eyes lit up, “I’ll be fine. I’m still really tired so I think I’ll just crawl back into bed.”
“I’ll have my cell phone with me, but I’m not sure there will be any service up there.”
“That’s OK. I promise, I’ll just hang out here in the room.”
“Well, we should be back before lunch I would guess, so after it’s all done, we can go out to lunch and maybe go be tourists somewhere.”
“Thanks Robert. Thanks for understanding.” She leaned in and kissed him. He could taste the salt water of her tears on her soft lips.
Robert grabbed his backpack from the desk and walked to the door. “Get some sleep. I’ll see you in a bit.”
“I will babe. Be careful.”
Robert turned the key in the door and stepped out into the hallway. Compared to the bright sunlit room, the hallway was dark, and he walked halfway to the steps before his eyes adjusted to the darkness.
Chapter 130
MT ETNA, SICILY, ITALY
Dan pulled the car into a clearing and parked next to an old fence. “Can you open your door still?” he asked Sharon.
She tried the door and it bumped against the wood of the fence.
“Yeah, I can still get out. Are you saying I’m fat or something?” She laughed and squeezed out of the door. She stretched and took a deep breath of mountain air. She walked sideways to the front of the car and met Dan as he came around the front bumper.
“What is this place?” she wondered.
“I don’t know. It looks abandoned though. It’s pretty cool, the old run-down lava stone buildings. You brought the camera, right?”
“It’s in my purse.” Sharon looked back through the windshield into the back seat. “They’re still asleep.” She stepped closer to Dan and kissed him deeply.
“Mmmm.” He pulled her close and put his hands on her butt. He squeezed; she giggled. “Let’s look around,” Dan said.
“Ahh, you’re no fun!”
Holding hands, they walked to a ladder at a break in the fence. Dan climbed the ladder first, then held Sharon’s hand as she made her way up and over the fence.
“This is interesting,” she said. “I wonder why they do it this way.
They looked back at the car and walked up to the old building. There was trash scattered inside the ruins, but it was old and faded.
“Did you leave a window open?” Sharon asked.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“You think so?”
He sighed. “I’ll go check.”
Dan climbed back over the fence and walked up to the car. The back window was open an inch, but he decided to roll down the front windows further while he was there. If the twins woke up and found mom and dad were missing, they would start crying. He wanted to be able to hear them as soon as they did. He sat in the driver’s seat and turned the key in the car. The open door caused the car to start beeping and Dan hurried to roll down the front windows. He turned the key off and got back out of the car. Carefully, he closed the door and peeked into the back seat. Reagan made some gurgling sounds and turned her head. Dan backed away on tiptoes, exaggerating for Sharon’s sake. He heard her laugh.
Dan returned to where Sharon was still exploring the building. After crossing the fence, he stopped and snapped a few pictures of her peering into the rubble. She didn’t notice, and he looked back at the photos on the camera.
“Nice,” he said.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Sharon took his phone and immediately started snapping pictures, some of the inside of the building and others of the peak of the volcano framed in the background of the ruins.
“Stand up on those rocks,” she pointed, to which Dan obeyed.
“OK, now smile.”
He stood there with a cheesy grin on his face while she snapped pictures from different angles.
“Now it’s your turn,” he said, taking the camera back from Sharon.
“How about over there?” Dan took some photos then went back to the fence.
“What are you doing?”
“Finding a flat place to put the camera. Here, this will work.”
He leaned the camera on a ladder rung and checked the view. “Good.”
He switched the settings to timer mode and pressed the button. Dan jogged over to Sharon and put a hand around her waist. “Smile!” he said. After a brief pause, they heard the shutter click.
“Wait there.”
Dan went back to the camera and checked the picture. He made a few adjustments, then went back to Sharon.
“What was that?” Sharon asked, suddenly alarmed.
Dan also heard it, the sound of a rock tumbling down a pile of rocks. Then a snort.
“Whhaaa?” The shutter closed and captured Sharon as her eyes widened in surprise.
Chapter 131
TRECASTAGNI, SICILY, ITALY
Robert walked out of the hotel with a backpack slung over one shoulder. I looked behind him and didn’t see Ashley. I was expecting to see him drive out of the garage in his car, so I was a bit surprised. Instead, he opened the back door and slid in. Heinrich had to scoot over behind the driver’s seat.
“Let’s go,” he said without explanation.
“Uhhmm aren’t we missing someone?’ Zaira asked. “She’s blond, cute, about 5’7”. Ring any bells?”
“She’s not coming.”
We all waited for the explanation, and when it wasn’t forthcoming, I dove in and asked. “May we ask why? She seemed all gung-ho this morning.”
“What did you do?” Zaira demanded.
“Nothing! Nothing. She said she’s too scared to go. She’s freaked out and can’t stop thinking about the thugs raiding my place in Palo Alto. She’s still messed up about it, ya know.”
“What happened in Palo...Palo?” Heinrich asked.
“Palo Alto,” I finished. “These Chinese men broke into Robert’s house and held both of them hostage. They were asking...”
“More like interrogating and torturing!” Zaira interrupted.
I looked over at her and continued speaking, glancing occasionally at Heinrich in the rearview mirror. “They taped Ashley to the table and threatened to do unspeakable things to her if she didn’t talk.”
“About what?”
“About the badge I found. I guess they traced some of Robert’s online inquiries back to him and thought he knew something.”
“But at the time, Robert and Ashley didn’t really have any information to give,” Zaira chimed in again.
“Anyway, she was pretty messed up.”
“She still is,” Robert explained. “And I guess going up to the mountain to finish this has her spooked. She’s afraid the Chinese guys will be there.”
“What about the hotel? Isn’t she worried about being tracked down there?” Zaira wondered.
“I guess not. In the hotel she can lock the door. And anyway, she’s still pretty jet lagged and said she was just going to get some sleep.”
“OK, her choice.” I said.
I put the car in first gear and checked over my shoulder. I pulled out into the street and drove towards the turn leading up the mountain.
“Hopefully this doesn’t take too long and we’ll be back before she knows it.” Robert said.
Chapter 132
MT ETNA, SICILY, ITALY
Giuseppe asked Carmela to pull over to the side of the road as they neared the scene of the crash. She put the car into park and applied the parking brake. Giuseppe took a deep breath and opened his car door. It was a beautiful day up on the mountain. The air was crisp and cool, but you could feel the sun’s rays warming the air around you. He stood at the crest of the hill and looked down, seeing the crash from the outside and completing his picture of events through the torn bushes and jagged cuts in the earth, down to the car’s final resting place.
The car was gone and the area mostly cleared, but Giuseppe could still see bits of metal and glass strewn down the hillside and surrounding the site.
He started down the hill and Carmela followed, cautious not to say or do anything that would upset him. He walked slowly and stiffly and had to brace each leg sideways on the slope as he climbed down. He was unsteady, but made it to the bottom. He was breathing hard from the exertion, so he bent over at the waist with his hand on his knee, the other still in a sling.
Carmela, worried, placed a hand on his back just to let him know she was there. After a few seconds, he straightened up and turned to smile at her. He didn’t say a word; he didn’t have to.
The site was trampled where crime scene technicians had walked. There was a gash in the earth where the chain was lowered down to winch the car back up the hill. Giuseppe looked up and followed a different trail up a less steep slope of the hill, presumably the winched car’s path.
Satisfied, he continued his walk to the tree where he had dragged himself. He stared down at the spot, and then, surprising Carmela, took her hand in his. Without saying a word, he turned around and began walking back towards their car. Carmela was worried he wouldn’t be able to make it back up the hill, but he followed the less steep path and trudged slowly and deliberately, one step at a time.
Once there, she noticed his shirt clung to his back and sweat rings under his arms. His breathing was heavy and labored. He opened the car door and sat down in the seat with his head back and his eyes closed. Carmela turned up the air conditioning and continued the drive up the mountain.
Chapter 133
HALF MOON BAY, CALIFORNIA
Brian lifted both hands in the air in triumph. “Yes!” he exclaimed.
“Ya get it?” Brad asked, looking up from his computer monitor.
“Dude, we are so in business!” Brian waved the tablet computer in the air and yelped again in excitement. “The app is done and ready for testing.”
Ryan chimed in. “I’m almost there, man. “Coding this new firmware update has been a bear, but once it’s online, your app should work just great.”
“Tell us something we don’t know,” Brad said. “What’s taking you so long anyway, Ryan?”
“It’s not like I can just think of some theoretical model of physics and pass it off. I’ve gotta take all of your mumbo jumbo and translate it into code for the real world.”
“Yeah, but it’s not like you have to change that much.”
“Dude, I’ve already explained it. New platform, totally new firmware. Yeah, it’s based on the same principles, but I had to adjust every segment of the program.”
“All right, all right. So, when is it going to be finished?”
“I just finished the last line. I’ve gotta check my work and work out a few kinks, but then we should be golden. Give me like an hour and we’ll be ready to shut it down.”
The teleporting platform was due for a major upgrade. They hoped it would speed the process a little more and also parse out some of the jumbled thoughts a person had, even when totally concentrating. Their mainframe was constantly online, especially with Archie and Zaira on the hook, but it had to come down for the update.
“Will the new firmware affect Archie and Z at all?” Brad asked.
“It shouldn’t,” Brian answered. “It should be completely backwards compatible with the old system with added functionality. Alex’s part is done and I didn’t really need anything from Charlie”
“Let’s hope so. So, how long is it going to be down?”
“No more than 30-45 minutes max,” Ryan answered. “Let me focus here. I’m in the zone, and then we can do this.”
