The Factory Read online

  This time he caught the insinuation. Although true, he didn’t like it.

  What he was doing now took the nerve of an adventurer that he knew was only in his brave imagination. At about the twenty foot mark of precarious climbing and hanging onto each wrung for dear life, he looked down. That was when he realized that the difference between being brave in mind and brave in reality was two different things. Sam was scrambling even higher. With a gulp and swallow of what he hoped was bravery, he hurried to catch up.

  That’s when the section of rustic steel below him, where his foot had just been, broke away. Like steel dominos one section crashed into the other and soon there was no longer a ladder below him. Sam shone the light down on him and yelled,

  “What was that? What did you do?”

  It was not a complicated reply. He yelled up,

  “The ladder broke away from the wall and crashed.”

  She yelled down,

  “Well, hurry up. We still have a long way to go.”

  Neither stopped to realize that their way of getting back was now far below in a tangled heap of steel.

  In the dark, aided only by Sam’s leading flashlight there was no way of telling how far up they had climbed. Gary’s fear of the height had disappeared, now taken over by exhaustion and gasping for breath. Again he called up,

  “How much farther?”

  This time there was a better reply,

  Just a little more. We are almost there.”

  Only a minute he reached up for another rustic rung but a searching hand found only air. He heard Sam say,

  “That’s it, we are up.”

  It was a struggle but eventually he managed to sit next to her on a narrow ledge.

  After a few deep breathes, two exploring bright beams showed that they were now in a vertical shaft. They were not sitting on rock but rather inside a metal shaft only four feet high with just enough room for shoulders to lightly scrape against the sides. She pointed with her light beam and said,

  “This way.”

  He followed and admitted it was now a lot easier. He did not know why but the air was cleaner now, missing the putrid smell of grime and mold. Sam called back to him,

  “Turn your light off.”

  After doing so he was surprised to see a dim light far ahead.

  When he finally caught up to her she was sitting next to a steel grate. Although Gary understood that from the river they had climbed a great height, he did not realize just how high until poking his head past Sam and looking down. Far below was a massive cavern that he assumed must be the main chamber of the Factory. It was well lit by massive ceiling lights. Sam pointed to the far end of the cavern and whispered,

  “That large corrugated steel door is the main entrance. When the lights flash red and a siren goes off, you can hear the clatter of the chain as the door is rolled up. When it is open you can see out into the yard and trucks sometimes drive in.”

  From what Gary assumed was the top of the cavernous cave, far below he spotted a large fuel truck parked next to huge round containers.

  From this high advantage spot they saw perhaps fifteen people wandering around down there. Some were attentive to whatever jobs they had and others were just busy walking from place to place. Sam whispered,

  “Do you see anything odd about them?”

  He couldn’t and when he didn’t answer she contributed,

  “They are all wearing white smocks.”

  He then understood that they did not look like copper miners at all and whispered,

  “I guess the copper mine really was shut down huh?”

  “Yes, the mine was shut down but there is still something down there that these people are after.”

  She then tugged on the grate and to Gary’s surprise, with a creak it swung open like a small door. Gary thought what they had accomplished so far was brave enough and saw no reason to push the risk factor. He took her arm and asked,

  “What are you doing?”

  He was cast a most stern look and she sneered,

  “Have you forgotten why we came? We promised to find Amina Green and get her out of here.”

  Although Gary was not a detective, he certainly noticed what she just said was weird. With an accusing tone he whispered,

  “How do you know her last name is Green? Who told you that?”

  As if caught robbing a bank, she lowered her gaze and admitted,

  “Amina has been a friend of mine since grade three. That’s how I know. We were like sisters and promised we would look after each other forever.”

  Gary understood Sam’s determination to save a friend but wondered if all this was worth the great risk.

  While on their hands and knees, he followed her across a high catwalk staying low and out of sight to the men far below. He whispered,

  “Where are we going?”

  “She is not in this entrance area. I want to know what is in the mine shafts down below. There is an elevator just over here.”

  Although he was wrong, he thought that at least they would be safe in an elevator. Little did he know that Sam had no intention of riding inside the elevator.

  It was precarious and tricky but by squeezing between the elevator scaffolding and cave wall, both managed to scamper onto the top of the elevator cage. Pressing flat on the roof they waited for somebody to come along and press the ‘down’ button. They did not have to wait long. On the ride down, Sam saw that Gary was looking at her and about to say something. She quickly pressed a finger to her lips and shook her head. She then pointed down into the elevator cage. Through the ceiling grate, he saw two men standing down there and immediately understood the ‘shut up’ signal. All the men had to do was look up and their rescue attempt would be over.

  Surprisingly, at least for Gary, it was a long and fast ride down the elevator shaft. When it finally stopped, they waited for the men to excit and then scampered onto the surrounding scaffolding. Hidden by piping and platforms, they watched in silence as the two men disappeared down a long tunnel. When the coast was clear, they carefully climbed down and reached the tunnel floor. It was a wise decision to venture in the opposite direction. After a few minutes of following the main tunnel that seemingly went on forever, Sam noticed a narrower side tunnel cut into the wall. Because she was leading, she turned to Gary, pointed and said,

  “Let’s see where this one leads.”

  Because it was a narrow side tunnel, there were no overhead lights to guide them and so Sam brought out her flashlight to show the way. After only a few minutes the tunnel opened up to a cavern about the size of a large room but with a very high ceiling. Sam bravely walked into it while Gary stayed at the entrance. In the middle of the room she turned to Gary and called back,

  “Come on, there is an opening on the other side. Let’s go.”

  Gary’s eyes were wide and his jaw was low to his chest. Seeing the look of both fear and amazement she curiously asked,

  “What?”

  Stunned to silence, all he could do was hysterically point with a stabbing finger. Not understanding the problem, but understanding that something was frightening him she quizzically looked around but saw only the bare walls. Nothing was indicating danger. He finally found his voice and yelled,

  “Your feet! Look at your feet.”

  When she slowly looked down she was as stunned as Gary. Her feet were not touching the floor. She was floating and slowly rising higher.

  Chapter19

  Sheriff Walter Cornwall was at his desk going over yesterday’s police reports. It was the least favorite part of his job. His cellphone rang and he was thankful for the interruption. On the phone was his senior deputy, Dean Richards.

  “Walter, I found that black Cadillac Escalade from the bus stop incident over here at the Used Car Lot. Forensics is on its way to examine it for prints. You wanna come and have a look?”

  On his way out of the office and stopping at the report board, he pinned himself as ‘out’. Edith looked up a
nd with a mysterious smile acknowledged his great effort. She asked,

  “What do you want for supper?”

  Reaching of the door, he smoothly said,

  “Just you honey.”

  She looked down at her computer, nodded and softly whispered,

  “He’s still got it.”

  Walter hated driving to the Used Car Lot. The dirt road was narrow and riddled with pot holes. He had to constantly swerve to avoid overhead branches, each time almost slushing coffee out of his cup that was nestled in the cup holder. A few years ago while chasing a dirt bike through this narrow forested path he learned quickly the price of haste. He hit a low branch so hard that it tore his overhead lights clean off the roof. The Used Car Lot was here even when Walter was trying to impress Edith with his charm and virility. Before marriage this was where he took her to look at the stars. Truth of the matter, the only stars he saw were in her eyes.

  At the end of the narrow trail, the forest opened up to reveal close to one acre of clearing riddled with abandoned and broken down old cars. Some were so rusted out it was hard to identify them. This is where the locals either come to dump their cars or look for parts that would fit theirs. It was also the local drinking hole for under aged teenagers and those trying to hide their drug addiction.

  He saw Dean’s police car off to the side and zig-zagged his cruiser through the muddy field toward it. Among the rusted and abandoned vehicles was a brand new and shiny black Cadillac Escalade. Stopping beside Dean’s car, he got out and walked toward him. Dean was near sixty years old and not ashamed of the great stomach rolling over his belt buckle. Not under any circumstances or even when politeness dictated it, did he ever remove his hat. He thought it was not becoming for one of Twin Rivers’ finest to be bald.

  Sometimes Walter asked questions before thinking them though. As he approached Dean he asked,

  “So this is it huh?”

  Used to it Dean simply replied,

  “Well, judging from the damage on the front, yeah, pretty well.”

  As he took a minute to inspect the vehicle he said,

  “Good work Dean.”

  “Yeah well, this is usually where cars are dumped.”

  He then added,

  “Forensics is running late. They will be here soon though.”

  Walter replied.

  “Not to worry, there is still a lot of daylight left.”

  When Walter asked for a full report, what he got from Dean was a running commentary on the Cadillac.

  “Sure is a beauty. I wouldn’t mind having one for myself. Did you have a look at that interior? The seats are practically worth more than my house.”

  “Yeah, not too many people in Twin Rivers can afford something like this. However, by report, I meant who owns it?”

  “Yeah right. I knew that. It was reported stolen earlier this morning from that so-called phoney Department of National Satellite Weather Research facility up on Copper Mountain.”

  Walter said,

  “So you don’t believe that sign either huh?”

  Dean was adamant,

  “No way it’s a satellite weather research facility. Too many military vehicles come and go from up there.”

  Pointing to the Cadillac he added,

  “This is one of theirs.”

  Both knew better than to climb into the vehicle before getting cleared by the ‘dusters’ but that did not mean Walter could not have a look at the inside. The first strange thing he noticed was that the front doors on both sides were left open. He had no problem accepting that whoever stole the vehicle would leave the driver’s door open, but why the passenger door as well? A witness at the bus stop was not able to give a clear description of the driver but was positive the driver was the only one in it. It was clear by the disturbed dirt on the passenger side that there had been foot activity there.

  Careful not to touch anything, he took off his hat, lowered his head and inspected the passenger side. The glove compartment was left open and in the foot-well were six empty beer cans. On the passenger seat was an empty dozen carton. It didn’t take him long to figure it out. He turned to Dean and asked,

  “Has there been any activity here since you arrived?”

  Confused by the seemingly unrelated question, he asked

  “Like what?”

  “Like kids running into the woods.”

  He thought about it for a minute and then shook his head.

  “No. I’m the only one here.”

  Walter put his hat back on and walked back to his cruiser. He turned on his front mounted loud speakers and yelled into the mike.

  “Alright, now listen up good.”

  His voice boomed through the Used Car Lot.

  “I’m only going to say this once. I don’t care about the missing beer. You can have it and walk away but only if you come out and talk to me right now. If you don’t, I’ll have the entire Twin Rivers police department over here searching every abandoned vehicle. When I find you, you will be arrested and bought to jail for car theft and under age drinking.”

  Dean looked around at the many abandoned cars and was surprised to see a door in one of them open and out came two young teenagers, a boy and girl. It was a slow and sheepish walk toward the waiting sheriff. Reeking of beer, they stopped in front of him and he said to the girl,

  “You’re Evette Duncan the mechanic’s daughter aren’t you?”

  A nod confirmed the identity. He then looked to the boy and demanded,

  “And you are?”

  It was a slow answer.

  “Jimmy Lockley sir”

  Walter then said,

  “I’ll keep my word. You are free to go after answering a couple of questions. First, were you here when this car arrived?”

  The boy answered,

  “We weren’t doing nothing sir. We were in the back seat of that old Ford over there when I heard the car arrive. We looked out and saw it park right here.”

  “When was that?”

  The girl replied,

  “Maybe just two hours ago.”

  Walter looked at Dean who with a nod confirmed the workable time frame. Walter then asked,

  “Can you identify the driver for me?”

  The boy said,

  “No, there were too many junk cars in the way.”

  Walter insisted,

  “Anything, give me anything. Height, clothing, male, female.”

  “I’m pretty sure it was a man.”

  “Why are you only pretty sure?”

  “Because we only saw him from the back. He was tall and had long brown hair.”

  “How did he exit the scene? Did he walk or was there another car waiting for him?”

  The girl pointed off in the distance and said,

  “He walked to the woods and disappeared in the trees over there.”

  Although it was a vague description, Walter already had a pretty good idea who to haul in for questioning. He then asked the boy,

  “What did you take from the glove compartment?”

  “Nothing. Honest, nothing. There were only papers there. We only took the beer.”

  Believing them, Walter waved them off with a stern warning.

  “All right, beat it. If I catch you drinking beer again I won’t be so nice about it.”

  He watched them run as fast as they could toward what he thought might be a secret trail in and out of the Used Car Lot. However, it was not the direction the driver ran off in. Dean looked past Walter, pointed and said,

  “Here comes forensics and a tow truck.”

  Walter walked over to the driver’s side of the Cadillac and inspected footprints in the dirt. He then looked in the direction the girl pointed and started walking toward it. As he did he said to Dean,

  “Make sure I get the dusting results ASAP.”

  Dean watched him walk away and yelled after him,

  “Where are you going?”

  Still walking away, Walter yelled back,

  �
�I’m going to see where those cowboy boot prints lead.”

  The dirt on the escape path leading into the woods was soft. Even a half blind tracker could follow the obvious heel imprints. Once or twice through a rocky section Walter lost the trail but it was clear whoever he was following had made no attempt to cover his tracks. Picking the trail up on the other side of the rocky path he was led farther into the woods. Half an hour later he was stopped by a high and very secure wire fence. The tracks turned left and seemed to follow the fence now. A few minutes later he saw a large sign on the fence,

  Department of National Satellite Weather Research.

  No Trespassing beyond this point.

  After another mile of following the fence and footprints, he saw in the distance the Copper Mine Road leading into the Factory and the heavily manned security gate. Walking up to the gate, he nodded at the two heavily armed security guards and pleasantly said,

  “Afternoon gentlemen.”

  Because of his uniform, there was no problem identifying him as the local Sheriff so the reply from one of them was cordial.

  “Did you lose your car sheriff?”

  “No, but I think you lost one of yours, a black Escalade.”

  There was no doubt in his mind that they knew what he was talking about but tight security would not allow them to admit it. However, their body language did. One guard was subconsciously nodding. Walter continued,

  “You can come get it after my ‘dust’ team is finished with it.”