Anna looked over Mack’s shoulder. “That must be him now,” she said, spotting a short man in a business suit exiting the elevator and walking towards them.
This time Mack and Anna were more direct and showed their credentials, identifying themselves as federal agents.
Anna began with, “We believe Dr. Haun Zhang is employed by Mr. Chang. Is that correct?”
“Why do you ask?” Mr. Wu said.
“It’s in regards to a criminal investigation,” Anna responded.
“Must I remind you that you do not have any authority here.”
“Yeah well, that may be true...”
“That is all. Good day.” Mr. Wu turned and headed back toward the elevator.
Mack started after him but Anna grabbed his arm when she noticed the doors to another elevator open and Henry Chang, Carter Wilde, and Dr. Joel McCabe stepped out.
“Am I seeing things or did we just hit the jackpot?’ Anna said. She was about to suggest that they go up and approach Chang, but then half a dozen security guards in suits gathered protectively around the Chinese businessman, Wilde, and McCabe to escort them out of the building.
Anna and Mack watched the three men walk out of the lobby to a white limousine waiting at the curb along with two black SUVs.
“More like we won Publishers Clearinghouse,” Mack replied.
It took a few minutes before the three-vehicle motorcade pulled away, giving Anna and Mack enough time to get to their rental car parked just around the corner.
“Quite the entourage,” Anna said as they hung back a few car lengths in the congested traffic behind the black SUV tailing the stretch limousine following the lead SUV cutting through the sea of taxis, compacts, and annoying cyclists like an icebreaking ship. They eventually left the city limits and traveled into the countryside.
Twenty minutes later, Mack was forced to pull off the side of the road when the motorcade ahead was allowed passage through a security gate behind a sprawling visitor parking area filled with over 10,000 automobiles. He stared at the fortress wall a person would expect to see surrounding a medieval castle instead of an amusement park. “So that’s Cryptid Kingdom.”
Anna watched the limousine and one of the SUVs disappear into an underground entrance while the second SUV doubled back in the agents’ direction. “Get down,” Anna said and slouched in her seat, catching a quick glance of the driver and the three passengers wearing hoods and balaclavas in what looked like a black Cadillac Escalade passing by.
“Well, what’s our move?” Mack said, sitting up straight behind the wheel.
“Right now we can’t touch Wilde or McCabe, and our only play is finding Dr. Zhang.”
“What about them?” Mack said, staring at the SUV in the rearview mirror, driving down the road.
“They’re open game.”
“Did you get a good look at them?”
“Oh, yeah. They were definitely Cryptos.”
“Wonder what they’re up to?”
“Can’t be good, whatever it is,” Anna said. “You know, any criminal activity would blow back to Wilde by association.”
“Which might interest our Interpol girlfriend.”
“Maybe get us some special consideration.”
“It’s worth a shot.” Mack started up the rental car, hung a U-turn, and took off after the Cryptos’ vehicle.
33
SPLASH DOWN
Wearing their bathing suits, Gabe and Caroline were set to step into the small two-person raft while Tommy and Amy waited next in line. Gabe had elected to wear the elastic wristband with the key to the locker containing their clothes, shoes, and day bags. He gazed out over the platform railing and caught a glimpse of the lagoon where the four tube slides spilled out 80 feet below.
A park operator motioned for Caroline to get in first at the rear of the raft facing forward, then instructed Gabe to sit in the front of the raft facing Caroline. Grabbing hold of the rubber handles, Gabe looked up at the operator and nodded they were ready.
As water gushed out of the ducts and down the chute, the operator pushed the raft over the edge and it shot down the slide into a tubular tunnel with orange walls. Caroline let out a scream as the raft picked up speed, gliding up the side of the curved walls, and then slaloming to the opposite side into a turn.
Gabe remembered his father sharing his experience when he had undergone a colonoscopy procedure and how he was able to watch a TV monitor while a tiny camera navigated his intestinal tract. Gabe imagined it was pretty much like this ride.
They continued to rocket down; Caroline screaming her head off, Gabe laughing all the way until they finally splashed down into the lagoon. Upon impact, the raft spun around and they found themselves drifting into a larger tunnel, only it was clear and appeared to be the concave bottom of an aquarium.
“Wow, this is amazing,” Gabe said, staring up at the crystal-clear aquamarine water and seeing schools of fish swimming around him. They were medium size in the range of twenty pounds, and looked like mackerel or bonitoes. He thought it was strange having fish in an aquarium that were better suited on a dinner plate.
“Hey, was that a blast or what?” Tommy yelled from his raft as he and Amy drifted into the tunnel.
“I could hear Caroline screaming all the way down,” Amy laughed, shaking the water from her hair.
“I was having fun,” Caroline said. “Besides, I only screamed a little.”
“Hate to hear what you would sound like if you were scared,” Gabe said.
He found out quickly when Caroline’s eyes grew big and she let out an ear-piercing scream when a shadow passed over them.
Gabe looked up and saw a gray, seal-like creature with a long neck swoop into a school and scoop up three fish in its mouth with one savage gulp. It was big, at least twenty feet long with gator-like arms and long claws, no hind legs, and a flat paintbrush tailfin, and when its body rubbed against the surface of the glass, Gabe could hear an unsettling sound as though the glass was about to crack.
“What was that?” Caroline yelled.
“I believe that was a Guai Wu,” Tommy said. “I saw it on the website. It means ‘strange beast.’”
“There’re more,” Amy said, pointing to five such creatures attacking the other schools of fish.
“Must be feeding time,” Tommy said.
Gabe watched the feeding frenzy for a moment longer and then the predators in the aquarium disappeared from sight when the current brought the rafts around a bend to the disembarking station.
A ride operator held the side of the raft so Caroline and Gabe could get out.
“What now?” Gabe asked as soon as Tommy and Amy were out of their raft.
“We should hit the wave machine,” Tommy said.
Gabe looked at Caroline. “What do you say? Up for some body surfing?”
“As long as we don’t have to swim with those things.”
34
KNOCKING ON DOORS
Mason was still upset after seeing what he believed to be Ramsey’s head under that damn tree. It seemed so life-like. But how could that be? Surely it wasn’t real. The resemblance had been uncanny.
The only rational explanation Mason could think of was that Ramsey was approached by someone that managed the exhibits and had gone somewhere, possibly an offsite studio, to model for the fake fruit and then gotten sidetracked which was why he wasn’t around.
There was no doubt that laugh had definitely been Ramsey’s.
Again, Ramsey was probably involved in the hoax, recording his horselaugh so that it could be played on a small audio device hidden inside the fruit.
Which meant that all the hanging fruit had been sculptured using volunteers, and their laughter captured on tape. Mason had shared his thoughts with Song, but she admitted she knew nothing about the Jinmenju tree, only that it gave her the heebie jeebies, a term he found comical coming from her.
Still, he wasn’t totally convinced.
“Are you all
right?” Song asked, parking the utility cart near the bamboo rat cages.
“This is bugging me to no end,” Mason confessed. “We need to find Ramsey. Any suggestions where he might be?”
“No,” Song said, shaking her head.
“He hasn’t been back to the room and we’ve driven everywhere. Where else could we check?”
“Perhaps Dr. Zhang has seen him. It is his tree.”
“It’s worth a try. Where would he be?”
“I’ll take you to his office,” Song said. “It’s not far, we can walk.”
Mason got off the electric cart and joined Song. He could hear the giant rats crammed together, rustling in the huge cages. The ammonia smell of their urine and the cloying stench of excrement were so foul Mason and Song had to cover their noses as they passed by.
“After we see Dr. Zhang,” Song said, “we should move the rats to their staging areas and clean their cages.”
“Never thought I would be cleaning up after a bunch of stinking rats,” Mason said.
“It is what we do,” Song said with a tone of pride.
Mason knew she was the type of person that found honor in everything she did, no matter how menial it might be. He respected her for that and decided that he wouldn’t complain anymore as he believed it showed a sign of weakness in her eyes.
They came to a set of sliding glass doors that automatically opened up into a foyer with two doors.
“The door on the left is where Dr. Zhang lives,” Song said. “The other door is his laboratory.”
“Let’s see if he’s home.” Mason knocked on the door to Dr. Zhang’s living quarters. When there was no response, he knocked again. Still nothing.
“Maybe he’s working in his lab,” Song said.
Mason went over and rapped on the other door.
Again, the doctor did not answer.
“Or maybe he’s in but he can’t hear us,” Mason said. He tried the lever handle but the door was locked. “Well, I guess that settles that.”
“I know where he might be,” Song said.
“Where?”
“He sometimes goes to the room under the Jinmenju tree.”
“What’s in there?”
“I am not sure. I have never been inside.”
“Won’t hurt to take a look.”
“We should hurry.”
“I know, the bamboo rats,” Mason said, knowing Song was anxious to get back and start cleaning their cages. “We’ll make this quick.”
It took them only a few minutes to reach the circular concrete structure situated in the center of the underground facility.
“If you don’t mind, I am going to attend to the cages,” Song said. “You will join me when you are through?”
“Sure, that’ll be fine. I’ll catch up in a minute.” Mason watched Song head down the passageway. He turned and pounded on the metal door set in the cement wall.
When no one answered, he got impatient and hammered on the steel with the heel of his fist like he was thumping a drum. To his surprise, the deadbolt disengaged and the door swung open a few inches.
“What do you want?” a voice said from behind the door.
“Dr. Zhang?” Mason asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m looking for a friend of mine. Todd Ramsey. You might have seen him.”
“I don’t think so,” Dr. Zhang said, still hiding behind the door.
“Are you sure? He’s an American. Average height, red hair.”
The door opened an inch wider.
“You said, red hair?”
“That’s right,” Mason said.
“Are you alone?”
“Yeah.”
“Come in.”
Mason stepped into the dark room and the door closed behind him.
35
WATCHTOWER
Four watchtowers overlooked the sprawling amusement park. Situated atop the impressive wall, a tower stood on the north end, with two towers in the midsection facing each other from the east and west sides, and a tower at the south end.
Three structures were open to the park visitors, providing everyone a bird’s eye view of Cryptid Kingdom. The towers were exact replicas of the ones on the real Great Wall of China, each with a spiral stone staircase leading up to an observation deck surrounded by a parapet walk with fortifying turrets where ancient archers might have stood defending the stronghold.
The tower on the eastern portion—which was ten feet taller than the others—was reserved for Henry Chang and his guests only, and was equipped with an elevator, a lavish glassed-in box seat with plush chairs and a well-stocked wet bar, rivaling the emanates of even the richest sports team owner.
Lucas Finder stood next to Luan Chang at the observation window and gazed out at the colossal water park with its four steep slides, a large lagoon, and the wave machine pool filled with bathers floating in inner tubes. Beyond, he could see the bustling crowds of people enjoying the various attractions throughout the park.
He was particularly drawn to the trestle track of the roller coaster a hundred feet away that ran between the tower and Splash Down. He could hear the riders’ faint screams through the glass as the train raced down the track into a complete 360-degree loop and catapulted out of the corkscrew turn.
“I see you are taken with Cobra Fury, Mr. Finder,” Henry Chang said, joining his daughter and Finder at the window to admire his newest proprietorship.
“Nice piece of engineering,” Finder said. Being Chief Operating Officer of Wilde Enterprises, he was often tasked with heading up various building projects for the company, and unfortunately was the project manager responsible for erecting the dome over the now defunct Cryptid Zoo, an endeavor he would rather forget.
“You are looking at over 2,000 tons and nearly a kilometer of the best quality alloy and factory-formed tubular steel money can buy,” Mr. Chang said, “forged right here in Hangshong Province at our own steel mill.”
“Again, that’s pretty impressive,” Finder said.
Seated by the wet bar, Carter Wilde lit up a Cuban cigar. “Lucas, how much steel did we purchase to build Wilde Skyway?”
Finder knew Wilde was trying to get Chang’s goat and belittle the Chinese billionaire’s accomplishment. “I don’t recall.”
“Sure you do, Lucas,” Wilde said, blowing out a thick plume of smoke.
Mr. Chang turned and looked at Finder.
“Well,” Finder said. “If I remember right, it was about 120,000 tons.”
“Now, that’s what I call impressive!” Wilde said. He turned to Dr. McCabe, who was behind the bar adding some ice cubes to a tumbler as he grabbed a bottle of bourbon. “What do you say to that, Joel? That’s twice the steel it took to build the Empire State Building.”
“Yeah?” Dr. McCabe said, “And what did that fiasco set you back?”
Wilde looked to Finder.
“Twelve billion,” Finder replied.
“Twelve billion?” Dr. McCabe said. “You know how many cryptids I could have made with that amount of money?”
Luan turned to her father. “If you will excuse us, I promised Mr. Finder that I would give him another tour of our laboratory.”
Chang asked Finder, “Sure you would not like to stay and have a drink with us?”
“If it’s all right with you sir, I’ve been looking forward to seeing more of Luan’s work,” Finder said.
“Very well.”
Luan gave her father a kiss on the cheek and then walked with Finder across the room to the elevator door. Once inside the car and the door had closed, Luan feigned to collapse against the wall. “Why do men always do that?”
“Do what?”
“Think they have to always rattle their swords. There’s a Hangshong expression, ‘The bigger the elephant’s trunk, the easier it is for him to step on it and fall.’”
Finder let out a laugh. “Really, that’s an expression? I don’t think I’ve ever heard it said quite that way.”
; They rode down to the ground floor. The elevator door opened to a passage inside the wall that would lead them to the stairwell to the underground facility.
On their way, Finder noticed a fissure on the brick wall. He stopped to examine the jagged, four-foot long vertical crack made up of crumbled mortar and split bricks all the way down the wall to the concrete floor. There were openings large enough that he could fit two fingers inside. When he took his fingers out, they were damp. “This isn’t good.”
“What’s wrong?” Luan asked.
“Looks like a foundation crack.”
Finder heard the sound of dripping water from behind the wall a spelunker would expect when exploring a wet cave. “Do you hear that?” he asked Luan.
“Yes. Perhaps there is a leak of some sort. The water park is just above us.”
“Where is the supply?” Finder asked.
“It comes from an underground aqueduct.”
“And where is that?”
“Below our feet.”
“Damn. How much water is needed to operate Splash Down?” Finder asked.
“I am not sure.”
“Two million gallons?”
“Perhaps.”
“At seven pounds a gallon, that’s 14 million pounds partially resting on an underground facility sandwiched over a depleting aquifer. You’ve heard of fracking?”
“That’s when wastewater is forcibly pumped into the ground to displace petroleum.”
“That’s right. It’s a booming industry especially for natural gas. Only problem, it also undermines the bedrock and causes areas that were once stable to become earthquake-prone.”
“Do you think this could happen here?”
“There’s a possibility,” Finder said. “We should tell your father. Have him bring in some seismic engineers to ensure the park is safe.”
“Once I am alone with my father, I will speak to him of your concern. I am glad you noticed it rather than that pompous Carter Wilde,” Luan said scornfully then put her hand to her mouth. “I am so sorry to speak ill about your employer.”
“It’s quite all right,” Finder assured her. “Believe me, he’s been called a lot worse.”
Cryptid Kingdom (Cryptid Zoo Book 6) Page 10