by Aman Gupta
As she reached there, she saw Joey sitting at the bottom of the amphitheater in the middle of the park. Kate climbed down the stairs and sat next to Joey.
“How long have you been here?” asked Kate.
“I don’t know. Few minutes,” said Joey.
“Why?” asked Kate.
“I wanted to talk to you. So I came here. Then I didn’t know what to talk about,” said Joey.
“I thought you never left when you came over here last night,” said Kate.
Joey could see Kate looking at him. The only time she looked at him like that, was when she knew he was lying. There was a hint of a smile on her face, but the eyes were waiting for Joey to trap himself further. Joey wasn’t in the mood of playing games.
“I wasn’t, but you know that,” said Joey.
“What did you want to talk about?” asked Kate.
“Were you at Emily’s last night?” asked Joey.
“I...” said Kate.
“It’s a Yes or No question,” said Joey.
Kate made a decision that very moment.
“Yes, I was,” said Kate.
“Why?” asked Joey.
“I went there to meet Vik,” said Kate.
“What did you guys talk about?” asked Joey as he looked everywhere but her face.
“I can’t tell you that,” said Kate. “For your protection and everyone else’s.”
“I’m not a child, Kate,” said Joey as he stood up and walked a couple of steps. “I don’t need you to protect me. Neither does anyone else.”
“It’s about his daughter. That’s all I can say. I’m helping him. He doesn’t want you or Emma or Eric or anyone else involved,” said Kate. “You know how he is. He doesn’t like a big team. It forces him to cease control, and he hates that.”
“Thanks for telling me,” said Joey.
“You need to make a promise,” said Kate.
“I can’t promise I won’t tell anybody,” said Joey.
“I know. That’s what I’m asking. I’m asking you to promise me that you won’t try to fight your way back into our mission,” said Kate.
“Who’s saying that? You or him?” asked Joey.
“Me,” said Kate. “We almost lost you at Atlantis, and we turned on him. You feel you’re losing me, and you’re about to turn on him.”
“I’m not turning on him,” said Joey.
“Don’t lie to me, Joey. You suck at that,” said Kate as she stood up.
“What’re you planning? Maybe I can help. He doesn’t need to know. Come on, Kate. You know I won’t drop this. Instead of me doing things behind your back, it would be much better if I do it as a part of your team,” said Joey.
Kate gave it a deep thought.
“Fine,” said Kate.
“So, when do I start?” asked Joey.
“You can’t ask me why. That’s the only rule,” said Kate. “Agreed?”
Joey nodded.
“We’re looking for someone named Billy Kid. 80 year old man. Maybe more,” said Kate. “He used to be frequent at the bars couple of years ago. We aren’t sure, but he could be from Morrow. I’ll give you a list of addresses later. We have 3 days.”
“That’s not much to go on,” said Joey.
“I know,” said Kate. “He used to be Anthony’s drinking buddy.”
“We’re back on that?” asked Joey.
Kate nodded.
“Why do I need to find him? I know I promised I wouldn’t ask why, but it might help narrow it down,” said Joey.
“He knows a location to a secret stash that Vik needs to make a trade,” said Kate.
“Okay, so like a treasure hunt?” asked Joey.
Kate smiled. “Something like that.”
They hugged, which led to a kiss. Joey left a minute later.
Around 10 AM, Emma arrived at the precinct, where Joey told her about his conversation with Kate earlier. Emma volunteered to help, as well. Kate gave a list of addresses to Joey, who shared it with Emma. They decided not to tell Eric about it.
Joey and Emma spent the entire day searching at various bars in Morrow, showing Anthony’s picture, and searching for a customer named Billy. They found a few named Billy, but none of them fit the description as they weren’t that old. Everyone knew who Anthony was, so that wasn’t helping them narrow it down any further. They learnt Anthony had actually visited all the bars multiple times. All the places claimed to be Anthony’s favorite bar.
“This is useless. Maybe we should be doing the list,” said Emma.
“There are over 1000 addresses. We’ll never get it done on time,” said Joey.
Around 2 PM, Emily got a call from Vik. He asked for updates. Emily told that based on the information gathered by her friends, Anthony usually used to hang out with women, more than men. Vik hung up shortly after. A few minutes later, he called back Emily.
“What’s up?” asked Emily.
“He never actually mentioned a man,” said Vik.
“Who?” asked Emily.
“Anthony. I played the conversation in my mind. He never mentioned a guy named Billy. He specifically used gender-neutral words. He always acted like a misogynist in front of me, so I assumed it was a man. Do you have the list in front of you?” asked Vik.
“Yeah, just a minute,” said Emily.
“Concentrate on the women,” said Vik. “See if you can find a woman who lived near a bar, and her name was remotely related to Billy.”
“I thought the list was all men,” said Emily.
“No, the other list,” said Vik.
“Let me get that out,” said Emily. “Here. Okay. I’ll get back to you.”
Around 5:30 PM, Vik reached Morrow and drove straight to Emily’s restaurant. He saw Kate was already there. After looking everywhere in the restaurant, he entered Emily’s office.
“Did you find it?” asked Vik.
“Belinda Kidman,” said Emily as she gave the page with her name on it.
“She fits all the parameters,” said Kate. “And we checked with the bar owner. She used to hang out with Anthony.”
“Great. We got her address. What are we waiting for?” asked Vik.
“She died, Vik,” said Emily. “Almost a year ago.”
“Damn it!” said Vik as he tossed the paper in the air.
“No family,” said Kate.
“Does it mean it’s over?” asked Emily.
Vik didn’t say anything while Kate and Emily looked at each other. They didn’t know what to do. He looked upset and angry.
“Vik?” asked Emily.
“I don’t know,” said Vik.
“There must be someone in this town who knows about this legend,” said Kate. “Billy couldn’t have been the only one.”
“How do we find them?” asked Emily.
“Maybe we wouldn’t need to,” said Vik.
“What do you mean?” asked Kate.
“Anthony mentioned that Billy told him that the fuel belts were hidden in the secret warehouse of the mining company. Maybe we should be looking at the treasure map instead of finding the person who claims to have seen the treasure,” said Vik.
“Do you know what he’s blabbering about?” asked Emily. “Because I don’t.”
“No, I don’t either,” said Kate.
“The mining company’s archives,” said Vik.
“The mining company was pretty much done when I got here. All that was left of them was their office, which was abandoned after 1/1. It’s the police headquarters, now,” said Emily.
“What did they do with their stuff?” asked Vik.
“Auctioned it. The rest of it will be in the storage at the library,” said Emily.
“Then that’s where we are going,” said Vik.
“The library’s closed for the day,” said Kate. “It closes at 5 PM.”
“So what? We’ll break-in,” said Vik.
“Or we could just walk in tomorrow,” said Kate.
“We can’t affor
d to waste a day,” said Vik. “Every second I lose, I feel like Katie is moving an inch away from me. If you don’t want to come with me because breaking into a fucking library is where you draw the line, then I’ll do it myself.”
Vik was serious. Emily and Kate noticed that.
“Okay, fine. We’ll go at night,” said Emily.
Vik nodded. He left after telling them that he needed to make arrangements. He told them to meet him at 8 PM in front of the library.
As he was leaving, a thought came to him. He couldn’t let Emily or Kate look at the blueprints left by the mining company. The blueprints might also include the underground network of tunnels that Vik had found, and he wanted to keep it for himself. It was his place of solitude, and the only place he could turn to if things turned ugly.
He knew he had to ensure that he ended up with the blueprints.
He received a call from Emily later around 8 PM, who told him that she and Kate had already reached the library. He told them to wait for him, as he was a couple of minutes out.
He reached a few minutes later, dressed like a burglar. Emily and Kate couldn’t help but smile.
“Why are you laughing?” asked Vik.
“Why are you dressed like a comic book character?” asked Emily.
“Dressed like what? I’m wearing a mask to cover my face and black clothes,” said Vik, as he removed the mask and put it in the bag.
“Why?” asked Kate.
“Because of the cameras in the library,” said Vik.
“There are no cameras in the library,” said Emily.
“I guess I dreamt of installing them,” said Vik.
“Wait, you mean there are cameras in there?” asked Kate.
“Yes,” said Vik. “But don’t worry, you’re a cop. What’s the librarian going to do? Report to the police that a cop broke in and stole books?”
“Yeah, you’re right,” said Kate.
“She’s a nice woman, the librarian. She’ll understand,” said Emily.
“You know her?” asked Kate.
“Florence is Emily’s ex-lover and BDSM partner,” said Vik.
“She’s…not my lover. We hooked up..ten times,” said Emily.
Kate stepped a foot away from Emily, and Vik laughed. Emily fumed.
"Looks like Kate has had a bad experience," joked Vik.
“Did your lover give you a key, or are we breaking a window?” asked Kate.
“I can pick a lock,” said Emily.
“And a safe or a bank vault,” said Vik.
Emily looked at Vik.
“What? I’m praising you,” said Vik, giggling.
“Oh, I know what you’re doing,” said Emily.
Vik smiled. Emily simpered.
Vik took out a bag from the car, while Emily grabbed a toolbox from hers. They walked across the street. Vik and Kate looked around while Emily started tearing apart the Pentalock on the library’s main door, one screw and pin at a time.
Occasionally cars drove by. Vik and Kate would pretend to roam on the street, while Emily would sit on the library’s stairs, a practice not uncommon in the earlier days when Morrow had rampant poverty.
After ten minutes, Vik asked Emily about the progress. She told him that she was nearly done. Only the last one remained.
A minute later, Emily said, “Oh fuck!”
“What?” asked Vik.
“I jammed it,” said Emily.
“What do you mean, jammed it?” asked Vik.
“It’s stuck,” said Emily. “It won’t open or relock. It’s useless.”
“So are you,” said Vik.
Emily looked furiously at him.
“Relax, I’m joking,” said Vik. “Kate, are you investigating any new cases?”
“No, why?” asked Kate.
Vik took out a door cutter from his bag and cut open the wooden gate’s mid-section. It wouldn’t have mattered if it was an iron door, Vik mentioned as he destroyed the gate in less than ten seconds.
Kate began to kick down the door.
“No, stop!” said Vik.
“What happened?” asked Kate.
“The library has an alarm at the door’s top corner in case of an unauthorized breach, to alert the authorities,” said Vik.
“How do you know that?” asked Emily.
“I installed it. Thankfully, I bought the alarm system from a black market dealer who mentioned the ways to disable it,” said Vik.
Vik took out a signal duplicator box and turned it on. Random numbers started flashing on the screen.
“What’s that number?” asked Kate.
“It’s identifying the frequency, signature, and amplitude of the signal wave that the door is sending to the alarm box. Once it does that, it will duplicate the signal, while jamming the source. Once it’s jammed, you can safely kick down the door,” said Vik.
“Florence hired a burglar to put in the alarm system,” commented Emily.
“She slept with one too,” said Vik, looking at Emily. Emily pulled his black hair.
It took another minute, but the box managed to duplicate the signal.
“Now, you can kick it down,” said Vik.
Kate kicked down the door. The alarm in the library didn’t go off.
“Can’t believe it worked,” said Vik.
Kate and Emily smiled.
He took out a device and planted it on the door wedge.
“What’s that?” asked Kate.
“That will break the camera feed,” said Vik.
“Smart,” said Emily.
“So where now?” asked Vik.
“Archives. In the basement,” said Emily. “Come with me.”
The library wasn’t small by Morrow’s standards, new or old. The floor area on the ground floor was nearly 50,000 sq. ft., while another 30000 sq. ft. on the first floor, and 20,000 sq. ft. in the hidden basement. The roof of the building was visible from the ground floor. Emily mentioned that earlier there used to be a huge chandelier attached to the roof, which explained the open space in the middle. She said an earthquake brought down the chandelier, and two people died as a result. Vik joked that library was the most fascinating place to die in, but realized it was insensitive when Kate and Emily looked at him as they tried to make him remember about a specific historical incident.
He passed them a couple of flashlights, as he grabbed the bag. Emily took them to the secret room behind a bookshelf.
“How do you know this?” asked Vik.
“You already know the answer to that question,” said Emily.
“If that doesn’t bring people to libraries, then nothing will,” said Vik.
“Yeah, they never really targeted the bisexual community,” said Emily.
“They did. The community said they hated being targeted,” said Vik. “Don’t you remember what happened to the Library of Congress?”
“Oh yeah, how could I forget,” said Emily. “You did, however. Back there.”
They went down the stairs. Emily turned on the lights.
“What are we looking for, again?” asked Kate.
There were thousands of shelves with sealed boxes on them. It looked more like a warehouse than a library.
“Oh, and I forgot to mention. There’s no catalog,” said Emily.
“Right,” said Vik. “Well, get searching. Look for Triple Stone Mining Company or something like that mentioned on the boxes. Don’t open the box until I tell you to.”
“Why?” asked Kate.
“Let’s just collect the boxes, and get out of here,” said Vik. They nodded.
Kate went left. Emily went right, while Vik went straight ahead.
Amidst the score of dust and crawling insects, they turned the entire place upside down. They found everything except books in those boxes as they started opening a few of them. Kate discovered she had gone to the museum section. She could see paintings, artifacts, skeletons, and 3D renders of the world’s ancient animals. She remembered that Eric had once mentioned
that a museum was to be opened in a year to attract more tourists.
Emily had found old books and works of literature. The library probably ran out of space, she thought. It took her longer to go through every box, as she was forced to search every book.
“It’s going to take forever,” said Emily.
Her voice echoed in the entire room.
“Don’t open the boxes. Just check the labels,” said Vik.
“Some of these don’t have any labels,” said Kate.
“Mine too,” said Emily.
“Oh. Tough luck,” said Vik. “All of mine have labels.”
It took Kate and Emily an hour to cover the entire area. They skipped the boxes whose contents were labelled. They met on the other side.
“Did you find anything?” asked Kate.
“Nothing,” said Emily. “Just books. And more books.”
“Mine is literally a museum,” said Kate, as she wiped the dust off her face.
Emily chuckled. Kate laughed too.
“Where’s Vik?” asked Emily.
“No idea,” said Kate. “Vik?”
“Yeah?” said Vik, responding to the echo.
“Did you find anything?” asked Emily.
“Yeah,” said Vik.
“We’ll be right there,” said Kate.
“Follow the light,” said Vik as he pointed the flashlight at the ceiling.
Vik had found 2 boxes labelled Triple Stone Mining Company. Before calling for Kate and Emily, he went through them himself.
The first box contained old financial records of the company. He smiled as he realized that the mining company had been fudging numbers to stay in the town. They hadn’t found precious metals and minerals underneath the town, as they claimed. He found several memos that corroborated it.
The second box contained old blueprints. Vik quickly started analyzing them, to check for the hidden tunnels. The landscape and the structure of the area described in the blueprints allowed Vik to deduce that it was related to pipelines that went through hills and mountains. Morrow didn’t have hills or mountains. As he examined more blueprints, he saw that the area being talked about, was actually West Gate and Old River. He searched all the blueprints to check if any of them mentioned something about tunnels. He found two of them, which were labelled ‘Morrow Underground Project.’