Chasing a Familiar Shadow

by Aman Gupta

  “Bingo,” said Vik. He rolled those two together and tucked them underneath his black T-shirt.

  As he was juggling through the massive blueprints, a packet containing old flash drives fell out of the box. He picked up the packet. Suddenly, he heard Kate and Emily’s voice. As he told them to follow the flashlight, he quickly hid the packet of flash drives in his face mask and put the mask back in his pocket. He thought these could be the digital copies of the blueprints, which he couldn’t share with anyone.

  The blueprints were marked with a specific identification code on the back. Most of them were marked under the same sequence, apart from Morrow’s and a set of three blueprints. Vik realized the sequence was related to pipelines laid fifty feet beneath West Gate. As he looked at the odd set, his eyes lit up. The blueprints were of a structure hidden in a maze of tunnels. Not unlike Morrow’s tunnels, but much smaller in scale. He realized the structure represented a warehouse, almost 50 feet beneath the ground.

  He rolled those three blueprints and hid them under the T-shirt as well, just as Kate and Emily arrived.

  “It’s like a maze,” said Kate.

  “Yeah,” said Vik. “And I found the jackpot.”

  “Are these what I think they are?” asked Emily.

  “Yes. Hundreds of blueprints that outline their operation,” said Vik.

  “It’s going to take hours going through them,” said Kate.

  “Put them in the bag,” said Vik. “We’ll look at them back at the restaurant.”

  “Okay,” said Kate.

  “I’m a little claustrophobic, so this place is starting to freak me out,” said Emily.

  “How little?” asked Vik.

  “On a scale of 1 to 10..11,” said Emily.

  “Why didn’t you say that?” asked Vik as they put the blueprints back in the bag in a hurry.

  They made it out of the basement, locking back the door and hurtled across the hall. As they reached the main doorway, they saw Joey and Emma were standing in the middle of the road.

  “Uh oh,” uttered Kate.

  “Who called them?” asked Vik, looking at Kate.

  “I didn’t,” said Kate.

  “Neither did I,” said Emily.

  “We followed Kate’s car,” said Joey.

  “Why?” asked Vik.

  “What’s in the bag?” asked Emma.

  “Books,” said Vik. “You know..since it’s a library.”

  “You broke into a building to steal some books?” asked Emma.

  “Of course. Money’s overrated,” said Vik. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

  “Hand over the bag, Vik,” said Joey as he pointed the gun at Vik.

  Emma pointed hers too.

  “I can’t do that,” said Vik.

  “I won’t ask again,” said Joey.

  “Stop! Joey, I thought you said you wanted to be part of the plan,” said Kate.

  “I wasn’t. Once I get that bag, I will be,” said Joey.

  Kate and Joey stared at each other.

  “Vik, give him the bag,” said Kate.

  “I can’t,” said Vik.

  “I’ll talk to him. For now, give him the bag,” said Kate as she came close to him.

  Vik saw fear in Kate’s eyes. She feared Joey would do something that he would regret for the rest of his life.

  “Fine,” said Vik. “But I need it back.”

  “Or what?” asked Emma.

  “Or I’ll burn the town just like I burned down Atlantis,” said Vik.

  He walked towards Joey and Emma, who were still pointing their guns at him.

  “This is the last time you both get in my way,” said Vik. “If I lose Katie, and I realize the reason I lost her again because two amateur cops wanted their fifteen minutes of fame, I will get mad. You know what happened last time I got mad?”

  “What?” asked Joey.

  “Poor Joey lost his mommy,” said Vik. “Forever.”

  Joey fumed, while Emma tried to calm him down.

  Vik smiled and walked away. Emily joined him after grabbing the signal duplicator and turning it off. The alarms went off. Emily and Vik left together in Vik’s car.

  Kate got in her car and drove off. She parked her car a mile ahead in a secluded spot. A minute later, she saw Joey’s car heading towards her. It stopped ahead of hers.

  “That wasn’t necessary,” said Kate, as Joey and Emma came to her with the bag.

  “You told me to make a scene. I did,” said Joey.

  “At least, he believed it,” said Kate.

  “Why are we doing this?” asked Emma.

  “Just making sure he isn’t playing another game,” said Kate, as she took the bag back from Joey.

  “He sounded serious about the stuff about his daughter,” said Joey.

  “He is. I’ll give the bag back after a few hours once I have made a copy of every blueprint that’s in there,” said Kate.

  “Why?” asked Emma.

  “If there’s a treasure that could change people’s lives, then we can’t let him trade it all for weapons and ammunitions,” said Kate.

  Emma and Joey nodded.

  “Are we stealing the treasure ourselves?” asked Emma.

  “I don’t know,” said Kate. “But he isn’t leaving with more than he bargained for.”

  Kate looked at Joey. “You look a little upset. Don’t take his words seriously.”

  “What words?” asked Joey.

  “About your mother,” said Kate.

  “It’s a trick. He uses it to bring out people’s true intentions. I have seen it before,” said Joey.

  “Yeah, I saw that. I felt he was checking if I was in on it,” said Kate.

  “We gotta go,” said Joey.

  “Where?” asked Emma.

  “The alarm has gone off. The cops have to show up, right?” said Joey.

  Joey and Emma left. Kate drove to her home. She aimed to spend the entire night checking the blueprints.

  Chapter 29: Trick

  It was dark. Morrow had lost its power for a short period. The solar cell-powered street lights worked fine, however. Vik and Emily drove to Emily’s restaurant. Vik didn’t say a word the entire route. He was just staring at the buildings. The town resembled the night sky, and the lamp-posts were its stars. Emily noticed Vik was upset, but not exactly heartbroken.

  “Okay, what am I missing?” asked Emily upon reaching her restaurant.

  “What?” asked Vik.

  “No way would they’ve left with the bag if you wanted to keep it,” said Emily. “One of the reasons I let them get away with it, too.”

  “I think I already know where it is,” said Vik.

  “Where?” asked Emily.

  “Let’s find out,” said Vik.

  “What do you mean?” asked Emily as Vik got out of the car.

  She got out of the car too and followed him to her office.

  Vik pulled out the three blueprints from underneath his tee and laid it on Emily’s table. He made sure he kept the Morrow’s blueprints hidden under his clothes.

  “You got them?” asked Emily. “What do the cops have?”

  “Hopefully, a bunch of rubbish,” said Vik.

  Emily laughed. Vik smiled too.

  “Why did you hide them?” asked Emily.

  “Remember the device I planted on the door to disable the cameras?” asked Vik.

  “Yeah?” said Emily.

  “It did no such thing. It was a wireless camera,” said Vik. “Joey and Emma showed up while we were in the basement. The minute I saw them on my phone, I knew I had to hide the important blueprints on me. As insurance, if things go unplanned.”

  “I still think they were working with Kate,” said Emily. “The way she said ‘Uh oh’ when she saw them? I mean, they’re your friends, and the first thing that comes to your mind is ‘uh oh’? It’s like she knew they were there to bust us.”

  “Could be,” said Vik. “But it doesn’t matter now. If she was in on i
t, she probably would be scratching her head for a while.”

  Vik and Emily examined the blueprints for the next hour.

  “I was right,” said Vik. “They’re in West Gate.”

  “But where exactly? The places aren’t marked at all,” said Emily. “The blueprints show that the warehouse is under a field. It could be anywhere. None of these are geographically marked. All they talk about are the doors and access panels of a hidden structure underneath the field spread over ten acres.”

  “West Gate is located between the hills,” said Vik. “Do you know any open area around West Gate?”

  “West Gate hasn’t changed much in terms of its architecture. Except..,” said Emily.

  Vik smiled.

  “Mayor’s Mansion,” said Vik. “That’s the clue that Anthony dropped to Theo. That the mayor was sitting on the treasure.”

  Emily grabbed the blueprints and looked at them again. She overlapped the blueprints on top of each other and flattened them.

  “And I think I just solved the maze that leads to the treasure,” said Emily.

  “Look at the starting point,” said Vik. “Have you ever been to the compound that houses the mansion?”

  “No,” said Emily. “Why?”

  “See the point that’s supposed to signify the entrance to the tunnels?” said Vik. “It’s kind of located on the north corner of the land. So is the freaking mansion.”

  “So to access the tunnels, we have to break into the mayor’s mansion and find the secret entrance,” said Emily, as they looked at each other. “That should be easy, right?”

  “The mansion has a complex security system. There’s no way we will be able to get in without him knowing about it,” said Vik.

  “And that is a problem?” asked Emily.

  “We can’t let him know about the existence of this modern day treasure,” said Vik. “But yes, it should be fairly easy to overpower the mayor.”

  “I’m still not seeing the problem,” said Emily.

  “We have no idea if the entrance to the tunnel still exists or not. What if the careless construction workers shut the entrance or filled it with concrete?” said Vik.

  “We’ll know when we get there tomorrow,” said Emily.

  “We?” asked Vik.

  “Yeah, I’m going with you,” said Emily.

  “It’s a structure buried almost 50 feet below the surface, which can only be accessed via a maze made out of tunnels, and you would advise taking a person who has a ‘little’ claustrophobia?” said Vik.

  “I’ll be alright,” said Emily. “It’s a two person job. You can’t do it alone, and there’s no one else you trust.”

  “I’m not putting your life in danger,” said Vik. “What if you suffer a panic attack? I can’t take the risk. You aren’t going with me.”

  “The hell I’m not,” said Emily as she grabbed the blueprints. “I solved the maze. I get to go.”

  “I think we’ll need another person,” said Vik. “For the exit.”

  “We could use one of the waiters. They’re loyal,” said Emily.

  “Let’s first see what we’re dealing with tomorrow before we start the recruitment interviews,” said Vik.

  Vik asked Emily to hide the blueprints before leaving. Upon reaching his home, he stashed the ‘Morrow Underground Project’ blueprints and the packet of flash drives in a secret cavity in the wall. He wanted to take a look at the flash drives and the blueprints but decided to resist the urge for another day. A lot had happened in the last 24 hours, and he knew things were about to get worse.

  He searched the secret archives that Sam had decrypted for more information about Sierra. Apart from financial documents and purchases, there wasn’t much else. The nature of purchases convinced Vik that Sierra was indeed a city much like Atlantis, but something much bigger. Some materials were routed through offshore contacts. The cargo listed was fruits, which was a popular nickname given to advanced panels and motherboards that Verati imported to create its satellites. Vik didn’t have time to focus on decrypting the rest of the files, so he put aside his laptop.

  The next morning, Vik reached Emily’s restaurant around 7 AM. Emily met him in the parking lot. Vik had found a tracker in his car, hidden inside the front wheel’s rim. He disposed of it, He and Emily left for West Gate soon after.

  Emily received a call from Kate a couple of hours later while they were on their way to West Gate. Emily mentioned that she had left for some urgent work. Kate told her that she had procured the blueprints back from Joey. Vik and Emily couldn’t help but smile when they heard it. Kate enquired about Vik’s whereabouts. Emily stated she hadn’t seen him since yesterday night.

  When they reached the mayor’s mansion, Vik noticed heavy security personnel standing all over the compound’s perimeter. They circled the perimeter a few times to figure out the security. They noticed that the gate had been replaced and was now a solid gate with reinforced iron and steel panels. They parked their car half a mile away.

  “What’s up with the security?” asked Emily.

  “The last time I was here, there were a couple of skinny guards. Now, I make out at least 20,” said Vik.

  “25 actually. The runners jogging around the compound are actually Sera’s men in disguise,” said Emily. “They often ate at my restaurant.”

  “Why is the mayor getting security from Sera’s?” said Vik.

  “You don’t think that..” said Emily.

  “Think what?” asked Vik.

  “That the mayor found the treasure,” said Emily.

  “I wasn’t. But now I am,” said Vik. “But if he has, why is he still here? He can’t spend the money if he’s living here.”

  “Yeah, a 10 acre compound and a lavish mansion for free. Who needs that?!” said Emily.

  “You know what I mean,” said Vik, frustrated.

  “Yeah, yeah, I know,” said Emily, smiling. “No way would he ask the crime family for protection. People would kill for that stuff.”

  “Going against the crime family has changed the stakes,” said Vik. “It’s not a 2 person job anymore.”

  “Maybe 3,” said Emily.

  “What do you have in mind?” asked Vik. “We can’t use force if we’re against the family.”

  “You friends with the US Marshal that arrived in the town?” asked Emily.

  “Not Bill, but with Karen. Maybe,” said Vik.

  Emily looked at him. “Of course, you are.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” said Vik.

  “Of all the friends, lovers, and acquaintances you have, how come almost all of them are female?” asked Emily.

  “What can I say – men around me tend to die earlier than women,” said Vik.

  Emily laughed. “Why do they die?”

  “Insecurities,” said Vik. “What are you planning?”

  “A heist,” said Emily.

  “What kind?” asked Vik.

  “The best one,” said Emily. “Kill two birds with one stone.”

  “Are you sure we can pull it off?” asked Vik.

  “I won’t lie. There are risks, but with greater rewards,” said Emily, as she winked.

  “Okay,” said Vik. “So, back to Morrow? We can’t visit the mayor. It will bring extra attention.”

  “Maybe let’s do a couple of more rounds to figure out the cameras,” said Emily. “And the men. Don’t worry, we’ll visit the mayor many times in the next couple of days.”

  “I got just the device to figure out the cameras and the men,” said Vik.

  He grabbed the bag from the backseat and took out a small device that looked like a mobile phone.

  “How is a phone going to help?” asked Emily. “Are we clicking pictures? Thought you said you had an eidetic memory.”

  “It’s not a phone. Just turn it on,” said Vik.

  Emily turned on the device. It started showing heat signatures overlapped with strange patterns.

  Vik grabbed the phone and made a
couple of changes in its digital menu.

  “Now, hopefully, if it still works, it will record the number of people that are in the compound and the concentration of electricals and electronic circuits,” said Vik. “That will help us isolate an exit route.”

  “Cool. How much did it cost?” asked Emily.

  “Got it for free,” said Vik. “Stole it, to be precise. From my employer.”

  “What’s the radius on this thing?” asked Emily.

  “Quarter mile,” said Vik. “Let’s go.”

  After doing a couple of more rounds of the entire area, they managed to get accurate information about the number of people in the compound. The area wasn’t cordoned off to maintain the illusion that things were normal.

  Vik and Emily stopped by the West Gate town, where Emily explained the first step of her plan. As per the plan, Vik told Rick that the mayor was organizing a celebration at the mansion tomorrow night. He told Rick to tell everyone to reach the mansion at 7 PM, half an hour past sunset. Rick was happy to spread the message.

  They returned to Morrow in the evening. Emily had explained the plan to Vik en route. Vik had mentioned that it was complex to pull it off, but Emily told him that they would be successful if they can convince all the players to put their best foot forward.

  Emily called Kate and told her to get Joey and Emma.

  “Meet me at the restaurant in 30 minutes,” said Emily, and disconnected the call. “So it begins.”

  “So it does,” said Vik. “You sure you can handle them?”

  “Yeah, you get Karen and Eric,” said Emily.

  Vik dropped her at the restaurant, before going to meet Karen at the precinct.

  Emily called a staff meeting and explained to them their part. Their job was to engage in a conversation with their guests from the Sera Crime Family during the dinner service.

  “You know what you have to do. Any questions?” asked Emily.