The Secret of Skull Island

by Zack Norris

  “And how did Jamal get off the island, anyway?” Rae mused.

  Cody spotted a piece of paper on the ground, picked it up, and examined it. “Bingo,” he said. “This must have fallen out of Keller’s pocket.” He examined it. “It’s a ransom note!”

  Otis and Rae looked at the note.

  Put two million dollars in unmarked bills in a bag. Then wait for our call. We’ll give you instructions on what to do next. If you

  “It looks like they didn’t finish it, but I’ve got a good idea who the note is about,” said Otis.

  Cody nodded. “Jamal.”

  “Where do you think they took him?” Rae asked, wringing her hands.

  “Probably to their boat. It’s got to be docked in the cove with the others,” said Otis. “We have to hurry before they take off.”

  “But they have cars. We can’t walk there fast enough,” Cody said.

  Cody and his brother looked at each other. They both said the words at the same time.

  “The secret passage!”

  A smile slowly spread across Otis’s face. “We can even beat them there. They won’t get away with this. I dare them to try.”

  Cody nodded. “Go deliver a dare, vile dog!” he said.

  Otis looked at him and wrinkled his forehead. “So, who’s a vile dog? Me?”

  “Oh, no, no…. I didn’t mean it that way,” Cody said hurriedly. “I was only …”

  “I know, I know,” Otis sighed. “You had to come up with a palindrome.”

  [Chapter Sixteen]

  “I’m glad you didn’t say that we had to call the police first,” Otis said to Cody.

  “No way,” his brother replied. “We don’t have time. Aunt Edith will call them anyway. She was pretty upset about the pirated DVDs.”

  “I hope Jamal is all right,” said Rae. Then she added, “Even though he was obnoxious.”

  The three were making their way along the passage that led from the bootleg processing center to the sea. Cody and Otis thought that it must lead to the cove where the boats were docked. They figured the pirates had docked there, too, and built the passage for a fast getaway.

  It was obvious that the modern-day pirates had been using the passage, too. It was as clean and modern as the processing center. The walls had been drywalled and painted, and the floors had been tiled.

  “Look, it forks up ahead,” said Cody.

  “Probably a trick to throw pursuers off the track,” said Otis. “We’ve got to make sure that we’re heading toward the cove. This way.” He took the fork to the right.

  A little while later they had to make another decision, and then another. There were many forks along the tunnel. There was the danger of traveling in circles. They brought along bread crumbs from the kitchen to mark their way so they wouldn’t get lost. “Just like Hansel and Gretel,” Cody had joked when they began.

  It had been Rae’s idea. She told them she’d read stories where secret passages had forks and turns set up to fool unwanted visitors.

  When the tunnel went on and on, they all began to worry. What if they were on the wrong track? What if the crooks had already left with Jamal?

  The tunnel curved to the left and ended in three forks. “Great,” said Cody. “Well, Rae, it’s just like in those stories after all.”

  “Three strikes and we’re out,” said Otis. “Let’s make this a home run instead.”

  “Center fork,” Cody said.

  “Agreed,” the twins heard from Rae.

  “Agreed,” Otis echoed.

  They headed down the center fork. The passage grew narrower and narrower.

  Then it came to a dead end.

  “How could we have gone wrong?” Cody wailed.

  Otis was examining the wall. “Maybe we didn’t.” He found a skeleton button in the bottom left-hand corner and pressed it. A panel slid open. Sunlight poured into the passage.

  Cody grinned. “After you,” he said, nodding to Rae.

  Soon the three of them were standing in the sunshine. Now they had to find the right boat.

  “Over there.” Cody pointed. “It’s got to be the boat with a laughing gecko on the side.”

  “Definitely,” said Otis. “I don’t see anyone on deck.”

  “They’re around here somewhere,” said Cody. “We’ve got to be careful.” He looked from side to side and began to creep toward the gleaming white cabin cruiser with the green lizard on its side. The others followed.

  The sea was still and not a single breeze stirred the air. The few other boats anchored near the Laughing Gecko looked empty.

  The three rescuers boarded the boat cautiously. Otis pressed a finger to his lips and pointed belowdecks. They all climbed down the ladder, trying to slow their pounding hearts. They were all repeating the same words to themselves: focus… breathe.

  They found Jamal tied up on the floor in a corner of the galley. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw them. Once more, Otis cautioned against making any sound with a finger to his lips.

  They had freed Jamal from all but his wrist bindings, when they heard footsteps on deck. Then suddenly two men came running toward them. It was Sam Keller and Steve Cordell.

  “I knew you kids would be trouble,” snarled Keller as he ran. His eyes bugged out and his face was red with fury. A vision of the man wearing a brown wig, mustache, and beard flashed before Cody’s eyes as Keller lunged at him.

  Each man grabbed a boy by the shoulders and held him in a viselike grip. Automatically, Cody and Otis raised their arms straight up in the break-out move their sensei had taught them. Both men were surprised to find their holds suddenly broken, their hands dangling in empty air as the boys streaked away with Rae running beside them.

  “We’d better get help. I think we’ve got our proof now!” Otis blurted as he ran. Then Cordell jumped in front of him, blocking his path to the door. Otis cut to the right and ran to the corner of the boat where Jamal was tied.

  Meanwhile, Keller caught Cody from behind. Cody gritted his teeth and stomped the man’s instep with a heel kick. Keller gave a howl of pain and staggered backward. He regained his balance in an instant, lunged at Cody, and spun him around.

  “So you wise guys have taken a couple of karate classes,” he huffed. “Well, it’s time to stop playing games.”

  Cody jerked himself free of Keller’s grip. But then one of Keller’s hands shot toward Cody’s throat. Cody blocked his arm, grabbed his wrist, and twisted, whirling so that his back was to the man. He swept a foot back, hooked Keller’s leg, and pulled it forward in a leg sweep.

  This time Keller went down with a thud. His head hit the floor and he saw stars. Boom! He was out like a light.

  Otis and Rae had been running circles around Cordell. He couldn’t catch them, and it was making him madder and madder. He watched his brother fall down and fury exploded behind his eyes.

  He ran toward Otis, shrieking, “I’m not going to let you ruin everything!” But he didn’t get very far. As he ran past Rae, she stuck out her foot and tripped him. Thud! Cordell hit the floor and joined his brother in la-la land.

  Cody went over and felt each man’s neck for a pulse. “These guys are okay … they’re just out of it. We’d better tie them up before they come to.”

  The three boys quickly bound the men’s hands and feet. Jamal looked down at them. “Scum,” he muttered. Then he turned to the twins and their cousin. “Thanks for rescuing me. Do any of you know where my bodyguard is?”

  Before either one of them could answer, Ronnie Walker appeared in the doorway. When he took in the scene, he turned to run away.

  Jamal’s mouth dropped open. “You were in on this,” he whispered to himself. Then he called out sharply, “Stop right there, Ronnie! You can’t run away. I’ll have people find you wherever you go.”

  The sound of Walker’s footsteps stopped suddenly. He trudged back slowly, appearing in the doorway with shoulders sagging.

  Jamal was seething. “You were more than my
bodyguard. I thought you were my friend. And this is how you repaid me.”

  [Chapter Seventeen]

  No one trusted Ronnie Walker to drive, so the twins made him surrender his car keys. They made their way to his green sedan.

  “Let’s flip to see who drives,” said Otis. He won the toss. “It’s been a while but I’ll be okay,” he assured Jamal as he climbed behind the wheel.

  Mr. Carson and Maxim had decided that the boys should learn to drive a few years ago. After all, they lived in the country and there just might be an emergency one day. They practiced on the back roads and were told again and again never to drive on their own except in a true emergency. This situation qualified.

  When they reached the inn, Aunt Edith and the guests (except for Maxim, who was in the kitchen) were all sitting on the front porch, relaxing before dinner. Mr. Carson had returned from painting and was telling everyone about some beautiful birds he had seen. As the minutes ticked by everyone began wondering where Rae and the twins and the others were. They all stared in surprise as Jamal, Cody, Otis, and Rae arrived with Ronnie Walker slinking along behind. They gawked at the disheveled appearance of the group.

  “What happened to you? What has been going on?” Mr. Carson cried.

  Before anyone could answer, Maxim appeared, wiping his hands on his chef’s apron. “Dinner is served!” he called brightly.

  He gulped when he saw the new arrivals. “What … what have you people been doing? You all look like something the cat dragged in.”

  “Steve Cordell and Sam Keller tried to kidnap me, with the help of Ronnie here,” said Jamal. “These three rescued me.”

  “They were holding him below deck on their boat,” Cody added.

  “Cordell and Keller were running the burner lab full of equipment and pirated DVDs,” Otis told them. “We found more DVDs on the boat.”

  Nobody moved. They just sat and stared. It was plain to see that they were all having trouble processing the information.

  “Isn’t anyone going to phone the police?” Jamal asked, finally.

  “I called earlier, when I heard about the DVDs in the secret passage,” said Aunt Edith. “I specifically asked that they not send Officer Tano, but an operator said there was no one else available. He never showed up anyway.”

  The phone rang and she hurried to answer it. When she hung up, her face was pale. “That was the police chief,” she said. “They found Officer Tano unconscious near the boating docks. Then they checked his call records and phoned. I told him what I just heard,” she said. “He’s coming right over.”

  Everyone turned to stare at Ronnie Walker. “Uh—Tano figured out that our DVD operation was blown and we’d be leaving the island,” he said. “He came to the boat and wanted more money. He said he’d tell everyone we kidnapped Jamal. Cordell knocked him out. He wanted to do worse, but I talked him out of it.”

  “I hope you’re telling the truth,” said Maxim. “It would be the only decent thing you’ve done. Now we’ve just got to wait for the police chief.”

  “Wait a minute,” said Otis. “We left Mr. Keller and Mr. Cordell tied up on the boat. They might escape.”

  Helen Wallace and Eric Barber stood up. “We’ll go keep an eye on them.”

  “You two?” Maxim asked skeptically.

  Helen Wallace laughed. “Oh, we’re quite capable of guarding criminals. We’ve had lots of experience. Go on ahead. We’ll explain later.”

  *

  Police Chief Dorado arrived at the inn moments later. It took almost an hour to tell him the whole story. Dorado listened patiently, asking questions from time to time. When he heard about the “accidents” that had been occurring at the inn and the way that Officer Tano had been treating them all as a joke, he was not amused.

  “Officer Tano has been in on the operation for a long time,” admitted Walker. “He was paid to look the other way.”

  The chief clasped his hands together. “I want to hear everything you know about this, Mr. Walker,” he said. “The whole story. Don’t leave out a single thing. Cooperation is the only way to make things easier for yourself.”

  Walker nodded and launched into his story. It grew more and more amazing.

  “We … the three of us … work for Moe Kleese. He’s been using the island as a hideout and a base of operations for his pirated DVD business, and other rackets as well, since the nineties. He never bought the inn because it had been abandoned for years. He thought that buying it would only draw attention to his activities. He never dreamed that anyone else would want to buy it.”

  He threw up his hands. “Then this woman buys the place from the government for cash. Before anybody knew what was going on, there was a problem.”

  Walker shifted in his seat. “‘Steve Cordell’ is an alias for Jimmy Black, also known as Bobo. The guy who’s been calling himself ‘Sam Keller’ is his brother, John, also known as Jojo. Bobo and Jojo have been part of Moe’s gang for a long time. We did some jobs together years ago, and they recruited me to help in their kidnapping plan.”

  “Was that when you were Jamal’s bodyguard?” asked the chief.

  Walker nodded. “I was going to stay out of crime, but they talked about so much money I couldn’t refuse. They figured it was enough so they could stop working for Kleese, and there would be plenty for me, too. All I had to do was convince Jamal and his parents that he should come to Calavera Island. It was easy.”

  Walker took a sip of water. “When Kleese found out that someone was opening an inn, he sent Jojo to pose as a worker. He made sure that things would go wrong. Later, when he came back to the island, Bobo helped out with it. They were trying to scare people away and shut down the inn, but it didn’t work.”

  Walker went on to tell about the kidnapping plans. He blamed Bobo for messing things up.

  “Cordell—Bobo—got nervous. He said someone was poking his nose into things here and kidnapping might bring the law on us. Keller—Jojo—wanted to go ahead with the plan. He got Bobo down in the secret passage and tied him up.”

  Walker gulped some more water. “When Bobo found out that these three”—he pointed to Rae and the twins—“had discovered the secret passage, he knew he couldn’t save the operation. Best to join the kidnapping plan and get away from the Boss. He’s gonna be real mad when he finds out his operation is blown,” he said.

  “It was that Jojo guy who grabbed me,” said Jamal. “That lowlife snuck into my room with chloroform. I got a good look at him before I passed out, though.”

  Walker sighed. “It was supposed to be simple. We figured that Jamal would be asleep and he wouldn’t even know who kidnapped him. We were going to smuggle him out of the inn onto the island of Tacayno. We’d collect the ransom, split up, and make a phone call to the inn. By the time someone came to get him, we’d be long gone.”

  “But I’d have found you,” said Jamal. “I’ve got enough money to get people searching everywhere in the world.”

  Walker rubbed his eyes. “I didn’t mean you any harm,” he said.

  Jamal gave him a long look. “You didn’t care,” he said. “You were only thinking of the money.”

  He turned to look at Cody, Otis, and Rae. “I owe you guys an apology,” he said. “I really acted like a jerk. I guess all the success went to my head. I thought I was all that, but I wasn’t. It’s about time I grew up.”

  *

  Later that evening, after the police had taken Steve Cordell and Sam Keller away, and everyone had finished Maxim’s delicious dinner, Albert McNab said, “I think it’s time that we cleared up another mystery.” He looked at Helen Wallace and Eric Barber. “Don’t you folks have a confession to make?”

  Ms. Wallace and Mr. Barber looked at each other with twinkling eyes. “Shall you start, Eric, or shall I?”

  Barber rolled his eyes. “I’ll start, but jump in anytime,” he said. He took a deep breath. “Helen and I aren’t a retired librarian and a shoe store owner.”

  “I knew it,”
Otis said, amazed. He looked at Cody. “I told you, right? They were hiding something.”

  Cody nodded. “That’s right. You did.”

  “Well, you’re a smart young man, Otis. Mr. Barber and I work together. We’re private investigators,” Ms. Wallace said.

  “Huh?” Cody and Otis both said at once.

  “Well, you had me fooled,” said Maxim.

  “Me, too,” said Mr. Carson.

  “Oh, wow, this is too much,” said Jamal. “It’s funny to think that two private investigators missed cracking the biggest case here.”

  Barber shook his head. “Imagine, it was right under our noses and you boys solved it.”

  “You certainly did,” Ms. Wallace agreed. “However, Eric and I were focused on another case.”

  “Which turned out to be totally groundless,” said Barber with a sigh.

  McNab chuckled. “They were chasing me.”

  “You?” Otis said in surprise.

  “That’s right,” said Ms. Wallace.

  “We got an anonymous tip that the famous doctor-turned-forger was here on the island. We figured it was McNab, but every time we talked to him we had our doubts,” Barber explained.

  “He had childhood pictures in front of his father’s grocery store and letters from his scouting troop,” said Ms. Wallace.

  “And his eyes were the wrong color. Horace Perkins has blue eyes. McNab’s are brown.”

  “Then we got another anonymous call here at the inn, from a woman,” said Ms. Wallace. “She said that the first call had been made by Perkins himself to throw us off the track. He was actually back in Irons, Michigan.”

  “So that’s why your room was ransacked, Mr. McNab,” Rae said.

  “That’s right.” McNab chuckled, crinkling his nose. “I was so angry, and I couldn’t understand it because nothing was taken.”

  Still chuckling, McNab slapped his knee. “Now, I liked these two at first,” he said, thumbing in the direction of the investigators. “But as time went on, they started to drive me crazy. They were always following me around everywhere I went, asking me the dumbest questions. I thought they were nuts.”