Gil was sitting quietly in the back holding his bandaged hand and Melanie sat up front staring out into the night. They had looked in the box and found another note. The message cryptic, but Gil had known what it was right away.
It had read, Night time is a lonely time. A time for reflection, a time for thought. This night, you must reflect on what you are after. Is it salvation? Redemption? Entertainment? You’ll have to be a trooper and a tracker. Many things will get in the way, but you’ve come this far. Come a little farther… 2 2 8 /8 3 7
“It’s a night cache,” Gil had said.
“I take it that means one we will only find at night. What? Does it glow or something?” Jaxon asked.
“Actually, yes. The site is identified by special reflectors called FireTacks that can only be seen with a flashlight. A lot of times they form a trail to follow directly to the cache.”
The rest of the message had only a few numbers with some left blank. Or so Jaxon thought. Apparently the rest were written in invisible ink or lemon juice or some other reagent that reacted to heat. Gil had taken his lighter and run it under the paper and the rest of the numbers appeared. The waypoint was in Kissimmee.
After some more discussion which involved Ray leaving the group and going back to Naples, Jaxon had made amends and convinced him to stay. He needed him. The kids were great at solving these puzzles, but they were useless if they ran up against anything like what happened in Miami. He reluctantly agreed, but didn’t like the next decision. His vehicle was shot up and when they got back to the Publix parking lot, they discovered the radiator had a hole in it. He didn’t want to leave it but they had no other choice.
They climbed into the Mustang, leaving Ray’s SUV and Jaxon’s rental car, and headed north. Gil was not driving. Since Ray had had little sleep, Jaxon not too far behind, and Gil without a license and still suffering some affects of the snake bite, Mel was driving so they all could rest.
Jaxon watched the lights of the highway flash by and thought of Vick. He had talked to her briefly and brought her up to speed. She was feeling the exhaustion too and Jaxon told her to get some rest while they drove. Nothing she could do in the middle of the night anyway. She agreed and said she would try.
“Call me if anything happens,” she said.
“I will, but I’ll probably be asleep myself. How are the locals doing up there? Are they muscling in?”
“I’ve kept them in the loop, but have told them the FBI is investigating.”
“That’s not like you, Vick. Using your brothers as a convenient excuse. Could backfire on you if they call Holt.”
“I know. Just trying to keep it quiet. Fanucci probably knows we’re on to him anyway. Nothing we could do about it.”
“I think he’s having way too much fun with this game. I think she’s still alive.”
“I hope so.”
Jaxon watched the lights and his eyelids grew heavy. Thirty-six hours left. The clock was ticking. He slept and dreamt of snakes.
* * *
Three hours later they were at a rest stop.
Jaxon was shaken awake, his dream following him into the harsh lighting of the parking lot. He jumped and reached for his gun but caught himself before scaring Mel to death.
“You all right?” she asked as she stepped back from the car door.
He shook his head awake. “Yeah. Just a dream. Where are we?”
“We’re at the next spot. We’re parked in a rest stop but the waypoint is in a field next to it. Ray and Gil are in the bathroom. You were sleeping like a rock.”
“What time is it?”
“One a.m.”
Jaxon climbed out of the back seat. “I need to use the john. I’ll be right back.”
He passed Gil and Ray on the way and Gil said, “You look like crap.”
“Thanks. I’ll be all right. You look like crap too.”
“But I was bitten by the world’s deadliest snake.”
“Not the deadliest.”
“In the top ten.”
“Whatever. I gotta piss. Mel is waiting at the car.”
Gil chuckled at him and Jaxon felt himself grin. At least Gil was doing better.
Back at the car, Gil took the GPS and Ray’s flashlight and they climbed the fence to the field. “All right,” he said, “this works just like you think it will. We get close to the waypoint and then we shine the flashlight around until we find the first reflector. It will be bright orange or red. With the brightness of this tactical LED flashlight, it should be very bright when the light hits it. Then we find the next FireTack and follow the path. It should take us to the cache.”
“Let’s go,” Ray said looking around in the dark. “Keep your eyes peeled for anything weird.”
“Us in this field in the middle of the night isn’t weird enough?” Mel asked.
They moved as a group into the field following the GPS. When they got within the twenty-five foot area, Gil stopped and panned the light around. The first FireTack shone bright to the left of their track. Gil moved to it quickly. It was stuck in the ground with grass growing all around it. Even though it was mostly hidden, the flashlight had exposed it like a beacon in the dark.
“We would have never found this in the day,” Jaxon said.
“That’s why it’s a night cache only.”
“This is fun,” Mel said.
Jaxon chuckled. “I’m glad one of us is having fun.”
Gil tapped some keys on the GPS and Jaxon noticed a small graph pop up on the screen.
“What are you doing?”
“Sometimes these night caches have you follow a trail of FireTacks and plot each tack on a GPS that can plot points. Mine can. When we’ve found all the tacks it can spell out a phrase or numbers. I’m plotting all the FireTacks now in case we need to look at the plot to find the cache. A lot of people do this as an added level of difficulty because the FireTacks are usually pretty easy to find. It’s the cache that will be difficult in the dark.”
“Got it.”
The next FireTack showed up about twenty feet ahead and they moved toward it. Gil plotted it and they found the next one. This went on for about a half hour. Finding FireTacks and plotting the position, searching for the next one and then moving on.
At one point, they lost the trail and had to search around for a few minutes until the tack showed itself half buried in a cow patty.
They moved through the rest of the points rapidly, and when they came to a spot with three FireTacks lined up next to each other, Gil said that was the end. He held up the GPS and showed them the plot. It was the outline of Mickey Mouse.
“Great,” Jaxon said.
“I love Disney,” Mel said.
“How are we supposed to find a cache in all of Disney World without any GPS position?” Jaxon said. “We could spend days on it.”
“There are only two GeoCaches in Disney World,” Gil said. “And one of them is a virtual cache.”
“What’s a virtual cache?” Ray asked.
“You just have to prove you were there to log it. Like taking a picture of yourself and posting it to the servers. It’s in front of Cinderella’s castle at the end of Main Street.”
“I take it you know where the other one is?” Jaxon said.
Gil nodded. “It’s officially sanctioned by Disney. It’s a pain in the ass.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s at the bottom of a lagoon.”
“How the hell do we get to that?” Ray said.
“You have to sign up at the main gate and pay a fee for scuba equipment.”
“Who knows how to scuba?” Jaxon asked.
“I do,” Ray said. “I got a certificate.”
“That’s all fine and good,” Gil said. “The problem will be getting to it on short notice. They have a waiting list that’s like a month long.”
“Shit.”
“And the park doesn’t open until 10:00.”
Jaxon started walking back to the car.
“Where are you going?” Ray said after him.
“To break into Disney World.”
“I was hoping you weren’t going to say that.”
CHAPTER 18
“It can’t be done,” Gil said. “By the time we figure it out and get what we need to break in, it will be time to open anyway. We might as well wait.”
Jaxon stared at the satellite view of the park and shook his head. “I can’t believe that security is so tight for an amusement park. What the hell do they have in there?”
“Just the most beloved theme park in the whole world,” Gil said. “It attracts millions of worldwide visitors a year with the promise of fun and joy without the worry of injury or safety issues. They take it pretty seriously.”
“You sound like a brochure. We are wasting valuable time,” Jaxon said. “I know he planned it this way, but dammit, we need to find a way around this.”
“I don’t see any other way,” Ray said. “We’ll get in there at 10:00 and then we’ll start throwing our weight around to get us in a scuba suit and to the bottom of that lagoon.”
“I think we can get in through this hotel, commandeer a boat here and get to the cache site. All we need is some snorkeling equipment. You know where it is, Gil, right?”
Gil nodded. “I’ve done it.”
“We’re going to need more than that,” Mel said. “We’re gonna need luck.”
“That’s what you’re here for,” Jaxon said and smiled.
“I’m going to get fired,” Ray said. “I’ve probably lost my job already after shooting that guy.”
“Then you have nothing to lose,” Jaxon said. “I could use another investigator anyway.”
“You’re in a pretty damn good mood,” Ray said. “This won’t work.”
“It won’t if we sit here. Look. I’ll take all the risk. Just help me get in there and I’ll do the rest.”
“Have you ever snorkeled before?”
“Can’t be that hard. You just breathe through a tube, right?”
Ray shook his head. “That water is probably murky too. You won’t be able to see five feet in front of you.”
“I’ll figure it out.”
Ray sighed. “I’ll do it. I’m the only one who’s even come close to doing anything like this.”
“Didn’t think you’d be doing anything like this, did you? It’ll be fun.”
“I can’t wait.”
“Where do we get snorkeling gear?” Mel asked.
“Walmart,” Gil said. “They’re open 24/7. I’m sure they have it.”
“Walmart it is,” Jaxon said and they loaded up.
They pulled into the Super Walmart on Vineland road and went in.
At this hour of the night, the aisles were filled with boxes and stock items and the shoppers were sparse and strange. These were definitely night people. Women in slippers, men in bathrobes grabbing anti-diarrheal medication or Tylenol for their kids, late night partiers in need of some cheap entertainment. They really were Walmart people.
They found a snorkel set that included fins and a mask and they paid quickly and got out.
They followed Vineland Road north until it became Winter Garden and then eventually turned left on Vista Blvd. At Fort Wilderness entrance they turned right. The road was deserted. It wound through the Fort Wilderness resort area for a few miles and they eventually stopped when it ended at Trail’s End on Bay Lake in the Walt Disney World resort.
The area was quiet at 3 a.m. Ray pulled the car into an empty slot under a big tree and they got out. Ray had also bought swim trunks and he went behind a small outbuilding and changed. He came out from behind looking like a tourist with the mask and snorkel on his head and the fins in his hands. Mel giggled in the quiet night and he glared at her.
“Sorry,” she said.
“You know the plan,” Jaxon said to Gil and Melanie. “If somebody questions you, you’re out for a little midnight tryst in the park. Move along and then come back to get us as soon as you can. Ray and I go to the cache site. We should be no more than thirty minutes.”
“Got it,” Gil said. “Remember, look for something different down there. This is a public cache site and he probably planted something when he was down there. It could be anything.”
“That will be the hard part,” Jaxon said. “Figuring out what he’s left us.”
“Good luck,” Mel said.
Jaxon and Ray made their way to the shore area. There were cabanas and picnic areas to their right, and lounge chairs directly in front of them. A large pier stood at the end of the cabanas with a few boats moored and two large ferries for park goers. Surprisingly, no security was present. Jaxon did see a boat moving slowly in the bay, but it was a good distance away.
“Must be a patrol of some sort,” Jaxon whispered. “We’ll need to avoid it.”
Ray nodded.
They moved to their left. A smaller dock was nestled up against a wooded area and it held paddle boats and small johnboats. On the dock, Jaxon saw that they were tied with a kind of alarm system that would go off if they were disconnected from the line. Jaxon expected as much and pulled out the rope they had purchased at the store. He tied one end to the johnboat next to the one they were going to take and then secured the other end to the security line and then cut the line to their boat. It still had pressure on the line so it did not alarm. They quietly got in and pushed off.
The water was dark and quiet as they rowed toward Discovery Island. The cache point was just on the other side. They made good time with Jaxon rowing and he watched Ray shiver in the night air.
A boat rounded the island to their left and Jaxon pointed. It had lights on it and they could see two men in uniform sitting at the controls. It trolled slowly around the island heading for them. Ray pointed to a dock on the island and Jaxon changed course heading for it. At the dock, Jaxon grabbed hold of the wood and stopped them.
The johnboat banged against the mooring and the sound echoed across the water. The two men on the patrol boat heard it and stood, looking toward the sound. A spotlight came on and its beam shone directly toward them, but they had ducked down in the boat and the light passed overhead, searching. The crew looked for a few minutes more, then the light was doused and the boat slowly moved on.
Ray sat up and Jaxon resumed rowing. They stayed behind the patrol boat, following it to the other side of the island. It moved off to the right toward the opposite shore and Jaxon and Ray circled left toward a pylon that stood thirty yards offshore of the Discovery Island. As they came up to it a sign read Discovery Island Cache. Welcome GeoCachers of the world.
Jaxon tied the johnboat to the pylon and Ray slipped into the water silently without a word. Jaxon watched his light come on under the water and he worried it could be seen from a distance, but as he sank to the lagoon floor, the light grew dim. The water was pretty murky.
Ray surfaced after a minute and a half and took a few breaths through the snorkel and then he was down again. He worked the light on and off whenever he came to the surface. He stayed down for two minutes this time and then came up and hung on to the boat.
He caught his breath and said, “I don’t see a thing. I found the cache, but it’s basically a rock with a number on it. I’m assuming it’s one of those virtual caches Gil talked about. Where you have to take a picture next to it. I don’t know.”
“Is there anything else in the area?”
He shook his head. “Just sand and water grass. Visibility is only a few feet.”
“Dig around in the mud and see if there is a box or container there. See if the rock will move and check under it.”
Ray nodded and was gone. Another three minutes passed and then he surfaced gasping for air.
“Got it.”
He held on to the side of the boat and caught his breath. After a few seconds he handed a Tupperware container to Jaxon and then climbed in.
“It was under the rock,” he whispered. “I had to dig a little.”
Jaxon untied the rope and started rowing. Ray shivered in the night air and tried drying himself with his hands. He grinned in the gloom and Jaxon nodded at him.
As they rounded the island on the east side, they could see the lights of the shore and even the car parked in the distance. At least no one had bothered Gil and Mel. They’d be back in the car in ten minutes.
Leaving the island behind, Jaxon rowed faster as they crossed the open water between land areas. They heard a motor before they saw it and Jaxon cursed. The patrol boat was back and it was making good time directly toward them. The spotlight was not on. It grew closer rapidly and Jaxon looked at Ray. It was headed right for them. There was only one thing to do.
Ray was in the water quickly and Jaxon followed holding on to the side and putting the boat between him and the patrol. Ray held on right next to him.
“Where’s the cache?” Ray asked.
“Shit!”
Jaxon jumped back up leaning into the boat and grabbed for the cache. It slipped away out of his grasp and he sank back in the water. He climbed back up into it and grabbed the cache. He could see the faces of the boat crew in the light of the instrument panel. They were that close.
As he sank back in the water, the patrolmen saw the johnboat. Slowing, the patrol boat’s spotlight came on and light bathed the johnboat and water around Jaxon and Ray. They were hidden behind the boat in the water, but he didn’t know if they could stay that way.
The patrol boat idled up alongside the johnboat and the light swung back and forth over the craft. Jaxon could hear the two talking.
“Looks like a johnboat broke loose from the mooring.”
“That’s weird. I wonder why the alarm didn’t go off.”
“Maybe the battery is dead. It’s happened before.”
“Tie it off. We’ll tow it back in.”
Jaxon looked at Ray and he signaled down. Jaxon nodded.
The boat rocked as one of the guys climbed on board and tied it to the patrol boat. It rocked again as the guy stepped off. The patrol boat’s motor increased in RPM and then the johnboat was jerked out of their hands.
Cache 72 (A Jaxon Jennings' Detective Mystery Thriller Series, Book 2) Page 12