The Rowen (A Rossler Foundation Mystery Book 7)

by JC Ryan

  The only light was given off by someone’s smartphone screen, but Daniel could see they had entered a small cave that appeared to be man-made.

  “Shhh,” The girl whispered. “We have to be very quiet; they might still be able to hear us.”

  Daniel saw the others standing around in the small area, all trying to catch their breath. When the last agent stepped through the narrow passageway, the girl quietly pushed what looked like a narrow wall of concrete blocks into the opening.

  “They’re fake,” she whispered.

  Turning back to them, she stood stock still and put a finger to her lips in a gesture for silence.

  ***

  They heard running footsteps in the hallway. Everyone froze when they heard General Hayden bellow, “Where the hell are they?”

  “They came this way General; we chased them from the Treasury building. You should have seen them.”

  “Would I be standing here asking you where they were if I’d seen them, you oaf?”

  “I’m sorry, sir,” the soldier stammered.

  “Don’t be sorry, find them, dammit! Search the tunnel, check every nook and cranny!” the General ordered. “What’s in here?”

  In their hideout, they all stopped breathing as they realized the General had stepped into the alcove to inspect it. They heard him step to the end where the narrow passageway was; there was a pause, and then he returned to the entrance. Then they heard a loud thud near the bottom of the wall followed by a curse “Ow! Son-of-a-bitch!”

  The all had to suppress their laughter at the General’s frustration.

  “That’s a solid wall, start checking the rest of the tunnel. They have to be in here somewhere!”

  They started breathing again when they heard the soldiers start to move away.

  The girl motioned for them to remain still and quiet. After a minute or so she put a finger to her mouth again, signaling them to remain quiet, but motioned them to follow her and she started off following a dark tunnel in a southerly direction.

  Several had taken out their smartphones and activated a flashlight application.

  In the dim lighting, Danial saw that the passageway was literally a tunnel, not a hallway. It had been dug out of the earth—the walls, ceiling, and floor were dirt and rock, and it was just large enough for them to walk through upright in single file.

  After they’d walked about five minutes, the girl stopped and turned to them. “It’s ok to talk now but keep it soft. Are you alright Mr. Vice President?” she asked.

  “I believe so. It’s a bit sore, but it’s just a shoulder wound, I’ll be fine,” he responded with a smile.

  The agent next to him inspected his shoulder and whispered quietly, “Liar.”

  Daniel grinned and shrugged, instantly regretting the move.

  Laurie stepped forward. “You’re Elize, aren’t you? President Nigel Harper introduced you to me when you brought us tea a few days ago, in the Oval Office.”

  “Yes, Madame President.”

  “How did you know about this tunnel? Do you know where it leads?”

  Elize blushed. “Well, growing up in the White House with all its secret rooms, trap doors, and hidden hallways leads kids to explore and find things. My best friend and I found this tunnel about ten years ago, and we used it many times.

  “It’s one of the old tunnels that Harrison Gray Dyar, Jr. dug while he was working at the Smithsonian.”

  “Who?” Rick asked

  “Harrison Dyar, Jr. He was an entomologist that worked for the Smithsonian, at the National Museum of Natural History. His expertise was in mosquitos, but his hobby was building tunnels – he said he did it for exercise. He lived near here and dug quite a few tunnels. This one leads to the Museum where he worked.”

  “Well done, Elize. We owe you our lives,” the President praised.

  Elize smiled brightly.

  “If we could get from there to the Air and Space Museum we could …” one of the agents started to say but was stopped when the President raised her hand.

  “All the Smithsonian museums are connected by tunnels,” Elize volunteered. “We can easily get to the Air and Space Museum.”

  “What’s over there?” The agent asked.

  “Let’s get there first, shall we?” the President responded.

  “I think we need to check Vice President Rossler’s shoulder and try to stop the bleeding,” one of the agents said, stepping over to help steady Daniel, who was showing signs of lightheadedness.

  “I’m fine,” Daniel insisted.

  “Really?” the agent asked holding up a blood-covered hand. “I think you’d better sit down sir, and let us take a look at that before you lose any more blood.”

  After being persuaded to sit down, Daniel allowed them to inspect his shoulder.

  Someone held a phone flashlight on the wound while one of the agents took off his own shirt and, tearing it into squares and strips, made a bandage to cover the wound.

  “The bullet’s still in there—no exit wound,” he said as he applied the bandage causing Daniel to wince in pain.

  “Try not to move your arm if you can, sir.” He pulled Daniel’s bloodied shirt back on and buttoned it for him with his left arm against his skin. “It will help you to keep from moving it if it’s tucked inside your shirt,” he explained.

  “Sit here and rest for a bit, I think I have another patient to attend to,” he said looking at Rick.

  “You’re hit, son.”

  Rick looked at him, “Not bad sir; it’s just a graze.”

  “Let’s take a look at it.”

  Rick lifted his shirt, and the agent examined the wound, dabbing at it gently with a leftover piece of cloth from the bandages he’d made for Daniel.

  “You’re right; it’s a flesh wound. It will need treatment so it doesn’t get infected, but it’s already stopped bleeding. You’ll be alright.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  While the agent inspected Rick’s wound, Laurie had taken a seat next to Daniel. A word with you?” she asked.

  “Sure, what’s up?”

  "With all that's been happening, you haven't had a chance to receive any training from the Secret Service."

  "I need training?" Daniel asked in surprise.

  Laurie smiled, "Yes, you do. I know you were trying to help back there in the hallway, but your actions could have gotten an agent wounded or killed.

  "These agents put their lives on the line to protect us, Daniel; we have to trust their judgment and follow their lead without question.

  They've been highly trained for their positions, but their training is only as good as we allow it to be. If they don't know what we're planning to do, they can't protect us. They can't read our minds. Just follow their orders."

  Daniel thought for a moment and then nodded his understanding.

  “Good!” she smiled, “are you able to travel?”

  “Yes. I’m good to go.”

  “Let’s get moving then; we still have quite a bit of territory to cover;” the lead agent said.

  He helped Daniel to his feet, and it was then that Daniel realized he hadn’t checked his phone. He pulled it out to have a look. “Hey, I got a message from Peter telling me to abort Operation Falcon!”

  The agents looked at each other and started laughing.

  “No shit Rambo,” said the lead agent quietly.

  Only the President heard him, and she smiled.

  “Let’s hold off on returning that call for the moment, Mr. Vice President,” the lead agent said. “I’d like to have a little better idea of our situation before we let our whereabouts be known. We could easily be trapped in here if the wrong people get wind of where we are.”

  ***

  “Okay, Nigel, let’s hear it,” Luke said.

  Nigel looked at Salome, Luke, and JR. “Aw hell, I don’t need to tell you guys about top secret and need-to-know.

  “There is a secret underground monorail system between the White House
and several destinations around the general Washington DC area. Only Presidents, Vice Presidents, and a few specially cleared Secret Service Agents know about them and how to access them. I think they may have accessed it.”

  The three of them just stared at Nigel in shock for a moment. Then they started to smile.

  “How can we be sure that’s what they did?” Salome asked.

  “Until we have contact with them, we don’t,” Nigel replied, “but it’s the only thing that makes sense, based on what Peter told us.”

  “Where does this monorail go?” Luke asked.

  “Let’s have a look at it on the map,” Sam suggested, placing a map of the city on the table.

  Nigel looked it over, then took a highlighter and circled the Pentagon, CIA Headquarters, Camp David, and the Capitol building.

  “For the group that was in the Oval Office and West Wing area, I’m guessing the agent had them escape using the tunnel to the Blair house.”

  “But Hayden’s men searched that tunnel and the house and didn’t find any trace of them.”

  “Unless they were expert trackers or someone left a deliberate trail, they wouldn’t. The monorail access platform is through a hidden wall in a room in the basement.

  Once on the rail, depending on which route they took, they would have direct access to any one of those four locations.

  “If it were me,” said JR, “I would try to get them out of the area. I’d take them to Camp David.”

  “That is my thinking too, JR,” Nigel said.

  Sam and Luke looked over the map and agreed. “Camp David seems the most logical destination.”

  “What about Daniel’s group?” JR asked, worried about his brother.

  “If they made it to the basement of the Treasury, they would have direct access to those locations except for Camp David. In addition, they could directly access the NSA, FBI, Anacostia, Myers, and Andrews.”

  “The question is,” Salome said, “did they make it to the basement? From what Peter overheard, it doesn’t sound like they made it into the Treasury building.”

  “Where else could they have gone?” Sam asked.

  “As far as I know,” Nigel replied, “the only ways out of the White House from their last known location, are the ones we planned for or the basement of the Treasury.”

  “So, where the hell are they?” Luke said exasperated, flicking his pencil onto the table in frustration.

  “I think we have to anticipate where they are most likely to go and try to set things up to help them,” Sam said.

  “I agree,” Salome nodded. “Since the primary objective in these circumstances was to get them out of Washington and to the Rabbit Hole. I’m guessing they are still going to try and make it to Andrews and onto Air Force One. But it sounds like they may have a backup plan in place for Anacostia.

  “I think we should proceed as if they are sticking to the original plan at Andrews and shift some Tectus people to Anacostia to be ready for support if they show up there.”

  Chapter 26- See you at the rendezvous

  They reached the National Museum of Natural History without further incident. The tunnel had been tight, and more than one of them started to feel slightly claustrophobic by the time they reached the end. They all felt a sense of relief after stepping out into the large, well-lit open space of the storage room in the museum.

  “Elize, do you know your way from here to the Air and Space Museum through the tunnels?” The lead agent asked.

  “Yes, sir, this way,” she said and led them out of the storage room, down a short hallway, and through double doors that opened into a large main hallway that had the feel of a shopping mall. She turned to the left and headed off. “The hallways to the other museums are all clearly marked; it will be up this way on our right.”

  They continued along the main hall for about ten minutes passing more double-doors marked ‘Smithsonian Castle/Freer Sackler Gallery,’ ‘Museum of African Art,’ and ‘Hirshhorn Museum’ before coming to the doors marked ‘Air and Space Museum’.

  Elize turned right, leading them through the double doors, along another corridor and into a large basement area stacked with hundreds of boxes and crates. Space suits with helmets and gloves, rocks—presumably from the moon, pieces and models of aircraft, pictures, books, and much more filled the area.

  Neatly organized chaos, Daniel mused. He was starting to feel dizzy again from shock and blood loss, but he managed to stay on his feet and keep up with the group.

  The President turned to the agents, “Do any of you know where it is?” She asked.

  Three of the agents looked bewildered; the other two looked at each other and nodded.

  “I do, Madame President,” one of them said.

  “Please, lead the way.”

  He led them further into the basement of the museum and then into a small conference room. Pictures from the surface of the moon hung on one wall, and those of astronauts were displayed on a paneled wall across from them. A large TV sat on a low shelf at the far end of the room, a conference phone was centered on the rectangular table, and a small electronic control panel was inlaid at the closest end of the table. The agent entered a code on the control panel, and part of the paneled wall opened revealing an acid-finished platform and Hunter Green monorail cars.

  The group looked at one another in astonishment.

  “Let’s go, people,” the agent said, “we don’t have all day!”

  As they loaded into the monorail cars, Laurie turned to Daniel, “It’s time we contact the Rossler Foundation.”

  Daniel, feeling extremely grateful to finally be able to sit down again, pulled out his mirror phone and called the Rabbit Hole.

  ***

  “Daniel! Thank God! Are you ok? Is the President with you and is she ok? Where are you—where have you been?”

  Daniel laughed, “Easy Luke, one thing at a time. Yes, I’m ok and so is the President. She’s with me, along with five Secret Service agents, as well as Cliff Willis, Bill Simms, one of the Marine guards, and Elize, a beautiful young lady who saved our skins.”

  Elize blushed and managed to look both shy and proud at the same time.

  “The President wants to talk to Nigel; is he handy?”

  “I’m right here Daniel—it sure is a big relief to hear from you guys, we’ve been worried.”

  “Nigel,” Laurie broke in, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but we still have quite a way to go before we’re out of this, and we need to get moving again.”

  “I understand,” Nigel replied.

  “Ms. President, ah Laurie,” Sam broke in. If you don’t mind waiting just a moment, I’d like to get Jack conferenced into this call—he will be able to provide you with the support you’re going to need.”

  “Make it quick, Sam, I have a feeling we’re running out of time.”

  There was a brief pause, then “Jack here; what’s happening Sam?”

  “The President is about to bring us up to speed on the situation.”

  “The President; great—I’m all ears!”

  Laurie understood their relief, but she was worried about what they still faced, yet she tried not to show her impatience at these small delays.

  “Nigel, about security issues …”

  “Don’t worry; I’ve already briefed them on what they need to know.

  He emphasized the word ‘need,’ so he’s told them about the monorail system but left the classified information out. “Very well. We just boarded at the Air and Space Museum and are heading for Andrews as originally planned.”

  “Good, we thought you might be doing just that, and the team is already assembled as planned.”

  She sighed with relief. Finally; something is going right! “Do you have any word on the others?”

  “Some of them have escaped through the courtyard, but that’s all we know at this time.”

  “Everyone disappeared, just like you did.” Nigel said and relayed Peter’s report from having e
avesdropped on Hayden in the Oval Office. He also included Jack’s description of the escapees he’d found.

  “We’re pretty sure the ones that were captured in the Oval Office went to Camp David, but won’t be able to confirm that until we hear from them. A couple of Tectus members are on their way. They both have medical training in case anyone is injured.”

  Laurie grimaced at the thought of injuries, “Thank God. I’m glad to know they made it out of there.”

  “We’ll be arriving at the base by monorail obviously, which changes our access to the plane. Have you made adjustments for that?”

  Sam replied, “Yes, we have. Jack is already on board Air Force One and is in charge of the operation; he can provide a better brief. Jack?”

  Jack cleared his throat, “President Campbell, I will pick you all up in a covered utility cart at the station access point and ferry you to the plane.

  “We can’t have you trying to board by the stairs, so we lowered the cargo ramp at the back. We’ll board that way.

  “Hayden’s troops are scattered all over the area and have been watching closely, but they are starting to get bored and have become less attentive. Military and Secret Service guards are in place as usual. The pilots boarded as mechanics. Additional Secret Service agents and military guards are buzzing around the plane as mechanics, and other agents have boarded as housekeepers assigned to clean the plane and prepare it for the next use.

  “We’ve already tested the engines once and advised Hayden’s troops that we will be testing them again. As soon as I’m off the phone with you, we’ll begin another test, so the plane will be ready to fly as soon as you board.”

  “You make it sound easy Jack.”

  “No, it isn’t going to be easy.” So far nothing about this operation has been easy. But he kept his thoughts to himself. “There’s still about half-a-million things that could go wrong.”

  Laurie looked directly at Daniel. “Very well, Jack. We are in your hands and will follow your lead.”

  Daniel nodded, understanding her message: Remember what I told you in the tunnel.