Mystery: The Sam Prichard Series - Books 1-4

by David Archer

  Sam scowled, but took the fork and tried the bite she offered him. He chewed for a moment, then his eyes went wide. “Wow,” he said, “that is good. I'll have to try it next time.”

  “See?” Indie said with a grin. “It's okay to try new things, they won't hurt you!”

  “Okay, okay, I won't be such an old stick in the mud. But I'm gonna finish this steak for now.”

  They finished their dinner and took a cab to a theater downtown, where a Hawaiian dance show was playing. Between the hula dancers, fire dancers and other acts they saw, both Sam and Indie were amazed.

  “I wonder,” Sam said as they watched, and Indie looked at him.

  “Wonder what?”

  “I wonder if you can move like that? That would fit right into some of those ideas of mine.”

  She slapped him on the arm. “You'll be perfectly happy with the way I can move, Mr. Prichard!”

  “I already am, Mrs. Prichard!” he said, and then he pulled her close and kissed her.

  “Mmm,” she said, “you keep that up and we may not get to finish the show. I’ve got a few ideas of my own running through my head about now!”

  “Shh,” Sam said, “watch! It's coming up on a good part!”

  She pinched him.

  When the show was over, they took a cab back to their hotel, and went straight to their room. Sam took a fast shower, then got into bed and waited patiently as Indie spent half an hour in the bathroom.

  “Hey!” he called out. “Did you fall into the sink and drown?”

  “Be patient,” she yelled back. “I'm making myself beautiful for you!”

  Sam sat there for a moment and thought about what she said. “But all that takes is a smile!” he yelled to her.

  “Yeah, and that's what I'm gonna put on your face in about five minutes! Just wait, you'll see!”

  Sam’s lips pulled into a smile then, and he was still wearing it when the bathroom door finally opened. Indie hid behind it for a second, and then one leg came around, bare as far as he could see, and his eyebrows shot up.

  “Lookin' good so far,” he said, his voice husky.

  An arm came around the door, and then Indie stepped out and let Sam see her. She was more beautiful than he'd ever imagined she could be, and the white, lacy negligee she was wearing only accentuated it.

  “Oh, my,” Sam said, as she walked toward him, and the way she moved caused him to squirm around in the sheet. She came to his side of the bed and sat down, and then leaned down to kiss him gently. When she sat back up, Sam was staring at her, and she knew that he was very pleased with what he saw.

  “Come to bed,” he whispered hoarsely, and she did.

  3

  Sam's phone was ringing, and he groped toward the nightstand for it. He glanced at it and saw that it was his mother calling.

  “Hello,” he said groggily.

  “Sam!” his mother shouted through the phone at him. “Oh, thank God! I've been trying to get through to you for an hour! Are you watching the TV?”

  “Huh?” he said. “Why?”

  “Terrorists, Sam! Terrorists are saying they've got nukes all over the country and they're gonna set them off if the government doesn't give them what they want! One of them is here in Denver, and there's one in Honolulu!”

  Sam was instantly awake. “Okay, I want you to take Kenzie and get out of the city, now! Go out to Dad's old cabin, and I'll come for you there! I'm gonna turn on the news now!”

  Indie was awake and staring at him. “What's going on?” she asked, “What's happening?”

  Sam shook his head. “I don't know, yet. Mom says terrorists have planted nuclear bombs around the country. There's one in Denver and one here. That's all I got so far.” He reached for the TV remote and hit the power button, and a news announcer came on immediately.

  “...Security says the threat is genuine. No one knows where these devices are, but the information sent to the FBI describing the mechanisms, and the photos and sample material indicates that they are real, and could be powerful enough to do significant damage. If you're in one of these cities, it may be difficult or impossible to get out, because people fleeing are jamming the roadways, and all commercial transportation is currently suspended. Since we do not know where the devices are located in the cities, the safest thing you may be able to do is remain in your homes. Again, if you’re just tuning in, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security have released a statement that they have received notice and evidence that twelve nuclear devices have been smuggled into the United States and placed somewhere in the following cities: New York, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Honolulu. No particular organization has claimed responsibility at this time, but the terrorists are demanding that the US pull all of its troops out of the Middle East immediately, and say they will detonate the devices if the withdrawal is not announced and begun within seventy-two hours. The Department of Homeland Security says the threat is very genuine and should be taken seriously. If you're in one of these cities, it may be difficult or impossible to get out, because people trying to flee are jamming the roadways, and all commercial transportation is currently suspended. Since we have no way of knowing where the devices are located in these cities, the safest thing you can do is remain in your homes.”

  His mother was still talking in the phone. “...and Kim is getting us some food and clothes packed up now. We'll be out of here in fifteen minutes, but the local news says all the roads are jammed with people trying to get out of the city, Sam, I don't know if we can go anywhere...”

  “Mom,” Sam said, “Mom! Listen! From where you're at, you can take Bear Creek Boulevard down to West Morrison, then follow that all the way out to Idledale. Once you get there, you can take Bear Creek Road on out to the highway, and you should be able to reach the road to the cabin! You've got our Ridgeline, it's four wheel drive, so if you have to go off-road for parts of it, do it! Get going as fast as you can, that way ought to be clear enough to get you there within a couple of hours. Go!” He hung up.

  Indie was sitting close to him on the bed. “Sam, my God, what's going on?”

  “Terrorists is all I know, but they've got nukes in all those cities. Mom and Kim are getting Kenzie out of the city, and going out to my dad's old hunting cabin. Mom knows how to handle a gun, and they should be safe there until we can get back. There's another nuke right here in Honolulu, it says, and I'm trying to figure out how to get us back to the mainland.”

  “As long as they're going somewhere safe,” Indie said. “This is horrible...”

  Sam suddenly remembered the yellow and purple duffel. “Holy—I think I know how they got them into place. Remember that bag that was stuffed onto the plane at the last second? I saw the guy who picked it up, and he was Arab. The thought hit me then that he looked like ISIS, but I just brushed it off. I gotta call the police!”

  He Googled the number for the Honolulu Police, and dialed it quickly. When he got an answer, he said, “My name is Sam Prichard, and I think I have a lead on the nuke that's been planted in the city, here. Put me through to whoever I need to speak to about it.”

  The woman on the other end of the line said, “Look, Mr. Prichard, we appreciate your call, but we've gotten ten thousand calls just like it this morning, and we just don't have time for them. Please keep this line clear for real emergencies.” She hung up on him.

  Sam stared at the phone. “She hung up,” he said, and looked at Indie. “I'm calling with what may be real information, and she hung up!”

  Indie just looked at him. “Honey, maybe they're getting too many calls. They're probably only taking regular police calls, right now.”

  Sam nodded. “Yeah, that's exactly what she said. Trouble is, I think I may really be onto something, but if I can't get anyone to listen, what good is it?”

  “Okay, think it through,” Indie said. “What did you actually see?”

  Sam thought about it for
a moment. “I saw a man run up to our airplane just as it was preparing to back away from the terminal and open the cargo hatch, shove a big purple and yellow bag inside and then close and latch it. He walked away then, and—wow, it didn't hit me at the time, but as he walked away, he took off his vest, the one that airport employees wear, and rolled it up and stuffed it into his pocket. That seems odd, now that I remember it. Then, when we were waiting for our luggage, I saw that same bag on the carousel, and a Middle Eastern man in a turban grabbed it. I remember thinking that he was looking around like he was nervous, and that he looked like he belonged in ISIS or Al Quaeda or something like that, but I just thought I was being prejudiced and let it go. Now I think I was dead on the money!”

  Indie got up and went to her suitcase, opened it and took out her laptop. “Maybe we can get something more,” she said. “Airports have their security video tied into their local area networks, and those are connected to the Internet. If Herman can hack into their system, we can try to find the guy on the video.” She had it turned on and was tapping keys, Googling the airport for general information. “Okay, here's a link for online purchases of tickets; that may give us a way in.” She tapped a few more keys, and Herman, the program she'd created for hacking, began scanning lines of data faster than the human eye could even see them. She turned back to Sam.

  “Do you think they can really get Kenzie out of the city?” she asked. “Oh, Sam, I'm so scared! If anything happened to Kenzie...”

  “Mom has our truck, and she knows how to use four wheel drive. She's also got a gun she carries everywhere, and she knows how to use it, so anyone trying to stop her will be in for a shock. She'll get them to the cabin, and they should be fine there for a while. We'll figure out a way to get back to them as soon as possible.”

  “Should we get out of Honolulu? Maybe go to one of the other islands?”

  “I don't know how we could, at the moment. The news said all commercial transportation is suspended, so that probably means planes, boats, everything. I think we're stuck here.”

  She looked at him, and suddenly burst into tears. “Oh, God, Sam, this is supposed to be our honeymoon! Why does this have to happen now?”

  He went to her and pulled her into his arms. “Baby, we'll get through this. Kenzie and our moms are safe, and we can only pray for everyone else we know, but I promise you, we'll get through this and get home, somehow!”

  She clung to him for a few moments and cried, then pulled back and looked into his face. “If anyone can get us out of this, Sam Prichard, I know you can. Let's see what we can do to help stop it!” She turned back to her computer and looked at what her program was doing. “Herman's found a way in,” she said, and began tapping keys once more. A moment later, there was a screen full of links on her monitor. Some of them Sam could figure out: Baggage Claim 1, Baggage Claim 2, Concourse 1, etc.

  “Okay, can you remember exactly what time it was we got our bags?”

  “Yeah, we landed at eleven minutes after five, so it took us about ten minutes to get off the plane and into baggage claim; let's say five twenty-one, try that.”

  Indie had clicked one of the links, and it led to another page just like it, but this one had dates. She selected the date of their arrival, and then chose five fifteen, the closest link to the time Sam had given her.

  “Okay, is that our carousel? Yeah, it is. Let me run forward a bit—there we are. Do you see the guy you're talking about?”

  Sam leaned close and watched the video play on the monitor. He could see himself and Indie as they stood there watching for their bags. “We were there for quite a while before the bags showed up. Let's go forward some.”

  Indie chose another time, five forty-five, and they began watching again. “There we are, and there's the guy I saw! He's looking around, see, like he's nervous. He was probably worried that someone had caught on to the bag not being listed and was watching to see who claimed it. Watch—there’s his bag, see it? Big, yellow and purple, like they wanted to be sure it couldn’t be mistaken for someone else's. He grabs it and turns around instantly, he's in a hurry. See? He's still looking around like he's waiting for someone to grab hold of him.”

  Indie nodded. “Yeah, he's definitely worried that someone is gonna spot him and ask questions, I agree. Now, then,” she said, and began clicking other links. “Okay, here's the front entrance area, a couple of minutes before he grabbed the bag. Let's watch and see if he comes out.” They stared at the monitor for about four minutes, and then the same man appeared. “There he is,” Indie said. “Watch—he's getting into a cab, look! That's a Royal Hawaiian Taxi Service cab, number four fifty-one, remember that!”

  She began tapping keys once more, and in less than three minutes, Herman was signaling for her attention. “Okay, we've got Royal Hawaiian Taxi's back door. Cab companies have to have their logs online for law enforcement now, and if it's online, Herman can get into it! Let's find cab number four fifty-one's log entries for yesterday.” She began clicking through links, and a moment later she said, “Aha! Gotcha! Sam, that cab picked up a fare at the airport at exactly five fifty two, and delivered him to the Dresden Hotel, and it's smack in the middle of downtown and three miles from the beach. Let me see if we can get into their security system.” More key tapping, and shortly Herman beeped again.

  “I swear,” Sam said, “I think I love Herman as much as I love you!”

  “Watch it, there, Buster, I'm the jealous type! Herman's mine, you go get your own computer program! Here we go, we're into their security network. Finding the right time, which was about six oh-eight, and the front entrance—there's your boy, and he's got the bag! He's going into the lobby, and now we've got him getting into the elevator. Can you see the floor indicator? I can't.”

  Sam shook his head. “Nope. It's not angled right.”

  “Well, that's easy enough,” Indie said with a sigh. “We'll check each floor and see where he got off!” She started moving from camera to camera, and they watched each floor's elevator entrance for a few minutes. When nothing happened, she went to the next floor and they watched again. They found him getting off the elevator on the fourth floor, and Indie switched cameras to follow him as he carried the bag down the hallway. He stopped at a door and inserted a key, then opened the door and walked in.

  “Fifth door on the left, to the right from the elevator. We've got him,” Sam said. “Now, the question is how to get anyone to listen!”

  Indie said, “Uh-oh,” and Sam looked at the monitor again. The man came back out of the room without the bag, and seemed to be in a hurry as he headed back to the elevator. Indie switched back to the ground floor entrance camera, and they watched as he went out the front doors and got into a waiting car with a driver. The car rolled away quickly.

  “Any hope of getting that tag number?” Sam asked, but Indie was already switching cameras to one outside the entrance. The car came into view, but the license plate was obscured by what looked like a splotch of mud, and couldn't be read. “Okay, no tag, but that was 2015 Lexus sedan. Probably a rental, so without a tag, we've got nothing. On the other hand, we've got every reason to believe that the nuke is in that bag, and that it's still in that room.”

  He grabbed his phone and redialed the police number. The same voice answered again.

  “Your nuclear device is in the Dresden Hotel, on the fourth floor. The room is fifth on the left to the right of the elevator.”

  “Yes, sir,” the woman said, “thank you for your tip.” She hung up again.

  Sam stared at his phone again. “They must be getting thousands of tips every hour, from people who don't have a clue what they're doing. If they ever get around to checking that, it'll be after it's way too late.”

  Indie looked at him sadly. “You're going over there, aren't you?”

  He smiled. “Babe, do I look stupid? Nukes are out of my league, but remember, we know one person who can get some serious attention to this. If we can get him on the phone, we might
have a chance of saving Honolulu, at least.”

  Indie wrinkled her brow. “We know someone? Who—Oh! Harry Winslow!”

  Sam nodded. “Yep. He's Homeland Security, even if he is on a different assignment. Let me see if I can get through to him— I'm sure the international lines are jammed right now.” He scanned through the contacts in his phone, and found the one marked “Southerner,” then touched it to make it dial the number.

  “We're sorry. All circuits are busy, now. Please try your call again later.” The recording told him he'd been right, so he hit redial. It took him twenty-four tries before he heard ringing on the other end.

  A slow voice with a southern drawl answered. “Sam? Is that you? I thought you'd be on your honeymoon by now.”

  “I was, Harry, until I saw the news this morning. Indie and I are in Honolulu.”

  There was silence for a moment, and then Harry said, “I'm sorry to hear that, Sam. Can you get away from the city? From what I'm hearing, these devices are small, probably less than a kiloton design— to give you perspective, the one we dropped on Hiroshima was about fifteen kilotons. The blast radius should only be a few city blocks, but the radiation will be terrible. If you can get at least forty miles away, you should be able to go get under concrete and be safe. Sixty miles would be outside the danger zone, at least until the fallout hits.”

  “Harry, I'll worry about that in a while— I'm not calling you for help or advice, I'm calling because I'm pretty sure that Indie and I have located the Honolulu nuke!”

  4

  Harry was silent for five seconds. “Sam, I know you well enough to know you wouldn't joke about this, but how in the world could you possibly have gotten that information in so short a time?”

  “My incredible powers of observation, combined with a certain computer whiz I happen to know. I spotted someone putting something in the cargo hold of our plane just before it left Denver, and then I saw a nervous, middle-eastern type picking it up here. When I heard what was going on, I put two and two together and came up with a big fat four! When I went over it with Indie, she managed to get into some video feeds, so we could follow the guy out of the airport, and that let us see what cab he took, and that led us to the Dresden Hotel. I tried giving it to the police, but they didn't seem interested.”