Sabotage in the Secret City

by Diane Fanning

  I tried not to question everything and everyone I encountered but I only had to listen to myself using code words for uranium and calling the end result of the project ‘the gadget’ and know that even I could no longer be trusted to be straightforward about anything – a dismaying development that I hoped was not a permanent erosion of my character.

  Walking into the lab, I once again hoped to see at least one of the missing men. As unlikely as that possibility was, the sense of disappointment I felt was keen. I knew the morale in the lab now rested solely on my shoulders. I did my best to hide my anxiety and impending sense of doom. Everyone asked if I knew anything more than I did the day before. I didn’t dare mention the note at my door. I shook my head and said, ‘No.’

  The internal mail from administration and other managers mingled with piles of equipment catalogs on Charlie’s desk. I sorted through it all, answering whatever I could and placed the remainder in Charlie’s inbox. Then, I matched requisition requests with materials available in the catalogs and placed the orders.

  Finally, I got going at my workstation. The men still took yesterday’s charge to work harder seriously. They accomplished far more than I thought possible. I had a mountain of samples and reports to verify and confirm. When I got to the bottom of the stack, I realized I’d worked through lunch. I stood and stretched, becoming aware of how hungry I was. I looked down at the table and saw a sandwich wrapped in wax paper. It was like manna from heaven.

  I grabbed it, held it in the air and asked, ‘Who does this belong to?’

  ‘It’s all yours, Libby,’ Stephen said. ‘We brought it back from the cafeteria for you. I hope you like egg salad.’

  ‘Love it! Thank you, Stephen.’ I looked around the room and everyone was grinning. ‘Thank you, everyone.’ Any doubts about my ability to manage a lab dissolved. The group was working together and looking out for each other. Now, if we could only bring the missing back. It was time for another visit to Crenshaw.

  Leaving work, I went straight to Crenshaw’s home. His teenage son answered my knock and he seemed to have outgrown his perpetual surliness. He invited me inside and offered me a seat in the living room like I was a long-lost family friend.

  Mrs Crenshaw entered the room wearing a frilly apron. ‘The lieutenant colonel will be here shortly – he’s making sure the yard boy is doing everything right. Would you like a cup of coffee while you wait?’

  ‘No, thank you, ma’am.’

  ‘Would you like to stay for supper?’

  I really didn’t want to sit at the same table with Crenshaw and I’m sure he felt the same way about me. ‘No, thank you. I am supposed to meet someone for dinner tonight after I talk to your husband.’

  ‘If you change your mind, let me know. We have plenty of fried chicken and all I’ll have to do is set an extra place.’

  At the mention of fried chicken, my mouth watered, tempting my resolve to waver. I swallowed down my primitive urges and said, ‘Thank you, ma’am.’

  She bustled back into the kitchen where I could hear her whispering and a gruffer voice responding. Moments later, Crenshaw appeared. ‘What now, Miss Clark?’

  ‘As I am sure you are aware, my lab is still missing its supervisor and some of the other chemists we need to do our work for the war effort. We are working as hard as we can but it is a struggle to keep our heads above water without their help.’

  ‘I know it is,’ he said with a sigh as he slumped down into a chair adjacent to me.

  ‘Then why have you not let them go?’

  ‘It’s out of my hands.’

  I stood up and looked down at him. ‘Sir, this whole place is under your control so that is not possible.’

  ‘Sit down, Clark. I’m not as omnipotent as you think.’

  ‘I find that hard to believe, sir,’ I said as I settled back into the sofa, ready to leap up again.

  ‘My plan was simple. Keep them overnight and try to scare some information out of them – like the names of your band of troublemakers or some information they might be hiding about the recent incidents.’

  ‘Why them? And why aren’t they back? Are they still here behind the fence?’

  ‘I think so but I don’t know.’

  ‘You think so?’ I said, reflexively bouncing to my feet again.

  ‘As I said, they are in someone else’s hands now. Please sit back down and don’t raise your voice – you’ll upset my wife.’

  ‘Sit down? Really? I will lower my voice for the sake of your family but please don’t assume that my fury is abated. These men who you’ve snatched up and carried off are the same ones who helped you identify a murderer and bust a spy ring. And you are just letting them be deprived of liberty? Where is your honor, sir?’

  ‘I think you had far more to do with those past situations than anyone else …’

  ‘But—’

  He raised a hand. ‘I know. I know. You’re going to say you couldn’t have done it without them. Spare me the theatrics and modesty. And please, for heaven’s sake, sit.’

  I slowly eased back down but kept my eyes on his face. I wanted to pummel him with my fists but, unfortunately, my upbringing stood in my way.

  ‘I am willing to explain the sequence of events if you will keep your voice down, your emotions under control and relax for a minute.’

  I nodded my head and swallowed hard. I knew I couldn’t be relaxed but I was determined to fake it for the moment.

  ‘I was not alone when I questioned your co-workers. There was an agent in the room with me. He didn’t speak but leaned against the wall in the back of the room.’

  ‘An agent? What agency?’

  ‘I do not know which one but I suspect it’s one of those nameless groups that have sprung up during this war. May I continue?’

  I nodded again wondering how much patience I could muster.

  ‘When I spoke to your supervisor Charles Morton, I first gave him a piece of paper and asked him to write down the names of all the people who were assigned to his lab. I picked it up when he finished. The agent walked up behind me and read it over my shoulder. I then went down the list one by one asking him if each person I named was in the lab that afternoon.

  ‘I asked him about Joseph Barksdale and he said that he had never returned from lunch. We knew that, of course, since that’s when we picked him up. There were no surprises until I inquired about Thomas O’Malley. It was at this point that he blinked his eyes a few times, looked down at the table and said, “No.”

  ‘I asked, “Do you know why he was absent?” and he said that Tom went to his father’s funeral. When I asked when he was due back, he said, “Monday.” I sensed something odd about his demeanor and asked, “Which Monday?” He sighed deeply and looked away. I pushed him for an answer and he said, “Last.”

  ‘I said, “Last Monday?” and he nodded. After that exchange the agent took custody of the whole group. He intends to keep them all until one of them reveals Thomas O’Malley’s location. I suspect the only way I could have any influence on their release would be if you would tell me where he is.’

  ‘I don’t know. They don’t know. None of us know. We’ve been trying to figure it out. We called his aunt. We can’t find him. You can’t hold onto them for information they do not possess.’

  ‘Has anyone heard from him?’

  I leveled my chin, widened my eyes and stared directly into his. ‘No, sir. No one has heard from him.’ The image of the note on my porch burned at the back of my retinas. I struggled to keep any emotion off my face and maintain steady breathing.

  Crenshaw was the first to look away. He pondered the floor while he shook his head. When he looked up, he folded his arms on his knees and leaned forward in the chair. ‘I need total honesty from you if I am going to interfere. Swear to me that not one of those men knows the whereabouts of Thomas O’Malley.’

  I gazed into his eyes, raised my right hand and said, ‘I swear on my father’s memory that none of those men knows anyt
hing about the whereabouts of Thomas O’Malley.’ At least that wasn’t a lie.

  For a moment, Crenshaw’s eyes roved my face, studying my expression, then he leaned back and steepled his hands. ‘First thing in the morning, I’ll see what I can do.’

  ‘Why not now?’

  ‘Don’t try my patience or make me reconsider, Miss Clark. Now, if you don’t mind, my wife has supper waiting and I want to join my family at the table.’

  We both stood and he said, ‘I can’t make any promises. But I will try.’

  ‘Thank you, sir,’ I replied. I wasn’t completely sure he would keep his word but it was time to let it all go and hope for the best.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  I opened my door on Friday morning, ready to go to work when I spotted a curled-up piece of paper inside the once empty Mason jar. I snatched it off the porch and went back inside. Pouring another cup of coffee that was still warm, I sat on the sofa, pulled out the note and read it.

  ‘Meet me at the shack tonight at 9 p.m. Tom. P.S. You may bring one person who will wait outside. ANYTHING else and I will be gone.’

  I stared at the paper looking for answers to the questions galloping through my head. What has Tom done? What does he fear? What if the note was not from Tom but merely a trick? Who would do that? The person who had abducted Tom? That could be anyone. Another spy. Crenshaw. Someone in the administration. A bitter local. A criminal. Who? The note gave no hint of answers. Still, I could not ignore it. I had to take the risk. If Tom was in trouble, I had to respond.

  I walked to work with the weight of worry making each step a chore. Turning off my street to the main road, I heard running footsteps pounding the walk behind me. I broke into a run for a few steps and then thought better of it. I needed to know who it was before I tried to retreat. I hid behind shrubbery until I heard the person race past my hiding place. I stood and saw Ruth’s back moving away from me. ‘Ruthie?’

  She spun around and shouted, ‘Libby!’

  She backtracked and ducked behind the bushes. ‘This man … I thought … he was …’ she said, gasping for air.

  ‘Catch your breath first, Ruthie.’

  She bent forward and leaned her palms on her knees, breathing deeply. ‘Okay. Got it. This man asked me out to dinner and to the dance last night.’

  ‘That’s nice,’ I said wondering why she felt it was important.

  ‘That’s what I thought. He was handsome and acted like a gentleman. I was beginnin’ to like him a lot. By the time dinner was over, I knew I wanted him to ask me out again. We were havin’ a great time at the dance – he even spiked our punch with a flask he had in his pocket. When “Sentimental Journey” started playin’, he swooped me into his arms and I just about swooned.

  ‘That’s when he whispered in my ear, “I like you a lot, Ruthie.” I smiled and I said nothin’ but I tingled all over. He whispered again, “I have to warn you, Ruthie. You need to stop seein’ that lady scientist Libby Clark. She’ll get you into a heap of trouble.” Well, right then, I wanted to slap him in the face. But I thought, maybe he’ll explain why so I can tell you. So I stopped, right there on the dance floor, and said, “Why?” He looked all around the room and said, “Let’s take this conversation outside.”

  ‘I gotta tell ya, Libby, after he done said what he said, I was afraid to go out there with him. But I did it. I just made sure we stayed close to the buildin’ and in the light from the windows. Then he told me that he knew that you and your scientist friends were behind the derailin’ of the train. He said he believed that you were the ringleader. He said that one of the scientists told them that it was your plan to keep the raw material from getting to the reservation. He said you made sure you were out of town when it happened. That’s not true, is it, Libby?’

  ‘No. I had nothing to do with it. Maybe someone said that but it isn’t true. I don’t know what he’s talking about. Did he say anything else?’

  ‘He asked me a bunch of questions about you. He asked who was in your group of scientist friends and I said I don’t know. I did know some of your friends in the lab but I ain’t about to tell him. He wanted to know what you told me about the pranks in the lab and the train accident. I said “Nothin’,” and that was the truth. Then he said that you were in a heap of trouble and if I saw you again, I’d be arrested, too. He said maybe I was only an accomplice after the fact but I still could be charged with aidin’ or abettin’ or obstruction or somethin’ like that. He said that I better come clean or I’d be in the cell next to you. He scared me but I just told him that he was wrong – as wrong as he could be. I said Libby Clark is a patriotic American doin’ her bit to help the war effort and he was all wet.’

  ‘Thank you for standing up for me, Ruthie,’ I said, smiling at my friend. ‘But don’t worry about him. He’s just trying to frighten you. He was trying to trick you into saying something that they could use against me.’

  ‘They asked about some guy named Tom. I told him I’ve known lots of Toms in my life and I don’t know who he is talking about. Do you?’

  ‘Yes, Ruthie. Tom works in my lab – or I guess I should say that he used to work in my lab – we haven’t seen him since he left here to go to his father’s funeral nearly two weeks ago.’

  ‘Well, somebody loses their daddy needs some time.’

  I didn’t contradict her or tell her about my planned rendezvous with Tom. If she were picked up again, that knowledge could only make her life more difficult. I changed the subject. ‘Did you ever get back to the dance floor?’

  ‘Yup. After I slapped him but I didn’t dance with him again.’

  ‘Why did you slap him?’

  ‘Libby, he told me you were an evil force aligned with the Axis powers. He said that you duped me and were settin’ me up to take a fall. He said you didn’t care for me and were just usin’ me. So, of course I slapped him.’

  ‘What did he do?’

  ‘He stood against the wall watching me with other men for a while, then he was gone. Good riddance to him.’

  ‘Thank you, Ruthie. I am so sorry I put you through all of this. Maybe I should stay away from you for a while.’

  ‘Don’t you dare,’ she said with a grin and slipped her arm into mine as we walked off to Y-12 together.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  I hurried to wrap my work up as the lunch hour approached. I rushed outside and waited on the walk for Rudy to come out of the other lab in the building. I’d considered going alone to see Tom but decided that if it were only a trick, I needed a witness. I thought about asking Gary to accompany me but I thought that he would annoy me too often to be bearable. My first three choices were all still locked away. Rudy was the only acceptable possibility that remained.

  When Rudy spotted me, he stopped so suddenly that the man behind him ran right into his back and nearly knocked him over. Rudy regained his balance and looked in every direction with squinted eyes. He approached slowly, scanning the perimeter.

  ‘Are you afraid of me, Rudy?’ I asked.

  ‘Are they coming for me now?’ he asked and kept his eyes on the horizon, jerking from side to side.

  ‘Rudy, it’s just me. If anybody is coming for you, I don’t know. I don’t even know if they’re coming for me. Rudy, look at me.’

  He shook his head. ‘You aren’t here to warn me?’

  ‘No, Rudy. I’m here to ask you to help me.’

  ‘Oh man, Libby, I don’t think so. I don’t want to get involved in a prison break scheme.’

  ‘What are you talking about? A prison break scheme? You think I’m plotting to break the guys out of military custody?’

  ‘Well, I’ve been thinking about it but it just seemed like such a long shot and I was sure I would fail and they would lock me up and never let me out and I just—’

  ‘Rudy, Rudy,’ I said putting my hands on his arms. ‘Calm down. I’m not going to ask you to do anything illegal. I just need to take a walk in the woods and I don’t want to do it alone.’r />
  ‘At a time like this, you can think about taking a walk in the woods?’

  ‘Rudy, look at me,’ I said, bouncing an index finger on the tip of my nose. ‘Focus. Keep your eyes on my face. And corral your imagination and listen. Okay?’

  Rudy took a deep breath, exhaled and said, ‘Okay.’

  ‘Rudy, I came to you instead of Gary because I was afraid that he’d flip his cap if I asked him and you are acting every bit as crazy as I thought he might.’

  ‘Libby, I’m sorry. Everything that’s been going on has me as nervous as a hen surrounded by roosters. Tell me about this walk. If I can help you, I will.’

  ‘It’s about Tom.’

  ‘You’ve heard from Tom? Is he okay? Where is he?’

  ‘I don’t know exactly where he is and I think he’s alive. I found a note on my doorstep saying he made a mistake and he needs to talk to me. I left a note for him. And he responded telling me to meet him at 9 o’clock tonight at the shack where Frannie Snowden was hiding.’

  ‘Oh, geez! I can’t say I really want to revisit that nightmare. But I would like to see Tom.’

  ‘That’s the problem, Rudy. He gave specific instructions that only I could come into the shack. Also, I am worried that it wasn’t really Tom who sent the note and it’s a trap of some kind. In that case, I need a witness with me – someone who can escape with the truth if the worst happens.’

  ‘I certainly can’t let you go out there alone and I don’t feel like I am the best option for protecting you. Unfortunately, the guys that would be better at it are locked up somewhere. I’ll do my best.’

  ‘Rudy, heroics aren’t necessary. If matters do get ugly, I don’t want you coming to my rescue. I want you to run away and inform others about what happened.’