Chapter 17: This Is the Pacific

“Don’t panic,” said Drew.  “There’s another way out of this!”  With that, he put the car in drive and gunned the motor.  The car lurched ahead of the one pushing it and sped the rest of the way down the dock.

“What are you doing?” gasped Carol.  The car reached the edge, flew into the air, and plummeted straight towards the water below.

As it fell, Drew turned on the radio, set the station to FM 107.9, and hit the hazard lights button.

Splash!  The car landed in the water and plunged under the surface.  Then, it stopped sinking.  New headlights that cut through the water came on.  Drew adjusted the gearshift and began speeding through the water.

“Didn’t the CIA tell you about this car?” said Drew.  “Oh, never mind.  I guess they didn’t want you driving it.”

“It’s a submarine?”

“Among other things,” said Drew.  “Remember?  Like the one we used on the last assignment?”

“Oh, that one,” said Carol.  “I remember that.  That one was a Chevy though, right?”

“A Maserati would have looked out of place in Billings,” said Drew.  “Anyway, they’re still repairing that one.  We got this car for this trip.”

“I see,” said Carol.  “Well, it came in handy.”

“Yes,” said Drew.  “I wonder who rammed us.”

“Don’t we have a camera?” asked Renee.

Drew shook his head.  “It was in the left-rear backup light, and that broke when they hit us.  No footage.”

“I couldn’t really get a look,” said Edward.  “All I noticed were the headlights.  Then, I was too stunned to see anything else.”

“Same,” said Renee.

Drew shrugged.  Then, he grinned.  “Someone’s going to be surprised when we get home.  Let’s go.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If anyone was surprised at the Blaine residence, they did a good job of hiding it.  The butler merely sniffed at the Lawrences when he opened the door.  (Renee asked if he had a cold.)  Philip yawned at the four before heading upstairs to his room.  Hannah and Peter were out in the gardens, gazing up at the moonlight.  Hodgson had gone to bed, and Schlegel and Bourdon were playing billiards.

“Shall we go look in on them and let them know we’re still alive?” Carol whispered.

Drew shook his head.  “Let’s make ourselves scarce.  Remember, we’ve got something going on tonight.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At one in the morning, Drew tapped on his sisters’ door.  It opened immediately.  Carol and Renee had been watching the clock.  Edward was up, too.  Without a word, the four started down the stairs.

Reaching the first floor, they made their way down the main hall to the library.  Drew stopped the group at the door.  Silently, he motioned for Edward to watch it.  Then, he took Renee through the library to the other door and stopped her there.  He looked at her, and she nodded.  With that, Drew and Carol got to work.

Drew walked to the table in the center of the end of the room with the secret door.  He set a large flashlight on the table and turned it on, illuminating the bookshelves.  Then, he walked around to the bookshelf in the center and yanked a book on the third shelf from the ceiling, towards the right.

It came out.  Nothing happened.

Carol stared at Drew, a quizzical expression on her face.  “Forgot,” Drew mouthed.  He put that book back and grabbed another one.  It slipped out too, nicely.  So did the next, and the next, and the next.  Drew looked visibly perplexed as he reached for another one.

It didn’t come out.  Instead, the bookshelf swung slowly open.  Drew stepped out of the way of the shelf and peered inside.

Suddenly, Edward opened his door.  “Psst!” he said.  “There’s someone upstairs!”

Drew turned out the light.  “Make sure no one goes in here,” he whispered.  “I’ll go find out who it is.  Be right back.”  He slipped out of the library and darted down the hall towards the front steps.  Before reaching them, he flattened himself against the wall and slid along until he was almost in the entryway.

Then, he stepped out nonchalantly.

“Ah, Mr. Bourdon!  Fancy running into you this time of night!”

Bourdon stopped in the middle of the stairs, a surprised expression on his face.  “Drew!  I thought you’d gone to bed.”

“I had, but I couldn’t sleep,” said Drew.  “What about you?”

“Same.”

There was an awkward silence.

“You should take a look outside,” said Drew.  “I hear Orion’s really clear tonight.”

“Yes,” said Bourdon.  “Plenty of time for that later.”  He paused.  “What were you really doing?”

“Walking around,” said Drew.  “Why, what about you?”

“Oh—just wandering,” said Bourdon.  “Uh—find out anything?”

“I found out I’m not the only one who can’t sleep,” said Drew.

“I mean about—you know.”

“I know what?” said Drew.  “Who can’t sleep, you mean?”

“No—not that at all,” Bourdon laughed, a very hollow-sounding laugh.  He looked nervous.  “Would you—”

“Would I what?” said Drew.  He gave Bourdon a funny look.  “What’s up?  Is there something you want?”

“No—I mean—well, it’s nothing pressing, but—”  Drew kept silent, forcing Bourdon to finish.

“What do you know?” Bourdon finally said.

“About what?”

“The project.”

“Project?”

“Mr. Blaine’s project.  We both know he’s working on something.  Have you found out anything yet?”

“Not much.”

“What do you mean, not much?”

“Nothing outside common knowledge.”

“What’s that?”

Drew smiled.  “Like I said, not much.  Nobody knows anything about it, except Blaine’s working on something.”

“Something related to aerospace.”

Drew thought a moment.  “That’s plausible,” he said.  “After all, he does work for—”

“It involves a missile, doesn’t it?  A big, self-guided missile, powerful enough to wipe out a whole county?”

“Go on,” said Drew.  “You intrigue me!”

Worry crossed Bourdon’s face.  “You mean you didn’t know?”

“I didn’t say that,” said Drew, “but I’d appreciate hearing more.”

“Er, no,” said Bourdon.  “No, no—not now.  Not—just pretend I didn’t say anything.  Goodnight.”

With that, the flustered spy ran back upstairs, slamming his door behind him.

Drew stared after him, grinning.  Then, he turned to go back downstairs.

“Aaaah!”

The scream came from the Halletts’ room!

Drew rushed back up the stairs and flung open the door to his “parents’” room.  Mrs. Ames stood against the wall, a look of fright on her face.  Mr. Ames rose up from the other side of the bed, something small in his hand.  He looked over at Drew.

“Snake,” he said.  “There was a snake in the room.”

The scream had drawn attention.  Bourdon and the Schlegels darted out of their rooms, and the Blaines followed close behind.  “What is it?  What’s the matter?” asked Mr. Blaine.

Drew pointed past the bed.  “Dad killed a snake over there,” he said.

The throng milled their way through the room until they reached the other side of the bed.  Sliced neatly in two with Mr. Ames’s pocketknife was an ugly, tan snake with little diamond patterns on its back.

Mr. Blaine drew in his breath.  “A diamondbacked rattler,” he said.  “Now, how did that get here?  I’ve never seen one on this property before?”

“There’s something unusual about this snake,” said Mr. Hallett.  “No rattler.”

“That’s right,” said Drew.  “Someone removed it.”

“Why would someone do that?” asked Mrs. Hallett.

“So it wouldn’t make noise,” said Mr. Blaine.  “That’s the only explanation.  Without a rattler, there’d be no warning of its presence.”

“If this is some kind of a joke,” said Mr. Hallett, “I want you all to know it’s not very funny.”  He stared accusingly around the room.

Schlegel leaned over the bed and stared at the snake’s body.  “I’m going to make sure there aren’t more of these crawling around,” he said.  “Come on, Karla!”

Mrs. Schlegel didn’t look too enthusiastic.  “I think I’ll wait here while you search our room,” she said.  “Ooh, how ghastly!”

“I’ll send Godfrey to clean this up,” said Mr. Blaine.  “That is, unless you want a rattlesnake carcass on your floor all night.”

Mr. Hallett shook his head.  “Take it away,” he said, leaning against the bed.  “I’d rather not have to look at something like that.  I didn’t think this trip would be so dangerous.”

Drew knew it would be dangerous.  He just didn’t realize how dangerous it would be for the Halletts.  “Hopefully we can get this cleared up before something else happens,” he thought.