Chapter 27: The World's Most Comfortable Hiding Place

“Well, I’ll be!” said Drew.  “No wonder we couldn’t find the grotto by the cliff.  There isn’t one!”

“You think that’s what they meant?” Edward asked.

“It’s got to be,” said Drew.  “It’s right by the water, too.  It’s a good thing we decided to come here for dinner; otherwise, we’d probably still be looking for it.”

“What are we waiting for?” said Renee.  “Let’s go in!”

“Not yet,” said Drew.  “We still have a couple hours.  We’ll wait until later to go in.  Although,” he said, “we could go over and figure out how to get inside.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” said Carol.  “We don’t want to be stuck outside when they’re ready to head out.”

“That’s true,” said Drew.  “Come on; let’s go!”

They quickly gathered their trash and threw it away before slipping out into the cool night air.  No cars were coming, so they dashed across the road.  As they wandered past the drive-in, Drew said:

“I just thought of something.  Remember when we were talking about Pearson, Schlegel knew he’d been to Don’s Drive-In a lot?”

“Vaguely,” said Edward.  “That was Bourdon’s contact, though.  I don’t see what it has to do with Schlegel.”

“Nothing,” said Drew.  “Schlegel had nothing to do with the restaurant.  How did he know Pearson went there a lot?”

“He saw him when he was at The Grotto!” said Carol.

“Exactly,” said Drew, “so this must be the place.  What does that sign on the door say?”

It said a lot.

Welcome to the Grotto

Cheap Food Good Beer

Shirts and Shoes Required at All Times

Must Be 21 or Over to Enter

Pets Are Not Allowed

Open All Night

The last part of that statement was immediately contradicted, as the door flew open.  “Alright, alright, out you go!” a beefy bouncer hollered at a guy who’d obviously consumed a little too much of an age-restricted beverage.

“Aw, but Max,” said the guy.  “It’s only 9:57.  You’re not closing for another three minutes!”

“You don’t get out in three minutes,” said Max.  “Now, beat it!”  With a heave, he ejected the drunk customer from the building.  The woozy beerdrinker cursed, stumbled to his feet, and weaved off into the night.

“They’re closing at ten!” whispered Drew.  “I wonder why.”

“Maybe they want to go home early,” said Edward.  “How’re we going to get in?”

“Wait a minute!” said Drew.  “I’ve got an idea.  Are there still people in there?”

“I’ll check!” whispered Edward.  He ran up to the window, peeped inside, and headed back.  “Yep!  It looks like that bouncer’s about to throw someone else out.”

“We’ve got to work fast, then,” said Drew.  “Renee, you know how to keep a door from locking with masking tape, right?”

“Of course,” said Renee, “but I don’t have any masking tape.”

“I do,” said Drew.  “Here.  Carol and Edward, see that trash can right over there?”

“The black one?” said Edward.

“I don’t think there are any others,” said Drew.  “Empty it out.  Carefully, don’t make a mess.”

“If you don’t want us to make a mess, then why have us empty the trash can in the first—”

“Never mind, Carol!  There’s a bag in it, right?”

“Not for long,” said Edward.  “Give me a hand, Carol.”

Brother and sister yanked the bag out.

“Good.  Renee, hop in.”

“Alright.”

“Drew, why are you having Renee hop into a trash can?”

“You’ll see.  Put the lid on.  Now, we’ll put this next to the door.  Once it swings open, Renee’ll keep it from locking.  Give me a hand, here.”

Drew and Edward carried the can over to the door, set it down, and dashed away from the building.  When they were far enough away to keep from being spotted, they crouched and watched.

The door swung open again.  “Out you go!” shouted the bouncer, trying to throw another drunk out.  This one, however, weighed upwards of 250 pounds and didn’t go so easily.  The bouncer had some trouble getting him through the door.  While he struggled with his load, he didn’t notice a hand grab the door and swing it open farther.  He didn’t notice another hand apply a thick thing of masking tape to the door.  Most importantly, he didn’t notice when the door failed to lock as it shut.

“There,” said Drew.

“Let’s go get her,” said Edward.

“Not yet,” said Drew.  “Here comes the bouncer again.  Wait until it’s a little less active.”

Poor Renee had to wait five minutes before it was quiet enough for Drew and Edward to sneak back over.  They brought the garbage can back to its original position and flipped off the lid.  “You can come out now,” Drew said.

“Thank goodness!” snapped Renee, climbing out.  “If you notice a stench, don’t complain!”

“Never mind that!” said Drew.  “Let’s wait until 11:30, then make our move.  If someone’s already there, we’ll catch them.  If not, we’ll be ready when they arrive.  When the coast is clear, we’ll load up the boat.  Then, we’ll give that sub its last rendezvous!”

Chapter 26: Where's the Grotto?

The rest of the day was spent preparing for the rendezvous.  Drew took Edward into town to look for something while Carol took Renee for a walk along the beach to look for something.  Only one pair was successful.

“Haven’t found it yet?” Drew asked, when Carol and Renee returned.

The sisters shook their heads.  “We walked about a mile north and south but couldn’t find it.  There don’t seem to be any caves in the cliffs.”

“It figures,” said Drew.  “I’m sure that’s where the grotto is, but it must be well-concealed.  They don’t want tourists stumbling into it.”

“How’d you all make out?” Renee asked.

“We found exactly what we were looking for,” said Drew.  “The Maserati has five crates of dynamite in the trunk.”

“So what’s the plan?” asked Carol.  “Figure out where the sub is and ram a boat into it?”

“Exactly,” said Drew.  “We’re all ready, except for not knowing where the grotto is.”  He checked his watch.  “It’s only noon.  Let’s have lunch and go for a beach stroll, shall we?”

Lunch only took twenty minutes, and the spies hit the beach in full force.  They were the only ones not looking out towards the ocean.  Carol and Renee headed south, and Drew and Edward headed north.

“I don’t think the cave’s over here,” said Edward.  “The cliff’s too flat, and nothing’s growing in front of it.”

“It gets a little more interesting down there,” responded Drew.  “See those rocks out in the bay?”

Drew was correct.  Jagged outcroppings stuck out all over the cliff.  “The opening might be concealed behind one of these rocks,” said Drew.  “Let’s examine them.”

Carefully, the brothers felt their way around the rocks.  It wasn’t long before Edward found something.  “Ouch!” he exclaimed.

“What?  What’s the matter?”  Drew looked over to his brother, then burst out laughing.

Edward glared back.  “It’s not funny.”

“Good job, Edward!  You found a crab!”

Edward yanked his hand out of the crab’s claw, then flung the crustacean towards the ocean.  “I hope you drown out there,” he said, only adding to Drew’s mirth.

Five minutes went by, then Drew spoke up.  “Edward!  I found a loose stone!”

“Really?” said Edward, coming over.  “That’s big!”

“Help me move it out of the way,” said Drew.  “Maybe there’s something hiding—”

The two brothers grabbed the stone and heaved.  It wasn’t easy.  Even though the stone was loose, it was wedged into the rock, and it showed no interest in coming out.  Drew and Edward tugged and tugged and tugged until finally, the big stone pulled away.  It went crashing down a small hill, and Drew and Edward surveyed their work.

“Nothing,” said Drew.  “False alarm.  I hope the girls are doing better.”

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

“Smile, Renee!”

Carol’s younger sister grinned as her older sibling snapped a picture.  Carol looked at it, then nodded.

“Good one,” she said.

Renee ran over to join her sister.  She glanced up at the large cliff in front of them, then down at the camera.  “See any caves?”

Carol was zooming in.  “Not yet, but let’s see.  This is about as far in as we can get before it gets blurry.  Holler if you see anything.”

Renee watched as her sister moved the image around on the camera screen.  “There!” she said.  “Doesn’t that area look a little darker than the rest?”

“I thought the same thing,” said Carol, “but I was hoping we’d find something else.”  She glanced at the area Renee spoke of, fifty feet off the ground near the cliff’s summit.  “We’ll have to approach it from the top.  Let’s circle back to that path.  Remember that tree near the edge of the cliff.”

Renee nodded.  “Got it!”

12.2 Minutes Later:

“There’s the tree,” said Renee.

“OK,” said Carol.  “It’s just after this spot.  Let’s take a peek.”

The girl’s looked over the cliff, down at the shadowy area.

“If there’s a cave there, it’s awfully hard to get to,” said Renee.

“Hard, but not impossible,” said Carol.  Removing her backpack, she pulled out some rope.  “Do you mind going down and checking?  I’d do it, but I’d probably be too heavy for you.”

“That’s fine,” said Renee.  “I’d be too nervous to let you down anyway.”

In a minute, Renee was descending towards the outcropping.  She held her breath and tried not to think about what would happen if Carol dropped the rope.  Renee wasn’t scared of heights, but she was certainly scared of going down too fast.

“There!” said Carol.  “See anything?”

Renee checked.  “It’s just a small crevice,” she said.  “Only goes back about a foot.  There’s nothing in there.”

“Are you sure?”

“Wait, I’ll check!”  Renee crawled in and felt around.  “Yes, false alarm.”

Carol sighed and yanked up the rope.  “Something tells me we’re going to be here all afternoon.”

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

Carol was correct.  For ten miserable hours, the four left no stone unturned on the Malibu beach.  Any crevice, any nook, any shadow in the cliff was investigated.  All for naught.  In fact, the spies couldn’t find a single cave near the Blaine mansion.

They searched until the sun was almost gone; then they gave it up.  If the cave couldn’t be found in the daylight, of course it wasn’t going to appear at night.  They’d have to try something else to find the rendezvous spot, and they had less than three hours to do it.

“We missed dinner,” said Drew, after the four reconvened back at the house.  “Let’s head into town and get something.  Then, it’s right back to work for us.”

By the time they reached town, it was 9:40.  The sun was completely gone, but plenty of light came from the flashy signs heralding Malibu’s many tourist attractions.  Pink, yellow, green, blue—all colors of the rainbow were represented.

“Where to?” said Drew.  “Preferably somewhere that doesn’t close at ten.”

“There’s a McDonald’s by the water,” said Carol.  “Across from Don’s Drive-In.”

Drew nodded.  “That’ll be open late.  We’ll go there.”

“Drive-thru or eat in?” asked Edward, as Drew entered the parking lot.

“Eat in,” said Drew.  “I don’t want to wait until we get back home to eat.”

“Well, you could just eat a cheeseburger with both hands and steer with your knees,” said Renee.  “That’s what Carol does all the time.”

“I do not!” snapped Carol.  “I’m not that bad a driver!”

“Actually, she doesn’t, Renee,” said Edward.  “I saw her last time she drove.  She just sits there and screams until someone else takes over the wheel.”

“That’s only when I’m trapped in a deathtrap meant to kill me!” said Carol.

“Or when you’re on a snowmobile,” said Edward.  “Remember when we were in the Yukon Territory, and you were convinced that pile of snow in front of you was a polar bear?”

“That was skiing in Switzerland, Edward,” said Drew.  “You’re mixing up vacations.”

“It was?” said Edward.

“Yes,” said Drew.  “It was.  I remember because at the time, I was thinking how polar bears weren’t native to the area.  Apparently Carol didn’t know that.”

“Let’s just go order and talk about something else,” said Carol, painfully sensitive about her—um, weaknesses as a driver.  Her many weaknesses.  Normally, she would have been irate at her siblings, but today was an exception.  After Edward’s help last night, it would be a while before she got mad at him for anything.

Even though it was almost ten o’clock, ordering went very smoothly.  Drew was fluent in Spanish, and he put that to good use with the clerk on duty.  Everyone got exactly what they wanted, even Renee, who always had the double cheeseburger with mustard and a tomato, only.  When the servers got her order right, nothing could cross them up.

The four found a seat by a window.  It looked out towards a road, but the road ended just after the McDonald’s.  Beyond was the waterfront, and lights from buoys twinkled off the Pacific.

“It looks pretty out there,” said Carol, facing the water.  “You wouldn’t think there’s an enemy submarine hiding in the water.”

“Things usually look more peaceful than they are in reality,” said Drew.  “Like our car.  It looks nice enough out in the parking lot, but if it caught on fire—”

“—it wouldn’t just be the gas igniting,” finished Edward.

“Exactly,” said Drew.  “Then, take the Schlegels.  They seemed nice enough, but they had a big secret.  By the end of their stay, they were trying to kill us.”

“You could say that about a lot of people we’ve run into over the years,” noted Carol, still watching the water.

“Yes, you’re right.  Anyway, it all proves my point.”  Drew looked around.  “I only hope this McDonald’s doesn’t prove to be a whole lot more active than—”

“Oh my goodness!” exclaimed Edward, staring out the window.  He grabbed his sister’s sleeve.  “Carol, look!”

“What?  What is it?” asked Carol.  She followed her brother’s gaze.  Then, her jaw dropped.

“What?  What?” asked Drew and Renee, still puzzled.

“Come over here!” said Carol.  “Wait till you see this!”

Drew and Renee slid out of their booth, but by the time they reached their siblings, a garbage truck was slowly driving past the McDonald’s.

“Once that’s gone,” said Carol, “look towards the water.  It’s slightly past Don’s Drive-In.”

Drew and Renee stared as the truck moved past.  When it was gone, they saw the harbor.  They saw the buoys, sparkling out on the ocean.  They saw McDonald’s, they saw the Don’s Drive-In sign, they saw cars, they saw a gas station.

And, just behind the drive-in, they saw a large, old sign.  Six letters flashed in the night, for all to see.  Four, without duplicates.  They spelled out a word that was all too familiar to the Lawrences today:

                         GROTTO

Chapter 25: Hunt for the Submarine

Technically, Carol and Renee had the authority to arrest Schlegel themselves.  They were official members of the CIA.  However, if they had, it would’ve messed up their cover.

Instead, Carol called the Los Angeles CIA office.  Two agents were stationed in the vicinity of the Blaine residence, as backup to the Lawrences, and they were at the mansion before Schlegel had a chance to come to.  They arrested him, as well as his wife, who insisted she knew nothing about the matter.  No one believed her.

Just as the CIA agents were about to leave, they got a call from their office.  Coffman, Hannah’s boyfriend, was pulling through.  He had regained consciousness just that morning and told police officers his suspicions about Schlegel.

“Already arrested him,” one of the agents said, “but thanks for the tip.”  He hung up his cellphone and turned to his colleague. “Find anything?”

“Yes,” came the reply, as the other agent emerged from Schlegel’s room with his arms full of stuff.

The first one whistled.  “Bring it down to headquarters,” he said.  “Let’s go.”

The agents loaded up their car and were just pulling away when Drew drove up.  He took one look at the occupants and ran upstairs. “Renee!” he said, bursting into his sisters’ room.  “Oh, Carol, there you are!  Was that—”

“It was,” said Carol.  “Two CIA agents came by.  They arrested the Schlegels for something.”

“Really?” said Drew.  “Neat!  So they were—”

Carol nodded.  “Edward and I figured it out last night.”

“Splendid.”  Drew flopped down on a bed as Edward wandered into the room.  “I guess we don’t need to worry about being overheard, now that they’re out of the way.  He was trying to steal the plans?”

Carol nodded again, then proceeded to tell the whole story, starting with the night before.  Edward helped, and Drew and Renee listened intently.  When Carol was finished, Drew spoke.

“So we’re not done yet,” he said.  “We’ve still got to take care of that submarine.”

As he said those words, there was a beep.  “What’s that?” said Edward.

“Oh, that’s my unicorn!” said Renee.  She hopped up on the bed.  “Can you give me a boost, Carol?”

Her older sister helped her up.  “I’m so glad you hid that in the vent!” Carol said.  “If you hadn’t been there when Schlegel came in, who knows what he would have done with us!”

“It’s from Washington,” Renee called down from the vent.  “They want us to—”

“Hold on a minute!” said Drew.  “Don’t tell us from the vent.  Do you want the whole house to hear it?  Come on down.”

Renee struggled out, landed on the bed, and continued.  “I sent in Carol’s report to Washington.  The German government didn’t know about Schlegel’s activities, or about the submarine.  They’ve given us permission to destroy it, and Washington says go ahead.”

“Alright!” said Drew.  “Sounds like fun!  Where is it?”

Carol shrugged.  “The Pacific Ocean, I guess.”

“That’s not specific enough,” said Drew.  “Don’t we have anything more to go on?”

“Probably somewhere around Malibu,” said Carol.

“Still too much territory,” said Drew.  “We’ll have to call those CIA agents later and ask if they found anything.  Which ones were they?  Miller and Gilchrist?”

“Meanwhile,” said Edward, “why don’t we search the Schlegels’ room?”

“Didn’t Miller and Gilchrist already do that?” asked Carol.

“They might have missed something,” said Drew.  “It’s worth a try.  Come on.”

For the next several minutes, the Lawrences went over the room with a fine-toothed comb.  Not much turned up.  The furniture was all still there, but much of the Schlegels’ luggage had been impounded by Miller and Gilchrist.  The only remaining items, mostly clothes, revealed nothing further about Schlegel’s activities.

“There’s got to be something,” said Edward.  “Schlegel had to know where he could meet the sub once he got the plans.”

“He might not have written it down,” said Drew, examining the windowsill.  “The really good spies memorize that type of thing.”

“Maybe when they interrogate him, he’ll say where it is,” said Renee.

“I don’t think so,” said Drew.  “Schlegel’s clever; he won’t reveal anything we don’t already know.  Especially if it could hurt his Donnerreich group.”

“What does Donnerreich mean, anyway?” asked Renee.  “It sounds German.”

“It is,” said Drew.  “‘Thunder Empire’ would be the literal translation.”

“World domination,” said Edward.  “That’s always the goal.  Don’t they know they’re never going to succeed?”

“Some people never learn,” said Drew.  “At least it keeps us in business.  What are you doing under the bed, Carol?”

“I just thought of something,” his sister said.  “There was a menu hidden under a loose floorboard in Pearson’s room.  Maybe Schlegel used the same trick.”

“I doubt it,” said Drew.  “Schlegel had no relation to—”

“Ah-hah!”

“What?”

“A phone!” exclaimed Carol, emerging triumphantly with a small cellphone.  “It was under a loose floorboard.”

“How about that?” said Drew.  “Miller and Gilchrist didn’t do their job.  This is probably pretty valuable.  I wonder what contacts it has,” he said, sliding his finger across the screen.

Before he could do anything else, the phone rang.

“Uh-oh,” said Drew.  “What do I do now?”

“Answer it,” said Carol.  “See who it is!”

“Okay,” said Drew.  “Let’s hope they think I’m Schlegel.  Hello?” he said.

“The Donnerreich will not be soon defeated,” came a voice on the other end.  Silence followed.

“Yes?” said Drew.

“How goes the assignment?  Did you get rid of Hallett?”

“Sort of,” said Drew.  “He wasn’t actually the spy, but I figured out who it really was.  We don’t have to worry about that anymore.  Meanwhile, I’ve got bigger news for you.  Blaine’s finished.”

“He is?”

“Done this morning.  The ink was still drying when I filched them off his desk.  We’re ready to go when you are.”

“Tonight,” said the voice.  “You, Harriet, me, and Hessler will meet at the grotto.  Be there by midnight.  The sub will be just offshore, waiting to pick us up.”

“Midnight,” said Drew.  “I understand.  See you then.”

“The captain will be waiting,” said the voice.  With a click, the conversation ended.

Drew hung up and looked around.  “Well, guess what?  We’re going to the grotto tonight.”

“The grotto?” said Carol.  “Where’s that?”

“No idea, but—” said Drew, looking at his watch, “we’ve got a little over twelve hours to find it!”