sub.”
“So we’re working for the Russkies?”
“Not us. Somebody at Giganticorp.”
“Meaning Casey. He’s the top dog. Why would he do that?”
“Who knows? Maybe he’s an idealist.”
“Idealists are fine as long as they don’t actually try to do anything. You said that Slick is going to meet us at our motel, which I understand is in Cambria. At least he’s not going to show up in his Porsche around the bend somewhere.”
“I nixed that idea. This isn’t like the first time when we were so far behind that stopping for a few minutes to chat with Slick didn’t matter.”
They were passing a house on the ocean side of the road with a sign that read, “This place dangerous to dogs, children, and reasonable people.” The yard was strewn with junk.
Drake smiled. At least they were warned.
Drake and Melody were amazed at the magnificent buildings and the Olympian style swimming pool on the barren hillside above the sea. They were even more surprised at what they saw within the buildings.
Melody read the information brochure. “It says that Hearst collected items in hundreds of different categories. Including ceilings. I say, who in their right mind collects ceilings?”
They were gazing up at one of those ceilings at the moment, brought over in pieces from some medieval castle in Europe and reassembled in its current habitat.
“The man thought big. You can’t deny that.”
Drake and Melody jerked their heads down to the horizontal. There was no mistaking that resonant voice. Slick smiled easily at them from behind his dark glasses. They helped him take on the coloring of a tourist, along with a garish sport shirt and white sneakers. Only his powerful-looking arms and flat stomach gave away the fact that he probably wasn’t driving one of those campers with the wide outside mirrors that the runners had to dodge all day, like a matador evading the horns of the bull.
Drake said, “I’m glad to see that you enjoy the finer things in life.”
“Thought I’d absorb a little culture while I was up here. Let’s stroll over to the pool.”
They could talk outdoors without being overheard. There wasn’t anything unusual about tourists chatting with each other. Among the Greco-Roman columns that surrounded the pool, they felt as if they had been carried back to an ancient age.
Melody couldn’t resist asking about the topic that had occupied her thinking all day. “What did they find out about the boat?”
“Ah yes, you’ve been out of touch in your own little world. Well, it’s going to hit the six o’clock news. What is being published is that it is indeed a miniature submarine, equipped to lob shells of the sort that destroyed the homes in Malibu. It appears that several such shells were fired by it.”
Slick paused, prompting Drake to ask, “What isn’t being published?”
“All of the written material in the boat is in Russian, including the signs that say, ‘Watch your head.’”
“Why is that being suppressed?”
“The president doesn’t feel that we have enough information to make it public. There’s no sign of a crew, no sign of any enemy ship that might have come in to pick one up. The Navy and Coast Guard have the coast blanketed. The boat has suffered very little structural damage, and wasn’t in danger of sinking. Too many things don’t make sense.”
“You mean the president doesn’t want to start World War Three? That’s novel. I was young at the time, but as I recall, Roosevelt was aching for an excuse to get into WW Two.”
“Don’t knock it. Wars hot and cold keep folks like you and me in beer and Porsches. Vietnam’s not going to last forever. I know a little bit about your employment history. Both of you had top secret clearances. Which is why Blade authorized me to tell you this stuff. That and he needs your help.”
Melody looked at the columns being reflected off Slick’s dark glasses and wondered, not for the first time, what color his eyes were. “What does he want us to do?”
“You have access to Casey without arousing suspicion. He’s the fair-haired child of the military, because he’s got lots of brass on his board. Also, to give him credit, he’s delivered weapons’ systems on time, within budget, something not all our suppliers do. Of course, he’s always looking for new markets. One thing he’s developing is a mini sub, similar to the one we found.
“For several reasons, including the coincidence of you being present at both Malibu and Lion Rock, we think he’s got a dog in this hunt, but we don’t know what his game is. Anything you can find out would be appreciated.”
Drake had a thought. “Any idea where the sub was manufactured?”
“It was built using the metric system, but the whole world uses metric except us. That’s something we want to find out. Casey’s giving a campaign speech on network television tonight at eight. Give it a listen. Maybe you’ll get some clues.”
Melody said, “We only see Casey when he decides to drop by, and we never know when that will be. He was just here because of Grace’s murder.”
“He likes Running California, and he likes you guys. He’ll show up oftener than you think.”
“Where did they take the sub?”
“It’s being towed to Monterey, even as we speak.”
Drake, newly money conscious, said, “You mentioned beer and Porsches. Is any of that going to filter down to us?”
“To be honest with you, since you’re off the books, you may wind up with Green Stamps.”
“So we’re doing it for our love of humankind. Where are you going from here?”
“Thought I’d take a drive up the coast to Monterey. This rugged beauty turns me on.”
*
Drake and Melody ate together but not with any of the other runners, so that they could discuss their role as spies. Actually, double agents in a way, since they were being paid by Casey. They decided that because of the things that had happened so far in connection with Running California, this duplicity didn’t bother them, but they didn’t come up with any earthshaking plans either.
On their walk back to the motel, they passed a girl sitting on the sidewalk, wrapped in a blanket. She had long, blond, straight hair and a young, pretty face with tears running down her cheeks. She looked at them but didn’t say anything.
Drake made a move to go back to her, but Melody grabbed his hand and pulled him away.
“Don’t get involved. I say this for your own good. I know you want to help her, and I’m not going to question the purity of your motives, even though it’s possible she might offer to thank you in a particularly pleasant way, but she can only bring you trouble. Besides, we’re on a mission tonight.”
The mission being to listen to Casey’s speech. They went to Drake’s room to listen to it together, so they could compare notes. Drake ran a cold bath for himself and even obtained a container of ice cubes from the motel dispenser and poured them into the tub. He had learned to almost tolerate the freezing water. He left the door to the bathroom open, which enabled him to hear the speech. Melody didn’t object, but she also didn’t volunteer to wash his back.
First they listened to news reports about the submarine. These were delivered with an urgency approaching hysteria. It was probably a good thing that no mention was made of the Russian writing found in it.
Somehow, Casey had wangled time on a national network, even though he was running for senator from California. When it was time for him to speak, a network anchor introduced him as the CEO of the company that was instrumental in the nation’s military preparedness.
It was obvious from the start that Casey wasn’t going to waste his time on California issues now that he had a national pulpit. He immediately started talking about the submarine. He said that the participants in Running California had gone past the spot where the boat was found on the same day, something that had not been mentioned in the news reports. He expanded on that.
