Blade’s office number, hoping he was there.
Blade answered the phone by saying the number and accepted the charge before the operator could get the words out of her mouth. “I was hoping you’d call, you son of a bitch. Where are you?”
“San Jose.” Drake outlined the problem in two sentences.
“This whole thing may be more serious than we thought. If they’re holding secret meetings, that may mean something is imminent. Okay, here’s what we think is happening. We think Casey wants to make some sort of important announcement coincident with the ending of Running California tomorrow. He’s getting his generals in a row tonight. What you’ve just told us confirmed some other stuff we‘ve learned. We don’t think the meeting is on the Big G campus.”
Drake was annoyed. “Then where is it?”
“Big G has a corporate hideaway in the mountains about thirty miles east of San Jose. They take their employees there to play bonding games and participate in other juvenile activities. Slick is headed there right this minute to find out what’s going on. I talked to him just after he left you-unfortunately, too late to catch you. He’s going to observe what he can, but he has to stay out of sight. He can’t move in with guns blazing. What we need is someone who knows the players to infiltrate the meeting.”
“Meaning me?”
“You’re not on the payroll, and I can’t order you to do it. After all, there’s not much at stake here except the future of the United States of America and the free world.”
Perhaps; perhaps not. There was no question that a million dollars might be riding on what he did tonight. “You’re making this sound like the big time. If our man tries to take over, will people go along with it?”
“If they’re scared enough, they will. The media have certainly been playing up the fear factor.”
“How do you want me to proceed?”
“Don’t do anything until we hear from Slick. Is there a place where you can get something to eat?”
“We’re at a restaurant.”
“Get some food inside you so you’ll be prepared. I’m going to give you a number where you can reach me. Call it in thirty minutes. In addition, give me the number there.”
Drake exchanged numbers with Blade and hung up. He had Melody move to a booth close to the pay phones, so if it rang he could answer it. He sat down opposite her and quickly filled her in, adding, “I’ll go alone. We’ll find a way to get you back to the motel. Maybe a taxi-”
“Belay that. I’m coming with you to make sure you get back safely. The run tomorrow doesn’t start until ten, and it’s a short one. We’ll be there with bells on.”
When Melody made up her mind about something, there was no use arguing with her. Drake mentioned that what they were doing could be dangerous, but she had faced danger before. It didn’t faze her. They ordered dinner and ate.
In thirty minutes Drake called Blade. Blade hadn’t heard from Slick and told Drake to call back in another thirty minutes. Drake and Melody ordered dessert. They talked about what they would do if they split a million dollars. The prospect wasn’t real to them. Yesterday it had been almost out of reach. But on the hills today they had gained valuable minutes on both the teams ahead of them. Having Tom and Jerry get lost was serendipity. Maybe, with a superhuman effort tomorrow…
The pay phone rang. Drake stood and reached it in four long steps. He lifted the receiver and spoke softly.
“Drake.”
“The meeting is in progress. Slick had to come back quite a distance to find a phone he could use. It’s just your average ten thousand square foot rural retreat. He’ll meet you near the entrance. I’m going to give you the directions on how to get there. Do you have pencil and paper?”
“Yes.”
At least Drake had the back of the paper mat that had been set at his place at the table. He wrote down the directions with a cheap pen he always carried with him.
CHAPTER 35
Five minutes later they were in the car headed east with the dome light on so that Melody could read the scribbled directions. They started climbing through pine-scented woods. After a while they turned off onto a dirt road-stopped to verify that it was the correct dirt road-and then continued for a number of uphill miles.
“Slow down,” Melody said. “That may be Slick’s car ahead.”
The car was parked on the other side of the road, facing them. The sun had set and it was dark in the woods. Drake pulled in front of the other car so that they could read the license plate using their car’s headlights. Yes, it was the Ford that Slick had used to chauffeur them last night. Drake pulled around it and made a U-turn. He had to maneuver back and forth several times on the narrow road to complete the turn. He parked behind the Ford and turned off his lights. Drake and Melody got out.
Slick emerged from the Ford. The first thing Melody noticed about him was that he wasn’t wearing his dark glasses, but it was too dark to see what color his eyes were. He stepped between the two cars to get off the road and pointed in the direction they had been heading.
“The entrance is two hundred yards from here. There aren’t any guards at the entrance, but there are at least two inside the grounds. I got close enough to the building to look in the windows. Casey is there along with a bunch of grayheads. They were sitting around a big table. Dressed in civvies, of course, but I recognized your father and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from pictures I’ve seen. This is a high level meeting.”
“How many are there?” Melody asked.
“At least a dozen, probably more. I’m sure I didn’t see them all. It’s your ballgame. How do you want to proceed?”
Drake said, “The only way this has a chance of working is the innocent approach. I’ll walk up to the front door and try to crash their party. You two stay hidden. You’ll be my backup.”
Melody started to say something, but he glared her into silence.
“Hopefully, I’ll get inside and start greeting people. ‘Hi, Casey, hi, Dad, a little bird told me you were here. Thought I’d drop by and say hello. Can’t stay long; got a race for a million dollars tomorrow, but maybe we can chat for a minute.’”
When he said the words out loud, he realized how lame they sounded. But what choice did he have? They walked along the road to the entrance. What impressed Drake was how dark it was. No outside lights shone on the grounds. Clouds covered the moon and stars. Slick had a flashlight, but he would need it more than Drake because he and Melody were remaining outside. Slick also had a gun, which he offered to Drake, but Drake knew that carrying a gun would be ineffective and counterproductive.
Slick pointed to a couple of lights faintly visible in the distance through the trees.
“Those lights are coming from the windows. You can follow the driveway. There are several vehicles, including a bus, parked along it. I heard two guards talking at one point, but I could barely see them. I didn’t want to cause a commotion by taking them out, so I waited in the trees until they went away. Be careful when you’re walking. It’s dark as the inside of a whale’s belly.”
Drake’s eyes were still getting acclimated to the dark. He could make out a few vertical trunks of trees but not much else. They decided that Slick and Melody would wait for thirty minutes. If Drake didn’t appear by then, they would take whatever action they deemed appropriate.
Melody gave Drake a hug. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“Not a chance.”
Drake started walking slowly along the driveway, keeping his hands in front of him, feeling for real and imaginary obstacles. After a few steps he looked back, but Melody and Slick had already been swallowed by the night. The driveway was uneven gravel; Drake had to watch his footing to avoid twisting an ankle. Wouldn’t it be ironic to run over 500 miles without injuring his legs or feet, only to have it happen here?
He wished he could see as well as he could smell the woodsy scent of the pine trees. It reminded him of hiking with his father when he was young. Those days were gone for good.
