She felt Malin’s hands on her shoulder, far gentler than Prig, but she didn’t feel comforted. She might never feel comforted again, but she wouldn’t let these mercenaries run amok on her island, and she wouldn’t let them harm her father. Whatever it took, whatever the risks, she would drive them all away, one way or another.
“Okay, plan first, shoot later,” she said, “so let’s make a plan, because I’m not just going to sit here.”
21
They were forced to convene in the game room at the end of the long hall so they could bring a bunch of card tables together to create a space large enough to hold the bunker map. Fish had found the map in a drawer in an office behind the control room. Elna was truly impressed at how massive and detailed the thing was. Only after they’d unfolded it did she realize that the bunker was, in fact, an enormous complex that tunneled across much of the island.
This island never really belonged to my father, she realized. We were like ants living on the surface. It was always all about this military complex.
There was already so much to be angry about. This was just a little more fuel on the fire. Why had the government sold the island in the first place if they’d never intended to vacate the place? Her father could have located his vineyard elsewhere, and the government could have kept the place, since it clearly meant so much to them.
Because selling it to a civilian helped to hide the bunker, she realized. It gave spy satellites something else to look at, something that wasn’t a secret government bunker for controlling missiles. They used Pasqualee Vineyard as cover.
It made her really, really want to slap someone across the face just as hard as she could, but she didn’t know where to direct the anger. Not at the Marines who were here to fight for the country.
At the mercs, then. That’ll do, she thought. They’ll make a suitable target.
“Right here,” Prig said, pointing at a long passageway that cut across the island. “There are a few exits from the bunker down this corridor. Not sure if any of them are clear, so we’ll have to check it out.”
Elna studied the map and realized that the long passageway started somewhere at the back of the game room. She looked around and spotted what she’d assumed was a closet door in the corner beside the board game shelf. That seemed to be the entrance. She might never have checked it if not for the map.
“It’s over there, isn’t it?” she said, pointing at the door in the corner.
“Seem so,” Prig replied.
Daniel and Chloe were building a castle in the corner out of Legos as Miriam and Sniffy watched nearby. Almost everyone else had gathered around the table. Norman seemed particularly fascinated by the map, and he’d squeezed between Prig and Spence to bend low and study it. He pointed at a door marked on the map at the very end of the long passageway.
“If I’m reading this right, it looks like this door opens up right in the middle of the vineyard somewhere,” he said, scratching his big, wooly beard. “Boy, Elna, all these years while you were growing your grapes, you had no idea this was right under you.”
“That has occurred to me,” Elna said, trying not to speak sharply to Norman. She decided to try to turn it into a joke. “It’s a shame. We could’ve used all the extra storage space.”
For some reason, this made Norman laugh far more than was warranted. Maybe he was more stressed out than he let on and needed to vent.
“I’ll check out the corridor,” Spence said, tapping the long hall on the map, “make sure the other exits are accessible.”
“I’m coming with you,” Elna said. “I think I at least deserve to see the place.”
“Fine with me, ma’am,” Spence replied, tipping the brim of his hat at her. “We’ve been in combat together. I could never say no to a fellow soldier.”
“Be careful down there,” Prig said. “We’ll check out the other places on the map. If there’s any trouble, anything weird at all, retreat and call for help immediately. Do not engage!”
Spence headed for the door in the corner. As Elna followed, Malin started to go with her, but she motioned for him to stay with the others. She was in such a foul mood, she didn’t want to inadvertently snap at him. Of all people, he didn’t deserve that.
The door beside the shelves was entirely unremarkable—a narrow metal door that was rusting at the corners. A couple of board games were hanging over the end of the shelves, and Spence shoved them out of the way. This caused a Monopoly box to fall off the other end, but Elna managed to reach over and catch it.
“Good reaction time,” Spence said. “You should’ve been a Marine.”
“Maybe I should have,” Elna replied, shoving the board game back onto the shelf.
As Spence unbolted and opened the door, she noted that he had a scrap of Mentos wrapped between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, and he was endlessly rubbing it. He’d practically rubbed the logo off. When he pulled the door open, stale air whooshed out, and a few lights in the ceiling flickered to life. It was a nondescript hall with metal walls flecked in rust, a dusty floor, and a few doors far in
