“There’s nothing in here.” Tony stood. “Other than the cooler, the place is clean.”
Carlita turned to go when her foot caught on something and she stumbled. “I keep tripping over my own feet.”
“No, Ma.” Mercedes shook her head. “There’s something sticking up.”
“It’s a ring.” Tony grasped the ring and gave it a sharp tug. A rectangular piece of the flooring popped up, revealing a trapdoor. “Stand back.”
Tony leaned forward for a closer inspection. On one end was a metal ladder leading down to murky darkness.
“Hand me your phone.”
Mercedes handed her phone to him. He turned the flashlight on and shined the light into the opening. “There’s something down there. I’m gonna check it out.”
“Be careful son.” Carlita and Mercedes hovered near the opening while Tony descended the steps, the light from Mercedes’ phone bouncing off the floor.
There was a momentary silence and then Tony’s voice echoed up. “I think I got something.”
Carlita listened to the thunk of Tony’s steps on the ladder and he re-emerged holding a black backpack. He slid it onto the wooden floor next to his mother. “There are a coupla tunnels down here. One looks like it leads to the river, but it’s blocked off. There’s another one that’s open and I wanna see where it goes.”
“I’ll go with you.” Mercedes scrambled to the edge of the ladder. “Ma, you stay here and keep a look out.”
“I don’t like this,” Carlita eyed the opening. “You don’t know what you’re gonna run into.”
Tony patted his pocket. “I got my glock.”
Mercedes pulled her small pistol from her pocket and handed it to her mother. “Hang onto this.”
Carlita took the gun. “Please be careful.”
Mercedes scampered down the ladder and joined Tony, who was shining the light around the dark, dank space. “See that tunnel? I think it leads to the river. There’s another one over here.” He shifted the phone to his other hand and eased his gun out of his pocket. “Stay close.”
“You won’t have to worry about that.” Mercedes stepped next to her brother and they slowly inched their way along the narrow tunnel. Except for the shuffling of their feet and an occasional dripping sound, the tunnel was eerily quiet.
“I think we’re walking along the river,” Mercedes whispered.
The tunnel continued for what seemed like forever and abruptly ended in front of a brick wall and another metal ladder. Tony handed his sister his gun and stuck his foot on the bottom rung.
“What are you doing?” Mercedes hissed.
“Checkin’ it out. Keep the gun handy.”
“I think this is a bad idea.”
Tony ignored his sister and crept up the steps. At the top was a wooden trapdoor. He shoved Mercedes’ cell phone in his pocket and tightened his grip on the ladder. Using his free hand, he pushed on the trapdoor. It didn’t budge.
He tried again and it refused to give way.
Tony descended the steps and joined his sister at the bottom. “It’s locked on the other side.”
“I have an idea.” Mercedes held out the gun. “I’ll trade you. Hand me my phone and take your gun.”
The two switched and Mercedes tapped the front of her cell phone.
“What are you doing?”
“I have an app on my phone that counts steps. I’m going to count the number of steps we take to get back to Ma. We know the direction we’re walking. All we gotta do is walk the same number of steps along the river and Voila! We’ll be able to figure out where this tunnel ends.”
“That’s a good idea Mercedes.”
“I’m full of good ideas.”
The siblings retraced their steps, returning to the open trapdoor.
Mercedes climbed up the steps first and joined her mother. Tony followed his sister out of the tunnel and then slid the trapdoor back in place.
“What did you find?” Carlita handed the backpack to her son and returned Mercedes’ gun to her.
“There’s a tunnel leading to the river. The tunnel is blocked. There’s a second tunnel. It dead ends at another ladder and trapdoor, but it was locked on the other side.”
“So you don’t know where it goes?”
“Nope, but Mercedes has an idea.”
“A brilliant idea,” Mercedes interrupted.
“Yes, Mercedes has a brilliant idea and we’re gonna check it out just as soon as we find out what’s in the backpack.”
The trio exited the building and Tony closed the door behind them. He followed his mother and sister into the courtyard before he set the backpack on the ground and unzipped the front compartment. The pocket was empty.
He opened the second one. Inside the compartment were a handheld calculator, two ink pens, and a yellow pad with handwritten notes. Tony squinted his eyes and studied the notes. “This looks like Greek to me.” He dropped the items back into the compartment and unzipped the large, center compartment where he pulled out a laptop.
Tony flipped it open. “It has battery left, but there’s a password lock.”
“Rats,” Mercedes said.
“We’ll have to see if we can figure out how to bypass the password.” Tony closed the lid and slid the laptop back inside. “There’s something else in here.”
Tony stuck his hand inside and pulled out a bulky manila envelope. “What’s this?” He tipped the envelope over and dumped the contents onto the ground. “Whoa. Check this out!”
Chapter 15
Several thick stacks of hundred dollar bills fell to the ground and he began counting the cash. “There’s over a hundred thousand dollars here.”
“Robert,” Carlita said. “I bet a million bucks this backpack belonged to Robert. Why would he tell Shelby he needed money if he had all of this?”
“Because the man was a sick, twisted individual who wanted his ex-wife and child to be penniless. We’re gonna take it with us.”
