“You stop sneezing?” she asked.
“For now,” said Josh, sniffling into his arm.
“You’re allergic to dust?”
“And about a million other things.”
“Come with me,” she said, taking hold of his arm. “How are you doing?”
“My bladder feels like it’s on fire,” confessed Josh.
“Stay close to me.”
“There’s no light.”
“Hold my shirt.”
She tugged him along as she explored the basement, looking for a way out. A large freight elevator sat at the north side of the complex, apparently connecting to the backstage area of the ballroom above. There was a large steel door on the wall diagonally across from it, but it was chained shut.
“We can shoot off the lock,” said Stevens, raising his gun.
“They may hear it upstairs and realize someone’s down here,” said Mara. “They’ll catch your captain from the back.”
“You’re right. Okay.”
Mara inspected the freight elevator. It was large and simple, open on both sides and the top. A set of rungs extended up the right side. The first opening was two floors up and protected by a metal cage that looked as if it would swing out when the elevator arrived.
Or maybe it was locked. There was some sort of mechanism near the shaft.
There was only one way to find out. Mara began climbing.
She could hear Kerfer’s heavy breathing on the radio.
“You out yet?” he whispered.
“We’re working on it,” said Mara.
“Well get it going.”
The cage was made of mesh. Mara could barely get her fingertips in. There was a small lip on the floor where it met the shaft, but this was only three inches wide. She eased out toward a cross-member, pushing gently, then a little harder. It didn’t budge.
The screen extended only halfway up the opening, and Mara thought she could squeeze over it and get down on the other side. The problem was, she didn’t think Josh could. And Stevens would never fit.
“The gate is a mesh fence,” she told Stevens. “It’s locked. I’m going to try climbing over it and then find the lock. Hold on. It’s very hard to climb.”
“I can do it,” said the SEAL.
“Your fingers are fatter than mine,” she told him. “Just relax.”
Mara managed to get a few feet up, then quickly slid down. Her fingers were just too big for the holes.
She looked at the locking mechanism. It was a simple lever, but there didn’t seem to be a way to reach it from this side.
“What about the kid?” asked Stevens.
“You mean have her climb over?” asked Josh.
Mara looked at M?. Was she strong enough to climb over?
The girl was tired, and just a few minutes ago had been crying.
“I don’t think so,” said Mara.
Could she climb up over the fence?
He’d seen her dash through the jungle, swinging like Tarzan on some of the vines. But this was different.
They could catch her if she fell on this side, but on the other side, she’d be hurt.
No worse than if the Chinese caught them. If the Chinese caught them, she’d be dead.
“We gotta do something,” said Stevens.
“Josh — do you think she could?” asked Mara.
“I don’t know.”
“You said she was tough in the jungle.”
“Ask her,” he said, dropping to his knee and putting her feet on the ground. “Ask her.”
“Like this,” said Mara, putting her fingers against the grid.
M? leaned away from Josh, her left hand still on his shoulder. It was almost as if she were protecting him, not the other way around.
She put her right hand on the fence. Then her left. Josh gave her a boost.
In seconds, she was at the top.
Mara held her breath as the child flipped over. Her feet couldn’t find a grip.
“Against the fence,” Mara told her in Vietnamese. “Like you went up.”
M? finally started down. It was harder — tears came to her eyes from the pain, but the little girl made it.
“Push the latch,” said Mara, motioning.
The door unlatched. Mara slid it to the side and pushed the gate upward. They were in.
Josh scooped M? into his arms. They all hugged the girl. Mara kissed her.
“Way to go, little SEAL!” Stevens told her.
“Now all we have to do is figure out where the hell we are,” said Mara. “Stay here.”
Rows of boxes sat on steel shelves directly in front of them. About fifty feet long, the room was some sort of storage area. Mara walked to her right slowly, her eyes still adjusting to the goggles. The shelves ended in an aisle that led to more shelves. The boxes gave way to a large row of white plates; the storeroom, she concluded, was for the restaurant. Sure enough, she found a pair of swinging doors leading into the kitchen, visible through windows in the top panels. The doors were key-locked from both sides, but Mara had little difficulty picking the lock. She eased the doors open into the dark room, then crawled in, moving past a large walk-in freezer and a row of smaller refrigerators and dishwashers.
Mara heard a low murmur of voices in the distance. She crawled steadily through the kitchen, down a row of stoves and prep tables. As she turned the corner, she saw two red marbles staring at her from the corner.
A rat.
Mara shuddered. She continued to one of the doors, still on her hands and knees. There was no window on the door, and while Mara suspected it led directly to the dining room, she couldn’t tell. She rose to a sitting position and listened. The voices were indistinct, and it was impossible to tell if they were in the next room, and if they were, where in the room they might be.
Mara crawled to the next door, hoping that this one would have a window, but it did not.
She got up and put her hand on the door, easing it open ever so gently and slowly. A faint glow came through the crack — candlelight, she thought.
Mara eased the door open a tiny bit more. Her view was blocked by a screen separating the kitchen from the actual dining area. She pushed the door open a little farther, and saw that the screen covered a long wait station, where extra silverware, trays, and plates were kept.
Mara moved back from the door.
“There may be someone in the dining room,” she told Stevens. “Can you move up here?”
“Be right there,” said Stevens.
“Get by the stoves. You’ll be able to ambush anyone if it comes to that.”
Stevens, Josh, and M? moved up silently, crouching about ten feet away.
Mara took the night glasses off and eased back into the dining room, listening from behind the screen. Two men were talking, but it wasn’t clear what they were saying. She heard the word “militia” and something about “control,” but the men were at the far end of the room and she couldn’t make out every word.