Chapter 9
'Peter?' Jones said as he poked his head into his boss' office. 'Paulson said you wanted to see me?'
Peter looked up, eyes narrowing as he faced his senior agent. 'Have you heard from Diana or Caffrey today?' he asked.
'No. I thought they still had visits to make' Jones responded.
'They do… they did but I just got a call from the Dominion Bank. They were a no-show for their 2:00 appointment.'
Jones stared ahead, face blank. He could see the concern in Peter's eyes. 'What? You think something might have happened to them?'
'I don't know' Peter said, standing and grabbing for his jacket. 'With the earthquake and all… I think we should check out the National Bank. They haven't been seen since they left their meeting there at about 10:30 this morning.'
'Do you want me to gather a couple of men?' Jones asked.
He could see the wheels turning in Peter's mind. 'No. Let's you and I check it out first. See if we can find out anything.'
WCWCWC
Sara Ellis was only slightly surprised to find Mozzie's old beat up van sitting in their driveway when she pulled up beside it. Somehow, he had begun think of their home as one of his safe houses as of late and, on a couple of occasions, she'd found him hanging out at their kitchen table, even when the whole family was out. It was cheaper than an alarm system - although they needed to keep their wine cabinet fully stocked at all times.
'Uncle Mozzie!' Hope screamed with glee as she and her mom stepped in the front door.
'Hope!' he called out as she came into view.
'Did you feel the earthquake?' she asked, running into his open arms.
'I did… that's why I came over… to make sure everything was okay' he fibbed as his eyes met Sara's, noting the skepticism there.
'You wanted to make sure our wine collection was safe and sound?' Sara asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she spied the glass of Pinot in his hands.
He chose to ignore the callous remark and instead, he brought his hand to the bandage that was apparent on Hope's forehead.
'What happened to you, munchkin?' he asked as she smiled broadly.
'A stapler hit me!' she announced proudly. 'And I got a B on my math test' she added, spreading the now crumpled test paper on the kitchen table for him to see.
Sara headed over to the refrigerator to grab some juice for her and her daughter and turned to face Mozzie.
'Mozzie, have you heard from Neal today?' she asked as Hope settled on her uncle's lap.
'No. Why?'
'No reason. I've just been having trouble getting him on the phone all day' she said, sounding worried.
'Well, cell phone service was disrupted because of the earthquake' Mozzie said, by way of explanation.
'I know but that was hours ago and everything should be back to normal by now' she mused as she sat and poured Hope a drink.
'Have you tried the Suit?' he asked as Hope giggled. She never did understand why her uncle Mozzie called her uncle Peter 'the Suit'.
'Yeah… he's looking into it but… I just have this strange feeling something's not right' she said, standing and grabbing her purse. 'I think I'll take a drive over there - would you mind staying with Hope?' she asked.
'Sure. What about Liam?' Mozzie asked.
'He's still at the sitter's' Sara said as she made her way to kiss Hope's forehead. 'If I'm not back by 4:30, could you pick him up?'
'Sure' Mozzie said as Hope cheered. 'Just leave the car seat by the door for me.'
The minute Sara was out of view, Hope's face lit up; whenever Mozzie was left in charge, it was always fun and games.
'Uncle Mozzie, could we have pizza for dinner if Mommy's not back?'
Mozzie walked over to the sink and, with regret, dumped the last of the wine down the drain. He gave her a wink and a nod. 'It'll be our little secret.'
WCWCWC
'CAFFREY!' Diana screamed again as Neal's face reappeared in the open trap door above her head.
'I'm right here' he said, breathlessly. 'Sorry, I got my foot caught on something and my shoe came off and fell all the way down the shaft.'
'God! You scared me!' Diana said as she tried to catch her breath. 'What's going on up there?'
Neal crawled over to the edge of the platform, falling onto his stomach and letting his head hang over the edge as he glanced longingly at the open space beneath them, trying to see his left shoe, which regrettably, was long gone. Those were great shoes, he mused, Balmoral Oxfords, which had cost him more than he'd even dared admit to his wife.
He glanced around the space, noting the mechanics of the elevator, its complex system of cables and pulleys.
'This is really neat' Neal said, sounding like a curious four-year-old who'd just discovered the inside of the tv's remote control.
'Seriously Caffrey?' Diana moaned from below.
'You should see this. I can't see all the way up - we're too far down - but I can see the inside of the doors to the floors. We're between the 4th and 5th floor' he announced as she heard him move around above her head.
'Caffrey, don't do anything crazy' Diana declared, realizing that her words were the epitome of redundancy. This was Neal Caffrey after all - and he specialized in doing things that were crazy.
'I won't' she heard him mutter with just a hint of annoyance.
Diana began to pant once again, holding her stomach and leaning over as the pain intensified. She could hear Neal talking but her mind just couldn't grasp the finer points of what he was saying.
Neal got to his feet and stood on top of the elevator car, exploring his new surroundings and noticing how the car itself was suspended by several large metal cables attached to a pulley system which ostensibly moved the elevator up and down. He noticed a balustrade around three of the sides, thankfully, as there was a good two to three feet of space all round - plenty of space to kill yourself if you fell over and down the shaft. The side that didn't have a safety rail, however, was the one that most interested him - the one where the opening to the floors was located.
He braced himself, making sure he had solid footing before taking a step towards the opening where the doors to the floors above and below them were located. There was a big 5 on the cement wall next to the doors and the platform on which he was standing was about a third of the way up the bottom of the outer door itself. No wonder no one could hear them; the elevator car itself was practically dead centre between the two floors and there was a cement wall right outside the elevator car making it sound proof.
Neal began to look around in the hopes of finding something he could use to slam against the door. If anyone was anywhere near the elevator bank on the 5th floor, they would surely hear him if he could only give the door a couple of good hits. At first glance, there wasn't a whole lot he could use but he continued to forage around the top of the car, his tie hanging dangerously and snagging momentarily on an unknown contraption that looked like an oversized bicycle chain. Neal disengaged it, his breath short as he pulled off his tie and stuck it in his pocket, out of harm's way.
He leaned down the open trap door to check on Diana once again.
'You still okay down there?' he called out.
'Sure Caffrey, I'm just putting on the kettle so we can have a nice cup of tea' Diana responded with her usual biting sarcasm.
Neal rolled his eyes; so much for being solicitous. He returned to the task at hand, standing once again to see how he could safely reach the door to the 5th floor elevator bank without falling down the shaft. He inched his way down the length of the side balustrade, getting as close as he could to the door without losing his footing and falling down all the way to the basement to join his shoe - something even he realized was not ideal at this point. Standing upright was making it much too dangerous to lose his footing and after a moment, he returned to his stomach, slithering towards the door in an effort to reach it.
'Is there anybody out there?' he called out at the top of his lungs as his voice reverberated in the hollow shaft.
'Hello!' he yelled. 'Anybody?' he repeated to complete and utter silence. 'Where the hell is everybody?' he muttered under his breath as he tried to think of some other way to communicate with the outside world.
He stretched out his arms and managed to slip his fingers between the sealed doors; if he pulled hard enough, maybe he could actually jack it open and jump out to get some help. It took but a moment to realize that the strength needed to open the door required much better leverage than Neal was able to achieve from his position, although he could feel the smallest 'give' when he used all of his strength to pry the doors apart. He looked down the shaft, hanging off the edge on his stomach; it was a hell of a long way down and he felt his heart skip a beat as he slipped back towards the centre a few inches in an attempt to steady himself. Maybe he could get the doors open just enough to push something through them as an SOS signal; anybody walking by on the 5th floor would surely be curious if they saw something hanging out between the closed doors of an elevator.
He could feel the sweat running down his back as his mind frantically searched for a solution. He suddenly remembered the necktie in his pocket; if he could squeeze the doors open just enough to stuff it in there… He pulled the apparel out of his pocket, glancing at it lovingly. It was his favorite Alexander McQueen micro-dot necktie, the one Sara had given him for his last birthday and he winced at the thought of using it so wantonly. It had already been through so much, he thought, as he remembered the morning Liam had unceremoniously peed on it as he'd changed his diaper. The dry cleaners had done a great job and they'd somehow managed to give it new life - now he might be damaging it irreparably, without the possibility of salvation…
Tucking the tie safely in his shirt cuff so he could use both his hands to work, he crawled back on his belly as far out as he dared to without falling down the elevator shaft. He took a deep breath and pulled again, with all his might, trying desperately to create an opening between the two doors, feeling the suction pulling them together. He groaned as he gave another pull and watched in horror as his tie began to slip out of his shirt cuff, starting on its way down the endless pit, never to be seen again as it endeavoured to join his left shoe on the floor of the seemingly bottomless shaft.
Neal reached out in a last ditch to keep the necktie from falling to its death and with the very tip of his fingers, managed to grab the tie, his body hanging precariously over the edge of the platform. He let out a loud gasp and pulled his body away from the edge, feeling the safety of the top of the elevator car against his chest as he slinked back.
'Holy shit!' he said under his breath as he brought the tie protectively to his chest. He let out a long, faltering sigh and looked up at the doors again. Dammit, he wasn't giving up now - not when he was so close. He inched outwards again, the tie on the tip of his fingers as he gave it one last try. The doors gave way, less than an inch but that was enough and Neal expertly shoved his tie as far out as he could possibly reach without tipping over and falling into the abyss. He let out a harsh groan as the doors snapped shut again, leaving his beloved tie dangling between their powerful jaws.
Neal pulled away immediately, sitting up when he got to the middle of the platform and letting out a satisfied sigh as he looked down at his shaking hands. No guarantees, he thought, but with any luck, the tie would act as a distress signal and let anyone who might be walking by know that all was not right.
He prepared to return down the rabbit hole and back to Diana - and that's when he heard her.
'Caffrey!' Diana shouted from below, her voice sounding frantic.
Neal crawled back, letting his head hang down through the hole. 'What?'
'I need you down here, NOW!' Diana yelled.
TBC
