Chapter Twelve
The light of the flashlight landed on something directly in front of the foursome, and a light smile played on Tanya's face. "We made it," she said. After a moment, she pulled Riley aside and added in a low voice, "Get Ben on the line. We'll need a little help, I feel it." He nodded and fished around in his pocket.
Tanya redirected her attention to the flat surface in front of her and tapped on it. "There's something behind here," she said.
"How do we get to it?" Riley asked, still fiddling with something in his pocket.
She handed the flashlight to Ian almost expertly and felt along the surface. Her hand found a handle, and she tried it. It felt like it hadn't been used in about as long a time as the door O'Malley led them to had just sat there, so it took a little doing to get the thing to give, but it did. "Do I pull or push?" she asked.
"Try both," Ian replied.
Tanya pushed against the door, and eventually, it budged. "Guess that answers that question," Riley said. The door budged some more, until Tanya noticed a half-inch wide gap between the door frame and the door itself. She pushed a little more, until she could slip between the frame and the door.
"Let's go," she said, slipping inside. Riley followed right after her, then Ian, and finally, the President.
Ian and Tanya looked around at the dimly lit space the four found themselves in. "Where are we?" Riley asked.
"I don't believe this," Ian said.
Tanya licked her lip and stared at the room, taking the sight in. Riley repeated this question, and she felt that the President was also getting restless. She took a few steps forward almost as if she knew where she was going. "Ian, do you remember this place?"
"I haven't forgotten."
"Where are we?" the President asked, more impatiently than Riley had.
"The basement," Tanya replied, walking over to a chest and undoing the latch. She pushed open the lid and examined the contents with awe.
"So, that's where we come in," Ian added.
NTNT
"So, what do you suggest we do, Ben?" Sadusky asked over the phone. "I can have a flight ready in five minutes."
"That's great, Sadusky, really," Ben replied, "but knowing Riley, he was probably going off Tanya's instincts."
"According to her records, they haven't failed her yet."
"But, the President of the United States?"
"Heard of Nixon?"
"I have."
"There you go. Now, when can you be ready?"
NTNT
Riley's phone chimed, so he pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Okay, Ben's on his way," he whispered to Tanya, who nodded in reply, rifling through the contents of the chest in front of her. Ian knelt next to her and stared at the inside of the chest. He pulled out a book and dusted off the cover. "What's all this junk?" Riley asked when he studied the chest.
"Everything in this basement is a part of Howe family history," Tanya whispered, not looking up at Riley. "Most of our family's history is in this room, no matter how good or how bad."
"What's that got to do with us?" the President asked.
"Everything," Ian replied. He got to his feet and walked to another part of the basement. When he was sure no one could see what he was doing, Ian studied the gun in his hands for a moment. "It has everything to do with us, all of us."
"Ri, he could be too late," Tanya whispered after pulling Riley aside. "We could all die."
"No, we're not gonna die," Riley replied, resting his hands on Tanya's shoulders. "It's gonna be okay."
"You don't know these things the way I do."
"Still, if we can string this guy along, we can get him caught."
"He's the bloody President of the United States. It's like trying to accuse the Queen of England of some crime or other."
"Wow, I really am rubbing off on you. Okay, look, we'll find a way, Ian will find a way, Ben will find a way, and we'll fix this, and everything'll be okay, I promise."
"You can't promise something like that, don't you see? We either find a way out of this ourselves or we die and he gets off scot free. We need help."
"We're the only ones down here, just the four of us."
"There's the Riley I know and love, but there are five of us down here. You know as well as I do Shaw's ghost has been following Ian around all the time, and besides, he helped us before."
"Can he hear us?"
"Let's see. Shaw, can you hear us?"
"I'm right here, listening, like always," he said, and she could tell he was somewhere near Ian.
"What's going on?" the President asked. "Who's there." He wheeled around the basement, looking around and growing frantic.
"That's none of your concern," Ian said, pointing the gun at the President. The latter held his hands up and turned slowly so that he was facing Ian. "That's better. This is as far as the tunnel goes, so tell me what you expect to find."
"There has to be more," the President whispered. "There has to be, another clue, or maybe a secret door."
"This is as far as it goes."
Tanya and Riley slipped along the wall to a stairwell leading to the main floor. She kicked the door down, and they entered the foyer. "Okay, we're safe now. Thanks for the opening, Shaw," Tanya said.
"No problem," Shaw's voice replied in her head.
"Okay, so we got help from a ghost, and now Ian's turned the tables on the President," Riley said. "How much longer can this go on?"
"It better be enough. We need about eighteen hours to drag this on before Ben gets here."
They walked into the main sitting room, and Tanya began scanning the books on the shelf. "So how do we kill eighteen hours?" Riley asked.
"I'm working on it."
"Ben's rubbing off on you, too."
"Don't think I don't know this."
Riley's phone rang, and he answered promptly. "Yeah...okay...what?...oh, you're gonna...hang on, what?...You're on your way now?...oh, yeah, see ya soon, I guess."
"Ben?"
"Yeah. The FBI is fast."
"Like the Scotland Yard."
Riley collapsed onto the sofa with a sigh, and Tanya walked back to the basement door. Ian was still pointing the gun at the President, and they both seemed riveted to what they were doing. Silently, she descended the stairwell and walked over to a stack of cardboard boxes. Her hand drifted to the compass around her neck, and she sighed quietly. She wound her way through the boxes until she could position herself so that she could see and hear the exchange between Ian and the President.
"You're not going anywhere, not yet," Ian hissed.
"You're right. I'm not going anywhere, not until I get the next clue."
"You are a very desperate man."
Tanya noticed that Riley was leaning into the door frame and peering into the basement, and she held up a hand to stop him. She then pressed a finger to her mouth, and he nodded, staying put in the door frame. She glanced at Ian, who returned her look, and she looked around at the boxes.
"Desperate man, eh?"
"After all, I should know. I found myself in the position you're in once, five years ago, in fact, also in a subterranian chamber. I also happen to know this won't be of any benefit to you."
"How do you know so much about me?"
"I'm going off personal experience."
You can do this, Ian, Tanya thought. Just keep talking.
"Personal experience? What kind of personal experience could you be working off of?"
"Experiences of which you wouldn't dare to imagine. You're too conservative for them."
Tanya smiled and turned to the wall, pressing her back against the stack of boxes. He needs a clue, she thought, I'll give him one, but first, I need to know where the real one is.
NTNT
Ben and Sadusky studied the sky out the window of the plane. "We're making pretty good time," Ben said.
"So far," Sadusky replied. "Let's hope your buddies are on to something."
"You said it yourself, Tanya's instincts never failed her."
"They haven't. Y'know, it's interesting. It's like we're dealing with another Ian Howe, a desperate man out to make a name for himself and keep what he has."
"Yes, but Ian's on our side now. His sister's dating my best friend."
"Yeah, you told me about that."
"Preparing for landing," the pilot said over the intercom.
"That's our cue," Sadusky said. "Hope you're ready."