Tank pulled a small leather book out of his vest pocket. It looked old and worn. The cover was dark brown and the pages inside were yellowed with age. Moments before, we had climbed down a cylindrical shaft that had been built inside the wall in Ranger's closet. It was hidden behind a panel that I had never noticed. Tank said this was only one of four escape routes built inside the walls of RangeMan.
According to the book Tank had, the escape shafts were called "steal-aways". In the blue prints of the building, they were nonexistent. They would be labeled fire escapes if they ever wanted to document them. If I had a say in it, they would change their name to "painful". My legs ached from climbing down the vertical cone.
We stood on a small platform at the bottom of the steel ladder. While I tried to get the feeling to come back into my calves, Tank read from the leather handbook. There was a panel in front of us. On it, in large block letters were the letter and number "B4". I was seriously hoping for the obvious. Please let it mean basement four. I didn't think my legs could tolerate anymore straight down climbing. Hopefully the panel was here to escape the escape. I wondered if anyone used this steal away back in the day. I imagined the likes of Al Capone sneaking down the ladder, snickering at his ingenious route to lose his foes.
Tank slid the panel open with a latch that looked like a ring. Basement four was written in black lettering on the wall in front of us. Thank God for small favors. I heard whispering. Lester and Cal were waiting for us when we climbed out. They let us know that Ramon and Hal were going to stay behind. Ramon thought it was only one guy that had gotten past security. He was searching level six and Hal was with the police, waiting for the bomb squad to come in.
Lester helped Tank move the panel back into place. "Ramon needs to get out of the building. He is still on six. He thinks he can get the guy, but the bomb squad needs to clear the building before they can go in and take a look at the packages. He won't leave till he gets the Ok from you."
Tank pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Ramon. He was the boss, and what he said was obeyed. Ramon would evacuate. I suppose it was a great thing to have a team that did what ever you told them to do, but I didn't think I could ever be that sub-servant. I heard him say to Ramon, "What ever happens, happens. Let the B.S. do their job. We are out. Don't wait for us."
As he closed his phone, an explosion rocked the building above us. Shaking the foundation we stood on. It was like a small earthquake and I half expected the ceiling to come crashing down on us. We all looked up in surprise. Instantly, Tank's phone rang. He listened for a few moments and then closed it. "Someone is trying to blow the door of the vault. The alarm is going off at the safe and the cameras we had on it have been blown." Tank glanced back at me, as if knowing the explosion made me nervous. "The building is on rollers, relax."
"The guy sure isn't wasting any time." Cal said. "I bet Ramon is pissed. He wanted to stake out the vault. He knew that was where the guy was heading. He could have grabbed him."
"He also could have been killed. This man seems desperate. There is no reason for you guys to take that chance. Especially for fake tapes."
"Fakes?" I said. "The tapes in the vault aren't copies?"
"They are partial copies. We were going to finish them in the morning. I had no idea that someone would get in and steal them before we had the chance to finish them." Tank adjusted the pack on his leg. "These are the only set."
"How did this guy manage to get into RangeMan in the first place?" Lester said, as we started walking. "Especially last night. The whole building was on red alert. Who was on duty?" He looked directly at Tank.
"You know the answer to that as well as I do." Tank said. "I think Jeremy is napping on the job." He studied the book, looking at images and instructions, making sure we would be headed in the right direction. I had a feeling Jeremy would be looking for another place to work come morning. I liked Jeremy, but maybe he just wasn't cut out for security work.
The hallway walls were painted white and the floors had industrial gray tile. The lighting was nothing more than plain socket bulbs every fifteen feet, strung on loose wire overhead. It had one purpose, to lead whom ever used it out of the building as quickly as possible.
There was a door at the end of the hall. It looked like a large safe. It had a spin combination lock instead of a normal door handle. Tank rolled the cylinder and opened the door. We walked into a large open room. It was painted flat white, like the hallway. Directly across from where we stood was another chamber door, this one looked like it belonged on a submarine. I knew by the look of it, that the New Jersey tunnels would be directly behind it. I eyed it apprehensively. There was no other reason for a door like that to be in this building. The room smelled slightly of mildew. I didn't think anyone came in here often enough to air the place out.
"All the electrical systems are down on this level." Cal stated. "We have to keep the maintenance in-home. If we didn't, the city would know everything about this building. They never really checked it out when they seized it. There is a separate set of working boxes on the second basement level, but down here is where everything really is. From this floor, you can shut RangeMan down with a flick of a switch."
"Should we do it now? Turn everything off?" I asked. I wondered if all the power went out, if it would be easier or harder to find the man inside the building. Cal answered my question for me.
"Shutting everything down would make it too easy for him to escape. We have turned on every available light in the entire building; we don't want to give him anywhere to hide. Plus, it won't matter if he gets the copies as long as we have the real deal. He is taking a lot of chances. If I was him, I would be in Bermuda by now. Why stay? Why not get the hell out of Dodge before anyone catches you?"
Tank was in security mode. He didn't care why; he just wanted to get us gone as quick as possible. In his brain, theory is fine for working situations out once things are calm. We were far from safe at the moment. My brain worked differently. Tank was a lot more cautious than I have ever been. His mind is in the game, and it stays there. I admired him. My mind was more on what I would get for breakfast.
"Once we close this door we lose reception on all our phones. We are totally on our own until we get out of the sewer tunnels." Tank said. He opened a metal cabinet that was against the wall and handed us each a flashlight. Cal closed the outer door, sealing us in. I touched my cell phone for a moment. This was it. The tunnels were next.
There was a lockbox next to the vacuüm sealed metal door. I stared at the massive metal opening. I imagined glowing red-eyed alligators waiting for us to open the seal and step through, grabbing us one at a time, feasting on our bones. I pushed the thought away. Lester was looking at the door with the same disdain I felt. He whispered, "Did you hear about the Alligators?"
I looked at Tank. "Told you."
Tank took a deep frustrated breath as he opened the lock box and took out a stapled set of documents. They were coated in plastic. They appeared to be diagrams and maps of the system before us. "I grew up around alligators." Tank said, glaring at Lester. "In the swamps of South Carolina and Louisiana. We had dangerous snakes, alligators; fish that would make piranhas look like sissies and bugs as large as your fist. Not just make believe ones that live in the sewers. I had an alligator as a pet. They are big lizards. You are grown people. They need sun and warmth to move. Neither of those things exists down here. If you see an alligator, I will give you a cookie. Other than that, shut the fuck up and let's get the hell out of here. I am not exactly thrilled with underground small spaces. I would be more worried about me freaking out than I would alligators. Let's just get this shit over with.
Lester and I looked at each other. The air had escaped from my "told you so" balloon. Now I felt a little like an idiot. I thought he would still change his tone once he set eyes on the glowing eyed monsters, but I guess I needed to keep it to myself.
Tank read through the instructions. He found what he was looking for and opened the hatch. Air escaped as the door opened. Inside, I could hear water flowing, and ooze dripping. It was dark, but larger than I imagined it to be. I thought of the Ninja Turtles. They never saw alligators. It gave me a little hope. We turned on the flashlights. The smell grabbed hold of me first. I tried to hold my breath, not wanting to have to take another, but it was inevitable. I had to breathe. I was glad I hadn't eaten breakfast. It was hard not to throw up. I held it down and stepped through the entrance behind the rest of the men.
The ground felt squishy under my boots. Something wet and slimy dropped on my head. I silently made a squeal of a little girl and reached up and touched slimy green goo. Oh God. Really? I moved away from the door and into the tunnel. I was now officially slimed. Tank closed the door behind us, securing the latches. The flashlights lit up the tunnel. This was it. We were in.
We stood staring at the large underground pipe we were in. I tried not to imagine it caving in and trapping us here, but it was hard to keep the thought down. I swallowed hard. The pipe was about fifteen feet tall and thirty feet across. The only light I could see was the ones we brought in with us. No alligators so far. This was good.
A stream of sludge water flowed quickly through the middle of the tunnel. The channel was made of mostly brick and cement. The walls gleamed with gooey residue. The mucus was on the ground also, and if you weren't careful you could slip into the muck. We stood with our flashlights scanning the walls, looking for cracks, knowing the dangers of being underground.
Tank scanned the maps with his flashlight. "We are going to the Trenton Police Station. Joe Morelli is meeting us there. He knows we are coming through the tunnels. He said there is a manhole in the back parking lot. He will secure the area and wait.
The police station was pretty far from where we were. "How long do you think it will take to get there?" I asked.
"A couple of hours if the tunnels lead the way the map tells us they do." Tank said. He shined his flashlight down the tunnel into the darkness and started walking. "Let's get going." None of us wanted to be left behind. We followed him into the abyss.
We moved quickly, walking silently. I tried not to think about how far underground we actually were or what the hell was growing on the walls. I concentrated on the person in front of me. At the moment, it was Tank. I hoped that the tunnels moved as the crows fly and we would be back in the land of the living before I knew it. So far, I hadn't seen any alligators. I did see rats, but not huge ones. I can handle normal size rats. The further we go into the city, the more sludge water accumulates. The water is now ankle-deep. Thank goodness for my boots. Thank you Tank for telling me to change. I would have been miserable in my Chucks. So far the tunnel has broken off five times. Each time we take the tunnel on the right. With each tunnel, more grungy water. It is moving away from us as we walk a slightly inclined pipe. I am trying not to focus on the fact that I am getting claustrophobic. I keep eyeing the ladders and spray painted arrows that tell me go up into the fresh air... go now! I push the words away and look back at the big man in front of me, he chugs along as if nothing bothers him. Everyone is silent as we move towards the city.
Tank stopped in front of me. His flashlight shining on the map again and then he reads some of the spray painted numbers that are on the walls. The tunnel breaks off again. We head to the right. Much to my dismay, the water keeps rising. It is now up to the top of my boot and I can feel it seep into my sock as I walk. My legs hurt, my hair is soaked with the splashes of the muck and the damp air is making it uncomfortable to breathe. My nose started to run about an hour ago,and I have run out of clean places to wipe it. I know that everyone is keeping their mouths closed. No one talks. I doubt anyone wanted to give the sewer water any opportunities to get in. Tank tied a cloth around his mouth and nose. Lester had taken the bandanna he had over his head and follows suit. Everything I had on was already soaked. It wouldn't do any good to put something wet and filthy over my face.
I decide to just keep my eyes on Tank. If I stay directly in his wake, then I can focus on him as we moved through the underground and not on the noises of creatures I kept hearing. I felt sorry for the Ninja Turtles. If they really had to live down here, they would smell terrible.
The water is now halfway up to my knee. I am trying not to look too hard when I notice a dead cat float by me. It is followed by a large dead rat. At least I hoped it was a rat. I heard Cal cough behind me. I guess he got a better look at both of them then I did. There was more life in this tunnel than any of the others. I didn't know if I was happy about it because we were now closer in to the city, or horrified. I tried not to jump as three large rats swim by me on their way upstream. One hits my leg as it moves by and it squealed. I can't stop myself, I jump, hitting Cal behind me. I wanted to jump into Cal's arms like a frightened housewife. I was done with this underground tunnel shit. I did not want to be in the water anymore.
"Sorry!" I push myself off Cal and realize I need to be a grown up. I can do this, I say to myself. The rats jet off in another direction. I can't stop myself from watching them leave. It is hard not to grimace. They were big, about the size of my foot. They did seem more afraid of us than I was of them. That was good. I hoped I had the same luck with all the creatures I encountered. Then, I thought I should hope not to see any more creatures, instead of hoping to have harmonic relationships with them. I didn't mind rats. I liked them in the pet store, and I had a boyfriend in elementary school that raised them. I bottle fed some of the little suckers. These were sewer rats. Totally different in my book.
As we walked on, the smells began to get worse. I tried hard to hold my breath and only breathe when necessary, but it was no use. I wanted to take my shirt off and put it over my nose. I didn't care if they all saw me in my sports bra. I started to tug off my shirt when Tank stopped in front of me. I ran into him.
"Sorry!" I said for the second time in an hour.
Tank pulled the pack with the tapes off his leg. He held the now wet map in one hand, the tapes in the other. "This is the last tunnel." He said. I used my flashlight to see the tunnel before us. Black water poured out in a constant stream. "If we stay to the sides, we should be ok." He looked at me. Stay behind me. Have Cal and Lester behind you. You are the shortest and lightest. I want them to be able to catch you if you lose your footing. The tunnel has a bit of an incline. We need to walk another mile, and then we will be close to the station."
A mile uphill in almost knee-deep black water? Great, Ok Stephanie. You can do this. My brain thought otherwise. I kept imagining getting knocked into the black water. "Can't we just come up now? I mean, we could just walk to the station from here. Why do we still need to be underground?" I thought I had a valid point. We were away from RangeMan now. Why keep trudging around in the sewer?
"No." Tank said. "We need to stay underground. It is the best way."
"The best way my ass! Who came up with this stupid plan anyway?" I was ready to get out of here. I didn't want to go into black water.
The men stood around me waiting, I suppose for me to get a grip. I bent down, putting my hands on my knees. The tunnel and the stench were getting to me. If I was making the calls around here, we would be out of the tunnel and in a cab by now.
Cal spoke up. "Trust us, Stephanie. This is the best way. We need to stay hidden. We don't want anyone to see us go to the station. It has to be this way."
"No," I said. "It doesn't have to be this way. We aren't in Romania or wherever you guys usually work, this is New Jersey. Civilization! We should take a cab." I looked pleadingly at all three men. None of them were going to budge. All of them stared at me like big oxen. They followed orders. Tank had given them. There would be no mutiny on this ship today. I knew if they had to, I would get thrown over someone's shoulder kicking and screaming. I was defeated. My vote did not count.
Tank waited. "Ready?"
I did some deep breathing. "Yes. Lead the way."
We walked on. I wished no one would have told me we were close. It made me feel desperate. It was taking too long. I kept gauging the walk, knowing we had hiked more than a mile. Everyone just kept walking. It was annoying. After I was sure we walked more than two miles, Tank stopped to look at the map. His flashlight lit up the paper that was now dirty with dirt and slime. He wiped some of the filth off and followed the route with his finger. Then, he took his flashlight and read the numbers on the wall next to a ladder. "This is 1125. We are looking for 1150. Let's keep going. The numbers are going up from here."
Ok, so I had something to concentrate on. I was hoping they would skip a few numbers, maybe go by fives. I saw the next ladder. I hoped it would say 1135 or at least 1130. It said 1126. We were in for a long walk.
Number 1149 was a glorious sight. Almost there. I started to walk faster, knowing the next one would be it. I spied the ladder from ten yards away. I wanted to run to it, but instead I followed along behind Tank. He never sped up, he never slowed down. He stayed moving at a nominal pace. I wanted to push him, make him move his ass. Finally the ladder was in front of us. He turned and looked at the men behind me. "this should be it." He draped the tapes over his shoulder and folded the map, putting it back in his pocket. He unholstered his gun. I pulled mine out, more for show than for use. I heard the men behind me do the same. "Are you ready?" He said to us.
Before Tank could start-up the ladder, someone opened the cover. Bright light shined down into the hole we stood in. It blinded me. I couldn't see, but I aimed my gun anyway. The sun was still far below the horizon but we still had to squint at the brightness of the outside world. Tank had his gun aimed up at the cover, waiting. I heard a voice.
"Come on, It's secure. Let's get you guys out of there." It sounded a lot like Joe. I hoped it was Joe.
Tank climbed up first, then me. Cal and Lester trailed behind, shutting the cover on the manhole behind them.
Joe stood away from us, politely holding his hand over his face. "Nice escape. You pay extra for that?" He waved his hand in front of him and backing away farther.
"Nope." Tank said. "The smell is a surprise bonus. I think I have some ideas for some upgrades."
"If you keep Stephanie around, you may want to make it part of the tour."
I couldn't think of a good comeback for the remark, but I filed it away for another day. I was happy he was willing to come out and help with this. Tank had decided to bring Joe in because he and Trisha were the only ones Ranger trusted to help us.
Tank's phone rang. He walked away to answer it. I stood with my brothers in stench. Joe stood about fifteen feet from us, trying to breathe clean air. Tank was frowning when he came back. "The building is clear. Ramon and Hal have done a thorough search. Whoever was in the building is gone. The vault was breached. They got the copies of the tapes."
Joe came closer. He looked at me and mouthed "Tapes?"
"We have the surveillance tapes that were taken off the body of Tony Barella." I said. "I made a deal with some people. If I called the police about the dead body, I got the tapes. We went and picked them up yesterday at Vinnie's.
Joe folded his arms in front of him and looked down. "I don't like where this is going."
Connie was meeting me at Vinnie's. We were supposed to wait for someone who would tell us where the tapes would be. Then we would pick them up and that would be that." I said. "When I told Tank where I was going, he decided to come with me. Vinnie's security alarm was going off when we pulled up. Connie was waiting for us out front. Tank checked the back to turn the alarm off. There were two dead guys by the back door. Connie said they were the ones she was suppose to get the information from."
Joe didn't look surprised. I think he must have already known about the dead guys.
"Let's move this conversation indoors. If this person has already left RangeMan, who knows where he is headed next."
Tank eyeballed Joe, standing very close to him. I knew that Joe was having a hard time being so close to sewer smell. I saw his nose twitch. Maybe this would make up for the comment he made earlier. "These tapes have caused a lot of problems." Tank said. "We need to make sure that we can hold onto them once we walk into that station. I will die before I hand them over to the FBI, or anyone else."
Joe was not a man to back down, even when the person in front of him was twice his size and smelled like ripe old cabbage and rotting death. He stared harshly back into Tanks eyes. They were toe to toe. "The FBI has your boss on a plane to Quantico in the morning. They are satisfied that they have wrapped up the case here. They feel Ranger will be in better hands in Virginia, while they work on the case against him. I have not told anyone about the investigation that Stephanie and RangeMan have been dipping into. No one will have any idea what the hell is going on when I bring you in. It is four in the morning. Most of the activity will start around six. That gives you two hours to figure your shit out before we need to worry about it. I have set up a place for you inside that is safe. No mics, no cameras, no nothing. I had no idea you were bringing in evidence, so we will figure out what to do once we are inside. The chief of police and my supervisor never have had me on a leash. They know I do things in an unorthodox way, and they know Stephanie. No one will question the fact that you all smell like shit. Let's just get you inside so nothing else can happen.
Joe stood back from Tank, looking at the motley crew that was in front of him. "Ladies first." He said, beckoning me to start the parade.