Blood Orchid

Holly and Grant each stood in a corner of the elevator, looking at each other as they descended one floor.

“Don’t open your mouths,” one of the men said.

They were dragged off the elevator in the basement and taken down a hallway to a vault, the door of which stood open. The two men kicked them into the vault and then swung the foot-thick door slowly shut.

Holly heard the mechanical sound of the bolts closing. “Well, shit,” she said.

“My sentiments exactly,” Grant replied.

“Back in the van, who was on the other end of the cellphone?”

“I hope to God it was Harry,” he said. “He’s out there somewhere with forty or fifty men.”

“Out where?”

“Outside Blood Orchid, ready to storm the place at my signal. At least I hope he is; that was the plan. I didn’t have time to tell you everything in the car. As soon as we figured out who Shine was, Harry went into action, getting warrants and marshaling resources.”

“You think he got your signal?”

“I was yelling loud enough, wasn’t I?”

Then came the sound of ru

“What’s that?” Grant asked.

“The sound of ru

“Oh, shit,” Grant said, and as he spoke a sheet of water made its way across the floor of the vault. They heard the sound of another valve opening, and more water began to pour in.

“Why the hell would anybody want to put water into a vault?” Holly asked. “Apart from drowning us, I mean?”

“I think the vaults at Fort Knox can be flooded. Maybe that’s where they got the notion. Any ideas?” Grant asked.

Holly stepped around him and nuzzled close. “Put your hand in my pocket,” she said.

“Is sex all you can think about at a time like this?”

“The left-hand pocket,” she said. “Get ahold of my car keys.”

“You want to drive somewhere? That’s okay with me.”

The water was up to their shins now, and rising fast.

“There’s a handcuff key on my key ring,” Holly said.

“Oh,” Grant replied, groping in her pocket. “Got them.”

Holly turned around and backed up to him. “Now, unlock my cuffs and don’t drop the keys.”

Grant dropped the keys.

“I told you not to drop them!” Holly moaned.

“I’m sorry, they were slippery.”

She put her back against the wall and slid down into a sitting position, then began groping around the floor for the keys. Sitting down, the water was up to her chin. “Don’t just stand there, help me!”

Grant sat down beside her and joined the effort.

“Got them!” Holly said, and her mouth filled with water. Leaning against Grant, she struggled to her feet. “Can you stand up?”

“I’m trying,” he said.

“Lean against me.”

He managed to get to his feet.

“This time, I’ll do the unlocking,” she said, feeling for Grant’s wrists. After a moment she got one of his cuffs off.

He took the key and unlocked her cuffs and his other wrist. “There,” he said, “that’s better.”

“Not much,” Holly said. “What do we do now, the backstroke?” The water was waist deep and rising.

“Brackish,” Grant said, tasting a finger. “River water.”

“What is this, a tasting? Or do you want to get us out of here?”

“My cellphone’s in the van; how about yours?”

“Dead battery; I tried it in the ladies’. I doubt if we could get a signal inside a steel basement room, anyway.”

“You have a point,” Grant said, then he ducked under the water and started feeling the vault door.

Holly watched him, wondering what the hell he was doing.

Grant came up for air. “There’s got to be some sort of safety feature in this thing. Surely they can’t let people get locked into vaults these days without having a way out.”

“Let’s both look,” Holly said “At least the lights are on.”

The lights went off.

“We’ll just have to feel,” Grant said.

Holly took a couple of deep breaths and began ru

Grant surfaced. “I don’t think this is going to work,” he said. “Anything you want to say to me before we drown?”

“Yes,” Holly replied, “what are you working on in Orchid Beach? What’s your assignment?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Grant replied. “It’s a secret.”

Holly burst out laughing. The water was up to her nose now, and she was forced to tread water.

“Come on, let’s keep trying,” Grant said, and went under again.

Holly dove after him, wondering if there would be any air left in the vault when she came up.

63

Holly came up for air again, and her head bumped against the ceiling before her nose cleared the water. She leaned back and sucked in air, trying to pack it into her lungs. She heard Grant doing the same thing. Then she dove under again.

She swam to the bottom of the door, ru

Then, in the darkness, three green lights began to flash in sequence. She watched them, her lungs bursting, and then she heard a mechanical noise.

She didn’t even have to push the door; the pressure of eight feet of water did that. Light streamed in from the hallway as Holly and Grant poured out of the vault along with the water.

Holly landed on top of Grant as they both sucked in lungfuls of air.

“What happened?” Grant asked.

“I found a door and a lever, and I pulled it.”

“I knew something had to be there.”

“I’ll remember that if I’m ever locked in a flooded vault again.”

They sat on the floor, leaning against the wall.

“I don’t know if I can stand up,” Holly said.

“If you can do that, help me.”

Together they struggled to their feet. “Let’s get out of here before somebody comes,” Grant said.

“Not the elevator,” Holly said. “The electrics may have gotten wet.” They were splashing around in a couple of feet of water. She pointed at a lighted exit sign. “There, the stairs.”

A moment later, they emerged one floor up into the upstairs lobby. The front doors were locked.

There was a small steel table and a chair in the lobby, as if for a guard to use. Grant picked up the table and hurled it at one of the glass doors, which shattered. A siren went off, and lights began to flash.

“Follow me,” Holly said. “I know how to get out of here.” She ran around the building and into the woods. There was a moon, and after her eyes had become accustomed to the dim light, she could see her way. “You with me?”

“Right behind you. Where are we going?”

Holly stopped. “What was the plan?”

“What plan?”

“The plan for Harry and his people to take this place? Where were they going to come from?”

“From all sides,” Grant said.

“Let’s head for the airfield. When the balloon goes up, Ed might try to get out that way.”

“Whatever you say,” Grant replied.

Holly set off at a trot, with Grant close behind. After two or three minutes, she stopped.

“What is it?” he asked.

Holly looked above her. “I’m looking for something.”

“What?”

“Just something. Hang on for a minute.” She knew she was somewhere close by.

“Holly, we’re in the middle of the woods. What are you looking for?”

“There; this is the tree. I don’t have a knife. Have you got one?”

Grant fished in his pockets and came up with a pocketknife.

Holly took it and began carving something in the tree trunk.

“That’s sweet of you, Holly, but I don’t think this is the time for you to carve our initials into a tree.”

“Not yours, just mine,” she said, pointing at anH. “Okay, we can go now. I want to go back to the guest cottage.”