Kathleen drove the
three through the tunnel at a supercharged golf cart speed of
seventy-miles-an-hour. In less than fifteen minutes, Kathleen began
to slow down until she finally came to a stop, nothing visible but
what the lights from the golf cart showed and dim lighting along the
walls. "We're here, everyone out."
Bob and his
flashlight in the lead, they walked another ninety feet until a
ladder appeared in the field of vision. Kathleen went up first,
followed by Ariel and, finally, Bob. As Kathleen reached the top, she
pressed a button. Keypad numbers lit on a pad and she entered a
password that caused a metal lid the size of a manhole to open.
One at a time, they
popped out of the tunnel like over sized rabbits. The air around them
clung, cold and damp, with trees all around, as far as the eye could
see. The canopy of trees above hid them from view of anyone trying to
spot them from overhead.
After the dim
lighting within the tunnel, their eyes had already adjusted to the
tiny spots of light surrounded by a hazy darkness. Ariel's eyes, wide
with anxiety, scanned the area. "Where are we?"
Kathleen answered,
"This is the Grand Bay Wildlife Refuge." She looked at her
wristwatch which also had a compass. "Another three miles or so
. . . that way," she pointed northeast, "and we'll be clear
of the trees. There'll be a house there and we can pick up supplies
and take the car out of the garage."
"So, what, you
had all this prepared, just in case you had to smuggle a women with a
first name that started with the letter 'A'?"
Bob smiled as Ariel
and he followed Kathleen. "Something like that. We've been using
this tunnel for years to get away when we needed to."
"I see."
Ariel said, though she really didn't.
If she hadn't seen
it with her own eyes, Ariel never would have believed anything like
this existed outside of the movies. During the walk through the soft
mud of the refuge – everything about it, she just knew had to be
illegal – Ariel thought about the events that lead up to this
point. A man coming at her with a gun pointed at her, a picture she
still couldn't shake; and then Bob of all people comes to her rescue.
Next thing she knows, she ends up on the Dauphin Islands, ducks into
a secret tunnel, one of her protectors takes out one or more people
out to kill her, followed by a death defying ride on a golf cart at
seventy-miles-an-hour and knocking into Bob's head, enough times with
her own head and elbow to give the poor guy a concussion. I mean,
really?
Another two to three
miles and they broke free of the trees into a tree lined circular
opening with one gravel road in and out and a house and garage that
was painted, of all colors, fuchsia.
As if sensing her
question, Bob remarked, “Got a good deal on the paint.”
After gaining
entrance by number pad code, Bob grabbed a bag and filled it with
bottles of water, granola bars and sunflower seeds. Then Kathleen and
he walked into a closet and came out with a sniper rifle, two more
guns and a sports bag full of ammunition.
“Uh, guys, what's
going on?”
Kathleen answered as
she headed for the garage. “Just have to be ready. We have a long
drive ahead of us and the bad guys will be coming.”
When Ariel stepped
into the garage, a surprise awaited her, an all black SUV with darkly
tinted windows. Not something you usually find in a fuchsia garage in
the middle of nowhere. Of course, it's also true that a person's not
whisked away by two rogue CIA agents, but you know.
Soon, the three
snaked their way to a small two lane highway that took them to
Mississippi.
Three hours later,
while they headed northwest toward Louisiana, the bad guys made it to
the coast and were now heading toward Mobile, Alabama. As far behind
as they were, though, they had a little thing called satellite, not
to mention a lot more friends.
AND BOB'S MOMENT
CONTINUES.......
[Don't worry!!! All
this is pretend. It never happened!!!!!]
Comment as you will.
ReplyDelete