Hostages of Hate (7 page)

He rubbed his eyes, coughing on invisible dust. So this is what it's like to be blind, he thought.

"Frank? Pia?" he called. Maybe Pia had dropped the candle. She looked like the flaky type to him.

No answer.

"Guys?" Stretching his arms forward, he tried to feel his way. Inches from his face, he hit loose earth. A cave-in.

Joe fumbled around, making sure the whole tunnel had been filled. It had. It looked as if he'd have to turn back.

But as he groped around along the tunnel floor, he found something that froze him. A shoe. Frank's shoe. And as he felt farther, he realized a foot was still in it. Frank was trapped under the dirt!

Desperate, Joe tapped against Frank's ankle. He got an answering twitch. Frank was alive!

Joe began clawing at the cave-in. Frank might be alive, but there was no way he could breathe under all that dirt.

Hurling the loose earth behind him, Joe worked to free his brother's legs. He uncovered a piece of wooden bracing and used that as a shovel. Now he was up to Frank's waist. Joe dug frantically. At least the roof still held. No more dirt came cascading down.

As he felt himself being freed, Frank began to wriggle around. Joe got the message. He got a hold on his brother and pulled.

Frank came free unexpectedly. The two of them tumbled back in the darkness, both coughing in the dust.

"Are you okay?" Joe finally managed to say.

"Yeah." Frank's voice was hoarse but strong. "I was lucky. When the dirt came down, I wound up with my head between my arms. That left a little air pocket around my face. Otherwise — "

Otherwise, you'd be breathing dirt, Joe thought. "Well, you're out now. The question is, what do we do?"

"Well, I don't see us going forward," Frank said.

"I don't see anything!" Joe gave a short, bitter laugh.

"The problem is, if we go back, we'll be walking into the arms of the cops."

"And Dad, and O'Neill. They'll have us on a plane so fast — "

"I guess that means we go forward," Frank said.

Joe fumbled around. "Well, there's a piece of wood around here somewhere."

They set to work digging through the obstruction before them.

"Hold it!" Frank said. "I think I heard something."

Joe paused, and they both heard a scraping noise coming from the far side of the cave-in.

"That must be Pia working toward us," Frank said. "Come on!"

They dug quickly, fearful that another truck would come rumbling over them and undo all their work. The noise had sounded pretty close. Maybe the cave-in wasn't that big.

Then Joe's piece of wood rammed into something coming from the other side — a piece of wood in Pia's hands. "Franz? Josef?" Her voice was shrill with terror. "My candle is out! I can't see!"

For a second, Frank almost forgot his false identity. He remembered just in time to put on his fake accent. "We are here," he said, taking Pia's hand while Joe enlarged the hole. "Right here!"

As soon as the hole was large enough, Frank and Joe crawled through to a more stable section of tunnel. Pia's voice quavered. "I thought you were buried."

"Just a little," Frank said. "I am all right."

Then Pia shook herself, as if to make her fear go away. "We must be almost at the other end. Follow me."

And soon enough, the bottom of the tunnel turned to brick under their knees again. After that, they came to a dead end. Frank and Joe both leaned against the walls of the tunnel as Pia fumbled for the release in the darkness.

Then they heard a rusty squeal as a section of wall pivoted. Pia fumbled around again, this time outside the tunnel. A line of light appeared at the edge of the doorway. All three of them blinked, raising their hands. Even the dim basement bulbs were blinding after their trip through darkness. Joe thought he'd never seen anything that looked so good as that basement.

Frank staggered out into the basement, staring around at the boxes and plastic bags that filled the space. "What is all this?" he asked.

"Clothes," Pia answered. "We're in the basement of a boutique. Our cause owns the building and rents it out. The store makes a good cover." She stopped short, then burst out laughing as Frank turned around. "Oh, Franz!" she said. "Just look at you!"

Every inch of Frank was stained with dirt. His clothes, his hair, his face — he was even leaving dusty footprints wherever he went. But he began to laugh as he looked at Pia and Joe in the light. They weren't much better off.

"Well, you are lucky, Pia," he finally said. "You can get new clothes. But for me — " He held up a sequined minidress. "I do not think so, do you?"

"You're right. This is a women's shop. But I suppose there's something here I can change into," Pia said.

She disappeared around a rack of clothes to try on her choices. Joe and Frank attempted to beat some of the dust out of their own clothes, but it was a pretty hopeless job. Frank wondered if the dirt on his hands and face was permanently ingrained.

"Well, what do you think?" Pia asked as she stepped back to join the boys.

"Ah," said Frank. Pia had worked hard to change her appearance. She wore a checked shirt and a pair of tailored jeans. Even her hair was different, combed back and pulled into a bun. Except for her glasses, she looked like a different girl. Almost pretty.

"Nice," Joe said. "Very nice."

Pia actually blushed. "I don't usually dress this way," she explained. "But I thought to fool the police — "

"Oh yes," Frank agreed. "I would be fooled."

Pia blushed some more. "I think we should be moving. The police won't be looking for us on the other side of the graveyard. But it's not a good idea to hang around."

She led the way up the stairs, pausing cautiously at the top step. "I'm going to turn the light off, just in case," she said, hitting the switch. Then she slowly eased the door open and peeked around. "As I said, closed. Nobody's here."

They stepped out into the darkened shop. Pia went to the door, peering through the glass. "I don't see anyone outside," she reported. "No police."

Pia rattled keys in the locks. "That'll do it," she said. "We can step out of here, free and clear."

She swung the door open. A piercing siren went off.

Pia froze. "What?"

"They gave you all the keys," Frank said. "They did not mention the new alarm system."

He grabbed Pia's arm and bolted from the door.

"This will draw them," Joe said as he followed them.

"Draw?" Pia echoed.

"The police. With all of them around, many will answer this call," Frank explained.

As if to underline what he said, they heard the not-too-distant sound of sirens.

"Have to get out of here," Frank said as they rushed along the tree-lined streets. "Do you have any ideas?"

Pia shook her head. "We have nowhere else in the neighborhood."

Frank scowled. "No place to hide. Can we get back to the crowds?"

Again, Pia shook her head. "Wisconsin and M streets are behind us. The police are blocking our way."

"We may as well stop running. It will only call attention to ourselves."

They slowed their pace to a fast walk. Joe kept glancing over his shoulder. But so far there were no signs of pursuit.

"For once," he said, "luck is on our side. Maybe we — "

At that moment, a police cruiser turned the corner three blocks ahead of them. Then it was coming straight at them, slowly, its searchlight playing on both sides of the street.

FRANK AND JOE stared at each other in panic. They had only seconds to come up with a plan. "Back—into those bushes," Joe hissed. Frank didn't even hesitate. He slipped into the shadows.

As the car approached, Joe folded the astonished Pia in his arms, turning her away from the street. He slipped off her glasses and, as the police car came up, started kissing her. They stood that way for a long moment, until the searchlight caught them. Pia jumped away, half-blind and blinking, the picture of surprise.

A policeman leaned out the car window, trying to hide a smile. "Sorry to bother you, kids. Someone tried to break into a store a couple of blocks back. We're looking for them. Did anyone come running past you?"

Pia shrank back in fear. But to the policeman she just looked embarrassed. Joe was left to answer the question. "Uh, well, I didn't see — I mean, I don't think so," he said. "Um, I didn't notice — "

The policeman's grin grew broader as he listened to Joe's fumbling explanation.

"Stop digging yourself in any deeper, kid. I guess you didn't see anything."

"I - I thought I saw someone passing," Pia said timidly. "I didn't really look. It could have been a man or a woman. But they were heading in that direction." She pointed back the way the police car had come.

The policeman nodded. "Thanks. We'll get some units over there. And, kids, why don't you use Lover's Lane?"

They could hear the cop's laughter as the car started off down the street. But through the window Joe could see that he was already talking on the radio.

"What have you done?" he asked in a furious whisper. "The police are already behind us. Now they will be searching ahead of us as well."

"I - I thought they would turn around and go away," Pia stammered.

"Your thinking was not right," Joe muttered. "As you saw."

"They are gone?" Frank asked.

Joe looked down into the shadows. With his stained face, Frank was completely camouflaged.

He grinned at his brother. "I think pretty fast, no?" he asked.

"That reminds me," Pia said. She shook Joe's hand. "That's for saving us, Josef." Then she gave Joe a ringing slap across the face. "And that's for trying something like that without asking me."

Joe rubbed his cheek, while Frank tried his best not to laugh.

"There's no time for this." Pia quickly slipped her glasses back on. "We have to get out of here."

"But where?" Frank asked. "Police to the east, police to the west."

"We go north," Pia said. She hesitated. "I have a friend who lives up that way."

Frank kept a careful poker face, in spite of his excitement. He remembered Pia's slip earlier. Her "friend" had the power to change ANWO's plans. It had to be the Dutchman. But why would the brains behind the hijacking have such an obviously inexperienced contact?

Actually, it made a strange sort of sense. Who would pay much attention to a radical-cause groupie? Pia made the perfect cutout for the Dutchman. And, with luck, she would lead the Hardys to her boss.

They set off along the streets, taking a zigzag route. Sometimes they even circled around blocks. Frank gave Pia a look. "Are you trying to confuse us?" he asked.

She shook her head. "It's standard procedure. To make sure no one is following us."

Joe shook his head. "If anyone was following, we'd already be arrested."

Pia shrugged but continued with her strange route. Several times, they saw police cars in the distance. None of them ever came close.

After leading them in a circle around the Naval Observatory, Pia looked over her shoulder, still checking to make sure they weren't being followed. "Good," she said. "Everything's okay. Now we head down Massachusetts Avenue, across the bridge, and out of Georgetown."

They were three blocks from the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge when they saw the roadblock.

It was discreet, a couple of police cars off at the side of the road. But it was clear that the cops were checking everyone who crossed that bridge.

"Over," said Pia, turning abruptly. "We'll try the Buffalo Bridge on Q Street." They walked a block and turned onto Q Street.

The cops were waiting there, too.

Pia stood very still, staring at the collection of police cars. "They'll be covering every bridge back into the city, won't they?" Pia whispered.

"Looks like it," Joe agreed.

Frank began thinking furiously. "These bridges," he said, "they go over a park as well as Rock Creek."

"Rock Creek Park," Pia said.

Frank remembered crossing the M Street Bridge, farther south. It cut across a ravine with a creek below. "There was an autobahn — how do you say? A freeway down there, too," he said. "We must get over that."

"What are you saying?" Joe asked.

"We go into the park, climb down to the creek, and cross it," said Frank.

Pia nodded eagerly. "We should try it under the P Street Bridge," she said. "Someone told me that Washington's army crossed the creek there, marching down to Yorktown."

"Good," said Frank. "First we must get into the park."

Getting in wasn't too difficult — a quick climb over a fence. Getting down to the creek was tough. The ravine walls were steep and heavily overgrown. And the darkness didn't help.

"Can't even see where I'm going," Joe muttered in his brother's ear. "This stupid — whoooah!" He slipped on a rock and tore through some bushes.

By the time they finally reached the creek, each of them had a good collection of scratches and scrapes.

"There is the freeway. On the other side of the water," said Frank, scouting out the territory.

"Yeah. There's the bridge where it crosses over the creek. So we can follow the creek under the freeway and cross the creek itself." Pia patted him on the shoulder. "Good thinking, Franz."

Frank grunted noncommittally. "After we cross the water, then I will be happy."

"At least there are no police," said Joe.

"No sense in waiting." Pia turned to the Hardys. "Let's go."

All three slipped off their shoes and hung them over their necks. Their socks went into their pockets, and they rolled up the legs of their pants.

"Careful," said Frank. "Watch your feet."

They edged into the water. Pia winced. "Cold." She shivered.

Frank just grit his teeth and kept moving.

The water was soon up to their knees and slowly crept higher the farther they moved. Even with their jeans rolled, it was obvious that they were going to get soaking wet.

They continued to slosh their way through to the far side. Then, after pausing for a while to let their soggy clothes dry a bit, they put their shoes back on.