Storming the Kingdom (3 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

Seven Days Ago
Night

H
awk sat in the waiting room, staring blankly out the window into the Central Florida night. He became aware of someone holding his hand. He looked down and watched tender circles being drawn by a delicate thumb, graced with a French-manicured thumbnail, steadily caressing him. Tightening his hand on the fingers touching his, he looked over at Kate Young.

“Hey.” She nestled her head against his shoulder. “Where’ve you been?”

“Here, I guess.”

“Oh no, you’ve been sitting here with me, that’s true. But for the last hour, you’ve been staring out the window saying nothing. Your mind has been somewhere else.”

Hawk breathed deeply as he looked her in the eyes. Those confident green eyes had mesmerized him the first time he had met her and still had that effect on him. Kate Young was one of the most powerful journalists in the world. She was smart, glamorous, and had managed to see Hawk at his best and worst. And they were still together. As reports leaked out that there had been a shooting in Orlando, she had not given the initial reports too much attention. When the sketchy details emerged, her curiosity had been tweaked as she heard the shooting was at a limousine, and she had tried to reach Hawk. While concluding her broadcast from Lake Eola, she received word of a shooting attempt at the hospital; at the same time, Juliette Keaton had called her and told her what had been happening.

Hawk had to give the police permission to let her in, as she had been herded into an ever-growing media zone outside the hospital. Initially, police thought she was just there to cover the story, but finally one officer—who reportedly knew that Kate and Hawk were a couple because his wife read entertainment magazines—had contacted Mitch Renner, who secured permission from Hawk to let her in. The vast, usually overfilled waiting area had been cleared for the few people who now sat quietly, seated in a tight circle, occasionally speaking in hushed whispers to one another. Police stood guard at every entrance, locking down the area.

Tim Keaton had arrived to be with Juliette. Tim, like Juliette, was one of Hawk’s closest friends. Jonathan Carlson and his wife, Sally, who had logged a lot of life with the preacher turned Disney executive were there too; and Shep Albert, who was now officially the head of special projects for Disney Imagineering—and head of the new theme park project Hawk had announced during the press conference, which now seemed as if it had taken place years ago. The seven of them now waited together as their dear friend Farren Rales was going through surgery.

“What have you been thinking about?” Kate whispered to him.

“Worrying about Farren, trying to replay everything that has happened tonight.” He shrugged. “Trying to make it make sense.”

“Does it?”

“No, not at all.”

Mitch Renner entered the room. Nodding at the group assembled, he accepted the invitation Shep extended for him to join their little circle. He slid a chair into the circle and looked across at Hawk.

“You doing OK?” Mitch asked.

Hawk just offered a nod. Renner smiled slightly, then turned to Juliette and asked the same question.

“Yes,” Juliette answered as Tim wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“Rough night,” Renner said, then turned his attention back to Hawk. “You made sure the assailant didn’t take his gun with him. We’re going to be able to get some prints off it. The gun itself is a military sidearm. Pretty common, but this one does have a specialized barrel. Factory issue of this piece doesn’t allow for a suppressor to be used.”

“A suppressor?” Sally Carlson asked.

“A silencer, so you can’t hear it fire so easily. Hawk, I’m not sure what we’re dealing with here. But you are very fortunate and extremely tough. From what I can see, you have survived two different attempts tonight by a professional assassin or assassins. The effort in the hospital was brazen. To get in and even try to do what he did is gutsy. He wouldn’t have tried if he didn’t think he could pull it off. You are one lucky man.”

“I’m not lucky.” Hawk spoke without emotion. “I don’t believe in luck. Whoever wanted to kill us tonight wasn’t that good. I realize you don’t know yet if it was just the dark-haired guy that was behind this or if someone else was involved, but they weren’t good.”

“So, if you aren’t lucky, then why are we talking right now?” Renner responded.

“I’m not lucky; they were lousy!” Hawk locked eyes on the policeman. “If they were good, I’d be dead. But I’m not. Instead, they missed me, and my friend has been in surgery for…I don’t even know how long now. If they were good, I would still be stretched out in the hospital room, and your crime scene would have been a homicide. Renner, the guy was right on top of me…but he didn’t kill me. The assassins are losers. The only thing they managed to do right is not get caught yet.”

“We have you locked down safely in here. Unless they have an armored tank, you and your friends should be secure. When you leave the hospital, we’ll make sure you get home.” The investigator stood. “We need to make some arrangements to ensure your safety. I also want to make sure that all of you”—he gestured to the group seated around him—“are covered as well.”

“Have you had the chance to talk with Al Gann?” Jonathan Carlson asked.

“Yes, he’s the sheriff who interfaces with Disney security, correct?”

“Correct.”

“He has been contacted,” Renner assured them. “I believe he’s making some arrangements to tighten up security for you back in the theme parks. I will be talking with him personally soon.”

“He’s a good man. He’s also a very good friend,” Jonathan added.

The door opened and a police officer motioned for Mitch Renner. Excusing himself, he stepped into the hallway. Hawk and his friends watched in silent curiosity through glass windows as Renner listened to the officer, and they were joined by what appeared to be a doctor and another man wearing a suit and a hospital name tag. The conversation grew more animated; occasionally Renner would glance back through the window toward the group, then reengage the dialogue with the other three.

“I wonder what that’s about.” Shep stated what everyone was thinking.

Shaking his head, Renner stepped back inside the doors. “Hawk, could I speak with you privately for a minute?”

“Of course.”

Hawk got to his feet and followed Renner into the hallway. The armed officers kept their position outside the waiting room doors. As Hawk and Renner walked, the policeman remained silent. Their footsteps echoed through the isolated hospital corridor to a set of double doors, which carried them into what appeared to be a recovery room. Curtain-partitioned cubicles loaded with medical equipment and patients surrounded them. A nurses’ station in the center of the room was filled with monitors, computers, and an army of attendants who seemed to be in perpetual motion.

“I need to tell you something.” Renner’s face was grim. “I wish we didn’t have to talk about this, but we need to.”

Hawk didn’t like the look on his face or the tone of his voice. “Sure, what is it?”

“We need to talk about the death of Farren Rales.”

CHAPTER SIX

Seven Days Ago
Night

H
awk walked along the redbrick sidewalk toward the main entrance of the Magic Kingdom. Strolling next to him, eyes constantly searching their surroundings, was Al Gann. Al was an Orange County sheriff who carried the responsibility of being the chief law enforcement officer connected to the Walt Disney World Resort. His role was to coordinate between the Disney Security Department and local law enforcement agencies. Being friends with Hawk made his job much easier, except on nights like this one.

“Hawk, I have positioned extra officers and security at every entrance to every resort on the property,” Al said.

Hawk allowed the words to slide across his brain cells. The manpower to accomplish that was staggering. With over thirty resort hotels, four theme parks, two water parks, golf resorts, and Disney Springs, what he had done was no small task. Stopping, he turned toward Al.

“Every resort?” Hawk paused, giving Al time to think. “Really?”

“Yes, I believe so.” Al tilted his head as he thought. Straightening his head, he continued, “Yes, every resort is covered.”

“OK.” Hawk shrugged and continued his walk. “Just checking.”

The two moved through the main gate, entering the Magic Kingdom. During operating hours, this area was a controlled, chaotic flow of people entering and leaving the theme park. Now it was quiet and isolated, with the exception of the police officers and security personnel standing nearby. They were on high alert, and Hawk, looking through a fog of sadness, noticed that, other than a quick glance toward them as they entered, they were keeping a vigilant watch over everything. The Magic Kingdom had closed hours ago. Now, in the early hours of the morning, most motion had ceased, and with the events of the evening hanging over them, even the normal maintenance crews usually seen here had been moved out of the area.

“Hawk.” Al reached out and placed a hand on Hawk’s arm to get him to stop. “We have the place locked down. You are as safe as I can make you right now. Kate is back at the Contemporary Resort. We have security positioned all around her. We did the same for Juliette and Tim. They’re home, and there’s a patrol outside their house and another one in their house. Tim said it wasn’t necessary.”

“But he thanked your guys for being there and didn’t protest too much.” Hawk knew how Tim would have reacted.

“Yes.” Al’s eyes darted to the left and back right. “We’re not sure if they were targeting you, Farren, Juliette, or all three of you. Obviously you were a target, that’s why you had a visitor in the hospital tonight.”

“What do you really think, Al?” Hawk lowered his head along with his tone. “Who was the real target tonight?”

“You,” Al said with no hesitation. “You know it and I know it. It’s the same junk we’ve dealt with before. Tonight the bad guys just got nastier. This craziness that Far-ren, George, and Walt Disney created for you to figure out, be in charge of, protect, or whatever it is you do…it will eventually get you or someone close to you killed.”

Hawk looked down toward the ground, and his shoulders rose as he inhaled slowly and deeply. He thought of Farren. He flashed back to the moments in the limousine as the shots exploded through the windows. Al was right, it was craziness. And Hawk had no idea what to do next. His shoulders sagged under the heaviness of his sadness.

“I’m sorry, Hawk.” Al patted him on the shoulder. “I wasn’t trying to be insensitive. I just want you to be safe. You don’t always make my job easy.”

Al Gann had been with Hawk through the wild changes that had taken place in his life after he became the keeper of the key to the kingdom. Although Al had limited understanding of all Hawk had been entrusted with, he had made it his job to personally keep Hawk safe. Hawk knew he made it more difficult than it needed to be. It wasn’t on purpose; there was just a recklessness to his personality that had ultimately made him Farren Rales’ perfect choice to become the caretaker of the secrets of Walt Disney. Those secrets had changed his life and the lives of his friends, and like any other blessing had come with a set of complications they all were still learning to navigate.

They stood in front of the huge, smiling floral face of Mickey Mouse in the garden below the train station. As one of the most photographed sites in all of the world, it invites guests to enter the Magic Kingdom. On either side of this garden are tunnels that take visitors below the train station and onto Main Street, U.S.A. The hiss of steam from the elevated train track above him made Hawk slowly turn his head toward the train station.

Al followed Hawk’s gaze. “Knowing you and knowing your inability to listen to me, take my advice, or do anything except get in my way…I realized you were going to be trying to figure out who did this tonight just like the professionals would be doing. So, I said this was OK.” He tilted his head up toward the track where Hawk was now staring.

A slight smile broke across the face of the CCA, momentarily cutting through the gloom of grief, as he gazed up at the gleaming red locomotive puffing clouds of steam at the Main Street Station. One of his favorite things was riding the steam trains. Hawk realized even before he read the name on the side that he was looking at the number one engine of the Walt Disney World Resort. This ten-wheeled locomotive was named in honor of Walt himself. The
Walter E. Disney
was waiting at the station, red wheels poised to begin the mile-and-a-half journey around the Magic Kingdom. The train at this time of the night should be in the Walt Disney World roundhouse facility, which is a place few have seen, designed after a bygone era in railway history. In the early hours of the morning, the train should not be sitting on the track ready for passengers to board.

Hawk’s smile faded as quickly as it had come. “Said what was OK?”

“Go find out.” Al pointed toward the train.

Hawk stepped away from his friend and guardian and entered the tunnel. He walked through it until he reached the opening on the right that took him underneath the station and toward the steps that led up to where the train was waiting.

Trains were an essential part of the fabric and fiber of the Magic Kingdom. Walt, who had developed a love of trains at an early age, had insisted that a train surround the theme park. In California, he had built a half-mile scale model railway in his backyard, which he called the Carolwood Pacific Railroad. At Disneyland, his earliest plan included a train. When the designers started creating Walt Disney World, Walt insisted this train station be located near the entrance to the park.

Scaling the steps easily, Hawk stepped into the train station, then out the door to the loading platform. He looked to the engine and saw the engineer waving at him to join him. Hawk recognized the face instantly; it was the old Imagineer, George Colmes.

The pale-skinned, elderly genius stood proudly in the engine of the steam train. Wearing a pair of denim overalls with a red handkerchief tied around his neck, this living image out of a history book motioned for Grayson to climb aboard. Standing in each of the cars was a member of the Disney Security department, eyes searching the surroundings, and each nodded as Hawk made eye contact on his way to the front of the train. Arriving at the engine, he gripped the rail and hoisted himself up the steps to stand next to George at the controls. Suddenly the old man embraced him with two frail arms, pulling him in tightly, lightly patting him on the back. Hawk had not expected the hug, and after an awkward delay he returned the embrace.

“I’m sorry about Farren,” George said with misty eyes. “You were very special to him. He loved you like a son.”

“I know.” Hawk lowered his gaze as his eyes moistened. “I love him too. I’m sorry for you as well. I know you were longtime friends, the last of Walt’s original Imagineers. That made your connection very special. I wish you had more time to get reacquainted.”

It had been Hawk and his new role at the Disney Company that had been responsible for the two Imagineers’ reconnecting. Farren had been entrusted by Walt to select Hawk to carry on the legacy of the company and protect it. George had been entrusted by Walt to make sure that Hawk had the secrets Walt had chosen to pass along as part of that legacy. Both men were part of an elaborate plan created by Walt and Roy Disney to secure the future of the world they had worked so hard to create. Three Imagineers had been selected and each given a piece of a complex puzzle. Each Imagineer had been given a task, something he was to share when the timing was right. They had all worked independently of one another; Hawk had not yet met the third Imagineer and sometimes doubted he ever would.

George Colmes had emerged and made sure Hawk got the piece of the puzzle he was guarding. It had been a book, a journal in which Walt himself had chronicled his thoughts, ideas, and hopes for his Progress City. The pages contained details of what Walt had planned, the difficulties he anticipated, how he would tackle them, and how he would create and shape the future. The pages also contained ideas about projects, leadership, and his dreams to continue what he had started. The handwritten book was priceless. Hawk had read this journal over and over again. It was from these pages that the initial concept of the Walt Disney’s Adventure—the theme park he had announced earlier in the evening before the world shattered around him—had come from.

“We had a good number of years, and it was a great run.” George shoved the lever, opening the throttle, and the train jolted into movement. Hawk reached out to grab the side of the cabin to steady himself. “All aboard,” George muttered softly.

The
Walter E. Disney
chugged out of the station and began the mile-and-a-half loop around the Magic Kingdom. The monorail station on the left drifted past as the train clacked into the foliage and snaked its way into Adventureland. Colmes kept his eyes focused on the controls, slightly adjusting the throttle, making sure all was working properly. The gentle movement of the train on the tracks rocked them back and forth.

Hawk waited. He had learned that, much like Farren Rales, George Colmes was a man who knew how to unpack a story, and there was always a story to be told. He had known from the moment he’d seen George standing as the engineer on this train that he wasn’t there just to offer condolences. He had come to tell Hawk something, and even the train was a part of the story.

“You already know how much Walt Disney loved trains,” Colmes said, while continuing to look straight ahead. “He had such a passion for railroading. As a matter of fact, when he was first talking about building Disneyland, he described it by saying, ‘I just want it to look like nothing else in the world. And it should be surrounded by a train.’ For Walt, part of the fun of Disneyland was that it was a giant play set he could run his trains around.”

“Do you think about Walt a lot?” Hawk patted the Imagineer on the back.

“Yep, I miss him, I miss Roy, and now Farren,” George shook his head with a sad smile. “Time keeps moving on, just like this old train…but eventually it catches up with the passengers, and they just aren’t here anymore.”

When the theme park was open, the train made continuous loops around the park, with stops at the Frontierland Station and the Fantasyland Station. As they rolled toward the Frontierland Station, George adjusted the throttle and the train maintained its speed. Tonight, the park was closed and the train could run without stopping to pick up or drop off guests. The only official passenger for this ride was Hawk, who sensed his waiting for the Imagineer to speak his mind was about to come to an end.

“Were you with him when he died?” George turned to look at him.

“No, I didn’t see him after they took him out of the car.”

“Did he say anything to you?”

“About?”

“Seriously?” The old man cleared his throat as he rechecked the control of the train. “We don’t really have to play this silly game where you act like you don’t know what I am talking about. My boy, you are the keeper of the key, the keeper of the legacy, the keeper of the dream, and you have to figure out what to do with it. Farren and I have done our part, so when I ask you if he said anything, don’t act like you don’t know what I am talking about.”

“You’re right.” Hawk nodded. “Farren told me I don’t know what I’ve got.”

“Anything else?”

The silence hung between them. Hawk studied the Imagineer’s face, trying to read what he was thinking. Indeed, there had been another piece of instruction Farren had given him, but he wasn’t sure George had the information he needed to understand it.

Hawk decided not to share the rest. “Nothing else. Why?”

“Because Farren is right, you don’t know what you’ve got.”