The Secret of Skull Island (11 page)

She let out a long sigh. “They'll send that awful Officer Tano again.”

“Tell them to send somebody else, Aunt Edith,” Cody insisted.

“Ask to speak to the police captain,” Otis told her. “Tell him what happened the last time Tano came. He'll be interested to find out an officer treats a crime like a joke.”

“I think we'll be able to prove that Officer Tano is involved in a cover-up,” Cody added. “We think Mr. Cordell has been paying him off.”

Aunt Edith gasped. Just then Ronnie Walker and Sam Keller walked by. They were carrying luggage, and both of them were grinning.

“Where are
they
going?” Otis asked.

Aunt Edith put a hand to her cheek. “They checked out earlier,” she said. “Jamal is gone, too. Oh, dear, everyone is leaving … and now this business with the DVDs!”

“Where did
he
go?” Rae asked with a toss of her head. “Jamal, I mean.”

“I don't know, dear. Ronnie Walker checked out for him.”

“We should find out where Mr. Keller and Mr. Walker are headed,” Cody said. He was already starting for the door. The others followed.

They found the two men loading luggage into separate cars. Otis ran to Ronnie Walker.

“Where's Jamal?”

Walker threw a bag into the car. “Jamal went over to Tacayno. He said he didn't like it here—it was too quiet and he couldn't get away from fans pestering him.” Walker gave Rae and the twins a look that plainly said, “This means you.”

“So you're going to join him there, and Keller is going with you?” Cody asked.

“I'm not going with him,” squawked Keller. “We just happen to be leaving at the same time.”

Keller turned around. He was sporting a shiner on his left eye. He rubbed at a smudge on his shirt. He opened his mouth to say something else but suddenly began jumping up and down and shouting, “Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!”

He looked so comical that Rae and the twins couldn't help laughing. Ronnie Walker stared. “What's wrong with you, man? You goin' crazy?” he asked.

Keller ripped off his shirt. A large bumblebee flew out of it. “That thing stung me!” he fumed. There was a pink welt just below the tattoo on his shoulder. It was a picture of a gecko, with its mouth open as if it were laughing.

Keller flapped the shirt in the air a few times before putting it on again. “Bugs!” he snapped.

“A bee isn't a bug. It's an insect,” Otis said.

“What? Get lost!” Keller waved a hand at Cody as he got into his car. Just then Steve Cordell rushed to the car and jumped in. He had a bag with him.

Keller's eyes widened and he shrank into the driver's seat. Cordell leaned toward him. “Don't worry, just drive. I'm with you now,” he said.

After a moment, Keller started the car and sped away. Ronnie Walker followed. There was nothing Rae and the twins could do but watch them go.

“I wonder where Keller got that car,” Rae said after a moment. “Jamal arrived on a yacht, and a car was on it. There aren't any other boats big enough to carry a car. There is no place to rent a car on the island.”

“That's right.” Otis snapped his fingers. “Winston Cato picked us up in a gray sedan. Sam Keller was driving a blue four-door. It looked like a real clunker, too.”

“Yeah, it was no
racecar
, that's for sure,” Cody agreed, adding one of his favorite palindromes.

“It's got to be one he kept here.” Cody shrugged. “It proves that he's been here before. It doesn't help us figure out where he went with Cordell, though.”

Otis and Cody looked at each other with furrowed brows. “There is something …” Cody began.

“Missing,” Otis finished.

“It's about the …” Cody rubbed his brow.

“Tattoo,” Otis said.

They looked at each other and their faces lit up. “You know it, too,” Otis said to Cody. “The tattoo that Ronnie Walker called crazy.”

“Keller didn't have that tattoo in the picture we found in Cordell's room. The picture was taken six years ago,” said Cody.

“So if Walker hadn't seen Keller in six years, he wouldn't know about the tattoo,” said Otis.

“Because the day Walker checked in, Keller was wearing a shirt that covered it.”

“I noticed something else,” said Rae. “Keller rubbed a smudge on his shirt. It was the same colors that were on Jamal Mason's bracelet.”

“Really? Could they rub off?” asked Otis.

“Definitely. You see, Jamal mentioned that his friend thought the bracelet was from 1300 BC or earlier. In the Egyptian dynastic period from 3000 to 1250 BC, they didn't have a way to ‘fix' dyes. That meant the dye wasn't colorfast. It could rub off or fade in the light. It hadn't, because it was in a box all this time. But now it should be preserved in a museum. I started to tell him, but he didn't want to listen.”

Otis and Cody looked at her, wide-eyed. “You're amazing, Rae.”

“A walking computer,” said Otis. “So that color could have rubbed off onto the shirt during a struggle.”

Cody was nodding. “Walker and Keller knew each other, and they probably got together recently. Since Keller and Cordell were brothers, it's a good bet that they
all
knew each other.”

“And it's strange that they all happened to leave at the same time—and that Jamal was conveniently gone,” said Otis.

“And how did Jamal get off the island, anyway?” Rae mused.

Cody spotted a piece of paper on the ground, picked it up, and examined it. “Bingo,” he said. “This must have fallen out of Keller's pocket.” He examined it. “It's a ransom note!”

Otis and Rae looked at the note.

Put two million dollars in unmarked bills in a bag. Then wait for our call. We'll give you instructions on what to do next. If you

“It looks like they didn't finish it, but I've got a good idea who the note is about,” said Otis.

Cody nodded. “Jamal.”

“Where do you think they took him?” Rae asked, wringing her hands.

“Probably to their boat. It's got to be docked in the cove with the others,” said Otis. “We have to hurry before they take off.”

“But they have cars. We can't walk there fast enough,” Cody said.

Cody and his brother looked at each other. They both said the words at the same time.

“The secret passage!”

A smile slowly spread across Otis's face. “We can even beat them there. They won't get away with this. I dare them to try.”

Cody nodded. “
Go deliver a dare, vile dog
!” he said.

Otis looked at him and wrinkled his forehead. “So, who's a vile dog? Me?”

“Oh, no, no…. I didn't mean it that way,” Cody said hurriedly. “I was only …”

“I know, I know,” Otis sighed. “You had to come up with a palindrome.”

[Chapter Sixteen]

“I
'm glad you didn't say that we had to call the police first,” Otis said to Cody.

“No way,” his brother replied. “We don't have time. Aunt Edith will call them anyway. She was pretty upset about the pirated DVDs.”

“I hope Jamal is all right,” said Rae. Then she added, “Even though he
was
obnoxious.”

The three were making their way along the passage that led from the bootleg processing center to the sea. Cody and Otis thought that it must lead to the cove where the boats were docked. They figured the pirates had docked there, too, and built the passage for a fast getaway.

It was obvious that the modern-day pirates had been using the passage, too. It was as clean and modern as the processing center. The walls had been drywalled and painted, and the floors had been tiled.

“Look, it forks up ahead,” said Cody.

“Probably a trick to throw pursuers off the track,” said Otis. “We've got to make sure that we're heading toward the cove. This way.” He took the fork to the right.

A little while later they had to make another decision, and then another. There were many forks along the tunnel. There was the danger of traveling in circles. They brought along bread crumbs from the kitchen to mark their way so they wouldn't get lost. “Just like Hansel and Gretel,” Cody had joked when they began.

It had been Rae's idea. She told them she'd read stories where secret passages had forks and turns set up to fool unwanted visitors.

When the tunnel went on and on, they all began to worry. What if they were on the wrong track? What if the crooks had already left with Jamal?

The tunnel curved to the left and ended in three forks. “Great,” said Cody. “Well, Rae, it's just like in those stories after all.”

“Three strikes and we're out,” said Otis. “Let's make this a home run instead.”

“Center fork,” Cody said.

“Agreed,” the twins heard from Rae.

“Agreed,” Otis echoed.

They headed down the center fork. The passage grew narrower and narrower.

Then it came to a dead end.

“How could we have gone wrong?” Cody wailed.

Otis was examining the wall. “Maybe we didn't.” He found a skeleton button in the bottom left-hand corner and pressed it. A panel slid open. Sunlight poured into the passage.

Cody grinned. “After you,” he said, nodding to Rae.

Soon the three of them were standing in the sunshine. Now they had to find the right boat.

“Over there.” Cody pointed. “It's got to be the boat with a laughing gecko on the side.”

“Definitely,” said Otis. “I don't see anyone on deck.”

“They're around here somewhere,” said Cody. “We've got to be careful.” He looked from side to side and began to creep toward the gleaming white cabin cruiser with the green lizard on its side. The others followed.

The sea was still and not a single breeze stirred the air. The few other boats anchored near the
Laughing Gecko
looked empty.

The three rescuers boarded the boat cautiously. Otis pressed a finger to his lips and pointed belowdecks. They all climbed down the ladder, trying to slow their pounding hearts. They were all repeating the same words to themselves:
focus
…
breathe
.

They found Jamal tied up on the floor in a corner of the galley. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw them. Once more, Otis cautioned against making any sound with a finger to his lips.

They had freed Jamal from all but his wrist bindings, when they heard footsteps on deck. Then suddenly two men came running toward them. It was Sam Keller and Steve Cordell.

“I knew you kids would be trouble,” snarled Keller as he ran. His eyes bugged out and his face was red with fury. A vision of the man wearing a brown wig, mustache, and beard flashed before Cody's eyes as Keller lunged at him.

Each man grabbed a boy by the shoulders and held him in a viselike grip. Automatically, Cody and Otis raised their arms straight up in the break-out move their sensei had taught them. Both men were surprised to find their holds suddenly broken, their hands dangling in empty air as the boys streaked away with Rae running beside them.

“We'd better get help. I think we've got our proof now!” Otis blurted as he ran. Then Cordell jumped in front of him, blocking his path to the door. Otis cut to the right and ran to the corner of the boat where Jamal was tied.

Meanwhile, Keller caught Cody from behind. Cody gritted his teeth and stomped the man's instep with a heel kick. Keller gave a howl of pain and staggered backward. He regained his balance in an instant, lunged at Cody, and spun him around.

“So you wise guys have taken a couple of karate classes,” he huffed. “Well, it's time to stop playing games.”

Cody jerked himself free of Keller's grip. But then one of Keller's hands shot toward Cody's throat. Cody blocked his arm, grabbed his wrist, and twisted, whirling so that his back was to the man. He swept a foot back, hooked Keller's leg, and pulled it forward in a leg sweep.

This time Keller went down with a thud. His head hit the floor and he saw stars.
Boom!
He was out like a light.

Otis and Rae had been running circles around Cordell. He couldn't catch them, and it was making him madder and madder. He watched his brother fall down and fury exploded behind his eyes.

He ran toward Otis, shrieking, “I'm not going to let you ruin everything!” But he didn't get very far. As he ran past Rae, she stuck out her foot and tripped him.
Thud!
Cordell hit the floor and joined his brother in la-la land.

Cody went over and felt each man's neck for a pulse. “These guys are okay … they're just out of it. We'd better tie them up before they come to.”

The three boys quickly bound the men's hands and feet. Jamal looked down at them. “Scum,” he muttered. Then he turned to the twins and their cousin. “Thanks for rescuing me. Do any of you know where my bodyguard is?”

Before either one of them could answer, Ronnie Walker appeared in the doorway. When he took in the scene, he turned to run away.