The Belial Stone(43)

Laney shook her head over her uncle’s tactics and caught Jake looking at her. He gave her a wink before leading them over to the sidewalk.

Laney stopped next to her uncle and Jake as they waited for Henry and Danny to join them.

“Does Dr. Radcliffe work in one of these cottages?” Patrick asked, looking around.

Jake smiled. “Nope. We need to walk a little to get to his lab.

“Actually, Dominic’s lab also houses his living quarters,” Henry said as he joined them with Danny. He started leading them down a path that curved away from the cottages. “He wanted everything in one spot. Just one of his little eccentricities."

Danny kicked at a rock in the pathway. “People just don’t understand him.”

Patrick walked next to the young man. “Sometimes, people can be cruel when they don't understand someone.”

Danny glanced over at him and nodded.

Laney watched the interchange from behind with a smile. Her uncle had just taken Danny under his wing. Life might be completely off-kilter right now, but there was one thing that remained unerringly consistent: her uncle’s empathy.

The grounds became less landscaped as they made their way farther down the path. At one point, they started pushing branches out of their way. If it weren’t for Henry’s sure-footed stride, Laney would have thought they were lost.

Finally, they broke through into a little clearing. In front of them stood a small, squat brick building that looked like a utility shed for a power plant.

Laney stopped next to Jake. “This is Dr. Radcliffe's lab?”

“Yup. I was inside only once, before Radcliffe moved in. I'm curious to see what he's done with the place.”

Laney looked back at the ugly building. “Yeah. I'm sure he's made it real homey.’

Jake chuckled.

Henry walked up to the door and flipped open the key pad to its left, inputting a series of numbers. He placed his eye up to the plate.

Laney glanced at Jake.

“A retinal scanner,” he replied to her unasked question.

After a loud click, Henry pulled the door open and beckoned everyone in. Laney and Patrick shared a look before starting forward.

“Guess we’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy,” Patrick whispered as he followed her into the dark building.





CHAPTER 31



The room remained dark until the door slammed shut behind Patrick. Bright incandescent lights flickered on, bathing the room in a greenish tint.

“Well, this isn't creepy at all,” Laney muttered.

There was nothing there. It was just a concrete-lined room with one door behind them and what looked like a vault door on the other side.

Henry walked to a panel next to the giant steel door and placed his hand on the plate. A green glow traced the outline of his hand. With a blast of air, the door popped open a few inches. Henry grabbed onto the long handle and pulled the door wide. Fluorescent lighting hung over a circular hallway which angled sharply down into the ground.

“Huh,” Jake grunted, nodding his head.

“Huh, what?” Laney asked. “What is this place?”

Henry answered as he ducked his head to walk through the tunnel. “It’s a bomb shelter. Dr. Radcliffe’s lab is actually located forty-five feet under us.”

Patrick almost tripped over the threshold at Henry's words. Laney reached out an arm to steady him. “A bomb shelter?”

“Dom’s just security conscious, that’s all,” Danny said as he walked through the tunnel.

Patrick smiled at him. “Well, he should feel pretty safe here, then.”

Danny gave him a timid smile before continuing down the long path.

As she stepped into the tunnel, she remembered her uncle's Dorothy comment. And she had to admit, she felt a kinship with the poor girl. And Alice, too, for that matter. Both had been uprooted from their lives and dropped into a new, magical world. Of course, she thought with a smile as she watched the men around her, Dorothy was probably more appropriate, with Jake as the Lion, her uncle the Tinman, Henry the Scarecrow, and Danny as Toto.

The tunnel continued on a downward angle for another hundred yards. At the end, Laney stepped out into a room, almost identical to the one they had first entered.

She stared at the mammoth door across from them. “Another blast door?”

Henry nodded as he input numbers into the security panel next to the door. This time, he placed his right index finger on the glass panel. A green light lit up above the door. It clicked open. Jake stepped up to hold it open for the group.

The whole setting had a surreal quality to it. The long white halls, the eerie green lighting, the faint musty smell. She glanced at Henry, who was walking ahead. He had to almost double over to fit in the tunnels. Why was this place even here? She knew the Chandler Group was involved in complex international issues, but did that really require a bunker? As she continued down, she realized she was both literally and figuratively in over her head.