Chapter 22
Detective Deffenbaugh turned away from the wooden venetian blinds and faced the assembly in the conference room for the first time.
“I can’t do that,” Mr. Newton, “like I was telling you outside.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said the old lawyer, his faceas pink as his hands. “I have more than enough evidence here to convict them, let alone arrest them.”
The boys looked at the detective and then to Mr. Glover.
“That’s fine; I’m sure you do,” said the Detective, “but you haven’t shown it to me yet. And no one has reported a crime, either.” He turned to the boys, “you fellas are free to go, as far as I’m concerned. But I wouldn’t go far.”
“They ain’t leaving this room,” said the big security guard, once again shoving his chair back as he rose.
“I think this is our cue,” said Mr. Glover, “Jack, Cable, Quinn, follow me.”
He started towards the door.
“Detective!” commanded the lawyer, “you are out of line. Detain these men.”
“I’ll take care of it, Mr. Newton,” said the security guard. He started towards Mr. Glover, who was already at the door.
“I wouldn’t,” warned the detective.”
The guard hesitated, looking first at the detective and then at his boss. Before he could make up his mind what to do, Mr. Glover, pulled the door open and ushered the boys out. They wasted no time getting out of the office. By the time they reached the street exit, they were practically at a run.
“Where are you parked?” asked Mr. Glover.
“Over by Natural History,” said Cable, “we thought we were meeting there.”
“Go there now,” said Mr. Glover. “Don’t stop and don’t talk to anyone. Get in your car and drive home. They will be coming after you and soon.”
“Who will be?”
“D.C. Police, I expect. Maybe Feds. Whatever you do, don’t go on Smithsonian property, or their rent-a-cops can detain you. Understand? Call me when you get on the highway. I’m going to wait here and see who comes out of the building. Maybe that will give us an idea what we’re dealing with.”
The boys took off at a run. They sped through the fancy gardens between the Smithsonian Castle and the Asian Art Gallery. Then when they reached the gravel paths of the Mall, they slowed to a jog as they passed the Hirshhorn museum and the sunken sculpture garden. The green dome of the Natural History Museum loomed across the grassy Mall ahead of them.
All three of the boys were athletic enough that the jog didn’t tire them out. Quinn was the track star at school. Jack had run in school too, and now sometimes even jogged for fun. And Cable was too stubborn to let his brothers outrun him, ever, under any circumstances.
Jack’s phone rang. He checked the caller ID. Seeing it was Chad, he didn’t answer it. A moment later, Cable’s phone rang. When Cable didn’t answer his, only a few seconds passed before Quinn’s rang as well.
Their car was parked on the Constitution Avenue side of the Museum again. They resisted the urge to duck through the museum and instead jogged the extra three blocks to stay on the public sidewalk. No one seemed to be pursuing them.
“Are we going to go to jail?” asked Quinn, as their car came into sight a block ahead of them.
“I’m not,” said Cable, panting.
“What does that mean?” asked Quinn.
“I mean, I didn’t do anything,” said Cable.
“You’re back to that, are you?” said Jack.
“I never left it,” said Cable.
“Guys, please,” said Quinn. “I just want to know what happens if they arrest us? Do they actually take us to a jail? What’s the actual procedure? Like, when do we get to make a phone call and have someone get us out?”
“I don’t know,” said Jack, “and I don’t want to find – Hey! What the frack?”
He stopped jogging when their car was still half a block ahead of them. Their car was parked just a few spaces beyond the drink and t-shirt vendors. But there was a big white box truck with Franklin & Rogers logo on it double-parked beside them, blocking them in. And there was a Franklin & Rogers pickup truck parked directly in front of them, so close that its back bumper touched the front bumper of the element.
When they walked up to their car, the big goon that that had come to their bookstore when first they’d met Franklin got out of the passenger seat of the pickup truck. He spoke a few words into his walkie talkie, then leaned up against his truck watching the boys as they approached.
The boys looked up and down the street. There were a few scattered tourists on the sidewalk and a steady stream of cars and buses driving by on the street. Quinn pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Should I call the police?” he asked.
“No,” said Cable, “do not call the police.”
Quinn was still holding his phone in his hand when they came to a stop beside their car. There was no way to get it out of there unless the Franklin & Rogers trucks moved. The big construction worker, wearing the same denim workshirt as before, made no move to address them.
“Is there a problem?” Cable asked him.
He nodded over their shoulders. The boys turned around to see Franklin himself walking towards them at a brisk pace.
“My friends,” he called to them. Even in the most sinister light, he was charismatic. Quinn nearly waved back to him. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“We’ve got nothing to say to you,” said Cable.
“Oh now fellows,” said Franklin. He smoothed down his goatee as he stopped beside them. “We have so much to talk about.”
“So start talking then,” said Cable.
“Really?” said Franklin, “is it like that? I thought you might be happy to bump into me. I thought it was maybe a lucky coincidence. I can see that you’re wondering how it’s lucky. Let me tell you. My good friend Tony has disappeared. As I told you before we had unfinished business – these renovations are a bear, he used to say – before when I came to see you, it seemed like you were not that interested in helping me. But from what I have heard around the building, you have gotten more interested the same thing I am interested in.”
“Hardly,” said Cable.
“Hear me out,” said Franklin. “Before, I asked you if you have any information about where Tony might be and you said you did not. I took you at your word. But then I find out that you are not men of your word. In fact, I find you sneaking around here behind my back, making waves. And to make matters worse, something that I have been working on for a long time then blows up in our faces. Literally it blows up in your face. But I feel as though it were my face. Believe me, I do. So now the situation has changed here and I am coming to you again to ask you if you can tell me anything about my friend Tony.”
“I said we have nothing to say to you,” said Cable again.
“We might as well hear him out,” said Quinn, “we’re not going anywhere until we do. And if we’re ever going to get back on the highway…”
“Thank you,” said Franklin. “I’ll make it quick. I like you guys. I did right from the start. And I think that as we’re all businessmen, you can understand where I’m coming from. I have a lot invested in this project. My team has put everything into this. We had certain plans when we began, but we’ve had to change those plans. Tony understood that. That’s why he decided to be part of the Team. And I was happy to have him. And I’d be happy to have you on board as well. There’s no reason we have to be adversaries. From what I hear over the security intercom just now, you’re running out of friends on the inside—“
“Boss,” said the big construction worker. He gave another of his nods back towards the building. Franklin looked over his shoulder. The boys turned and looked too. Otis, in his security guard uniform, had just come out the museum door. With him was Bernard Meyers, from their meeting just a few minutes ago.
Franklin leaned towards the boys and lowered his voice. “If you help me, I can give you cover. I can produce paperwork that shows that you’re working for me. ID’s, overtime clearances, whatever you need to show that you were supposed to be there. I’ll even say you were just following my instructions. All they’ve got on you is trespassing and I can make that disappear.”
He looked at each of them in the eye, ending with Quinn whom he also clapped on the arm in a gesture of camaraderie.
“Jack, Cable, Quinn!” called Meyers. “Wait up.”
“We’ve got to get out of here,” said Jack to his brothers.
“Right,” said Franklin, “I’ll see what I can do.”
He looked towards his henchman and gave him a sign with a wave of a finger. The big guy turned and got in the pickup truck and began to pull it forward enough to let the element out. At the same time, Franklin turned around to face Meyers and Otis, plastering a big smile on his face.
“Mr. Meyers,” he said, “I’ve been needing to talk to you about something.”
“Not now Franklin,” said Meyers.
“I’m afraid this can’t wait,” said Franklin, “I’ve got a crew getting paid overtime as it is. If I could just bend your ear for a moment.”
Despite his efforts not to engage, Meyers found himself buttonholed by Franklin just a few paces from where the boys stood. Otis came over to them.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Quinn
“Did you get the note?”
“Yes.”
“Did it make any sense to you?”
“Some,” said Cable, “can we ask you a couple—“
“No time,” said Otis, “D.C. police are already in the building. Shove me.”
“What?” said Quinn.
“Shove me out of your way and get in your car and go,” said Otis.
“Are you kidding?” said Quinn.
“The police were told that you’d stolen the Hope Diamond and you should be considered dangerous and a flight risk. They’ll be out here any second.”
“But that’s ridiculous,” said Quinn.
“I know that,” said Otis, “so get out of here. Solve those puzzles. And fast!”
Suddenly Otis dove backwards and landed on the grassy edge to the sidewalk. “Hey, what’s the big idea!” he shouted. Then he hissed, “Go!”
Jack didn’t miss a beat. He leapt over the hood of the element and jumped n the driver side door.
“What!—“ exclaimed Quinn.
“No time Quinn!” snapped Cable. He shoved Quinn into the passenger seat of the car and then jumped behind him into the back seat and pulled the door shut behind him as Jack gunned the engine. The element pulled out onto Constitution Avenue, sending a taxicab swerving into oncoming traffic. There was a chorus of horns, but Jack didn’t stop. The access ramp to the highway was between the Natural History museum and the new sculpture park. He took the right turn fast enough that Cable was thrown across the back seat of the car. Out the back window, as they disappeared into the underpass, they could see Otis and Franklin and Meyers all staring after them in surprise.
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