Chapter Forty-Six
ANGEL SINCLAIR
Someone grabbed the front of my shirt, yanking me forward. I clutched Frankie’s hand so tightly, I brought her with me. We were pressed back against a wall when I heard Jax’s voice.
“Everybody, stay where you are. We have to give Bo the room he needs to make the jump.”
Seconds later I heard a thump, swearing, and a crash.
“Bo?” I called out into the darkness. “Are you okay?”
“Mission complete,” he said. “I made it and the door stayed open. Although I think I took someone down with me.”
“That would be me,” Wally said, his voice shaky. “I’m okay, though. Just a little roughed up.”
“I took a glance at the timer before I went through, and we have eighty-three minutes and an unknown number of challenges left,” Bo informed us. “Let’s go.”
I felt around, my fingers touching a fabric-covered wall. “Where are we?”
“In a dark corridor,” Jax said. “Follow the sound of my voice and let’s go deeper. Maybe a light source is ahead of us.”
We mostly felt and bumped our way along the corridor as it snaked back and forth several times. At some point, it ended and we staggered into an open room. We paused inside, hoping for some relief from the dark, but it was still pitch-black.
No one spoke as we contemplated what to do next.
“We have to have light,” Hala said, stating the obvious. “That has to be our number one priority.”
“But what if we step on a red section in the dark?” Frankie asked.
“Well, if we can’t see it to avoid it, they can’t see us to know that we did it,” Kira offered. “Right?”
“Yeah, because three US intelligence agencies don’t use infrared cameras…said no one ever,” Mike retorted.
“Stop arguing,” Bo said curtly. “We have to feel our way along the wall. Head toward the walls and find a light source as soon as possible.”
We took his advice and moved ahead, waving our hands in front of us blindly. I crashed into Hala.
“Ouch,” I said, rubbing my forehead.
“Sorry,” Hala whispered back.
“Marco,” someone else called out jokingly, and someone else answered, “Polo.”
“Knock it off, guys,” Bo said. “We need to concentrate.”
My hands finally hit a wall. As I felt along, I hit something hard. “Hey, there’s something on the wall. A painting or something in a large frame.”
“Yes, I have the same thing on my side, too,” Kira called out. “There’s more than one painting or framed photograph over here. I’ve felt at least three.”
I continued along the wall until I bumped into another frame. “I found more, too,” I said. “What does it mean?”
“Nothing, unless we find a light switch,” Jax said. He was somewhere behind me, to the left.
Suddenly a loud crash sounded. “What was that?” Bo said.
“It was me,” Mike answered. “I tripped over something on the floor. A box.”
“Is there a flashlight in the box?” Bo asked hopefully.
“I don’t know. Give a minute.” I heard more noises, presumably Mike rummaging through the box. “I didn’t find a flashlight, but I did find something that feels like a battery. AA size, to be exact. I think there may be some small LED bulbs in the box as well.”
“Sounds like someone wants us to build our own flashlight,” Jax offered. “Apparently in the dark.”
“Hey, there’s furniture in here, too,” Kira suddenly said. “There’s a chair and desk.”
“Any chance there’s a lamp on that desk?” Hala asked.
“Not that I can feel,” Kira replied. “Nothing is on the desk that I can tell.”
“Well, keep looking for a light source,” Bo said. “Mike, can you build a flashlight in the dark?”
“Not without more stuff. It’s hard to see what’s in this box in the dark, but at the very least, I’d need electrical tape and wires.”
“Hey, I think I found a door,” Wally said.
“Where are you?” Jax said.
“Over here,” he said.
Jax must have made his way over because he said, “Confirmed Wally found the exit. There’s something on the door in place of a handle, but I’m afraid to touch it without being able to see it.”
“Oopmph,” Hala said, followed by a loud thump and what I guessed was swearing in Arabic. “I just tripped over another box.”
“Are you okay?” Bo asked.
“I’m fine.”
“What’s in the box?” Mike asked excitedly. “Can you check it out?”
There was a rustling noise, and then Hala answered. “It feels like wires and switches.”
“Perfect!” We could hear the excitement in Mike’s voice. “Can you push that box toward the sound of my voice?”
While Hala was doing that, the rest of us kept searching fruitlessly for a light switch. Bo, Kira, and I made a couple of passes along the walls, running into Jax, who was standing guard at the door. We found plenty of paintings or photographs or whatever the heck was hanging on the wall, but no light switches. Frankie told us she was moving around the room waving her arms, hoping that maybe a chain or a string would be hanging from a light in the ceiling, but she didn’t have any luck, either.
“It looks like we’re supposed to build a flashlight in the dark,” Jax said.
“I don’t think I can do that,” Mike said. “I need to see the wires.”
“Why don’t you just take the boxes back through the corridor to the door entrance where there is light?” Frankie suggested. “We left the door open, right? As long as you don’t step on the white platform and close the door, you should be able to build it there.”
There was complete silence, then someone—it might have been me—did a head slap.
“Frankie, that’s the smartest thing anyone has said all day,” Mike said. “She’s right. Someone needs to help Hala and me take these boxes back to the opening.”
“I’ll help,” Jax said. “I can put together a flashlight, too.”
“Me, too,” I added.
“Okay, the rest of us will keep looking for clues or hopefully a hidden light source,” Bo said. “Just whatever you have to do, make it fast.”
“We’re on it,” Jax said confidently.
I managed to find Hala in the dark and fumbled around until I had one side of her box. We made our way back to the entrance and put the boxes close enough the door so we could see, but not too close to the white platform. Mike knelt in the middle of the narrow corridor and began to examine the contents in the boxes, making a small pile of things he could use.
“See if you can find me more batteries,” Mike instructed the rest of us.
Hala and I sorted through the items, looking for batteries, while Jax used his teeth to strip a couple of wires. It took us only minutes to discover there was only one battery, but I found a roll of black electrical tape. I tossed it to him, and he added it to the pile.
After a moment, Mike and Jax started putting together a flashlight. Electronics wasn’t my specialty, but I knew the mechanics of what they needed to get things working. So, I squeezed in next to Mike, offering suggestions and handing over wires and tape. In fairly short order, the four of us constructed a workable LED flashlight. Unfortunately, when Mike attached it to the battery, it flickered, indicating that there wasn’t much juice left.
“Well, that stinks,” Hala said. “We’re going to have to be quick to figure out how to get out of the room.”
Mike stood, helping Hala to her feet, while Jax pulled me up.
“Let’s go,” Jax said. “We can’t waste any more time.”
We made our way back to the room, not using the flashlight. When we entered the room, Jax led us to the door, while explaining our situation to the rest of the crew. “We’ve got a flashlight, but it doesn’t have much power or life. We need lots of eyes on the door to figure out what to do next. Is everyone ready?”
There was a chorus of yes, so Jax told Mike to connect the wires to the battery. Suddenly the room was lit by a flickering light. Several heads swiveled to whatever was on the door. I backed away and instead glanced around the room. I saw the empty chair and desk Kira had told us about, as well as several strange paintings hanging on the wall. Frankie was still looking for a light switch. She reached out to examine a painting when the flashlight flickered wildly and died.
Once again we were plunged into darkness.