Dangerous Minds (Knight and Moon #2)(55)

“That would be ignoring our unique opportunity,” Emerson said. “An opportunity like this doesn’t come up every day.”

“Do you mean an opportunity to get killed? You get those opportunities all the time.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Emerson said to Riley. “When presented with an interesting opportunity, you have a responsibility to the universe to acknowledge it.”

Riley stared at Emerson. “I didn’t say anything remotely like that.”

“Perhaps I paraphrased.”

“Perhaps you live in fantasyland.”

Emerson looked at Vernon. “How’s your unagi today?”

Vernon grinned. “I’m just chock-full of it. Then again, who needs unagi when you’ve got a big-ass gun.” He pulled his lucky Glock from his jacket. “Even put bullets back in it when Little Buddy wasn’t looking.”

“You see,” Emerson said. “It’s a sign. We have luck, an interesting situation, unagi, and a big gun. It would actually be grossly negligent of us not to overpower the guards and infiltrate the top-secret hollowed-out volcano.”

Riley nodded. “I’m sure I’ll regret it, but I’m in.”

“Let’s do it,” Alani said. “Mauna Kea is sacred ground to Hawaiians, and I don’t like what’s going on here on my mountain.”

“I’m all about the lair,” Vernon said.

Emerson, Riley, Vernon, and Alani carefully walked in the direction of the voices. As they got closer, the faint outlines of the men took shape. Two sentries were standing just outside a gaping hole in the hillside. They were smoking, and they’d laid their rifles against a rock wall.

“Howdy,” Vernon said, pointing his gun at the guards.

Both men jumped.

“What the—” the first guard said.

“Oh crap,” the second one said.

“We’re from Human Resources,” Vernon said, positioning himself between the guards and their guns. “A couple of feral goats called and complained about the secondhand smoke. This is a nonsmoking mountain.”

Alani collected the rifles and walked into the dimly lit tunnel that appeared to be about fifty feet in diameter.

“This is definitely a lava tube,” she said.

The rolling metal door was large enough for a truck to pass through. It was half closed and covered with jagged pieces of cinder. When the door was completely closed it would be perfectly camouflaged in the lava desert.

“This explains the disappearing SUV,” Emerson said. “I wouldn’t have noticed the entrance if I’d walked right past it.”

“What are we going to do with these two?” Alani said, motioning toward the guards.

“I’m prepared for all events,” Emerson said. “I have zip ties in my pack. We’ll truss them up, and you and Vernon can stay behind to watch them. Riley and I will do a little snooping. We’ll be back in no more than an hour.”

Riley took one of the guards’ rifles from Alani. She checked the clip for ammo and shouldered the gun.

“What about you?” Alani asked Emerson. “Do you want the other rifle? Do you know how to use it?”

“Sure,” Emerson said. “I read about it in a book.” He pointed at the barrel. “This is the end where projectiles exit, right?”

“Maybe Riley should be in charge of firearms,” Alani said.

“Emerson don’t need a gun,” Vernon said. “He can do all kinds of lethal stuff. You should see him do the Vulcan nerve pinch.”

“There’s no such thing,” Alani said. “That was made up for Star Trek.”

“Excuse me, but that is a total load of baloney,” Vernon said. “I’ve seen him do it. We were in this fight at the Pig ’n’ Whistle bar one time, and I saw him do the pinch. You probably don’t believe in Bigfoot either.”

Alani did a gigantic eye roll. “You are so gullible,” she said to Vernon.

“Yeah and you are so—”

“So what?” Alani asked.

“I don’t know. Actually, you’re kind of pretty.”

“Oh jeez!” Alani said.

“Anybody got a Snickers?” Vernon said. “I really need a Snickers.”

Emerson pulled a roll of antacids out of his pack. “This is all I’ve got,” he said.

“Good enough,” Vernon said. “Hand them over.”

“We’re losing time,” Riley said. “Let’s get this show on the road.”





TWENTY-FOUR




EMERSON AND RILEY WALKED INTO THE TUBE. Almost immediately they came to a large diesel generator that hummed and buzzed, providing power to the flickering electric lights lining the slick black rock walls.

“I wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but this is even spookier than the fog,” Riley said.

“I rather like it,” Emerson said.

The tunnel opened up into a large man-made cavern with a poured cement floor. The SUV was in the corner of the room, parked next to several Ford F-150 pickups, a bunch of ATVs, some heavy machinery, and a military transport like the one at Sour Creek Dome.

Riley inspected the SUV. “Looks like we found the bad guys’ secret hollowed-out volcano parking lot. But where are the bad guys?”