Catalyst (4 page)

"Trouble?" he asked and raised his bushy gray
eyebrows.

"Look at this, Dad," Annette retorted and handed the
will to her father.

William Senior took the document and turned to Renee.
"Do you mind?"

"Not at all."

The elderly man sat in the seat for Renee's clients
and took reading glasses from his top suit pocket. He read every
word of the document, while his daughter glowered and Renee sat
tight-lipped in anticipation.

"You did well," he said when he reached the end. "Old
Clara was adamant her eldest daughter would receive nothing in her
estate. How did you talk her around, Renee?"

"I told her if she cut Gloria out, the will could be
contested in family court and there was a high chance the action
would be successful. I had to show her the findings of several
court actions to convince her."

"But, Daddy..."

"Oh hush up, Annette."

"But the layout."

The old man glanced back at the sheets. "It's
different than our usual format, I must admit," he said. "But I
like it. I'm sure old Clara will be able to follow it with ease."
He looked at Renee. "I like the terminology you use, Renee. Much
superior to the flowery language we usually put up with, isn't it?"
He chuckled, stood and turned to Annette. "Now what was the
disagreement?"

"Nothing."

"Problems from your side?" he continued as he turned
to Renee.

"Not really," she said in a low voice. "Annette
didn't agree with the layout, that's all."

"Didn't she?" William Senior replied. He frowned at
his daughter and walked out.

The junior partner stood, red-faced and grim and
waited for Renee to speak. Instead the younger woman looked up. "If
you're really that concerned, I'll redo it before I go home,
Annette. It's all on memory so will take only a few moments to
alter."

Silence reigned while she watched Annette and waited
for a first reaction.

"No, it doesn't matter," Annette replied in a
whisper. "As Dad said, I'm sure Mrs. Stein won't notice the
difference. Have a good evening, Renee."

She turned and strutted out.

****

As Renee drove north on I-5 from Mount Vernon, the
small city where she worked, her mind relived the situation.

"Damn woman," she muttered as she headed inland up
the Shagit Valley. This latest episode was a pyrrhic victory with
Annette now openly hostile. William Senior was an enigma. He had
never helped her before and rarely said more than the casual
greeting on most days. A couple weeks earlier he'd forgotten her
name and referred to her as Jennifer, a girl in the typing
pool.

It was after six when she arrived home at the
farmhouse she shared with her father. She parked in the barn, spent
a couple moments talking to Zona the dog and walked inside. The
modern open-space kitchen smelt of a cooking roast and a late
middle-aged man glanced back from stove to smile.

"Hello, Renee," he said. "Was today any better?"

"Different, Dad," she replied and gave him a kiss on
the cheek. "Old William stood up for me. Mind you, Annette isn't
going to improve." She sighed. "It's as if she purposely finds
fault in everything I do."

"She's envious, perhaps even jealous, Sweetheart,"
Jack Bonnett said in a low voice. He shut the oven door and limped
across to her. She glanced up with empathy in her eyes. Dad tried
hard to lead a normal life but since the stroke last year that
paralyzed his left side, he found it difficult.

"Jealous of me, Dad? But why?"

"You're young with higher qualifications than her.
She's an old maid with little to look forward to except the silly
firm and rows with her lazy brother."

Renee frowned and leaned forward. "How do you know,
Dad? I never told you anything about William Junior."

"You didn't have to," Jack replied. "Not after that
staff party a few months back. I know the guy made a pass at
you."

Renee flushed. "But how?"

Jack Bonnett smiled that half smile caused by partly
immobile lips. "I also know you turned him down flat and came home
early. I wondered what brought on the tears that evening."

"The sod has a young wife and two kids," Renee
retorted. She stopped and frowned. "Have you been spying on me,
Dad?"

"Not at all." Jack changed the topic. "Will you take
the roast out of the oven, sweetheart? I'd hate to drop it."

Renee glanced at the beautifully cooked meal, grabbed
the oven gloves, took the steaming food and set it on the stovetop.
"You've done enough, Dad. Sit down and I'll serve it."

Jack sat in the chair his daughter vacated. "But I
enjoy doing it."

He switched his attention to the news on a small
television in the corner, while Renee served out two generous
portions.

Jack's eating was mainly one-handed but through sheer
willpower, he managed movement on his paralyzed side and insisted
on holding a knife between the curled fingers.

"Can I cut your meat, Dad?"

Jack glanced up and whispered, "Thanks, Sweetheart."
He used to argue and attempt the impossible himself but since
accepting his disability, he had made better progress. A few weeks
earlier he would have been unable to open the oven door, let alone
roast a meal.

As they ate he began to talk. "I've never really
liked those business clubs, too snobbish for me but lately I've
found I enjoy the company of old guys like myself at The Puget
Sound Club in Mount Vernon. You know, we have a few beers, play
cards…"

"I'm pleased. I'm glad you got into the habit of
going every Wednesday. That's what you need, rather than becoming a
hermit out here on the farm." She stopped and noticed her father's
coy expression. "Okay, what have you done, Dad?"

"I was looking through the club's register a few
weeks ago and noticed William Usborne Senior was a member. I
introduced myself and let the old guy beat me at cribbage. Since
then we've become quite good friends. He plays lousy cards,
though."

"Dad," Renee sputtered. "What did you say?"

"Not a lot. I merely mentioned I was thinking of
transferring all my legal affairs to his firm because my daughter
worked there. Later I added I'd changed my mind, since she was
going to leave because she was under utilized. It was a pity their
firm would lose someone of your high qualifications and…"

"Dad!"

"Come now, Renee." Jack turned serious. "There's
little I can do for you now. Let your old Dad help you this
way."

"Oh Dad, you are the limit."

The young lawyer reached over and hugged her father.
He held her with his one good arm. "Your mom would have been proud
of you, Sweetheart," he whispered. "I am too, so don't you let
those young upstarts grind you down. It will come right, I assure
you."

Renee gulped. Her father still talked of her mother
even though she'd died a decade earlier. "Thanks, Dad."

****

"So that's really it," Renee said to her two
companions.

"And you're still with the firm?" Lem asked.

"Yes." Renee sighed. "Mind you, Old William decided
not to retire and makes the place bearable. Also, I'm doing some
court work now, mainly civil cases."

"And the brother who made that pass at you?" Courtney
cut in.

"He's still there but leaves me alone. The last I
heard he was having a fling with one of the secretaries. I feel
sorry for his wife. She's quiet and unassuming."

"And your dad?" Lem asked.

"He's at home," Renee said. "Poor Dad. He was such an
active person. I think he's lonely." She glanced up. "He's the
reason I'm here. During my annual leave, I decided to potter around
the farm but Dad insisted I have a real holiday, as he called it.
So here I am, lying in a cave hundreds of feet under a mountain
with a busted ankle. I must say that I enjoy the company. It's
strange but I feel as if I've known you both for years, not just a
few hours."

"Emergencies can do that," Lem said. "I feel the
same."

"Time is funny," Courtney whispered. She stood and
brushed her dusty clothes off. "My God, I'm getting all sentimental
now. The cave must be getting to me."

"Probably." Renee caught Lem's eyes and smiled.

****

Their meal was sparse but nobody complained. Even
worse was the dwindling supply of water. They would run out within
a day so decisions had to be made. Courtney was all for trying to
find a way out but her spontaneity diminished when Lem asked what
direction they should take. They were in the center of a huge area
with little or no distinguishing features. The slip that appeared
as a blot of blackness without glowworms was their only link with
the outside world.

"What do we do?" Courtney asked pessimistically.
"Nobody is coming now. If they were, they'd be here. It's up to
us."

"You two go," Renee said. "There might be a way out.
If you find it, you can send someone back for me."

"No," Lem replied. "If we go, we all go."

Courtney stared at Lem, then Renee. "Funny, I thought
you might say that."

"Don't you agree?" Lem replied.

The teenager rubbed a hand along her face and sighed.
"In the last few months I trusted nobody. Nobody cared about me. I
was one of a hundred. If I walked away, someone would jump into the
space I left but here…" She gave a tiny smile. "Let's say, I
wouldn't want to be the person all alone down here and I don't
think Renee should be left either."

"Thanks Courtney," Renee said. "If it wasn't for my
ankle, I'd be the first one walking out."

"So we wait a little longer." Lem said.

"How about morning?" Courtney suggested. "If nobody
is here by nine, we hitch Renee on our backs and walk out.
Okay?"

Lem glanced at Renee. She nodded.

"Okay," he said and glanced at his watch. It was
after seven in the evening.

****

CHAPTER
4

Five serious-faced spelunkers made their way out from
Misty Depths Catacombs after a four-hour expedition. They plodded
through the small crowd of bystanders, past a row of parked
four-wheel drive vehicles along to where two tents had been erected
in a small forest clearing.

"The whole of level F beyond grid reference three has
gone." The leader, an elderly Native American man, reported to
state trooper Gary McKnight at the smaller tent.

"Is it hopeless, Chuck?"

Chuck Nguyen frowned. "I don't think so. The two
levels we explored have dropped away. Level G is impassable but it
was only a narrow access route."

"Meaning?" the sergeant asked.

"Well, Gary. Too much soil between the levels has
disappeared. If it had stopped at level G, it would have backed
right through F and even E but didn't. There's a massive hole down
as far as G."

"So where did it go?"

"My guess is that there's another cavern further
down. It would have to be big to take the whole landslide. Now, if
that is the case there could be extra space as well."

"So there could be survivors?"

"Exactly but we won't reach them from here." Chuck
walked to a cross section map of the cave unrolled on a table. He
pointed to the bottom of the map. "That's where it has all gone.
Now if you place this beneath the topographical map..." He rolled
the sheet aside to expose a second map. "The slip is under Eagle
Point Plateau."

"It would be a long way down, Chuck," one forest
ranger said.

"Yeah but the quickest way in is straight down. We
need to get one of those drilling rigs."

"Right. I'll see what I can do." Gary McKnight
respected the old man's knowledge and would lay pretty good odds
that he was dead accurate in his suggestions.

****

"Excuse me, Sergeant."

McKnight looked up to see a young national park
ranger standing at the tent flap. "Yes, Stephanie."

"There's an old guy out here who says he's the father
of one of the missing women. He's distressed and wants to talk to
you," Stephanie Jelgersma replied.

"What's his name?"

"Bonnett. Jack Bonnett. Poor guy is half paralyzed.
His daughter, Renee, is one of the four missing." She grimaced. "I
tried to put him off."

Gary was about to say he was too busy but saw
Stephanie's face. "Okay. Give me ten minutes to get my calls
through, then show him in."

****

"So what are my daughter's chances, Sergeant?" Jack's
chin quivered with emotion.

"Better than I would have thought an hour ago, Mr
Bonnett. There's a massive cavern beneath the explored passages.
Your daughter and the others could very well be down there."

"And how do we find out, sergeant?" Jack leaned his
dominant arm on the small table.

"The military have satellite images available and are
getting a computer enhanced readout produced."

"Image," muttered Jack. "What good will that do?"

"The satellite takes infrared readings, so a large
cavity beneath the present cave would show. We can compare the
latest readings with those taken before the landslide. We can
pinpoint the size and position of any cavity there."

"So if we find this new cavern, how does it
help?"

"We're bringing in a bore to drill. When it reaches a
cavity we can listen for sounds of survivors or lower a speaker. If
we find survivors, we can send water, food and medical supplies
down."

"But getting them out? They can't climb up a six-inch
hole."

"We'll go in through the existing caves. The computer
readouts may find a natural entrance to the lower cavity. We'll
find them, Mr. Bonnett."

"Dead or alive," Jack whispered.

"Yes," the sergeant replied with empathy. "There's
nothing more you can do. Why don't you go to the other tent? A
canteen has been set up and you're welcome to a hot drink. As soon
as information comes through we'll tell you."