The Secret Crown (2010) (41 page)

Jones called down the shaft. ‘Are we clear?’

‘Yeah,’ Payne said. ‘You’re clear.’

Although the trio didn’t know what to expect or what they might find, they climbed down the ladder with a spring in their step. Heidi reached the bottom first followed by Ulster, whose bulk gave him some trouble in the shaft, and Jones, who lowered the hatch but didn’t close it completely in case there wasn’t another way out.

Heidi shone her light downhill to the left. ‘What is this place?’

Payne shrugged. ‘I was about to ask you the same thing.’

‘Honestly, I have no idea. I never knew it was here.’

‘Any rumours about secret passageways?’

She glanced uphill to the right, trying to regain her bearings. ‘All Ludwig’s castles have secret passageways: Neuschwanstein, Herrenchiemsee, Linderhof. I thought we had found all of them during the past century or two. I guess I was wrong.’

While they were talking, Jones studied the composition of the tunnel itself. There was something oddly familiar about its colour and design. He ran his fingertips across the concrete surface, trying to get in touch with the memory that eluded him. A few seconds passed before he figured it out.

‘I’ll be damned,’ he said, laughing.

‘Is something wrong?’ Ulster asked.

Jones knocked on the wall. ‘I was trying to remember where I’ve seen concrete like this before. Then it dawned on me. It’s the same colour and texture as the bunker.’

Ulster considered the possibility. ‘Actually, that stands to reason. Ludwig could have used the same builders and materials for both projects. As I mentioned yesterday, the bunker is less than fifteen miles from Linderhof. It wouldn’t surprise me if the bunker and tunnel were completed in the same year.’

Payne overheard the end of their conversation. ‘Speaking of tunnels, let’s figure out where this one goes. Does anyone have a preference, or should we flip a coin?’

Jones, who was blessed with an impeccable sense of direction, clarified their options. ‘In case you’re wondering, the castle is to the left. I’m not sure if the tunnel goes that far, but the castle is definitely that way.’

Payne pointed uphill. ‘In that case, let’s go to the right. I have a pretty good idea where it leads, but I want to test my theory.’

Jones laughed. ‘You have a theory? About what?’

Payne started walking. ‘About something Petr said.’

Ulster hustled after him. ‘Wait! What did I say?’

Payne glanced over his shoulder to make sure everyone was following. Just to be safe, he signalled for Jones to bring up the rear. ‘Yesterday, you told us a story about Ludwig’s disappearance from Linderhof. You said he vanished without a trace for thirty-six hours.’

Ulster nodded. ‘It occurred the night after he sent the black swan letters. His advisors eventually found him at his house in Schachen.’

‘Covered in dirt,’ Jones added from the back.

Ulster grinned. ‘I’m glad you guys were listening!’

‘We’re
always
listening,’ Jones assured him. ‘We’re often
bored
, but still …’

Payne tried not to laugh. ‘Anyway, as a former soldier, the thing that bothered me most about your story was the negligence of the palace guards. How in the hell could an overweight king like Ludwig sneak past all of them without being seen? At first, I thought maybe he dressed up in one of his elaborate costumes, but then I remembered this happened in the middle of the night. The guards were bound to check anyone who passed through the castle gates.’

Jones cleared his throat. ‘Are you getting to a theory?’

‘As a matter of fact I am.’ Payne spotted the end of the tunnel. It was less than thirty feet ahead of them. ‘My guess is he didn’t go through the castle gates. My guess is he took this tunnel under the castle wall. That’s why none of the guards saw him leave.’

‘And why was he so dirty?’ Ulster wondered.

‘If he escaped through the grotto, he had to jump into the water to reach the secret hatch. That means he would have been soaking wet when he left this tunnel and hit the nearby woods. Dirt would have stuck to him like lint on a sweater.’

‘Where did he go?’ Heidi asked.

Payne laughed. ‘How should I know? You’re the expert, not me. But if I had to guess, I’d say he was meeting one of his co-conspirators - someone he didn’t want to be seen with. Otherwise, why go to all this trouble?’

Ulster offered a possibility. ‘Unless, of course, he did this sort of thing all the time. After all, Ludwig was nocturnal and a tad crazy. Who knows what he liked to do after dark?’

‘Or
who
he liked to do,’ Jones cracked.

‘Either way,’ Payne said, ‘he could’ve used this tunnel to get away.’

Heidi challenged him. ‘You seem pretty confident for a tourist.’

As they walked forward, Payne shone his light on the wall that ended the tunnel. An iron ladder, which had been attached to the concrete, disappeared in the darkness of the vertical shaft. ‘Who knows? I could be wrong about everything. Maybe this is a mechanical tunnel that leads to all those generators you told us about. If you’d like, I’d be more than happy to bet on the answer. Care to wager your share of the treasure? That is,
if
there’s a treasure.’

She shook her head. ‘Not a chance.’

‘In other words, you think I’m right.’

‘No,’ she said with a giggle. ‘Well,
maybe
.’

When they reached the end of the tunnel, he examined the shaft above him. It looked identical to the one from the grotto, except it was half the height - a fact he had expected since they had been walking uphill the entire time. ‘I guess we’ll find out soon enough.’

‘Should I light your way?’ she asked.

He nodded. ‘Thanks. That would help.’

Payne put his flashlight in his pocket and started his climb through all the spider webs that had collected in the shaft over the years. In certain parts of the world - especially warm-weather locations where some spiders were deadly - he would have taken more precautions, but he didn’t have much to fear in Germany, so he simply brushed the webs aside as he climbed. Meanwhile, Heidi watched from the tunnel floor and nearly went into convulsions. Few things in life freaked her out more than spiders. Jones quickly recognized her fear and was tempted to tickle the back of her neck, but decided against it. In the long run, he figured his amusement wouldn’t be worth the physical damage she would inflict upon him.

A few seconds later, Payne reached the top of the steps and studied the hatch. Attached to its centre was a circular handle resembling the mechanism on a submarine door. He could loosen or tighten the lock by spinning the handle one way or the other. To make things easier, a lever had been mounted on the right side of the wheel - probably to help Ludwig open the door while he was hanging from the steps.

‘Be careful,’ Jones teased. ‘For all we know, it might open on the highway. I’d hate to see a truck take off your head.’

Payne grabbed the lever. ‘Somehow I doubt that’s going to happen.’

‘If it does, can I have your house?’

Payne smiled and yanked on the handle. First, there was a hiss, then a clank, and then the hatch popped open. A burst of fresh air came rushing into the shaft, which caused the remnants of the spiders’ webs to dance in the breeze.

Heidi felt the wind. ‘Where does it go?’

‘Be patient! I don’t know yet.’

With thoughts of trucks still fresh in his mind, Payne pushed it open slowly. One inch. Then two. Then five. Then ten. The more he opened it, the more sunlight leaked into the shaft. Before long, flashlights weren’t needed below, and Payne’s theory was proven correct. ‘Just as I thought. We’re in the woods beyond the castle’s grounds.’

Ulster called up to him. ‘How was the hatch concealed?’

‘Good question. Let me check.’ Payne climbed out of the shaft and examined the outside of the hatch. A moment later, his smiling face appeared above the shaft. ‘You’re not going to believe this. It was sculpted to look like a tree stump. The damn thing’s pretty realistic. I wouldn’t have given it a second glance.’

Heidi stared up at him. ‘Can I take a look?’

Payne nodded. ‘All of you can. But let’s make this quick. I have a feeling the other end of the tunnel is going to be even better.’

The Pentagon

Arlington, Virginia

Randy Raskin sat in his windowless office, surrounded by next-generation computers and paper-thin digital screens that would be the envy of every hacker in the world. Unfortunately, due to his classified position at the Pentagon, he wasn’t allowed to mention anything about his work or equipment to most of his friends. As far as they knew, he was nothing more than a low-level programmer, working a dead-end job in the world’s largest office building - because that’s what he was required to tell them. But in reality, he was a high-tech maestro, able to track down just about anything in the world of cyberspace.

As a computer researcher at the Pentagon, Raskin was privy to many of the government’s biggest secrets, a mountain of classified data that was there for the taking if someone knew how to access it. His job was to make sure the latest information got into the right hands at the right time. And he was great at it. Over the years, Payne and Jones had used his services on many occasions, and that had eventually led to a friendship.

An infamous workaholic, who consumed enough caffeine on a typical working day to jumpstart a car battery, Raskin often pretended he didn’t have time for Payne and Jones, or their bimonthly favours. But the truth was he admired them greatly and would do just about anything to help them. In fact, one of his biggest joys in life was living vicariously through them - whether that was during their time with the
MANIAC
s or their recent adventures round the globe. Sometimes, especially when he was bored at work, he would tap into the
GPS
on their phones and try to figure out what they were doing. Then he would determine if he could assist them in any way.

For some, it would be considered stalking.

For Raskin, it was a perk of his job.

Over the past forty-eight hours, he had checked their location on several occasions. At first they were in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Then Innsbruck. Then Kusendorf. Now back in Bavaria. Not surprisingly, when he cross-referenced their
GPS
data with his countless databases, he had discovered a pile of bodies and no arrest warrants.

Obviously, Payne and Jones had remembered their training.

In a twisted kind of way, it made him proud to be an American.

Raskin considered giving them a call to see if he could help but decided to do a little more research before he offered. Based on their brief stop in Kusendorf, he knew the Ulster Archives were involved. That meant whatever they were doing was historical in nature. Curious about the Archives’ latest projects, Raskin entered Petr Ulster’s name into his classified search engine and got an immediate hit. Ulster’s personal helicopter had been reported stolen earlier that day.

Raskin laughed at his screen. ‘What are you guys up to now?’

After inspecting the fake tree stump, they returned to the tunnel energized. None of them knew what they were going to find in the opposite direction, but they sensed it would be significant. Payne closed and sealed the hatch, then led them on their journey.

Whether it was the downhill slope of the tunnel or the adrenaline surging through their veins, their stride and pace increased significantly. Even Ulster, who tended to lumber along like a water buffalo, managed to stay on Payne’s heels. Before they knew it, they were passing the shaft to the grotto and covering new ground.

Jones spoke from the back. ‘Based on the angle of this tunnel, we’re heading directly towards the castle. I bet we’re underneath that trail we took from the arbour to the secret entrance.’

Heidi shook her head in amazement. ‘How do you do that?’

‘Do what?’ he asked.

‘Figure out which direction we’re walking underground?’

Jones shrugged. ‘It’s a gift.’

She glanced over her shoulder. ‘I’m serious.’

‘I am, too. I have a great internal compass. I just
know
which way we’re going. You can blindfold me, drug me and spin me around. When I wake up, I’ll know which way is north.’

Payne defended him. ‘Believe it or not, he’s telling the truth. We once did that to him at a bachelor party. He woke up in the back of a van in Tijuana but he knew how to get to Canada.’

She laughed. ‘That’s impressive.’

Jones waved off the compliment. ‘Actually, it was pretty easy. It was the middle of the afternoon, so I whipped out my sundial. Trust me, that thing casts a shadow like a sequoia.’

She didn’t miss a beat. ‘And yet, it’s not nearly as big as your ego.’

Jones couldn’t help but laugh. ‘You know what? You’re pretty cool for a white girl. I vote we don’t kill you at the end of this mission.’

Ulster chuckled. ‘Me, too.’

Payne looked back at her. ‘I’m still undecided.’