Chapter Eighteen

They were going to need to play it second by second.

While Harry Green didn’t know what had happened to Liz, Kaye Bolden and her accomplice, he did know something had gone wrong. And, in his mind, he had probably played it all brilliantly with Luke.

Harry had, earlier, invited everyone to dinner. Now, of course, “everyone” wouldn’t be arriving.

“We’re going to do things a bit differently than I had planned,” he had started off telling Luke. “Kaye isn’t resting—she has disappeared.”

“And, wait—you don’t know how?”

“She was on a mission. With another Society member. And she has disappeared, and I’m afraid she might have been taken by the police.”

“Then shouldn’t we all be the hell out of here?”

“We will be. But we’ve seen nothing yet. And if the police were to burst in here, they’d find nothing. We keep everything close to the chest.”

“Then why—”

“I don’t believe Kaye or anyone can really do anything, but it’s time to take a bit of a holiday. Easier if Terry hadn’t let in that young lad,” he said with annoyance, looking over at her.

“Eh!” Terry snapped in return. “I didn’t know at the time you and Jim had failed so abysmally at—”

“Watch it!” Harry Green warned her.

“Terry!” Jim echoed.

“We’ll have our meal—our guests will sleep. Soon after, we’ll remove them to the tunnels, and we’ll have some fun on the way out.”

“Won’t people wonder what’s happened to us all?”

“Oh, they’ll find us—we’ll have barely survived the explosion. But the way the fire we’ll set burns, they’ll be lucky to find anything that isn’t as decimated as if an atom bomb had gone off.”

“I did love this place,” Jim muttered.

“Indeed. But that’s part of the game—moving on when necessary. And the insurance payout will provide a new place and the game is half the fun of it, eh?”

Terry had then moved over to the oven, taking out a large pan with her meat course, and then moving on to scoop her potatoes and vegetables onto serving plates.

“Well, I’ll not bother with the dishes tonight,” she muttered.

“What about Mrs. Bolden—was there insurance on her? Oh, and what about Miss MacDonald?”

“Mrs. Bolden already turned her property over to me at her death, no problem there. But as to Miss MacDonald—”

“She is rich. Like Midas,” Luke told him.

“Ah, more’s the pity. But she’ll have to sleep with the others. You’ll have time to get back to your room. Oh! You can say you banged on the door for Miss MacDonald, but she wouldn’t let you in, she wouldn’t believe there was a fire!” Harry had said. “You won’t fail us, eh?”

“And I was set. I was going to sleep with her tonight.”

“You’ll have to keep it in your pants. Sorry.”

“Bummer.”

“I need to know if you’re going to mess this up in any way,” Harry Green had told him angrily.

Luke had given him a grim smile. “Hell no! There are other broads to sleep with, no problem.”

And so Harry had moved on, eager to get moving, bringing Carly and Daniel into the room.

Terry took center stage then, walking over to greet Carly and Daniel.

“Welcome, welcome, one and all!” she proclaimed, lifting her small glass to them as they walked into the room. “We try here at Vicky Inn to be different. To make you feel as if you’re one with the beautiful countryside around Stirling. And the people, too, of course. We’re honored that you’ve come here. In my opinion, anyone can stay at a chain hotel, but to really feel Scotland... We’re so delighted that you feel the same.”

“Ah, man, this is too cool,” Daniel said. “And it smells wonderful.”

“Ah, I told you, I’m a good cook, if I do say so myself,” Terry said. “So, we eat at the kitchen table, just like a good Scottish family. Take your seats. I’ll get the whiskey.”

“May I?” Luke asked Carly, pulling out a chair at the table for her.

“Thank you,” she said sweetly.

“Let me help you,” he told Terry, working with her to bring the serving dishes to the table.

Then he took the chair next to hers—Terry Allen was at the end of the table next to Carly. Terry’s husband took the opposite end, and Daniel and Harry Green were left to take the remaining chairs next to Jim Allen.

“Whiskey!” she said, reaching for the decanter. Harry, Jim and Luke already had full glasses in their hands.

Terry’s sat on the table before her place setting.

She poured for the others.

“All right, then—” she began, about to take her glass.

“Wait!” Daniel said.

“Pardon?” Terry asked him.

“Sorry, old habits die hard. And I know I’m a guest, but...could we say grace? My mother was kind of strict on that and in her memory... I can be fast!” Daniel said.

“Oh, in memory of your mum,” Harry said.

“But of course,” Jim agreed.

“Okay, just bow your heads and close your eyes for one minute,” Daniel said, and when the others had done so, he bowed his own head and went on with, “God is great, God is good, and we thank him for this food.Amen!”

The others all echoed an “Amen.”

“Just pass the dishes around, if you will, please,” Terry said.

They did so and murmurs of “could you please pass” and “thanks so much” went around the table along with the food. When they all had their plates set, Terry turned to Daniel.

“So, you’re a believer,” she said.

“Indeed,” he said with a smile. “I am.”

“Ah! You believe that there is a God, that there is a heaven and that sinners will pay in a fiery hell?” Harry asked him, amused.

“Exactly. Except all that stuff about a fiery hell. Hell is just the absence of God. Then again, no man is without sin, but there is forgiveness.”

“No matter what we’ve done,” Terry said. “If we ask forgiveness at the end, we’re forgiven.”

“Oh, I don’t think it’s that simple,” Daniel said.

“And what is it, then?” Jim Allen asked.

“True repentance,” Daniel said solemnly. “But I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude on anyone’s way of doing things, just my personal thoughts on all...”

“All right, then, to us! And to all that comes in the years that stretch before us and beyond!” Harry announced, picking up his glass.

The others did the same. Carly brought her glass to her lips. She glanced at him and he knew—Daniel Murray had bought them the time they needed.

She had switched her glass with Terry’s.

“Hear, hear!” she cried.

And the attention was on her. He didn’t see how their British counterpart had managed to dump the contents of his drink, but he was sure that he did.

“I can’t wait to get started in the morning,” Carly said, taking a bite of her food. “I mean, Stirling Castle, Stirling Bridge—I saw the movie about William Wallace! I can’t wait and I hear that the castle has the most amazing displays and wow...Terry! You said that you were a good cook. These potatoes are to die for,” she said sweetly.

Terry gave her an immense grin. “Well, thank you, my dear.”

“It’s not the same bridge that was here in Wallace’s day, mind you,” Harry said. “That bridge went down with the weight of the English cavalrymen, caught between the one side and the other. Wallace didn’t have the men of the great English army, but he knew his terrain and he used it entirely to his advantage. Now the castle! It changed hands and changed hands...and it was often believed that whoever held Stirling Castle held Scotland!”

“Oh,” Carly said, blinking and giving up a tremendous yawn. “I am so sorry—I am so rude. I’ve about finished my plate, and I’m suddenly so tired I feel I might fall asleep with my face in my plate.” She winced and glanced at Terry. “My friend and I...we only get to see each other every few years, it seems, and I’m afraid we stayed up a bit late imbibing and...”

“No, no, dear, it’s quite all right,” Terry told her. “You go on up to bed and get some sleep. You’ll want to be fiery bright in the morning.”

Terry did think her words might be totally amusing to her coconspirators, Luke thought dryly. But he saw Kenneth was back with them, nodding gravely to him.

And ready to be with Carly and let her know everything he had learned.

She stood and was careful to waver.

“I havecleaned my plate,” Daniel announced. “I’ll walk you up!” he told Carly. And then, as if he was another guy who might be accused of horning in on someone, he quickly turned to Luke. “I’ll just see she’s safe on the stairs, and I am going to totally crash, myself!”

“Of course, and thank you,” Luke said.

The two of them left the room, followed by the ghost of Kenneth Menzies.

“Let them get up there—let them get to sleep.”

“I need a bit of time—” Luke began.

“Hey, it’s like a crashing airplane. You can’t take it with you,” Harry said impatiently.

“I don’t intend to—but I do want to make sure I have my credit cards and my travel checks. I mean, we need so much time to make sure they’re asleep, right?”

“Yep, but if you’re not with us and there’s a tap on the door and it’s the police who have managed to get here before the boom, you’re as dead as they are,” Green warned him. He leaned toward him, his tone hard. “This is the H. H. Holmes Society. We play it safe and we play it as hard as Holmes!”

“And that’s what I want,” Luke assured him. “But we’re going to need cash to get by, right?” he demanded.

“We’ll need just a few, too, Harry,” Jim Allen said. “And...whatever the hell happened. No one has come. Someone would have come by now if Kaye had opened her mouth. Hey, Harry, come on! She was an old broad. Maybe she had a heart attack trying to move and never got anywhere.”

“All right.” Harry took another bite of his food.

The others did the same, eating quickly then.

“I really do make the best potatoes in the world,” Terry said.

She yawned deeply and seemed surprised that she did so.

“Indeed, ma’am, you do,” Luke said. He had cleaned his plate—and done so quickly. He wiped his face with a napkin and stood.

“Thank you. I’ll be down in a flash.”

“Meet at the elevator, and if you’re not there...” Harry warned.

“I’ll be there,” Luke assured him.

Kenneth was back, and as Luke left the kitchen, he smiled. Sometimes, all the help in the world couldn’t help—because once they were underground, communication devices might not work.

But for the beginning of this play, at least, they didn’t need calls, texts or the internet.

They had Kenneth Menzies.

“I cannae help the lass! We must move quickly!” Kenneth urged as they hurried up the stairs. “She’s bound to some strange table like a rack and I cannae undo the binds upon her. Oh, aye, and we must hurry! He’s something down there, some form of gas and a control that I think...I think it will explode everything. It looks like catacombs down there, bone set in carved-out sections of the walls, and it’s a nightmare, blood on tables—”

“Kenneth, Kenneth, thank you, and please, calm down,” Carly said.

They had reached the top of the stairs. Daniel was looking at her, anxious, knowing that she was learning something and not knowing what.

“We’ve got to get down there,” Carly told Daniel. “And fast. He plans on blowing the place up and creating a fire. Luke will buy all the time he can, but—”

“How do we get down there?” Daniel demanded.

“The elevator—you know, that elevator that doesn’t work. But if we try that, they’ll see us, and God knows what controls they might have up here.”

“The chutes,” Kenneth said.

“The chutes,” Carly repeated.

“Will we break our necks and die?” Daniel asked.

“They curve around and land in giant containers of bloody sheets,” Kenneth said.

“No, we’ll be all right!” Carly told Daniel. “Kenneth—”

He headed down the hall. Carly glanced at Daniel, who felt the movement. She nodded and they quickly followed him.

Kenneth indicated a panel. She touched it and it slid open.

She grasped the edge and hiked herself up.

“Carly, I should go first,” Daniel said.

She gave him a big smile. “Daniel, you’re a doll. But quit treating me like a girl. I’m a well-trained agent.”

She didn’t wait for a reply but ducked the rest of the way into the chute.

Instinctive fear set in for a few brief seconds. It was dark, and it was like plunging down a long, long twisting waterslide.

But she landed softly and caught herself quickly, grabbing the edges of the giant laundry bin into which she had fallen. She’d almost made her way out when she heard the whishing sound of Daniel’s movement through the chute and she hurried to move out of the way.

“Carly?” he whispered on landing.

“I’m fine. Penlight coming on!” she assured him.

Of course, he carried his own. And between them, they began to shed a glow around the area where they had landed. At first, it seemed that there was nothing but sheets.

Bloody sheets, as Kenneth had said.

“Here, here, come along!”

She heard Kenneth’s voice and scrambled then to hike herself over the rim of the giant bin, followed by her British counterpart.

Kenneth was ahead of them. They ran after him. Carly figured that they had reached the area where the supposedly nonfunctioning elevator arrived belowground.

There was a sharp twist that led away.

Down a tunnel.

The ancient violence of the earth itself had provided here—the underground was deep and long and had been used by mankind for eons and eons...

The tunnel seemed to stretch forever.

But, of course, it did not.

Harry Green meant for himself and his close associates to get out—and for their guests to perish in an explosion or fire or something caused by old gases, perhaps, or human error, or...would it matter to him, because in his mind, he’d be gone, moving on, starting over.

But Luke never closed the door to his room as he supposedly gathered just the things that he needed. And he believed that the man still thought that Luke was a crazed follower; he hadn’t argued when Luke said that he’d just get out of the house. If Luke was going to make things difficult in any way, Harry Green would happily let him perish, too—something that, of course, he wasn’t going to explain.

He had told the man he’d meet him at the elevators. Green wouldn’t care if he did or didn’t.

Carly and Daniel would already be deep in the bowels of the place, and they should have been left alone, but...

With his door just barely ajar, he saw Jim and Terry head toward the supposedly nonfunctioning elevator; just a few minutes later, Harry Green followed.

Luke waited.

Giving them all time...

Then he followed as well. They were possibly getting ready to get whatever they needed from below and then get out.

With or without him.

But he had to get down there. If there was going to be an explosion, they all needed out. He had to find Carly and Daniel.

Down below, he winced at the size and scope of the underground. Then he frowned, noting that there were strange metal spikes here and there along the way.

He paused and realized that they needed out—he didn’t dare take the time to study the various aspects of Harry Green’s “safety net,” as time was of the essence. He had a feeling that with or without a main detonator...

The place could blow sky-high at any time.

With Daniel, Carly followed Kenneth, and she saw something similar to what she had seen before, that there were vaults cut into the tunnel. And she realized that at some point in history, perhaps soon after the Romans had left Britain and Christianity had arrived, the place had been catacombs. Many of the dead were decayed beyond anything that could have been recent.

“They could have had an archaeological discovery of immense importance down here,” she muttered.

“They wanted to make their own,” Daniel said dryly.

“There. In there!” Kenneth said.

They turned, and on a table that resembled a medieval torture rack lay a young woman. She was covered with a sheet, but when Carly checked for a pulse, there was a faint beat.

“She’s alive.”

“I told ye so,” Kenneth said. “Get her out!”

“I will, I will. What about the explosives?” Carly asked.

“Down the next tunnel,” Kenneth said.

“I’m on it—I’ll get to the explosives,” Daniel told Carly. “I hear Kenneth, clearly,” he whispered, amazed and awed despite their situation. He looked at the ghost.

“I’ll take you with me, sir, and you can show me where you have discovered them,” Daniel said.

The two hurried on.

Carly dug in her bag for her knife, flicked it open and began working at the heavy ropes. Harry Green had been busy helping his Society members; the victim was tied in much the same way Carly had seen before. In a matter of minutes, she had the young woman freed, but she couldn’t draw a response from her and she figured that, as before, the woman had lost too much blood.

She would need medical help fast.

She tried her phone. Nothing. What she had expected.

But she carefully lifted the young woman from the table, sliding her over her shoulder and hoping that she wasn’t causing more harm. It wasn’t easy, balancing her load and trying to keep her light trained ahead lest she further injure the young woman by banging her into the heavy stone walls of the underground.

She walked out of the little vault within the tunnels, determined to reach Daniel and Kenneth as quickly as possible and get the young woman out.

Some of the bodies in the niches along the walls were as old as time; some were certainly newer since she was sure that vats of acid and bleach and more could be found down here as well.

She had just moved slightly down the tunnel when she heard a scratching sound.

It didn’t come from ahead of her.

It came from behind her, from the area where the elevator set down.

She kept moving forward, focused on reaching the two ahead of her.

But she was startled into freezing when she heard a tremendous rush of laughter from behind her.

“Leaving us so soon, Miss MacDonald? And demanding that other guests go with you? How very rude of you. Well, let’s hope you have young Daniel’s faith, and you haven’t been too vigorous a sinner. Because, Miss MacDonald, if you’d repent on anything, the time to do so is now.”

She turned.

Of course, the speaker was Harry Green.

“Well, I do like having friends with me,” she told him.

He had a gun aimed at her. She didn’t know what it was in the dim light, but it didn’t matter much. If a bullet struck her at this distance of five feet or so, it would be deadly.

“How on earth did you come to be here?” he demanded. “Oh, you can put your friend down if you like. We have a few minutes, and I am supposing you will want to bare your poor soul.”

“I’m fine holding her. But I am curious. How crazy are you? Do you really believe you are somehow the real H. H. Holmes reincarnated?” Carly asked.

They could hear her; they had to be able to hear her. Daniel Murray was just down the tunnel.

And Luke had to be close.

She needed to keep him talking. She had her own Glock. There was simply no easy way to draw it without him seeing what she was doing.

“Who knows? Maybe I am a reincarnation. All I know is he was a brilliant man—he excelled at medical school.”

“And at stealing corpses.”

“Yes, and his dissecting methods...amazing! But this is an expensive world we live in and his ability to survive and prosper...truly amazing.”

“So, you do it for the money, not the joy of killing?” Carly demanded.

“Money, money, money! It does make the world go round,” he said.

“Then why the torture rack?” she asked.

He shrugged. “It’s fun. You know, Holmes killed the Pitezel children because, well, because they were just an annoyance. I don’t think he tortured them. And the pregnant mistress who was bugging him—he knew he could kill her easily in a botched abortion. Others...oh! The rack. He wondered if by using the rack he could create a giant race of human beings. I mean, that was medical science. Okay, I think he enjoyed killing, too.”

“Can’t get your rocks off any other way?” she taunted, knowing that she would anger him. She needed him to be off. Maybe to even come up to her and...

“Drop the gun!”

The man had been about to take a step toward her. He stopped dead in his tracks. She realized Daniel Murray had backtracked and was right behind her, his gun leveled at Harry Green.

“You want me to drop my gun?” Green demanded.

“Now,” Daniel said.

“Fine!”

Harry Green dropped the gun. But as he did so, he drew something out of his pocket and showed it to them.

It looked like a little black box.

No. It was a remote control.

A remote control for whatever explosives he had planned to destroy all evidence of there ever having been any evil done at the site.

“You’ll kill yourself, too,” Carly told him.

“Well, your friend can drop his gun, and we can all take our chances.”

“Not going to happen,” Daniel said.

“Oh, yes, it will!” came another voice.

Jim’s. Jim Allen was down here, too. And now he was standing just behind Harry Green, his gun leveled at Daniel.

Carly gritted her teeth, knowing they had to keep it together—there had to be a way out.

And there was.

Luke was there. Luke was...

“Ah, lass! Maybe if ye shift the lass yer carrying, ye’ve a gun, too, eh?”

Kenneth was at her side.

She nodded. “Where’s Luke?”

She was speaking to the ghost, but the others thought she was speaking to them.

“Luke? Ah, sorry, girl! Luke is planning to save himself. Pity, he would have enjoyed you so much. In fact, his only regret is that you didn’t get a night in!” Harry Green told her.

She let out a groan, shifting the weight of the young woman she carried, and while laying her down as gently as possible, she drew her Glock and took aim, blowing Jim Allen’s gun out of his hand.

He screeched in pain, and Harry Green roared in rage and lifted the black box above his head.

“Well, then, welcome to hell, lady! I will now blow us all up sky-high!”