UNDERCOVER The Secret of Luck (20 page)

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John found himself in a brightly lit room. The room was similar to the dungeon he would find himself in during the other nightmares he had in the past. The difference was the bright light that filled the entire room. Previously, when he had that nightmare with Harriet, this same room was dimly lit. This time, it was so well lit, it was like walking into an electronics retail shop. The only thing the room was missing were tables filled with glittering mobile phones and tablets, and perhaps some salespeople walking around offering the customers the latest and greatest gadgets.

John continued to look around the room, observing the many furniture types that were located in the room. The room had no windows or identifiable light sources. Bright light seemed to be originating from all the walls. John did not bother too much about it since he had seen such walls and rooms before. However, there were two unusual features of this room that he hadn’t come across previously.

There was a door, and then there was a locker. They were both on different sides of the room. There was something unusual about them. The door did not have a handle, although it did have a light above it. It was like a door that one would see in an operating theatre or control room. The light source was emitting a minor hue of blue. The locker was unusual because it had a wooden door. It was odd, for the locker itself was made of solid iron.

John was still thinking about the two unusual features of the room when there was a knock on the door. This had never happened before in any of his dreams. John looked around to see if there was a weapon or something. He checked his clothes. There was nothing in his pants, in the jacket he was wearing, or his shirt. His shirt did not have any pockets either. He looked under the bed that was behind him and he found an axe. Frankly, John was hoping for a box of batteries and a torch. If it was the crawlies that had learnt to knock on the door, then he was already in trouble. Instead, all there was under the bed was an axe.

John had no clue if the axe was going to be of any use against the crawlies. Something was better than nothing he thought to himself, and picked up the axe. He crawled out from under the bed, with the axe in his hand. John walked up to the door and stood in front of it. He was wondering what was going on since he heard the knock on the door only once. Did he imagine the knocking? He wasn’t sure. He was planning on opening the door if there was another knock. He decided to sit on the bed and wait for a while. He was just about to walk away from the door when there was another knock.

As if by magic, John could now see a lock on the door, and it was locked. John pressed the handle and the door unlocked. The door swung back. John grabbed the door and pulled it open. Standing on the other side of the door was Harriet. John was not entirely surprised that she was there. He was expecting her to show up.

“Harriet. I am so happy to see you here.” said John.

“John, who is Harriet? Have you forgotten my name already? We only met yesterday.” asked the girl on the other side of the door.

“Sorry. I meant Rita. I am so happy to see you, Rita.” said John, correcting himself.

“Okay. You remember my real name. Sometimes you act very strange, John. I don’t really understand you at all. Even after all of these years of fighting crawlies.” said Rita.

“Well, you know I am weird. So what is the plan now?” asked John.

“The plan is the same as every day, John. The city has been overrun by crawlies. Our job is a simple one. Travel to the tower at the top of the hill. Place the light bomb. Blow it up. It is just that simple.” said Rita.

“It does sound like a simple plan. I will let you take the lead, Rita.” said John, hoping that she will tell him what to do next.

“Okay. I see you already found the axe. That locker door can be easily broken with that axe. Once you have broken the door, you should find the light bomb. You will also find the usual collection of battery packs and two torches. One for me, and another for you. I will wait while you get all these items.” said Rita, walking into the room and sitting on the bed.

John walked up to the locker with the wooden door. He lifted the axe high over his head with both hands, and brought it down heavily to strike the wooden door. The strike resulted in a small crack, but nothing more than that. John repeated the process for a few minutes until the door finally gave way, and he could access all the items they needed for their mission. The locker contained a metal box with a timer on the top shelf. On the middle shelf there were two torches, and the bottom shelf had two dozen batteries.

John picked up the two torches. Surprisingly enough, the torches had engravings on them. One of them bore his name, and the other had Rita’s name on it. John threw the torch that had her name to Rita. She caught it with impressive agility. She got up from the bed and collected a dozen batteries from him. With everything set, she walked out of the room. John followed her. Once out of the room, they found themselves on a staircase that went down. Rita kept walking, faster and faster with each step. John tried his best to keep up with her.

They went down about a thousand steps when they finally reached a door. Rita pulled out a key from her shirt pocket and opened the door. The door was on springs. She held it open for John, and John stepped outside. Rita followed him and the door closed behind them. They were back in the forest.

“This is finally starting to look very familiar. The forest with the moon shining brightly, and the street lights that won’t turn on.” said John, recollecting previous episodes of the nightmare.

“Have you ever wondered why it is always a forest with a bright moon light? You would think it would be something else for a change.” Rita chuckled as they continued on.

“I don’t think about it too much, Rita. It gives me nightmares, honestly. I am guessing you have your two wheeler lying around to take us?” asked John, thinking about the last time when they rode on a bike to their destination.

“Not really, John. We have something much better this time. I hope you are not too afraid of flying, John. We need to get to that tower quickly.” said Rita, smiling.

“What do you mean, fear of flying?” asked John, looking at her with an expression of surprise.

Rita did not answer him. She simply turned and started walking towards something that was behind one of the giant trees. The object that was behind the tree was pretty large. He could not see it clearly. He kept walking with her, and when they finally reached the, John knew what she was talking about. It was a helicopter. He watched in complete awe as Rita opened the door and climbed into the pilot’s seat. John followed suit and climbed into the seat next to her. Less than a minute later, they were flying above the forest.

“Looks like you are not afraid of flying after all, John.” said Rita, over the radio headphones, they were both wearing.

“I guess not. Hey! Look down on the ground. The crawlies are following us on land. I am just so glad that they don’t know how to fly.” said John, looking down from the helicopter.

Rita looked down, as well, even as John continued to look at what was happening on the ground. The bright moon light was shedding enough light to show everything that was happening below them. John could see the tall trees that covered much of the area. Every now and then, he could see a pathway that was wide enough to allow a couple to walk. Street lights were installed all along the pathways but most of them were not lit. As the helicopter flew over the forest, he noticed that Rita was following the general direction of the main pathway on the ground. That was when John noticed the many crawlies that were running very fast on the pathway in the same direction as the helicopter.

“I am glad that we are not on the ground. There are at least five thousand crawlies down there.” said John, making a rough estimate of the number of crawlies on the ground.

“I am as glad as you are, John. We should be at the Tower in a few seconds. Once we are there, it is a simple matter of plugging the light bomb and activating it. Keep your fingers crossed that nothing unexpected happens for the next two minutes.” said Rita, dropping the elevation of the helicopter.

John looked and he noticed that they were now hovering on top of a helipad. At a distance from the helipad was the control room of the tower they were travelling to. Even as he watched the helipad, the helicopter landed with a soft thud on the landing pad. John stepped down quickly, the bomb still safe in his hand. Rita got down as well after shutting down the helicopter. It was all quiet now. In front of them, about one hundred meters away, was a room with a light burning in it.

“That’s the room, John. You have the bomb ready?” asked Rita, walking toward the room.

“It is ready to blow up the tower with light. Those crawlies won’t know what hit them.” said John, following her footsteps.

Once they reached the room with the light, Rita opened the door and allowed John to step in. There was a small contraption on the wall. John noticed that the contraption would fit nicely with the bomb he was carrying. John sat down on his knees and fit the bomb into the contraption. It fit snugly. Rita kept watch on the door for any incoming crawlies. The bomb started loading up, the screen indicating the status of the bomb’s readiness with a number count. It began at 0, and started counting to 100.

“Everything is set. It will take a while to be ready. Once it is set, we should be able to close this crawlies situation, once and for all.” said John.

“John, that sounds just perfect. This all went…oh my god!” exclaimed Rita, loudly.

“What happened, Rita?” asked John, still sitting on the ground.

“You have to see this John. Oh, God!” said Rita, still staring outside the window.

John got up and looked at what she was seeing. The helicopter was overrun by hundreds of crawlies. It was as if they were searching for any occupants. John quickly turned off the lights inside the room and they both ducked to hide behind the door. Rita checked the locks and double checked to ensure that they were locked. John turned to look at the bomb and the counter was at eighty five.

“Fifteen more seconds, Rita. The bomb will go off, and it should take down all the crawlies.” said John.

“That sounds comforting, John.” said Rita.

“Rita, there was something I wanted to tell you. I am very thankful for everything you have done for me. I guess I have never said that to you, but you know that now.” said John.

Rita seemed to be taken aback by those words. She bent down to the floor, and was on eye level with John. John kept his eyes on the bomb. It was now in its late nineties. Rita brought her lips to his, just as the bomb went off. White light flooded the whole forest, instantaneously blinding and killing every crawlie that was running around. John’s eyes flooded with white light and he woke up in his apartment.

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It took him and hour to get ready and prepare his breakfast. John came to the living room, with breakfast in his hands. The following voicemail message from Drake was on his phone:

“John, looks like you are still in bed. I was able to clear the image of that woman you needed info on. Her name is Christie Palmer. There is something odd about her info. It seems to be a fake name. Still, I have her address and some info about where she hangs out and where you might find her. I have emailed you the details. Bye.

John checked his email, and like Drake said, there was a lot of information about her in the email. John immediately called up Sheila.

“Hi Boss. Good morning.” she said, in her usual spirited voice.

“Sheila, good morning. I am sending you an email with a photograph of a woman. Memorize that photo. Then I want you to rent a car and follow me around. I am going to look for this girl, and there is something about her which makes her dangerous. Keep an eye out for me, and an eye out for her. I will be leaving tonight at eight to the club mentioned in the email.” said John, laying out the plan to find out more about this mysterious Lipstick Lady.

“Anything else, Boss?” asked Sheila, knowing John’s tendency to keep something else to say at the end.

“Yeah. I will be in the club, and I want you to look like a club goer. You know, dress well and don’t contact me if you see me. Keep in radio contact though, and keep me updated at all times.” said John.

“See you at the club, then. Bye.” said Sheila, hanging up.

John spent the rest of the day going over all the known facts of the case as well as the unknown elements that needed more investigation. He also spent time in preparing all relevant reports. When it was going on seven, John dressed up in trendy evening wear, took his car out, and drove to the club. The traffic was manageable, and he spent the drive listening to the local radio station.

As John reached the entrance of the club, the parking valet stepped forward to welcome him. John let the valet take the key, and looked up at the grand entrance of The Old Lady. The Old Lady was the club that was mentioned in the email as being frequented by Christie Palmer. John was hoping that he would run into her and find out why she had been following him. John remembered seeing her in the train, and then again in the hotel lobby. John wasn’t sure if that Lipstick Lady was following him or his client. There was a long line of people waiting to get into the club. John wasn’t sure if he should use his detective license or money to jump the queue. Then he realized that he had made some impressive friends over his short, but eventful career. He remember helping out with this high ranking officer in the tax department a year ago. Standing there, just a little away from the entrance, John pulled out his phone and called that officer.

“Hello? This is Gent Kiss. Who is this?” asked the voice on the other side.

“Hello, Mr. Kiss. I am John Russo. I don’t know if you remember…” John was cut off.

“Oh! Mr. Russo. The private detective who helped me with my divorce. How are you my friend, and what a beautiful evening it is!” said Kiss.

John thought that Mr. Kiss sounds drunk. It was eight in the evening, and there was nothing wrong with some drinking at that hour.