Page 12 of Intangible
By the time the plane landed in West Virginia, they thought they had a solid enough plan to move forward. Knox went over the plan with the leader of the hired team on their way to the hotel. Arrangements were made to have several drones brought in to help search the area.
After a heated argument, Memphis finally had to give in to the idea of bringing the FBI into the current situation. Reluctantly, he agreed with Knox’s assessment that they needed their resources to find the captors, but he still refused to meet with them.
Memphis was positive if the FBI knew what he could do, they would be standing on his doorstep every time someone went missing. It wasn’t that he was coldhearted, but he had spent six long years doing just that for the military. It had not only taken a physical toll on him, but a psychological one as well. Finding a fallen soldier had been heartbreaking, finding a murdered child would be his undoing.
It was dark when the two men finally settled into their room. They had picked up a couple of sandwiches from the local diner, slumping across from each other at the small table in the room.
“You’re going to make him fat,” Memphis growled at Knox, watching him slip the third bite of ham to Murphy. With a sigh, he stood, walking over to his pack. “I’m going to go over the plan with Thayer. You’re going to stay here, right?”
“Yeah, Murph and I’ll be here. Might catch up on some TV since you don’t believe in it in that shack you call a cabin.” Knox smirked at him.
“I can’t get any service! Oh, fuck it.” Memphis sat back, tugging the rabbit out of his pack. His eyes glazed over instantly.
The first thing that resonated with Memphis this time was how dark it was. He knew there was a bulb that hung down somewhere near Thayer’s cage. The bulb from the tunnel that cast a pale light on her usually had been turned off at this time.
“Thayer?” he whispered into the darkness.
“I’m over here. They unscrewed the bulbs when they came back in. I guess they don’t want anyone to see it in the dark outside. I don’t really know.”
Memphis breathed a sigh of relief hearing her voice.
“Keep talking so I can find my way over. I remember about where the bulb is, I just have to find it.”
“Okay. What do I talk about?” she asked.
“Tell me about yourself.”
“Okay. Well, you know my name, so I’ll go from there. I’m a sophomore at Amherst majoring in literature. My favorite class is American literature between the wars. You know, the 1920s and ’30s. I’m not very good at math or science, which I’m sure Knox was only too happy to share.
“I grew up in New London, Connecticut, where my dad was in the Navy before going into business after my mother died. He commanded a submarine, but he wouldn’t leave me behind when he deployed, so he took early retirement. We have a dog named Dude, because he’s always surfing the counters in the kitchen.”
Memphis snorted out a laugh. He would give anything to remain in the dark just listening to her talk, but he soon found the bulb.
“Here we go,” he said, screwing the bulb back in. “How are you holding up?” he asked Thayer as she blinked against the sudden light. Waiting for her response, he looked around the room. When he didn’t see what he was searching for, he walked as far down the tunnel as he could hunting for something.
“Thayer? You okay?” he asked again, walking back into the room.
“I’m holding it together. What are you looking for?”
“I was looking for a switch. I think this is just an extension cord run from outside. It means that the electricity is brought here from somewhere else.” He shrugged, turning back to her. “Everything helps.” She nodded her head in understanding. “There’s something I need you to do for me but it’s going to be dangerous.”
“If it gets me out of here, I’ll do it,” she answered without hesitating. Memphis stopped his exploration to stare at her in disbelief. Just when he thought he couldn’t be any more impressed, she knocked his feet out from under him. He hadn’t even explained what he needed, but here she was jumping in feet first.
Shaking his head when he noticed her looking back at him with one eyebrow raised in question, he continued.
“I need you to tear a piece of material off your clothes to stuff in the lock when they open it to bring your food. I need to look farther down the tunnel, but you have to go with me. Do you think you can do that? They can’t see you do it.” Thayer sat still for a minute, thinking.
“They rarely open the cage, preferring to just shove the sack through,” she answered. “But I can do it. I’ll convince them to open the door. How big a piece do you think I’ll need to use?” They studied the lock together, making a plan.
Memphis knew it was risky and she would have to be fast, but there didn’t seem to be any other alternative. He had to get her out of this hole before things changed for the worse.
“I’ll be back early in the morning to hide in the corner until they’re gone. If you think it’s not safe, don’t do it. I’ll just come up with another plan. Okay?”
She nodded her head once, showing him she understood. He turned to wander back to the corner when she cleared her throat.
“Memphis?”
“Yeah?” he said without turning around.
