Chapter 5
Kitt
“When you said we were going underground, I thought you meant figuratively. Not literally.”
Although Sebastian was speaking to me, he didn’t bother looking at me, too busy staring at the doorway in front of us.
On first glance, the house where I’d brought him and Newt looked like an ordinary house just a few miles outside Baton Rouge. A nice house certainly, enough to qualify as a mansion, but an ordinary house, nonetheless.
Even upon stepping inside, nothing looked out of the ordinary. It was only once I opened a secret panel in one of the walls, revealing a staircase leading steeply downward, that Sebastian and Newt were able to see the house’s unique properties.
“There were a lot of doomsday bunkers like this built back during the height of the cold war. Most of them have fallen into disrepair, but some have been sold off to, shall we say, eccentric personalities with too much money on their hands. This one has been recently renovated and should be comfortable enough to live in for a while.”
Sebastian and Newt stared down the staircase with skepticism, so I led the way.
Since the bunker had originally been built to withstand nuclear bombing, it was deeper underground than the average shelter.
We descended several stories before the staircase came to an end.
There was an eerie feeling about it, like we were stepping down into somewhere forbidden.
Behind me, I could hear the tapping of Sebastian’s cane on each step. On flat surfaces, he was mostly okay, but stairs still gave his leg some trouble. Newt remained at his side the whole way, making sure he didn’t stumble.
Over the sound of Sebastian’s cane, I could just hear the pair whispering to each other.
Although I couldn’t make out what they were saying, it was clear that they were having doubts about the place.
Honestly, I was as well. On paper, this bunker sounded like a good idea, but now that I was here, it seemed more likely that we’d end up scaring the witnesses off.
I was almost ready to call it quits when we finally reached the bottom of the stairs, and all my doubts vanished.
When I’d heard that the bunker had been renovated, I assumed that meant things like the piping and electricity were repaired after decades of disuse.
Apparently, my imagination was sorely lacking, for I never pictured the image that stood before us now.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think we’d somehow stumbled onto a luxury vacation estate.
Multiple quaint cottages surrounding a grassy courtyard and blooming garden.
Cobblestone paths connected each of the buildings, all leading to a lagoon-style pool, complete with its own waterfall.
The water was crystal clear, and at least a dozen lawn chairs sat around the pool, just waiting for guests to enjoy them.
Newt gaped at the scenery as he stepped off the stairs. “What the... We’re still underground, right?”
His question was valid. Even I was questioning my sense of reality. Yet, when I stepped onto the lawn, the illusion started to crumble. The grass beneath my feet was fake, and what originally looked like an open sky was actually a very tall ceiling that had been painted with a realistic mural.
Yes, we were still underground, but every effort had been made to make the place as comfortable as possible.
It was perfect. No, it was more than perfect.
Several dozen people could easily live here for a long time.
There would be more than enough space for our witnesses, not to mention that the security on the building could equal Fort Knox.
While Newt and Sebastian were still busy looking around in wonder, I checked my watch.
“We’ve got exactly two hours before the first witnesses get here,” I announced. “That should be enough time to get everything set up. Sebastian, you start taking stock of everything here while Newt and I grab the supplies we brought out of the car.”
Not knowing what to expect when we got here, we’d brought plenty of necessities like groceries and basic toiletries.
When the witnesses arrived, they would want for nothing.
They were already giving up so much, going into hiding so they could stand as witnesses for our case.
They shouldn’t have to also worry about something as simple as food.
With a new spring in his step, Newt headed back up the stairs, but before I could follow him, Sebastian grabbed my arm.
“Hey. How about you stay here, and I’ll go help Newt with the supplies? That’ll be... better for everyone.”
His suggestion made no sense, but there was an odd look on his face that stopped me from immediately dismissing him.
To be a lawyer, one had to be good at communication.
Whether a client was guilty or innocent, it didn’t matter if you couldn’t convince a jury, and often the evidence you needed to prove your case was hidden behind lines and obfuscation.
Communication wasn’t just about words but also tone and body language.
Sebastian’s tone had a hint of aggression to it, but his gaze kept flicking over toward the staircase where Newt had just disappeared.
I quickly put two and two together, and realized I’d been a fool. I’d only suggested that Sebastian stay behind to save him from traversing the long staircase more than necessary, but to an outside observer, it probably looked like I was trying to get Newt alone.
Keeping my voice calm, I removed Sebastian’s hand from my arm. “You can stop worrying. I’m not trying to steal your man.”
“Right,” Sebastian said with all the sarcasm he could muster. “And you haven’t been staring at him, either.”
Damn.
I thought I’d been subtle, but really, I’d just been fooling myself. Maybe my interest would have flown over the head of a normal person, but Sebastian was a detective. He had plenty of experience noticing details that others missed.
Well, no point denying it now.
“Newt is attractive, I’ll admit that. But that doesn’t mean I have any intentions for him.”
Sebastian still didn’t look convinced. “You wouldn’t be the first person to make a move on someone who’s taken. How can I trust you?”
“When I go to a museum, I can appreciate the artwork without trying to take it home. The same applies here. I’m no home wrecker. Besides, his clear devotion to you is part of his charm. If he actually did turn out to be unfaithful, I wouldn’t be interested.”
Now that we were on flat ground, Sebastian didn’t need to use his cane and instead, held it loosely in his hand. The stance reminded me of a samurai debating whether to unsheathe his sword.
“Fine. I still don’t trust you, but I do trust Newt. Just keep your hands to yourself and we won’t have any problems.”
His continued insistence that I would force myself on someone who didn’t want me was insulting, but rather than let my annoyance show, I put on my best professional smile. “I don’t need you to trust me personally. So long as you trust me as your lawyer, then we’ll be fine.”
Checking my watch again, I sighed. There was now only an hour and forty-five minutes until the witnesses arrived. We were behind schedule.
“If we’re done here, then let’s hurry up and get things ready. The witnesses have traveled a long way to get here and will probably want to get settled in right away. Our case depends on them, so we can’t leave them waiting.”
It took us nearly the entire time to get everything ready. There was enough space in the underground bunker for each witness to have their own house, complete with a fully stocked kitchen and enough fresh linens to make a luxury hotel weep with envy.
Right on time, I got a notification that someone was at the house’s front gate. On the house’s security cameras, I could see a single nondescript white van waiting to be let in.
There were several layers of security that had to be passed before anyone could enter the house.
A large wall surrounded the entire perimeter, with only a single access point.
After that, there was another gated fence, not to mention the many security cameras covering the area.
Not a single inch of the property went unmonitored.
I had to rely on Sebastian and Newt to verify the identity of the driver.
I’d spoken to Logan Hollingsworth before, but never actually seen the man, so I couldn’t be sure it was him.
After getting the okay, I let the van in, then left the security cameras behind to go meet everyone at the front door.
Logan Hollingsworth, Gabe Long, Damien Roth, and a couple other agents from the FPA office had all left to retrieve witnesses from different areas around the county.
Since we wanted to keep the location of our safe house a secret and couldn’t afford to have a bunch of people coming and going, they had all first brought their witnesses to a secondary location.
From there, everyone had piled into one van with Logan, Gabe, and Damien so that they could arrive all at once.
Standing in the doorway to the garage of the aboveground portion of the house, I watched the van roll to a stop and chuckled under my breath. The van wasn’t as big as I expected. Based on the number of people I knew were inside, they must have been crammed together like a clown car.
The first to step out of the van was Logan, since he was in the driver’s seat.
He was shortly followed by Clay Dahler, who’d been riding shotgun.
I recognized Clay from my research into the bell ringer case, though I’d never met him before.
The man matched his description to a T, and based on what I knew of the bell ringers, I wasn’t surprised that they’d targeted him.
Together, Clay and Logan opened the sliding side door of the van, revealing the chaos within.
Damien and Gabe came spilling out first, both looking decidedly rumpled.
They were both on the larger side, over six feet tall with strong shoulders, and they’d clearly had the hardest time with the cramped transportation.
Damien nearly face planted on the concrete floor and was saved from injury only by his own quick reflexes.
Behind me, I could hear Sebastian laughing over his brother’s misfortune as I went to help the rest of our guests out of the van.
The next to emerge was a young man with dark, curly hair. He was one of the witnesses, only twenty-five years old, but the heavy bags under his eyes made him look older. I offered my hand to help him from the van, but he shied from my touch and jumped down on his own.
The next two people emerged as a pair. I didn’t know much about these young women other than the fact that they were siblings. They were also witnesses; though they weren’t direct victims of the bell ringers, they had apparently seen something that would help our case.
Having learned my lesson with the first witness, I didn’t extend my hand toward the pair, and instead, just kept an eye on them as they jumped down from the van.
That was a mistake. I should have offered my assistance anyway, even if it was rejected. The last person out of the van had to climb all the way out of the farthest back seat and ended up getting tangled in one of the seat belts. He tripped and tumbled right out the door.
All I saw was a flash of pink hair as I caught him against my chest.
A pair of big blue eyes looked up at me and a crimson blush spread across the young man’s face.
“Um... Hi.”