“Correct.” He walked over to a sideboard next to the window. “Holly, you may as well see this, too.” He removed two books from the near side of the bookcase atop the sideboard, reached into the shelf, pressed a board at the back, and a small door popped open. He showed them a bolt inside, then slid it back and pulled on the bookcase. The whole thing, sideboard included, swung into the room, revealing an opening. Ed reached inside and flipped on a light switch, illuminating a fairly short tunnel, lined with concrete blocks, then he led the way, beckoning them to follow.

The tunnel ended in another wall, and Ed swung open a concrete block, slid back another bolt, and flipped another light switch. “Watch your head, it’s a low ceiling.”

Stone followed him into a room that was, obviously, the lower six feet of the old swimming pool. There were half a dozen filing cabinets along a wall, each column of drawers secured by a steel bar and a heavy padlock, and a large safe sat opposite them. A computer sat on the desk and next to it, a large printer. They were much like the Agency equipment in Dick Stone’s little office. “I built all this myself, with the help of the Old Farts,” Rawls said. “Took us a whole winter. Everything is here.”

“Everything? Like what?” Stone asked.

“Everything that backs up what’s in my manuscript—files, photographs, documents, a lot of it taken from the main library at the Agency. I got into the computer using a phony password I set up, and downloaded and printed everything.”

“And nobody knows about this?”

“Just you two. Everybody else is dead. You’re going to need to know this later, but for Christ’s sake, be careful who you tell.”

“Does Will know about this?”

“Nope. He’d be the best person to tell, though. When the time comes.”

“And when would that be?”

“When this whole business blows. If I’m not here at the time, this is your insurance.”

“Insurance against what?”

“Against the wrong people getting ahold of the strong case. Everything here is on thumb drives in the case, along with the manuscript. If somebody tries to force open the case, it will explode and destroy the contents.”

“Jesus, Ed, you’re saddling me with this.”

“You see, it’s what happens when you get too curious. You find out things you didn’t want to know.”

13

STONE AND HOLLY WERE ESCORTED to their car by Ed Rawls, still carrying his shotgun. “Try not to get seen leaving here,” Ed said. “Take a circuitous route home.”

“Are you going to give me the key to the strong case?” Stone asked as he got into the car.

“Eventually,” Ed said, closing his door for him. The log and the gate were both open when they got there, and both closed after they had passed through.