A Journey Through Time

Chapter 3

October 31, 1986 – 6:20 pm

Between Arlington, VA and Washington, D.C.

“I think I have a lead on where Wilkins may be hiding,” Lee told Amanda in the car, a few minutes after they had left her house.

“Great!  We’ll check it out first thing in the morning.”

“No, I think we should check it out before the party.”

“Why tonight?”

“It’s too important to wait.  I’ve got to get the information to Billy tonight.  It’s an abandoned building about halfway between here and the Agency.  It could’ve been a recent hiding place for Wilkins.  It won’t take long.  I promise.”

A few minutes later, they pulled into a dark alley beside of the building Lee had been talking about.  Lee shut off the engine and got out of the car.  “You wait here.  I’ll be right back.”  Then he shut the car door and headed toward the entrance.

Lee walked into the dark building and turned on the flashlight that he had brought with him.  He looked around.  Cobwebs were hanging everywhere and the floor was covered with a thick layer of dust.  The small building consisted of three rooms – a large room in the front and two smaller rooms in the back. 

He carefully examined the front room, which was completely empty, then opened the door to one of the back rooms and went in.  That room was the same as the first – completely empty, with no evidence that anyone had been there for quite a while.

He was just about to leave that room and inspect the remaining one when he heard footsteps coming across the front room.  He paused and put his ear to the door to listen.  Whoever was in there was coming closer.  He took out his gun and quickly opened the door.  “Freeze!” he yelled, pointing his gun at the person, and then shined his flashlight into the person’s face.  “Amanda!”

A wide-eyed Amanda was standing in the middle of the room with her hands up in the air.  She put them down when she realized who it was.  “Could you get that flashlight out of my eyes?  I can’t see a thing,” she said, squinting.

Lee lowered the flashlight.  “I thought I told you to stay in the car.”

“Well, it’s dark outside and it was creepy in that alley.  I felt like any minute, somebody was going to jump out from behind one of those dumpsters.  Besides, I thought you might need some help.  Did you find anything?”

“No.  Not yet.  I still have one room to search.  Come on,” Lee said with a sigh.

They searched the room, but found nothing.  Just as they were about to leave, Amanda looked over and thought she saw a small hole in the wooden wall.  “Lee.  Lee, shine the flashlight on that wall over there.”

They walked over to where the hole was.  It was large enough for Lee to put two fingers through.  “That’s odd,” he said, “Shouldn’t this be attached to the outside wall?  There’s nothing behind it.”  Lee put his fingers through the hole and gave the wall a sharp tug.  It moved.  He pulled harder and a large part of the wall pulled out like a door.

They walked cautiously into the room.  In it was a small cot and a few crumpled papers scattered on the floor.  Lee reached down and picked up one of the papers.  “Amanda, look at this.”

It was a note dated October 28, and read:

W-

The feds know you are here.  It’s only a matter of time until they find out where you are.  You must move immediately.  Our success depends upon it!  I know of a place outside Washington.  You will be safe there, at least for now.  Meet me at Pablo’s Mexican Restaurant at 4pm tomorrow afternoon.

-P

“He must have left in a big hurry.  I don’t think he would have left something like this lying around on purpose for us to find,” Lee commented.  “P…I wonder who ‘P’ could be.  Let’s get this back to the agency and get this to Billy.  Maybe he can tell us something.  Come on, let’s go.”

Outside of the room containing the false panel, two men wearing dark clothing peered through the window.  Both had dark hair and dark eyes, and one had a beard and moustache.  Both looked young.

“They found the room, Ernie,” the bearded man said to the other in a gruff voice.

“What’re we gonna do now, Harold?  Do ya think they found anything?”

“Of course they found something!  Why do you think the boss sent us back here?!”

“Who do ya think they are?”

“They’re federal agents.  They’ve gotta be.  Who else would be snooping around this dump?  Shh…here they come.”

As Lee and Amanda made their way out of the building, the two men left the window and headed for their car, a beat-up dark blue Ford, which was parked on the curb just outside of the alley in which Lee had parked his car.  In a few minutes, Lee and Amanda pulled out onto the road.  The two men left right behind them.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

October 31, 1986 – 6:45 pm

On the Road to the Agency

“Isn’t the sky beautiful tonight?”  Amanda was looking up at the sky from the front seat of Lee’s Corvette.  It was completely clear, not a cloud anywhere.  Thousands of stars shone brightly, surrounding an even brighter full moon.  The whole thing looked so peaceful, as if it had come straight from a painting.

“Hmm…a full moon on Halloween.  Isn’t that supposed to be a bad omen or something?”

Amanda smiled.  “Only if you’re superstitious.”

Lee smiled too, but in a few seconds the smile vanished from his face.  “Amanda, do you see that blue car behind us?”

Amanda glanced into the rear view mirror.  “Hey, isn’t that the car that was parked outside of that building when we left?”

“It’s the same one, alright.”  Lee sped up a little to make sure they were being followed.  The car behind them did the same.  “Hang on; I’m going to try to lose them.”  Lee’s foot pushed the gas pedal to the floor, but the car behind them stuck with them.  He could not lose them.

“You’d better slow down a little.  There’s a sharp curve coming up,” Amanda warned.

Lee let up on the gas and tried the brakes, but the car did not slow down.  Instead, it continued to speed up.  “The brakes won’t work!” Lee shouted.

Just then, they got to the sharp curve Amanda had mentioned.  It curved sharply to the right.  On one side of the road was a wooded area filled with tall oak and pine trees.  On the other side, the ground below the road dropped off into a very steep hill.  At the bottom of the hill, hundreds of feet below them, some old railroad tracks followed the curve of the road.  “What do we do now?” Amanda asked urgently.

“Hang on!” Lee replied.  He turned the steering wheel sharply to the right.  Amanda hung on to the dashboard and the door handle with all her strength.  The car spun around.  But it was not fast enough.  It drove straight off the hill, into the air above the railroad tracks.