Run into Trouble

verify that it was the correct dirt road—and then continued for a number of uphill miles.
    “Slow down,” Melody said. “That may be Slick’s car ahead.”
    The car was parked on the other side of the road, facing them. The sun had set and it was dark in the woods. Drake pulled in front of the other car so that they could read the license plate using their car’s headlights. Yes, it was the Ford that Slick had used to chauffeur them last night. Drake pulled around it and made a U-turn. He had to maneuver back and forth several times on the narrow road to complete the turn. He parked behind the Ford and turned off his lights. Drake and Melody got out.
    Slick emerged from the Ford. The first thing Melody noticed about him was that he wasn’t wearing his dark glasses, but it was too dark to see what color his eyes were. He stepped between the two cars to get off the road and pointed in the direction they had been heading.
    “The entrance is two hundred yards from here. There aren’t any guards at the entrance, but there are at least two inside the grounds. I got close enough to the building to look in the windows. Casey is there along with a bunch of grayheads. They were sitting around a big table. Dressed in civvies, of course, but I recognized your father and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from pictures I’ve seen. This is a high level meeting.”
    “How many are there?” Melody asked.
    “At least a dozen, probably more. I’m sure I didn’t see them all. It’s your ballgame. How do you want to proceed?”
    Drake said, “The only way this has a chance of working is the innocent approach. I’ll walk up to the front door and try to crash their party. You two stay hidden. You’ll be my backup.”
    Melody started to say something, but he glared her into silence.
    “Hopefully, I’ll get inside and start greeting people. ‘Hi, Casey, hi, Dad, a little bird told me you were here. Thought I’d drop by and say hello. Can’t stay long; got a race for a million dollars tomorrow, but maybe we can chat for a minute.’”
    When he said the words out loud, he realized how lame they sounded. But what choice did he have? They walked along the road to the entrance. What impressed Drake was how dark it was. No outside lights shone on the grounds. Clouds covered the moon and stars. Slick had a flashlight, but he would need it more than Drake because he and Melody were remaining outside. Slick also had a gun, which he offered to Drake, but Drake knew that carrying a gun would be ineffective and counterproductive.
    Slick pointed to a couple of lights faintly visible in the distance through the trees.
    “Those lights are coming from the windows. You can follow the driveway. There are several vehicles, including a bus, parked along it. I heard two guards talking at one point, but I could barely see them. I didn’t want to cause a commotion by taking them out, so I waited in the trees until they went away. Be careful when you’re walking. It’s dark as the inside of a whale’s belly.”
    Drake’s eyes were still getting acclimated to the dark. He could make out a few vertical trunks of trees but not much else. They decided that Slick and Melody would wait for thirty minutes. If Drake didn’t appear by then, they would take whatever action they deemed appropriate.
    Melody gave Drake a hug. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
    “Not a chance.”
    Drake started walking slowly along the driveway, keeping his hands in front of him, feeling for real and imaginary obstacles. After a few steps he looked back, but Melody and Slick had already been swallowed by the night. The driveway was uneven gravel; Drake had to watch his footing to avoid twisting an ankle. Wouldn’t it be ironic to run over 500 miles without injuring his legs or feet, only to have it happen here?
    He wished he could see as well as he could smell the woodsy scent of the pine trees. It reminded him of hiking with his father when he was young. Those days were gone for good.
    He didn’t see the bus until he almost ran into it. Strange, because the dark was a gray color, not black, and he had the illusion he could see more than this incident suggested. He redoubled his caution. If he could just get inside where he could make contact with his father, he should be safe.
    The driveway curved; he couldn’t head straight for the lighted windows because tree trunks partially obscured his view of them, and he suspected that the ground