Skeleton Key

men—the old general and the new president—and there may be a nuclear bomb in the picture. So you won‟t be surprised to hear that there are a whole lot of worried people in Washington. That‟s why we‟re here.”
    Alex absorbed what he was being told. Inside, he was seething. Blunt had promised him two weeks in the sun. But it looked like he‟d been sent to the front line of World War Three.
    “If it is a bomb, what‟s Sarov planning to do with it?” Alex asked.
    “If we knew that, we wouldn‟t be here!” she snapped. Alex looked at her closely. He was amazed to see that she really was scared. She was trying not to show it but it was there, in her eyes and the tautness of her jaw.
    “Our job is to find the nuclear material,” Turner said.
    “With the Geiger counter.”
    “Yes. We need to break into Casa de Oro and take a look around. That‟s what we were talking about just now.”
    “Who was he? The man you were with?”
    Turner sighed. He had already said much more than he wanted to “His name is Garcia. He‟s one of our assets.”
    “Assets?”
    “That means he works for us,” Troy explained. “We‟ve been paying him over the years to keep us informed and to help us when we‟re here.”
    “He has a boat,” Turner continued, “and we‟re going to need it because there‟s only one way into the Casa de Oro—and that‟s by sea. The house is built on a sort of plateau right at the tip of the island. It‟s an old sugar plantation. They used to grow sugar cane there and they‟ve got an old mill that‟s still in full working order. Anyway, there‟s only one road that reaches it and it‟s narrow, with a steep drop down to the sea on both sides. There are security men and a gate. We‟d never get in that way.”
    “But by boat—” Alex began.
    “Not by boat…” Turner hesitated, wondering if he should go on. He looked at Troy, who nodded. “We‟re going to use scuba. You see, we know something that Sarov may not. There‟s a way into the grounds of the villa that goes past his defences. It‟s a natural fault line, a shaft inside the cliff that runs all the way from the top to the bottom.”
    “You‟re going to climb it?”
    “There are metal rungs. Garcia‟s family has been on the island for centuries and they know every inch of the coastline. He swears the ladder is still there. Three hundred years ago it was used by smugglers to get from the villa to the beach without being seen. There was a cave at the bottom.
    The shaft—they call it the Devil‟s Chimney—runs all the way up and comes out somewhere in the garden. That‟s our way in.”
    “Wait a minute.” Alex was confused. “You said you were going to use scuba.”
    Troy nodded. “The water level has risen all around the island and the entrance to the cave is now submerged. It‟s about twenty metres underwater. But that‟s great for us. Most people have forgotten the cave is even there at all. Certainly, it won‟t be guarded. We swim down in scuba gear. We climb the ladder and get into the grounds. We search the villa.”
    “And if you find the bomb?”
    “That‟s not our problem, Alex. Our work will be done.”
    The waiter arrived with Alex‟s drink. He picked up the glass. Even the feel of it, cold against his skin, came as a relief. He drank some. It was sweet and surprisingly refreshing. He set the glass down.
    “I want to come with you,” he said.
    “Forget it. No way!” Troy sounded incredulous. “Why do you think I‟ve told you all this? Only because you know too much already and I need you to understand that we mean business. You have to keep out of the way. This is not a child‟s game. We‟re not zapping the bad guy on a computer screen! This is the real thing, Alex. And you‟re going to stay in the hotel and wait for us to get back!”
    “I‟m coming with you,” Alex insisted. “Maybe you‟ve forgotten, but this is meant to be a family holiday. You dump me on my own in the hotel a second time, maybe somebody‟s going to notice. Maybe they‟re going to start wondering where you are.”
    Turner fiddled with the collar of his shirt. Troy looked away.
    “I won‟t get in your way,” Alex sighed. “I‟m not asking to come scuba-diving with you. Or climbing. I just want to be on the boat. Think about it. If the three of us go together, it‟ll look more like a family cruise.”
    Turner nodded slowly. “You know, Troy, the kid has a point.”
    Troy picked up her drink and gazed