Ghost of a Chance

Chapter 27

Teddi slowed her car to a halt, staring ahead. She could not believe the quarry road could have become so fortified, so quickly. What's going on?

"Do you guys see what I see?"

Darrin leaned up over the front seat. "Yeah. A clamp-down, it looks like. Jeez, it is Roswell all over again." He drummed on the head-rest. "Let's go, girl. Turn around and let's get out of here."

Teddi shook her head. "I don't know. Troy?" She glanced toward him; his eyes were fixed on the lights ahead.

He nodded toward the bright lights ahead of them. "Well. It looks like you might be right, Shaggy. This is starting to feel like Scooby-doo, so let's bring the Mystery Machine up to the gate. They've already seen your headlights. Turning around might be worse than just going forward."

In spite of herself, Teddi giggled. It was weird, but she did not feel like they were in any real danger. She checked herself; being on autopilot was not an option. She had no idea why the road was barricaded, or by whom, and she needed to have her wits about her.

She eased forward, toward the roadblock across the dirt road. "Neither of you say anything," she cautioned. "Let me do the talking."

"Okay, Velma." Darrin dropped back to the rear seat.

"Knock it off," Teddi snapped, and then cracked her window down to address the uniformed guard approaching them.

"What's going on?" Teddi strained to see past the guard and get a glimpse of the quarry floor itself; the abandoned work was not visible, but she could see light streaming into the sky.

The guard did not cooperate. "No admittance," he said. He words were clipped and his voice flat. "Sorry for the inconvenience, but you'll need to turn around and head out. Good night."

"But what's going on?"

The guard simply waved in a shooing manner and walked away, back to the barricade. Teddi noticed the size of his rifle. She leaned back into her seat, realizing she was clutching the steering wheel so tightly she could not fee her fingertips. She breathed out. "How do you like that?"

Darrin snorted. "I don't. If you ask me, this has federal government written all over it. They're in the quarry right now, cleaning up any evidence of what we found. It's what they always do; discredit the witnesses, and then scrub the scene. We look like nuts or liars, and the government keeps feeding the public the same garbage. I hate this, dude!" He punched the seat beside him.

"Calm down," said Troy. "Come on, Teddi, let's get out of here. There's nothing we can do. There's no way past that gate, even if it wasn't guarded."

Teddi made a tight turn and pulled away. In her rear view mirror, he could see the guard speaking into a radio of some sort. "We're not giving up," she said. "If Jenny is in there, she may need our help."

Troy stiffened. "You're crazy, then Teddi. Did you see the gun that guy had? I don't think these guys are playing around. It's dark, and that quarry's dangerous in the daylight with nobody there. We don't know their rules of engagement. That guy might be the 'thank you,' public face, but further in, there could a shoot-on-sight order. We have no idea. Besides, how do you expect to even get close to it without being seen?"

Teddi sniffed. "You can go home and go to bed if you want, Troy. I'm not leaving here until I know where Jenny is. I don't care. And I don't think we're going to get shot at. Why would they? What about you, Darrin? Are you with me, or not?"

Darrin shook the headrest. "I'm going in, I'm going in. Somebody has to expose this corrupt system, so other people will know the truth. I'm going in, Troy, and if you're any kind of man, you're going in too. Didn't you ask Jenny for a date, once?"