Chapter 38

Patrolman Clark lay on his side, legs askew, with his skull crushed. The dark dried blood that pooled around him glistened under the flashlight’s harsh glare. Jacoby eyed the body while Longmire looked over his shoulder. The small tunnel was blocked at its far end and on the floor was scattered the remains of scraps of food, empty plastic bottles, and a pair of shoes. An overwhelming stench of urine, decaying flesh, and rotten eggs filled the small enclosure.

“Someone has been living in here,” Jacoby said.

“Probably a homeless person or addict,” Longmire said. “They love to hide out in these tunnels.”

“And that thing we’ve been after,” the patrolman said from inside the tunnel.

Longmire stood.

“Well, let’s get the crime scene folks down here pronto,” he said. “And the medical examiner.”

“How many of these tunnels exist?” Jacoby asked, stooping to gain a better view of the tunnel’s dark interior.

“Too numerous to count,” Longmire said. “They are remnants of a past history of San Francisco and Chinatown and are mostly used by the homeless or addicts like I said. But there are a few brave souls who love to explore them. Sorta like caving. Most of them have been destroyed as the city found them or in earthquakes.”

“Detective, look here!” The patrolman’s voice in the tunnel sounded urgent.

Jacoby and Longmire ducked their heads into the opening and peered into the tunnel. The patrolman’s flashlight flickered on the tunnel’s ceiling revealing a large hole. A manhole cover and a small pile of rust lay on the floor beside the officer. He pointed his light into the hole.

“Someone or something’s been up here recently,” he said. He stood with his upper body extending into the manhole. “There’s another tunnel up here.”

Outside the tunnel’s opening Jacoby stood and thought for a brief moment.

“All right,” he said to Longmire. “It’s logical that the chimera escaped into the tunnel complex after dragging Patrolman Clark here. It’s probably gone up through the manhole. Detective, get a squad of your SWAT team together and assemble them here. We’ll check it out. In the meantime, I’m returning to the command post to wait. I need to get Dr. Olson down here. Notify me when everything is ready. I’m going in with you.”

“You bet,” Longmire said and began barking orders into his radio.

Back at the police command post, Jacoby dialed Harry’s cell phone. The man answered it on the first ring.

“Dr. Olson? It’s Jacoby.”

“Yes,” Harry said. His voice sounded groggy, as if he hadn’t slept for a while.

“I need you and the Harbaum lady down at the Chinatown command post as soon as you can get here. Is she still with you?”

“Yes, she is. Why? What’s going on?”

“Don’t have the time to explain, Doctor. Just get down here as soon as possible. Understand?” Jacoby’s voice was gruff and official.

“Yes, sir. We’re on the way.”

Finished on the phone, Jacoby studied the map of Chinatown on the trailer’s wall. Pins were stuck in the map, identifying the location of the homicides of the past several weeks, and he noticed they were clustered around a small area to the north of the command post. In the center of the pins, he pushed one in at the location of Patrolman Clark’s body and the tunnel.

He didn’t know much about San Francisco tunnels, but if Longmire was right, Chinatown was rife with them, remnants of an earlier time. And those tunnels ran for miles. Old streetcar and subway rails stretching on endlessly. If the chimera had found its way into the main tunnel system, it would take a miracle to find it.

Later, with Harry and Millie at the command post, Jacoby outlined the current situation. He noticed that Harry’s wife, Dixie, was had come with them. She looked nervously from him to Harry.

“I think we’ve got your creature cornered,” he said. “We believe he found his way into a tunnel complex at the other end of this neighborhood. We tracked a blood trail to an opening into a tunnel where we discovered a dead policeman. Same MO as with the other victims. Since we have yet to locate the beast in Chinatown, he must be below ground in the tunnels.”

“You’ve spotted him?” Harry said.

“Not yet but I feel certain he’s in there. We are going in, and I want the two of you to come along. We may need your help if we get him cornered.”

“We’ll do what we can. You can count on us.”

“Your wife can watch our progress over the CCTV on the monitor there,” Jacoby said, pointing to a flat screen sitting in the desk. “We’ll be carrying shoulder cameras and microphones.”

“I’m going with you,” Dixie said.

Harry shot her a quizzical look that turned to a frown.

“I’m afraid not,” Jacoby said. “This is not up for debate, Doctor. You may remain here and watch the search on the monitor, or I will have a police officer take you back home.”

Dixie slumped in her chair with a dejected look on her face.

Jacoby thought he detected a slight pout on her lower lip. “Sorry,” he said. “In this, it’s my way or the highway.”

Dixie nodded her understanding.

“Fine.” Jacoby turned to Harry. “Now let’s go.”

He led the way out of the command post and drove Harry and Millie to the park that now contained a horde of uniformed police officers. As they plodded through the forest, Jacoby heard Millie gasp and groan when she stumbled over a rock or root. She and Harry followed Jacoby and the yellow flag trail until they came to a small clearing filled with policemen in black fatigues who were all highly weaponized. Each wore a small shoulder video camera with a self-contained microphone.

A member of the SWAT team approached Jacoby and handed him a camera and battery pack. “Sir,” he said. “Attach the camera to your lapel and fix the battery pack to your belt. Hit the green button, and you’ll be on the air--live.”

Jacoby did as instructed and noticed that Harry and Millie were not given a camera. Four SWAT team members, plus Longmire and Jacoby, gave their group six cameras to be monitored back in the command post by Dixie and a patrolman.

When everyone was connected, Longmire checked in with the officer at the command post and assured himself that everything was in working order. Satisfied, he gave the thumbs up and headed toward the tunnel entrance.

“Time to lock and load,” he said. “Sergeant, lead on.”

The SWAT officer tumbled into the tunnel, and everyone followed suit, with Jacoby bringing up the rear and Harry in front of him. Millie pushed her way into the cramped confines of the tunnel ahead of Harry. At the back of the tunnel, Jacoby saw the first SWAT member clamber up into the manhole and disappear. One by one, each person inched their way through the hole and into another tunnel, this one much larger. Now Jacoby was able to stand. The headlamps of the SWAT team glimmered down through the tunnel, revealing trash scattered on the floor and graffiti scrawled on the walls.

***

Dixie sat alongside a patrolman, eyes trained on the monitor in front of her. The screen was divided into six small rectangles, each a view from one of the cameras inside the tunnel. The picture flickered. The patrolman adjusted a knob on the monitor, and the flickering subsided.

Entranced, she watched the team’s headlights dance over the walls and ceiling of the tunnel after they climbed through the manhole. The tunnel was littered with trash, empty plastic bottles, and drug paraphernalia, while the walls were covered with graffiti, PIGS, ARYANS FOREVER! and KILROY WAS HERE.

The team walked, single file, through the dark tunnel. Only the lights of their headlamps gave any illumination.

Dixie watched the team move slowly. Her cell phone chirped, and she answered. It was Pauling. He sounded upbeat.

“Dr. Olson,” he said, his voice nearly singing. “I’ve got good news. I’ve been trying to reach Harry, but he doesn’t answer.”

“He’s on a search for Roku at the moment, Dr. Pauling. What is it?”

“After meeting with the board of trustees, the university has offered to give Harry back his old position.”

“That’s wonderful,” Dixie said.

“There’s just one caveat.”

Dixie’s heart sank. “Yes?”

“He will be on a year’s probation,” Pauling said. “Strictly a formality, I assure you. It won’t really mean anything.”

“Dr. Pauling, if it doesn’t mean anything, what difference does it make? Why do it?”

“I understand, Doctor, I do. But it’s the condition laid down by the trustees. I don’t think it will be all that bad or harmful to Harry’s career. Two or three years from now, no one will remember.”

Dixie hesitated a few moments before continuing. He anger was boiling near the surface, threatening to spill over. She tried to calm herself. “Dr. Pauling,” she said, “Harry will know. As will I. And it will be on his record.”

She heard a long sigh from Pauling.

“I tried my best. I couldn’t do more.”

“Harry and I appreciate all you have done, we do. But I don’t think your solution will be acceptable to him. I will tell him you called, but I doubt he’ll go for it. The man has a great deal of pride.”

“Can I count on your help in trying to convince him otherwise?”

“Absolutely not, Dr. Pauling. Whatever he decides on his own, I will support one hundred percent.”

After hanging up, Dixie returned her attention to the monitor where it appeared the team along with Millie and her husband were in a different tunnel.

***

Millie trudged along in the dark in front of Harry wondering the real reason she was accompanying the team. Harry had mentioned to her on their drive to the command post that Jacoby wanted her along in case they needed to converse with Roku. She didn’t believe, at first, that they had stumbled onto Roku. It was still difficult. But on the drive into Chinatown Harry convinced her to trust the FBI agent. All logic pointed to the fact that Roku was in this complex system of underground tunnels.

It was different underground, she thought. No light, no sounds except the tramping of their feet or the occasional whisper among the men. She worried about what would transpire when they caught up with her creation. As they stumbled forward, she said a silent prayer that she would be able to save Roku’s life. It really didn’t matter what happened to her, but Roku should be saved for the sake of science. He should be allowed to live so others could study and learn from him.

And, besides, he was half human.

The team halted where the tunnel divided into two diverging passageways. Jacoby conferred with Longmire. Millie tried to overhear what they were saying as water dripped in a steady stream from some unknown spot above them. But it was impossible to make out their discussion. Then the men’s voices rose, and she could hear clearly. The tunnel acted as a funnel, echoing their conversation.

“What do you think?” Jacoby asked the detective. “Any idea where we are now?”

“We’ve been heading east,” Longmire said, shining his headlamp down the tunnel to their right. “That way,” he said, pointing in the direction of his light, “may wind up under the financial district. But I’m not absolutely sure.”

“Sir!” came a shout from the other tunnel. “Look here!”

Millie, along with Harry and the rest of the men gathered at the entrance of the left-hand tunnel. Soon, a SWAT team member emerged from its dark depths. He wore a quizzical look on his haggard face.

“You’ve got to see this,” he said.

He turned to reenter the tunnel, and the others followed. Millie stumbled into darkness, eyes focused on the flickering lights ahead of her.

A rush of cold air greeted them, smelling dank and oppressive. The tunnel opened into a vast void of darkness, several stories high. At least a hundred meters across, the huge room had the feeling of an enormous empty auditorium or sports arena. Water trickled down the walls, glistening in the dim light. Millie strained her eyes to see beyond the reach of the headlamps, scanning the perimeter. As her eyes became adjusted to the dark, she was able to focus on the center of the underground chamber.

She couldn’t believe her eyes.

“My God,” she said in a loud voice.