Chapter Thirty
The two agents clawed at the doors as Johnny felt the chill of the water bite into his feet. Mercifully the gush had turned into a seep. After all that’s happened, was this where it was to end, he thought. The cold climbed over his knee caps forcing him to pull up as close to Erin and Michael as he could.
“Come on you two get those fucking doors open!” he shouted as the water rose to his waist.
Erin screamed as the water touched her feet and then said with a sigh: “It’s hopeless.”
Then with the water still rising the doors suddenly rolled back, and a big figure stepped back as Michael and Erin tumbled out into the starry night.
Erin gazed up at the figure and then broke out into a broad, tear-filled smile as she got up and hugged Matthias.
“Matthias!” John shouted as he stepped out of the lift shaft. “The main man!”
“Nice to see you too John.”
“Great timing as ever, but what are you doing here?” Erin asked.
“I’ll explain later, you’d better come away from the water,” said Matthias nodding toward the flow out of the lift shaft, “and have a look at this.”
They followed Matthias across the empty helipad, climbed up and stood on top of the rocky spur.
“For heavens sake…!” Johnny said at the sight of the expanse of water that had filled the Mojave Valley. He shook his head as he watched helicopters, which looked like fireflies, fly over the surface searching for survivors.
Michael stepped back with raised eyebrows. “Where…did that come from?”
“The earthquake damaged the dams upriver,” answered Matthias.
Johnny turned to Erin. “So that’s where the water in the cavern came from.”
“Those poor people,” said Erin in a faltering voice.
“What happened down in the canyons?” Matthias asked.
Johnny explained the events of the last few hours.
“Well my friends I am glad to see you after hearing that. I am here due to…; you will not believe this I think.” He took a deep breath and then continued, “my father came in a dream and showed me what would happen to you; basically what you described, so I flew to Los Angeles and then drove here. I watched the valley below become flooded after the earthquake and then saw men from the cabins there leave in the helicopter. I heard your shouts and prised the doors open with an iron spike I found beside the cabin.”
“Well, we’re glad you came. This is my associate, Michael,” said Erin nodding toward the young officer
“Associate?”
“Yes Matthias, I’m a CIA officer, my name is Erin Rodgers. I'm... I was undercover to report back on John and your father.
“Günter in a dream” said Johnny, gazing at the stars.
“Ja, I wasn’t sure if I was being foolish coming here on the strength of a dream, but obviously it was no dream,” said Matthias as he stared at Erin. “The CIA; this has taken me by surprise. I don’t know what to think. And you and John were a… what do they say - a couple.
“Not any longer.” Johnny said.
Erin stared at him through the darkness. “Listen, I had orders to take you to another site and…”
“And what? Kill me! I’ve had enough of you and this whole thing. I’m going home to my kids.”
“Yeah that’s it, on you go. You’re good at thinking of yourself,” said Erin with wrath.
Johnny shook Matthias’s hand and said farewell to Michael. He then scrambled down the mountain towards blue flashing lights.
Erin watched Johnny climb down the mountain with sadness in her eyes. She wanted to call him back; tell him she was going to quit the Agency for him, but pride, and the fact that Michael and Matthias were close by, stopped her. “Okay,” she said. “We should get off the mountain and report back.”
Michael pulled out his mobile, “I’ll contact the LA office and get us a ride.”
“Where’s your car Matthias?” Erin asked.
“Down there, under the water.”
“I’ll get the Agency to sort it out.”
“Thanks. What are you going to do now?”
“Oh, there’s something I’ve got to see to back in Washington.”