Liberty

CHAPTER FIVE

The warehouse didn’t look like much from the outside. Just a monolithic gray structure a little over two stories high. It wasn’t as old as the textile mill buildings, but proximity to the Delaware River had almost certainly served as the motivation for its construction. In years past, the Port Richmond area of the city had boasted vibrant industry; now it was an up-and-coming residential area with reminders like this one still dotting the riverfront.

Given the lack of lights in the area, Dane and Bones had considered donning all black, but in the end rejected it as potentially drawing more attention than it prevented. It would reduce the likelihood of someone spotting them, but if they were spotted, no one would be in any doubt about their intent. So they wore jeans and dark jackets, enough to stay in the shadows but not look too nefarious. The thirty-five degree temperatures also allowed them to wear black gloves without raising any eyebrows.

“Looks like the door is locked. Time for a little breaking and entering?” Bones asked.

“I prefer not to break when I enter, Bones. See those high windows. If we slide the dumpster over, we should be able to remove a few panes of glass and then reach through and open the window.”

“Anyone ever tell you you’re no fun, Maddock?”

“Mostly you, Bones.”

Bones scrutinized the windows. “Okay, so what are the chances they’re alarmed?”

Dane had worried about that very thing, but he figured they didn’t have many options. “No idea. That’s why we need to be in and out quickly.”

They headed into the shadows and moved the dumpster. Up by the window, Dane’s Recon One knife made short work of the crumbling putty around the ancient planes of glass. Within a minute, Bones used his long arms to reach in and turn the latch so they could slide the window open.

The window turned out to be about ten feet above the floor inside, and they managed the drop easily. Dane heard no alarm, nor saw any flashing lights, but he still worried about some sort of silent security system tied into the police. He switched on his light to get his bearings.

The place was empty. Just hard concrete as far as the eye could see. Moving the light around, he finally saw a door about seventy-five feet away. Before Dane even said anything, Bones started moving towards it. Dane switched off the light, not wanting to take the slight risk that someone outside would see a light beam flickering. Enough light came in through the few windows that he could see a vague outline of the door as he got close.

Bones reached for the knob and opened it. The much smaller room on the other side had a couple of wooden chairs and a desk, but no windows. Dane shut the door behind them and switched the light back on.

“Dude, I think we found something.” Bones pointed to a huge pile of shredded papers in the corner. It rose at least six feet high, and spread a number of feet down the wall.

“Well, it could be nothing — most companies destroy their old documents after a certain number of years.”

“True, but we’re in an empty warehouse that we know is tied to the Sons of the Republic. Why store all these documents right in this old office. I bet—”

Bones reached over to one side of the pile and started nudging it aside. A mass of the shredded confetti started moving and Bones had to jump back to avoid being buried in three feet of it. He pointed and laughed. “Yep, see the edge of that file cabinet. This stuff was in there.”

Dane frowned. “Well it’s all we have. But it’s useless. I don’t care what you see in the movies, no one pieces together information from stuff like this.”

He picked up a handful and let it run through his fingers, trying to stave off the rising disappointment. He noticed Bones staring at the file cabinet with more concentration than he normally applied to anything.

“What is it, Bones?”

Bones didn’t say anything, just jumped into the pile of documents and started tossing them over his shoulder towards the other side of the room. Dane had to jump aside to avoid taking the flying debris in the face.

“I’m afraid to ask what you’re doing now.”

Bones looked up under his shoulder with the familiar grin. “Looking for buried treasure.”

When Dane remained planted with a quizzical look on his face, Bones stood up. “Okay, we agree that these shredded documents are useless, right?”

“Right.”

“I want to look inside the file cabinet. With so many thousands to shred, maybe they missed one.”

Dane pondered this for a moment. It seemed like the longest of long shots. But hell, they were here and this would only take a few minutes. He waded in and started helping Bones. Pretty soon they had the front of the cabinet clear so they could open the drawers. Opening each drawer, they felt all around the inside.

“Nothing. Well that sucks. It was a good idea.”

Then Bones started tossing papers further along the wall. This time Dane didn’t have to ask — probably there was one more filing cabinet buried even deeper. He put his back into it and papers started flying as if self-propelled. They uncovered another cabinet in less than ninety seconds.

Unfortunately, this one was also empty. Bones let out a rare sigh. “Was worth a shot.”

“Hey, I bet it’s the first time anyone could call you a paper pusher.”

“All right, Maddock is riding the humor train! I guess we may as well take off and call this a bust.”

Something tickled the edge of Dane’s mind, and he let his eyes go out of focus as he tried to get hold of it. Then he snapped his fingers.

“Let’s move the cabinets.”

“Move them? You mean because… ” Bones didn’t finish, just leaped to the edge of a cabinet and started dragging one. Dane did the same with the other one, and both cabinets were a foot away from the wall in short order. Bones slapped Dane on the back. “Jackpot, dude!”

Right in the farthest corner, behind where the inner cabinet had been, a single undamaged piece of paper was settling on the floor. Dane picked it up with care, amazed at how important one piece of paper could seem after finding nothing else of use in the room.

He handed it to Bones. “You read it. Diving through this stuff was your idea.”

“If you insist. Header says ‘Franklin’s Legacy.’ Then only one paragraph, and there’s a page number ninety-seven down at the bottom. Looks like a typewriter, not something printed like a normal book or anything. This was the end of a chapter or some other group of pages. The paragraph says:

“Franklin didn’t agree about destroying them. But he wasn’t going to undermine everything at such a crucial time. And that’s where our knowledge ends. We know Randolph’s copy survived for a long time, and may not be lost as once feared. But with Franklin, all we have is the one clue: Seek the creator of the five hundred”

Bones looked up. “You know what this means, Maddock?”

“Yep. Not only are the Sons of the Republic after us again, but once again they’re also after something related to the history of the founding of America. What are the odds their motives are pure?”

“About the same as the odds of finding intelligent life in Washington D.C.”

Dane cleared his throat, glad that the lack of strong light was hiding his face. “Yeah, yeah. So who do we know who’s crazy enough to try to stop them again?”

“Admit it, Maddock, you live for this. You wouldn’t pass this up even if they hadn’t tried to kill us. And I’m in because I figure I’ll get a chance to hammer a few more of the bad guys before we’re done.”

Bones folded the paper and tucked it in a pocket. “We’ve been here much longer than we should have. Time to scram.”

“Yeah, but if we stay, you might get to hammer the bad guys sooner.”

“Oh, I have a feeling we’ll get that chance before you know it. Plus, it’s just as likely to be cops or some dumb security guard who comes here. That takes all the fun out of it. I vote for the front door.”

Dane opened his mouth to argue but then realized that the approach made sense. They’d be exposed for a lot longer trying to get out of the high window than just walking out the front. He nodded and turned his light on low, pointing towards the floor. He followed Bones to the front door where Bones released the deadbolt and the two other locks. They stepped outside.

The glare from the streetlight across the road made Dane unconsciously shift his head down and to the side. As he did, he felt something strike the back of his head and heard a loud crack right behind him. Almost at the same time, he heard the sound of a gun firing in the distance.

Bones must have heard it, too, because he was moving even before Dane. Neither man wasted any time, sprinting twenty yards to the relative shelter of a large van parked on the street. As far as Dane could tell, no more shots had come.

Bones nodded several times with a wicked grin directed at Dane.

“I think we came to the right place.”