Page 58 of Romeo

Talon’s camera moved back some, then he turned to the wall space that could be seen in between the coffins.

“There!” I said. “That is a wall crypt but look at the paint that’s chipped away from the edges.”

“You think Jarret’s in there,” Liv said.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I just noticed the chipped paint.”

Talon called Ranger over.

Ranger moved the detector over the wall crypt and it beeped loudly.

I even jumped as it sounded loud to me for some reason. Nerves…yep, nerves.

“It’s hot,” Ranger confirmed.

“So, what—”

“Tank’s heading in,” Ranger cut me off.

Everything went quiet as we waited for this Tank guy to show up in the crypt room.

A huge man could be seen coming through the door on Talon’s cam. Yes, that had to be Tank. He looked like a damn brick wall times 4.

“Ok, give me some room,” Tank said in a deep booming voice. The man sounded as large as he looked. He gently snipped a wire or so it looked like from our view. Then passed the gauge over the crypt space again. No beeping. “All clear. Ranger,” Tank said. “Hand me the tools.”

Next, we saw a crow bar and Tank’s large hand as it pried the sides of the indentation lines on the wall. After a moment or two, he broke through.

Talon kept his camera on the wall crypt as it took both Tank and Ranger to tug it open.

We all held our breath as we stared at the screen in a nervous anticipation.

The coffin slid out and we could see a body in it.

“Get me some oxygen!” Talon yelled.

We couldn’t see anything as Ranger and Tank blocked the camera view.

Suddenly, we heard Legend’s voice, “I’m coming.”

Talon’s camera turned to the door as we could see Legend and Glory coming through it.

Legend rushed over and set his bag on a casket then dug out a small oxy kit.

“Dad,” Glory exclaimed in panic as she rushed over to the coffin.

“Stand back,” Talon told her.

We could see Legend standing next to the slid out coffin as he took Jarret’s vitals.

Those of us in the security room waited in a tense silence.

After several minutes, we heard a loud cough.

“Dad, are you okay?” Glory exclaimed loudly over the comm.

“Yes,” a deep voice replied. “But why am I in a god damned coffin?”

The people in the study – including me – laughed.