Page 63 of Wild Oblivion

“What the hell does that mean?”

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“No clue is the clue,” I repeated to myself. “No clue is nothing. Nothing is?—“

“Zero,” Henrik said. “Null. Ground state.”

“Zero Ocean Way,” I said, putting it all together. “The Aquarium.”

It was as good a guess as any at this point.

I called the sheriff and filled him in, then texted the recording of the call to Thompson.

I told Jack to take Henrik back to the boat. Jack called for a rideshare, and so did I. They piled into the silver four-door when it pulled to the curb, and I waited another moment for my driver to arrive.

He pulled up in a black BMW 3 series and zipped me to the Coconut Key Aquarium. The driver pulled to the curb, and I hopped out.

The place was packed with tourists. People flooded in and out.

They had done away with the ticketing booth. Everything was app-driven. No cash. You had to purchase tickets online, then you would receive an access code to be scanned.

I jumped the turnstile and ran into the building.

Massive glass walls gave a glimpse into the aquatic life of sea lions. They swam around without a care in the world, oblivious to the danger. The blue glow from the tank illuminated the awestruck faces of children and adults.

I finally found a female staff member wearing a blue polo shirt and white shorts. With a flash of the badge, I said, “I need to speak with the manager. There’s been a threat, and we need to quietly and calmly evacuate the building.”

The pretty blonde went stiff, and her blue eyes became saucers. The recent bombing at Sonic Temple was on everyone’s mind. “What kind of threat?”

“Just get the manager.”

She nodded and scurried to find him.

I followed.

We caught up with him by the shark tank, and I explained the situation.

Steve was a bald guy in his early 40s with oval glasses, a narrow face, and a bushy brown mustache. Fear bathed his brown eyes. “When is this thing supposed to go off?”

“At any time,” I said.

He swallowed hard.

Curious patrons eavesdropped.

I spoke in a hushed voice. “Announce that the aquarium is closing for an unexpected maintenance issue and tickets will automatically be refunded.”

He nodded.

I followed as he hurried to the office and made an announcement over the loudspeaker. His voice echoed through the damp, dark passages as he urged everyone to move in an orderly fashion to the exits.

By that time, the sheriff had arrived with several patrol units. The FBI and ATF weren’t far behind.

Deputies set up a perimeter and kept people out of the area. They hurried patrons away from the building as they exited. It didn’t take a Rhodes Scholar to realize this wasn’t a maintenance issue.

News crews arrived, and choppers circled overhead.

We managed to get everybody out of the building without a mass panic.