Unlocking the Kingdom Read online

  “Yes.” Cambridge nodded. “Each guest received a complimentary pass good for admission at any of our parks. This was a decision made by Grayson Hawkes.”

  “Wow.” Juliette sat back in her chair. “You sure are generous.”

  “Yes, I am a great guy.” Hawk grinned. “Tell your friends—”

  “They wouldn’t believe me.” She shook her head side to side.

  “May I continue please, sir?”

  “Sorry, Reginald.” Hawk allowed his grin to evaporate. “Continue.”

  “However, we do not know why we lost control—momentarily—of the operation of the attraction. There seems to be no mechanical reason. We will have to assume it was an operator error. Later in the morning, we were notified another pirate figure had been found in a boat on the Jungle Cruise attraction.”

  “Yeah, that was weird,” Shep chimed in.

  Earlier in the day, Hawk had done his best to keep Shep quiet. Hawk respected the honesty and the ability Shep had to say what everyone seemed to be thinking. He was quick to chime in with an opinion or a thought that usually was on the mark. His ability to communicate exactly what he was thinking and feeling amused Hawk. However, Hawk knew that for Cambridge it could be more than mildly irritating.

  “Yes, that would be a good way to summarize the entire morning,” Cambridge dryly continued. “Then another pirate was discovered in the Carousel of Progress and one more at the Haunted Mansion.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding.” Juliette wrinkled her brow. “We were attacked by pirates, and I didn’t even know it.”

  “Bothersome to be sure. Clint spent some time doing inventory and discovered that one of our warehouses where we store some non-functioning figures had ten that are unaccounted for.” Cambridge looked toward Clint Wayman.

  “According to inventory, they should have been there. They are not.” Clint frowned. “Don’t know why, we don’t know where they are, can’t find any one person who missed them, so we aren’t really sure when they might have disappeared.”

  “Or jumped ship?” Shep couldn’t resist.

  “Let’s circle back to the operator error you mentioned on the pirates attraction. Who did it?” Hawk directed the question to Bill and Reginald.

  “No one, sir. I have checked, and no one accidently kept sending boats into the attraction after we shut it down.” Bill slid to the edge of his seat.

  “If it is an operator error, then that means an operator had to have been involved . . . correct?” Hawk had every eye in the room riveted on him.

  “That is correct, sir.” Cambridge inhaled deeply. “However, we have been able to find no individual who will admit to making an error, and all security evidence available gives us no indication as to what happened . . . yet.”

  “What does that mean?” Hawk folded his hands and placed his elbows on the desk.

  Suddenly the door to the office clicked open. Every person in the room turned toward the entrance. Hawk’s eyes widened when he saw who was coming inside.

  “I know what it means,” the newcomer said. “Pardon me, but I couldn’t help but overhear. If you don’t mind my saying so, it means that you have a problem . . . a serious problem.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  * * *

  HAWK IMMEDIATELY STOOD AND MOVED around his desk to embrace his old friend Farren Rales. Rales had been hired by Walt Disney himself as an animator at the Walt Disney Studios on Rales’s thirtieth birthday. In the years that followed, he had worked on animated features, been involved in projects at Disneyland, and eventually become a part of that exclusive group of creative designers known as Imagineers. The Imagineers are the designand-development arm of the Walt Disney Company. Walt created the name of this group by combining the words imagination and engineering.

  After Walt died, Farren moved from California to be one of the lead Imagineers as Walt Disney World was developed in Orlando. Rales was part Disney historian, part Disney philosopher, and a modern-day keeper of the dream that Walt had begun. It had been Farren Rales that had given Hawk the key that started him on this rocket ride of his own dream. Farren was the one man who knew that he’d given Hawk more than just a key, and he was a living reminder of how important it was to protect the things he had been entrusted with.

  Cambridge, Shep, and Juliette all knew Farren. Hawk wasn’t sure about the security men. “Let me introduce Mr. Farren Rales, the official Imagineering ambassador of the Walt Disney Company.”

  A somber Rales shook hands with both Clint and Chuck. Hawk ushered Rales to his seat behind the desk and stood next to the old man and waited for him to get settled into the comfortable leather. It seemed to swallow his frame as he rocked backward and faced the group.

  “You do have a problem, a serious problem.” Rales looked frailer than Hawk remembered since he had seen him last. But his eyes sparkled as he spoke. “This company is under attack. Today it was a pirate attack. It closed down an attraction, caused an evacuation, caused you to lose control of the attraction . . . You have no idea why or how this was done. Which means that tomorrow, whoever has decided to launch this attack upon you can do it again. And right now, you can do nothing about it.”

  “So you think it’s going to happen again?” Clint asked the obvious question.

  “Why wouldn’t it?” Rales raised an eyebrow. “People are trying to get your attention for some reason. Of course they will do something else . . . until they get what they want. So you have to figure out who did this, what they want, and how to prevent them from doing it again.”

  The office grew deathly quiet. Rales locked eyes with Hawk, who cracked the slightest smile at his friend. Although unnoticed by most in the meeting, it signaled to Rales that Hawk already had more information than he had shared. Cambridge, however, had not missed the glance and came to the same conclusion as Rales. Standing, he addressed his two security chiefs.

  “Gentlemen, I trust you will continue to investigate the events of today and heighten security throughout the resort.” As they nodded affirmatively, Cambridge turned toward Bill. “We will need to continue to test the attraction throughout the evening and strive to open it uneventfully tomorrow.”

  “Yes, we will.” Bill rose to his feet.

  The official meeting was over. Chuck, Clint, and Bill shook hands with everyone, said their good-byes, and left the office. Juliette closed the door behind them, and then turned and leaned back against the door as if someone might come bursting in. Tilting her head, she broke the silence.

  “Now, what is going on?”

  “Indeed, tell me what I do not know,” Cambridge injected.

  “I’m not sure what you know and don’t know.” Rales leaned back in the comfortable chair. “You will recall that when Hawk became the possessor of the key I gave him, I told him it was the key to the kingdom. He used it wisely, figured out the mystery, and ended up sitting on top of the world . . .” Rales let his gaze drift toward the window with the view of the Magic Kingdom. Turning back to the group, he completed his thought. “Literally . . . on top of the world.”

  “So you believe this is an attempt by an individual or group to remove Hawk from his position here at the company?” Cambridge ran a hand across his forehead.

  “Yes, but it’s more complicated than that.” Rales pulled himself forward toward the desk. “This is not about taking Hawk’s job, it’s about taking what Hawk has. It’s about getting the key. The keeper of the key has the power, has the control, and has the kingdom.”

  The old key Rales had given Hawk was very special indeed. It had opened a variety of things that surprised Hawk along the way. Yet each time the key had opened something, it had helped him to find a clue, a puzzle piece, and eventually helped him unravel the mystery that had given him the real prize. The real key was far more than just a key. It was information, it was insight, and it was a secret. Now, as the keeper of that secret, he had the authority from Walt Disney himself to guide the destiny of the company.

  “If
I understand completely . . . ” Shep pursed his lips. “ . . . the key is not the big deal, it is just a piece of a far bigger prize. The only two people who know what the key really is are the two of you.” He pointed toward Hawk and Rales.

  “I would venture to guess that others don’t know that,” Cambridge stated. “They believe that if they can get the key, then they can have whatever they believe Hawk has discovered.”

  “Correct.” Rales nodded. “They don’t know what the key really means or really does. But they believe if they can have it, then they will have control and power . . . and all those entail.”

  “So . . .” Juliette pushed away from the door and made her way across the room. Relaxing in a chair, she exhaled. “There’s a group of thugs somewhere trying to get your attention so you will give them the key.”

  “And since no one else knows what the key is or really does, they have to convince you to give it up.” Shep smiled at his summary.

  “Pretty much,” Hawk shrugged. “But I’m not giving up anything.”

  “That does not mean they, whoever they are, are not going to coerce you into giving them what they want.” Cambridge spoke slowly and softly.

  “It would be foolhardy to think they would stop. But there is some more information that you don’t have that might be helpful.” Rales looked to Hawk, who nodded for him to continue. “As Hawk has entrusted you with as much of the story of the key as he could, you need to understand that the key was a plan that Walt and Roy Disney put into place years ago to make sure that there would always be someone guiding the company into the future. I was one of three Imagineers who helped design this elaborate and well-orchestrated plan to secure the future of Disney. It took years for us to find someone like Hawk who had the skill set to do what he has been entrusted to do.”

  “Whoa.” Juliette leaned forward. “So if you are just one of three Imagineers who helped design the mystery of the key . . . who are the other two?” Turning toward Hawk, she asked another question. “Do you know who the other two are?”

  “No.” Hawk shrugged. “I don’t know who they are.”

  “He doesn’t.” Rales stood behind the desk. “My role was to give Hawk the key and see if he could prove himself worthy to be entrusted as the keeper of the key. All of you got involved in that process and discovered that the details and clues he needed were to be found in the resort itself. Each one of us Imagineers has a different task, a different job, and a different responsibility. When the time is right, Hawk will be given more details.”

  “But you guys are getting pretty old,” Shep said without harshness. “If Hawk needs to know more, shouldn’t the other two be giving up some details while they still can?”

  Rales smiled brilliantly and moved to look out the window at the theme park. “You would be correct. Time and common sense would dictate that very soon Hawk should be given the rest of the information he might need to be successful in guiding the Disney Company.”

  The four others stood in the office, waiting for the old Imagineer to turn back from gazing out the window. Shep got up out his chair and paced around it. When he finished circling it, he opened his mouth to speak; but Hawk waved him off, telling him to wait.

  Slowly, Farren Rales turned back from the window. His brow furrowed as he looked toward the ground and spoke softly.

  “When Hawk unraveled the mystery of the key, there were those that tried to stop him. Apparently another attempt to take the key from him is just beginning. What we have to figure out is how we stop them.”

  “Farren.” Cambridge narrowed his eyes toward the old Imagineer. “Do you think this latest attempt to take the key is related to either of the other two Imagineers whom Hawk has yet to meet?”

  “I believe so.” Farren looked up toward the group. “Why wouldn’t it be? When I gave Hawk the key originally, I was being watched. So was Hawk, and they mobilized to do everything they could to stop him then. I have to assume that the timing is not by accident. There is a reason they are attempting to disrupt things now. As I said, I fear this is only the beginning.”

  “Farren is right.” Hawk spoke, drawing the attention of all in the room. “Something else happened today. I haven’t had a chance to tell you yet.”

  The sound of a cell phone startled the group and stole the attention. Cambridge grabbed his phone, activated it, and placed it to his ear. A knock on the door occurred at the same time, and as it silently swung open, Nancy popped her head inside.

  “Hawk,” she said apologetically, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we have a situation.”

  “A what?” Cambridge raised his voice to the person on the other end of his call. “On my way.” He abruptly ended the call.

  Hawk turned back to the doorway and nodded for Nancy Alport to continue.

  “I’ve been asked to see if you would go back to Pirates of the Caribbean. There is . . .”

  “A problem at Pirates . . . again.”

  Cambridge was on his feet, moving toward the exit. “That is what my call was about. We need to go.”

  Shep, Juliette, and Cambridge hustled past Nancy and headed toward the stairs. Hawk paused in the doorway and turned back to Farren, who was watching as they left.

  “Farren, are you coming?” Hawk asked.

  “No, I think I will sit this trip out.”

  “Everything OK?”

  “Yes, except for the fact that I am afraid you are getting into a very dangerous situation.”

  “I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself,” Hawk reassured him.

  “Of that I have no doubt. You are one of the most resilient individuals I have ever met.” Farren smiled. “Have time to meet me for breakfast in the morning? I feel the need for us to meet with our very old friend.”

  “Sure, what time?”

  “Grayson Hawkes.” The echoing voice of Reginald Cambridge lofted up from the first floor.

  “Coming!” Hawk yelled back. Refocusing his attention to Rales, he asked, “What time?”

  “Seven?”

  “Sounds great, can’t wait.”

  Hawk raced out of the office and down the stairs.

  As Farren’s young friend left, the Imagineer turned back toward the window overlooking the Magic Kingdom. He smiled as he thought back over the incredible journey that had brought them to this moment. It had been many years since the original plan for the future had been put into place by Walt and Roy Disney. The friendship he had developed with the preacher, Gray-son Hawkes, who wanted to become a better storyteller, had changed both of their lives forever. Now that he had entrusted Hawk with the key to the kingdom, he knew he had made the right choice. Hawk would do everything within his power to keep the kingdom and drive it into the future. But it was not going to be easy, and it would not be without a shadow of risk.

  “Is there anything I can get for you, Farren?” Nancy asked, still standing beside the doorway.

  “No, I am just leaving.” He placed his hand against the window and

  looked into the distance. “Take your time, sir.” Nancy had known Farren a long time. As she moved away from the door to head back down the stairs, she heard him speak softly. “Be very careful, Hawk . . . be very careful.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  * * *

  PUNKY ZANE LISTENED AS ALLIE CROSSMAN talked to their Total Access star, Kate Young, on her cell phone. He had worked with them for a couple of years and was used to the flurry of phone calls whenever a new project began. Pete Brady was ahead of them, also talking on his cell phone, trying to mobilize and coordinate the production staff about to descend on the Walt Disney World Resort. The three were moving across the covered bridge that connected the Bay Lake Towers, where Grayson Hawkes’s office was located, back to the Contemporary Resort, where they all had rooms. The Contemporary was where they had taken a block of rooms for their staff over the next week.

  Midway across the bridge, Pete had stopped and was referencing his electronic tablet for some morsel of information he need
ed to relay to their staff. His stop had brought the entire group to a halt and they separated, giving enough space for the dueling conversations to take place. Punky absently listened in to Allie’s half of the conversation with Kate, because Kate was their boss. Total Access had made her one of the most powerful women in the media, and the four of them had forged a powerful and highly respected team, in an industry where sometimes credibility and integrity were suspect.

  “Of course everything is set,” Allie spoke. “I also conveyed to Dr. Hawkes your request to meet him informally after you arrive tomorrow . . .” Allie listened to Kate as she replied, then glanced toward Pete as he continued to fumble with the tablet. “Pete is working on the final details right now. I believe we’re in good shape.”

  Punky turned and leaned against the rail and gazed across the Contemporary’s parking lot toward the entrance of the resort. In the distance, he could see the Magic Kingdom. His mind wandered to a visit he had made as a child with his parents to this place. Noticing movement below him, he glanced down and then immediately narrowed his focus on what he was seeing. With a wave of his hands, he attempted to get the attention of Allie and Pete, but kept his eyes fixed on the ground below. Noticing the hand motions, they both turned to see what he was doing and moved toward where he was standing. They paused mid-conversation on both calls.

  Below them, running across the parking lot, were two men, whom Punky did not recognize, with one woman he did know. Juliette Keaton jogged alongside these two men toward an SUV parked in a reserved spot in a small parking area off the main lot. As the three looked down, as if on cue, Grayson Hawkes emerged from the building and raced across the parking lot, attempting to catch them. Punky turned and exchanged a puzzled look with both Allie and Pete. Pete punched the end button on his touchscreen without saying good-bye.

  “Kate, we are watching Hawkes, Juliette Keaton, and a couple of other people run out of the Towers and pile into a vehicle.”