F³ Beyond The Walls 19

            Fortunately, I didn’t encounter Sonia on my way back. The kitchen staff and other hostesses looked at me curiously as I made my way back to the service elevator, but they were too busy with other things to bother with me when I was clearly getting out of their way. They didn’t seem to care about the box of whiskey glasses.

            My phone went off with a text as the elevator climbed out of the basement.

            ‘I am at the room with a pretty. Where are you?’

            The elevator dinged, depositing me on the correct floor.

            ‘On my way. Or should I take the long way around while you entertain your pretty?’

            ‘Business before pleasure.’

            That’s not a good sign, really. Nikki has always found time for pleasure during business.

            I couldn’t really speed up, though. The Fairhaven Club, while it conducted business, was a place of leisure. Walking fast, unless I was one of the help, would be noticed and remarked. Unfortunately, the service elevator was pretty far from the specific room, so it took several minutes of walking. Once again, the club seemed much bigger on the inside than it should. This time, however, I had a GPS signal. I was going in a different direction from the corridor in the basement, but I could see that my position had strayed beyond the walls of the original Fairhaven Club building.

            Fairhaven was one of the oldest parts of Belport, going back to the 19^th century, and some of the buildings were jutted up close like in older parts of Boston or Philadelphia. From what I could tell, while the surrounding buildings on this block also housed shops, the Fairhaven Club had likely acquired them over the years and expanded beyond its walls into those buildings as well. Unlike the basement, they had seamlessly decorated the member areas to resemble that of the original club.

            With a little work, I should be able to figure out where that corridor ended up.

F³ Bigger on The Inside 18

            I set to work looking for some kind of souvenir for Nikki right away, thumbing through logoed towels, golf tees, coffee mugs, and wine glasses, which, while crystal, didn’t speak to me as being “Nikki.” That took all of thirty seconds, and while the whiskey glasses weren’t top quality, they would do as a cover, so I snagged a box of them. By now a minute had passed, so I peaked around the corner. No sign of Sonia, so I padded my way down the corridor.

            On either side, the “lockers” she had indicated, were non-descript, solid looking doors with electronic locks considerably more advanced than what protected the wine cellar. Each door also bore a number, but I had no way of knowing which room belonged to whom.

            The corridor extended much farther than I thought it should, with other crossing corridors sectioning off more lockers. The brickwork disappeared, too, in favor of more modern concrete, and the corridor widened to at least eight feet. I didn’t have a GPS signal this far underground, but I figured that we were well beyond the boundaries of the original building, so I began counting steps.

            Three hundred more steps and four corridors, and I ran into a wall. It looked like the corridor should continue, but it abruptly ended. I felt around for some kind of secret passage, but couldn’t figure it, but every instinct I had told me that there was something. After all, how did the goods get into the storage lockers? The Club’s conventional loading docks were too far away to truly be useful to moving stuff down here. I was convinced this wall was more than it seemed.

I just didn’t have time to figure it out. I had been away from Sonia for long enough. Much longer, and she would probably start to get suspicious, so I headed back.

F³ Vice Cellars 17

            Instead of the escalators, Sonia led me to a bank of service elevators, at least six of them. She hit the button for B1, as the elevator buttons labeled it, and we sped down the shaft quite quickly. Here we ended up next to the kitchen, which bustled with activity. There were enough cooks for quite a large restaurant, and enough stations to cook . . . whatever. Over there I saw a tenderloin, on that counter was fish, and more, all cooking simultaneously. Bowls of soup and stew were ladled from large pots, and on the far side were baked goods including pies and cakes.

            The very rich get whatever they want, I suppose.

            Sonia hung a right, taking us down a corridor that quickly became a junction. “The wine cellar is that way. Across from that are the more exotic liquors.”

            “I imagine the Club has to keep a stock of nearly everything on hand. Got any Laphroaig?”

            I had a weakness for that particular Scotch. It was way out of my price-range, but I didn’t think Nikki would mind too much, especially as it maintained the appearance of me as just a dandy for the night.

            “Of course. How old do you like her?”

            “Old enough to vote,” I said.

            She nodded.

            “What’s down that way?” I pointed down the opposite corridor.

            “Oh, that’s the Vice Cellar.”

            “the ‘Vice cellar’?”

            She blushed a little at that. “That’s what we call it unofficially. It doesn’t have an actual name, just a series of storage rooms, but it’s got all of the various, um, vices, that members may request.”

            I nodded slowly. “What about those souvenirs?”

            “The Fairhaven Club merch is up this corridor a little farther.”

            She led the way, bringing us to a door with an electronic lock. She pointedly looked at me, and I looked away so I wouldn’t see the code she punched in. Inside, it was a storeroom. As I have come to expect form the Fairhaven Club, it was meticulously ordered with shelves, boxes, and labels for everything.

            “You can choose anything you like.”

            I nodded, moving into the room. “How long will the wine take to decant?”

            “For the one I want to select, at least half an hour. Forty-five would be better.”

            I winced, and sucked in air. Of course I overacted it, but I wanted to make a point. “You better get that started right away.” I gestured to everything in the room. “It may take a little bit for me to find something appropriate, even in this.”

            Sonia bit her lip. “I’m not supposed to leave anyone down here.”

            I put a finger to my lips. “Our secret. I’ll join you in the room as soon as I’m done. Cross my heart.”

            She sighed. “All right. Start over there,” she pointed. “There are crystal wine glasses that she might like.”

            I mimed her point, and nodded, smiling. “Thanks.”