Read Online The Key To the Kingdom by Jeff Dixon - Free Book Online Page B

moment at hand. The final showing of the film was getting ready to start in the Walt Disney Theatre. The lingering crowd began to shuffle toward the doors of the theatre. Momentarily they would open and everyone would go inside to find a seat. Hawk had seen the film before. It was a stirring fifteen-minute overview of Walt’s life. The doors’ automated mechanism swung them open. Ushered in by a cast member, the people started into the theatre. Hawk moved along with the flow of people and glanced back into the exhibit area of One Man’s Dream. It was now deserted. All of the guests were finishing their move into the theatre and the lone cast member that had been in the area had gone in as well. Hawk stopped walking. Standing there, he made an impetuous decision and began nonchalantly backing away from the doors.
    Moving very casually in reverse, he faced forward as he drifted to the right side of the theatre’s holding area. This movement took him out of the line of sight of the cast member greeting the guests and getting ready to introduce the movie. With a quick step he jutted around the corner and now was standing alone in the exhibit area. He anticipated a cast member would be walking through at any moment. He wildly turned his head from side to side, looking for someplace to duck out of view. An adrenaline wave surged inside his chest and his heart began to beat faster. The automated doors clicked shut, sealing off the theatre as the movie began to play.
    In the darkened theatre, one lone movie attendee had no interest in the film whatsoever. Instead, this person’s attention was focused on scanning the scant crowd scattered across the spacious seating area. Looking once, then again, and one final time, the viewer concluded that Grayson Hawkes had somehow bypassed the movie undetected. The how, when, and why of the preacher’s actions escaped this person, who had been keeping the preacher under surveillance without the slightest notice.
    Hawk realized there was no escape from inside the attraction unless he retraced his steps to the entrance. If he retraced his steps, he could exit through the doors that opened back onto Mickey Avenue. A voice somewhere in his head told him this was the best thing to do. Stepping lively, he headed that direction. Off to his right he once again looked into the office of Walt Disney. Abruptly he came to a halt and knew that he was going to have to find a way to get inside the office and look around.
    Reversing his course, he heard the sounds of the exterior doors at the main entrance slamming shut. Hawk was certain there would be a cast member charged with doing a walk-through inspection of the attraction once it was closed and secure. He needed to find a place to hide. Moving deeper into the attraction he saw a cutout of Roy Disney and Mickey Mouse in front of a huge background photograph of Cinderella Castle. Getting closer he realized there was no way he could hide behind Roy and Mickey. They were securely fastened to the wall and there was very little room between.
    On his right were the hands-on displays of how audio-animatronics worked. Seeing the three different interactive panels for guests to manipulate, Hawk jumped over the rail that held these in place. Now inside the display itself, he moved to an audio-animatronics control panel sitting atop a large red multi-drawer toolbox that stood over three feet high. This would be perfect! Disappearing behind it, Hawk breathlessly used the wheels on the base of the box to move it slightly to the left. Wedging the huge toolbox next to a rack of electronic computer components, he created a completely out of sight hiding place. The only way he could be seen was if someone actually stepped over the railing he had scaled and physically looked behind the box. He was safe for now.
    As soon as he had hidden his body he broke out in a nervous sweat as he sat, waited, and listened. Hearing footsteps approach, he knew that he was now committed