THE BANDIT QUEEN - Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

Deakin slept very little that night. Eden woke up several times and watched as he stood at the window and stared at the ocean. She’d found them a small motel right on the coast. Finally, she got up and stared out the window with him. Without a word, they both dressed and left the room. They held hands and walked for hours along the beach, letting the stiff breeze blow them around. Toward dawn, they sat on the sand and leaned their backs against a brick seawall which separated the motel from the beach. Eden leaned on Deakin’s shoulder and fell into a light doze. Deakin let her sleep as long as he could stand to be still and then pulled her to her feet. They showered and then went for breakfast. Eden stared stupidly at the plate of pancakes in front of her and wondered just who had ordered them.
Deakin poked them with his fork and said, “Eat them, like a good girl. We need some food before we visit these people. I know it’s not what you usually get but eat it anyway. I at least got you scrambled eggs and no bacon or sausage. Give me a little credit.”
Eden smiled wanly at him and pushed a fork into her eggs. “Do you think this man’ll remember your mother? What do we do if he says he never saw her?”
Deakin shrugged and stuffed a forkful of pancakes into his mouth. When he could speak again, he said, “We try something else or we give up. That’s for later, Eden. Right now we’re going to see some nice older people who just might have an answer for us.”


Eden stared at the large wooden house perched on the cliff. The wind had scoured off much of the paint and the windows were coated with salt residue. She carefully walked up the steps and knocked on the door. It was promptly opened by a small round woman with white hair piled on top of her head. The hair reached only as high as Eden’s chin. She smiled down into a pair of clear blue eyes with a twinkle hiding way in the back.
“Hello, I’m Eden and this is Deakin. He’s the one who called you last night. May we come in?”
The woman held the door wide and watched the two walk into her home. “I’m Ella, short for Eleanor, you know. And this is my husband, Orris.” She raised her voice and said, “Orris, we have company like I told you at breakfast. This is Eden and her friend Deakin. They want to talk to you about the old times when you took people out in your boat. Here, son, you sit over here where he can see you. He’s a little deaf so you might should talk a little louder than normal. Girl, you sit on this chair. I’ll get us some lemonade and cookies and be right back. You just go ahead and ask him whatever you want.”
Deakin stared at the face in front of him. The man’s head hung down as if it were too heavy for his neck and his hands twitched in his lap. Very slowly and easily he reached out and touched the man’s hands. Slowly the large head lifted to look at Deakin. A slightly humorous gleam looked the two of them over and a rusty voice said,
“What kin I do for the two of you? I can’t take you out fishing so why’re you here? You’re no kin of mine ‘cos you don't have your hand out waiting for me to put something in it.”
Deakin smiled and said clearly, “Deakin Kimbrough, sir, and this is my friend, Eden. We came to tell you a story of something that happened a long time ago and we hope you can tell us the end of that story. Will you try?”
“Sure, son, I’ll try. In fact, it’s easier for me to remember the past than present. Tell your story. At the very least, it’ll pass the time for me.”
Deakin launched into an abbreviated version of his mother’s journey. He confined himself to the bare bones of the story, leaving out the deaths that happened later on. The old man listened carefully and then seemed to turn in on himself as if he were playing all the old videos of his life. Finally, he shot a shrewd glance into Deakin’s eyes and said,
“You’re not telling me the whole story, are you, boy? Don't worry, I don't want to know it all. I know too many stories already. Well, I kinda think I remember your mama. A young woman with thick long hair. She was a very sad person. That’s why I believed her story. She carried a wooden box on her lap and she said it held the ashes of her father. He’d always wanted his ashes thrown in the sea so she asked me to take her out. I did and she did and that was the end of it. I never saw her again. It sure was a lot of ashes, though. That was only one of the times I took people out to scatter ashes. I took a lot of them in my time. Not near as many as I took fishing. All in all, it was a good life. I had me a good wife and a good life and if I didn’t have a son to follow me, I sure had a houseful of good women. Me and the wife had five daughters and every one of them as smart and pretty as their mama. They’re all married and have kids of their own now. Four of them went to college and the other one is married to a minister up in the Portland area. Well, I hope that was what you wanted to hear. I don't know no more about your mother. I just saw her that one day and I never thought about her again until today. Here comes Ella with some drinks and cookies. She makes the best cookies I ever ate. You’d better stay and have some or you’ll hurt her feelings. You can hear some of my fishing stories too. I don't often get an audience who hasn’t heard any of them before so I try to take advantage of any what come along.”
Deakin and Eden sat in that small room and listened to the old fisherman’s voice drone on as long as they could stand it. Then they stood at the same time, thanked the man and his wife, and escaped.
“End of the story. I guess there’s no more to find out, is there, Eden? She obviously destroyed all the records of the research. Do we just give up?”
Eden took his face in her hands and looked deeply into his eyes. Then she softly kissed his mouth and said,
“There’s always Seattle. We haven’t met your aunt yet. Let’s go there. She won’t tell us anything else but at least she’s family. Let’s go. We may just decide to stay there for awhile. You can work for Alden. Start a Seattle branch of the Bandits. What d’you say, Deakin? North to Seattle or south to Los Angeles.”
Deakin stared at the ocean rolling in and crashing on the rocks below the small house. Then he grabbed Eden in a large hug and said,
“North to Seattle.”
FINIS

THE BANDIT QUEEN - Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

Deakin left the hospital two days later but he only made it as far as the F.B.I office in Portland. Eden jumped up from her chair when he limped into the room and grabbed his arm to help him walk. He jerked it out of her grasp and carefully lowered himself into the chair in front of the desk. He leaned to the right to take pressure off his left leg and stared at the man across the desk from him.
A quiet well-dressed businessman watched the boy keenly and then said, “It’s nice to meet you, Deakin. I’m Clark Duncan and I’m sorry to say I sent that man to find you. To my credit, I did try to call him off but he was out of control by then. How are you feeling, son?”
Deakin unconsciously touched his leg but no sign of pain showed on his blank face. In a carefully controlled voice, Deakin said, “I’m not your son and it’s my business how I feel.”
Clark shook his head wearily and said, “You have no reason to love any of us, do you? We certainly did not do very well by you. I can only say, in my own defense, that it wasn’t my project to begin with. I tried my best to clean it up after it happened but there wasn’t much for me to do.”
A dark scowl dropped over Deakin’s face and he harshly replied, “Is that all you have to say? ‘It’s not my fault.’ That’s it. My parents are dead. I grew up with no family and was left to live or die on my own. I don’t think that’s good enough, Mr. whoever you are. Just how do I get you to leave me alone? And what about Eden? Are you going to put her life back together? The last we heard, she was charged with hit and run and God knows what else? Can you make all that go away?”
Clark patted the air with his hands and said, “Just calm down, s..Deakin. We’ve already taken care of your friend here. We even dropped the charges for assault on a federal agent and theft of his weapon. That’s all gone, okay? There’s no way to undo the past though. The only thing we can do is send you out of here with a clean slate. I am sorry about your parents. That was a different world then, but there really is no excuse for what happened.”
Clark Duncan stood up behind the desk to signal the end of their discussion. Deakin slowly limped to the door with Eden close behind him. Just as he grasped the knob on the door, Clark cleared his throat. Deakin turned his head to stare back at the man.
“Deakin, if you ever find what your mother hid away, will you let me know? Eden has my number. Just out of curiosity, I’d like to know if she saved it or destroyed it.”
Deakin leaned wearily against the door and then said, “I might or I might not. I don't know how I’ll feel about that until it happens.”
He nodded goodbye and limped through the door. Eden closed the door behind them and walked slowly beside him down the hallway. When they walked out into the bright sunshine of a winter’s day, Deakin shook like a dog after a bath.
“Let’s get out of here, Eden.”
Eden led the way to her red convertible, conveniently delivered to her in close to pristine condition. She shoveled Deakin into the passenger seat and climbed in behind the wheel.
“Uh, where are we going?”
Deakin grinned a little smile and said, “Nowhere near that big rock. We’ll have to go there later, much later, when everyone has quit watching us. Where’s the rest of our merry band of treasure seekers? Martin, Mala and Ian.”
“Mala left for California yesterday. The doctors didn’t want her to travel but she wouldn’t stay. Ian flew to Chicago this morning. I have phone numbers for both of them, in case we find anything. I have no idea about Martin. The rangers and the deputies never saw him. He must have run away after that awful man shot you and fell off the rock. Somehow, I have the feeling he’s hanging around the rock out there and waiting for us to show up.”
Deakin grimaced as he tried to find a comfortable position for his leg. Eden reached over to help him but stopped herself before she touched him. She turned quickly to start the car and pull out of the parking lot.
“I guess that means we head back to LA then. I at least have an apartment we can live in. What do you say? We go to my place and decide what to do after that.”
Deakin reached out and touched her cheek. Eden glanced quickly over at him with a glint of tears in her eyes and let out the breath she’d unconsciously held. Deakin nodded and settled back for the long trip to Los Angeles.


Months later, just before the beginning of the summer, Deakin and Eden carefully loaded up the car and drove north. Deakin no longer looked like a boy who’d grown too fast for his clothes. Eden had pushed him to make many changes during the time they’d lived together. He was working on his high school diploma but not actually going to class. In his situation, home schooling was the only way to go. Eden planned to go back to UCLA in the fall, but she had no idea what she wanted to study. Deakin leaned back in the seat and tipped his ball cap low over his eyes. A lazy smile flitted across his face and Eden felt a glow of satisfaction. She’d forced him to visit an orthodontist and have his braces removed. He grudgingly agreed that she was right and he was happy to have the braces off.
They took turns as they drove lazily up the coast of California. As far as they could tell, no one was following them around any more. When they’d first returned to LA, they constantly checked the people and the cars around them. Now, they’d almost forgotten what it was like to be followed by professionals.
As they neared the city of Salem, Eden realized her shoulders were tense. She slowly relaxed them and forced herself to look around at the countryside they passed through. She glanced across at Deakin and noticed the whiteness of his knuckles on the steering wheel. She flicked his hand with her finger and said,
“Relax, Deakin. There’s nobody around. At least, I don't think there’s anyone around who’s interested in us.”
Deakin kept his eyes on the road. “I’m not really worried about someone following us. I’m just kinda anxious about what we’ll find. Do you really think we’ll find anything?”
Eden shrugged her shoulders. She really didn’t care whether they ever found what Deakin’s mother had hidden. That adventure was over and they’d come out of it better than she’d ever expected. They were alive. They weren’t being chased by federal agents. Martin Wolfe called them on a weekly basis. He wanted them to continue searching for the lost computer files but Eden always put him off. Hopefully he wouldn’t follow them to the park.
Deakin pulled off the road into the parking lot of the small state park. Deakin pulled a backpack out of the car and swung it onto his back. Eden slipped her arms through a similar pack and followed Deakin along the familiar path. Deakin’s bullet wound had healed with only a small scar to remind them. They marched down the path through the dappled shade from the trees around them. Eden didn’t recognize much of landscape they walked through. Winter and spring made a big difference. She followed Deakin up the steep path without a word until they came to the ledge they’d rested on before. Deakin dropped to the ground and swung his legs over the edge. Eden dropped next to him and stared at the view in front of them.
Deakin reached for her hand and said, “Remember the last time. You thought we should live up here instead of LA. Have you changed your mind?”
Eden leaned her head against his shoulder and said, “We can go anywhere. This feels like a good place. We should drive to the coast after we leave here. I’ve heard it’s really beautiful.”
Deakin kept his eyes on the hills around them and nodded easily. “C’mon, Eden, let’s get this over with. It’s like something we have to do before we can move on.”
Deakin pulled Eden to her feet and climbed the rest of the way to the top of the rock. Eden stepped out on top and felt the wind blow through her. She held her arms out and turned a slow circle while the wind ruffled her clothes and her hair. Then she looked around to get her bearings and walked toward the rocks and scrub bushes that had hidden the tire iron for so many years. She dropped her pack on the ground and unzipped it. From its depths she pulled out several small gardening tools along with the tire iron. Deakin wandered around the rock to check for other climbers and returned quickly.
Eden had already levered out several small rocks and set them to the side. Deakin took the lever out of her hand and gave her a flashlight to hold for him. Before long they had cleared a good sized hole in the ground without finding any treasure. When Deakin shoved the tire iron into the ground one more time, they were rewarded with a metallic sound. Eden took the iron out of his hand and gave him the gardening tools. Deakin carefully dug out dirt and rocks until he could see part of a coffee can buried on its side. Roots had wound around the can over the years and the plastic lid had lost its hold. It took them quite a while to get the can loose and pull it out of the hole.
They sat on the ground with the can between them and just stared at it. Without taking her eyes off it, Eden reached into her pack and pulled out a camera. She took pictures of the can and pictures of the rocks that had hidden it all this time. A shadow passed over them and a shiver ran up Eden’s spine. She looked fearfully around and realized for the first time that black clouds had moved in from the west and covered half the sky. She quickly packed the tools away and took one more look into the hole to make sure nothing else had been buried there. Then she scooped the rocks and dirt into the hole. Deakin took the flashlight from her hand and illuminated the interior of the can. A glass jar lay inside with the lid screwed shut. Deakin glanced up at the sky and chewed on his thumb in indecision. Then he made up his mind and picked up the can. He slid the glass jar out onto a plastic trash bag they’d spread on the ground between them. He glanced up at Eden’s face and flashed her a quick smile before he rolled the jar around. Finally he took a deep breath and twisted the lid off before he could think of any more reasons not to do it.
The wind picked up again and swirled around the rocks, carrying dust and grit in its wake. Eden held her hair out of her face and scooted around to become a human windbreak. Deakin reached carefully inside the jar and pulled out a thick wad of papers. The smell of must, mold and peanut butter came out with the papers. He unfolded them and held them down by the corners. He threw a wild look at Eden and croaked,
“It’s the same writing as the other letter. The one my aunt had. Help me read this top one. The paper has turned darker and the writing is a little smeared.”
Eden leaned against his shoulder and stared at the neat precise writing on the page in front of them. Deakin began reading slowly out loud.
Dearest Alex,
I hope you are the one who finds these papers. I gave one letter to my sister in Seattle and sent one to Mala. They are the only other people who love me unreservedly like you do. I have done a terrible thing, my dear. I turned into a scientific machine and lost my humanity for a while. But now I have regained it and realized what a mistake I made. I thought that because I could never use my laser design for any wicked purpose, no one else would either. There are so many terrific uses for my discovery but there are just as many, if not more, terrible uses. I decided I have to destroy all my work before I lose control of it. I have no choice. When I look in the face of our child, I cannot allow him to grow up in a world where governments have control over the immediate creation and destruction of everything. There is no human being anywhere on earth who can wield that power. Not even I and I made the damned thing.
I don't know what will happen when I get back to the lab. The baby is safe with my sister. The computer disks and files we took have been destroyed totally. I hope you destroyed the computers and the prototypes. I will leave here and take one last look at the ocean before I come home. The wind and the water will surely wash away the grit and ashes. I can only hope that nobody else will be able to reconstruct our research. Whatever happens is in someone else’s hands now. Maybe you and I will stand on this rock in a year or so and dig up these papers together. If not, never forget that I love you and I love our son.
Helena
Eden wiped a few tears from her eyes and carefully took the page from Deakin’s hands. She slipped it in a thick plastic envelope and reached for the next page. She quickly scanned the page and handed it Deakin. His eyes misted over as he stared at his parents’ wedding license. Next was his birth certificate and Helena’s Russian visa. The last page had been torn from a child’s book of nursery rhymes. One side of the page showed a small boat with three babies in it. The other side of the page showed blackbirds flying out of a large pie. Deakin looked blankly at Eden and shook his head. A sudden gust of wind swirled around them and a few drops of rain hit their shoulders. Deakin hurriedly slid the papers into the plastic envelope and dropped everything into his backpack. Eden brushed the dirt smooth and followed Deakin quickly down the path back to their car.
Occasional drops blew into their faces but the rain held off until they made to the shelter of the car. Deakin held his pack tightly on his lap and watched Eden climb into the driver’s seat.
“Where do we go now? I certainly don't want to camp out in this rain.”
Eden started the car and drove smoothly away from the park. She turned to car west and headed for the Pacific coast. The storm strengthened as they drove along the twisting road. Deakin pulled the package out of his pack and carefully removed the papers from their plastic covering. He read the letter from his mother over and over, taking comfort from the knowledge that his mother had written every word on the page. He flipped through the other pages once and returned to the letter. Then he held up the page torn from the book. He rummaged through Eden’s pack and found her flashlight. He still didn’t find any marks or clues on the page.
Eden glanced at him with a crooked smile and said, “Maybe she kept it because you drooled on it. Maybe it meant something to her or to your father. Someone must have read to you. Your ‘mother’ in Dallas said you already knew several nursery rhymes when you came to live with her.”
Deakin shook his head in indecision. “I don't know, Eden. I think she put it in the jar for a reason but I don't know what it was. You know, she never did say what she did with all the research files. There must have been boxes and boxes of papers and notes plus the computer disks. Back then, people still did a lot of work by hand and transferred it to the computer. There must have been stacks of stuff.”
Eden wrinkled her forehead in thought and then said, “Well, it sounds to me as if she never wanted anyone to duplicate her research so I think she destroyed all of it. Maybe she burned it. That’s what I’d do if I had that much paper to get rid of. She did mention fire in that letter, didn’t she?”
“No, she mentioned ashes, but it would be sort of symbolic, wouldn’t it? You know, purification and all that stuff.”
Eden made a sudden left turn and parked the car in the parking lot of a lookout point. The rain had moved inland leaving forests that had been washed clean. Directly in front of them was the ocean still churning from the strength of the wind. Eden stepped out of the car and leaned against the waist-high rock wall at the edge of the parking lot. The land dropped off just beyond the wall into a sheer cliff. A couple of hundred feet down was a small beach littered with large black rocks. The waves crashed on the rocks and sprayed streams of water partway up the cliff. Deakin joined her and stared at the wild waves which started far out in the ocean and rolled steadily into the earth just below their feet.
“This is like the edge of the earth, isn’t it? We’re safe on land while any boats out there are in danger of going under.”
Deakin put his arm around Eden and said, “It’s only relative safety, Eden. We have our own predators on land. The fish out there are relatively safe in their own environment, but they have predators too, not just man. Wait a minute. I just thought of something. What is that you were telling one time? You know, about wind, fire, water. There was more to it too. What was that?”
Eden smiled and said, “You mean what I said about feng shui. It’s also part of Chinese horoscopes too. The five elements: wood, water, metal, fire, and earth. What does that have to do with your mother? Or even with us right now?”
“Think about it. We’re standing on the edge of the earth. Water is right in front of us. We came in a metal car. There are forests all around us. The only thing missing is fire. I think my mother started with fire. She burned the papers and gathered up the ashes. Then she took me to Seattle, stopped here to bury her little coffee can, and then came this way just like we did. She left the earth and sailed off in a boat – either metal or wooden. Just like the babies on that page she buried. What is that rhyme about Wynken, Blynken and Nod? They sailed away, didn’t they? Out there somewhere is the resting place of those ashes. I wonder if we’ll ever know what she really did.”
After fifteen or twenty minutes, Eden returned to the car and started it. Deakin dropped into his seat and opened his mouth to speak. Eden shook her head and drove off in silence. She pulled into the first town they came across and drove up and down the streets. Finally she stopped at a small bait shop and went inside. Deakin rolled down his window and wrinkled his nose at the smell of rotting fish. The ocean looked much tamer from the pier out beyond the shop. Eden walked quickly out the door and jumped back into the car.
“Whew! That is one smelly place. Leave your window down. I need to air out. There’s a small motel down this road. We’ll stay the night there and try to figure out the last clue your mother gave us, okay?”


The two young people sat on the deck of a seafood restaurant and stared out at the wide expanse of blue water. Neither had spoken for the last five minutes or so. Finally, Deakin turned to the girl across the table from him and said,
“I’m out of ideas, Eden. This whole coastline is littered with tiny towns and fishermen. We’ll never find anyone who saw my mother. You know, even if someone did talk to her, they probably won't remember it after all these years.”
“Don't be so cranky, Deakin. It won't hurt to try. Let’s get out of here. I’d like to find a beach or a pier. Dangle my feet in the water or walk barefoot along a beach. What d’you say?”
Deakin stood up without a word and herded Eden out the door. She immediately turned back and grabbed a tourist brochure. She tossed it in Deakin’s lap in the car and said
“Look for my beach in that thing.”
Deakin flipped the brochure open and looked at the small map of the town. He gave Eden directions and soon they stood on a tiny slice of beach. They walked along the beach and dropped to the sand next to a large rock. They stared out at the darkening ocean and lost themselves in the movement of the waves. Soon the water crept up the sand and tickled their feet. Finally they walked back to their car in silence. Eden drove along the main street of town and stopped the car in amazement. Deakin looked around but could find nothing to account for Eden’s actions. He nudged her shoulder and she jerked out of her trance. She smiled widely and pointed out the windshield. Deakin looked out at the row of commercial buildings lining the main street. They had seen their best days about fifty years in the past but new businesses were beginning to open. He shook his head and said,
“Why did you stop here? I don't see anything but a few shops and offices. What?”
“I just saw something that could solve our latest puzzle. Look at that sign hanging there. What do you see?”
“Duh! Just the name of the shop and the address.”
“Think, Deakin. Your mother left us a number puzzle. The page from that book had the blackbird rhyme on it. Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie. Well, maybe we need to look for an address with those numbers in it. 420 something. If we look in the phone directory, we might find a boat rental place with that address. It’s worth a try.”
Deakin’s frown disappeared and he laughed out loud. “Boy, you sure are reaching. Don't hit me. I can’t hit you back. You’re driving. Find us a directory and we’ll check it out. Just don't hope too much, okay?”
Eden muttered under her breath, something about men who didn’t know a good idea when they heard one, and drove determinedly to the nearest open shop. Deakin wheedled the directory from the teenaged girl behind the counter and tossed it to Eden. She set the book on the hood of the car, opened it to the yellow pages and ran her finger down all the listings for boat dealers and rentals and anything else similar that she could think of. None of them came close to her numbers.
“It’s a very small directory. We could go through all the pages in an hour. What do you say, Eden?”
She tossed it in his lap and said, with a sigh, “You can do what you want. I thought that was going to be the answer. Maybe this is the wrong town. You said there were towns all up and down the coast. How can we try all of them?”
Deakin flipped desultorily through the pages. All at one his attention sharpened on one page and he grabbed Eden’s arm.
“What did you find, Deakin?”
He laughed again and his eyes sparkled as he looked across the car at Eden.
“You found it! You found it! Show me!”
“Hey, give me the book back! I haven’t actually found it. I just figured the puzzle out. You know my mother was a scientist so she thought differently than most people. Actually she probably thought more in numbers than in words. So, think about that nursery rhyme. Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie. Well, just change it to say Four and twenty blackbirds baked in pi. What does that say to you?”
“I don't get it.”
“Well, what’s pi?
“It’s dough and fruit baked in a round pan.”
“No, P I, not P I E.”
“Oh, 3.1414, and on and on and on.”
Deakin smiled at her and said, “So, what’s the answer?”
Eden wrinkled her forehead in thought and then shrugged her shoulders in defeat. “I guess you’ll have to tell me.”
“Okay, think about it this way. Four and twenty make twenty-four. So you have twenty-four baked inside pi. So, what if the answer is a phone number? Twenty-four inside pi. If you put the twenty-four where the decimal point is, you come up with 324-1414. If you look in this book, you’ll see that lots of the phone numbers begin with 324.”
Eden let out a yell and grabbed Deakin. She pounded her fists on his chest and danced around the parking lot. When she finally ran out of breath, she leaned against Deakin and asked,
“Well, do we just call that number and see what happens? Right now?”
Deakin rubbed his hand down the side of his shorts and looked around at the darkness.
“How late is it?”
“9:30.”
“Let’s do it now. What’s the worst that could happen? They can just hang up on me.”
Deakin walked slowly over to the pay phone mounted on the side of the building. He pulled some change out of his pocket and determinedly slid the coins into the phone. He carefully punched in the number and leaned his head against the wall as he listened to the ringing of the phone. He was almost surprised when the phone was answered after the seventh ring. He stuttered a little as he began his story, but the person on the line listened until he’d finished. Then a soft, elderly voice said,
“Son, you must be looking for my husband. He used to fish around here and took people out for boat rides. He hasn’t done that in years and years though. You’d best come by the house in the morning and talk to him. He’s usually pretty alert during the morning. He sleeps the rest of the time. You just come about nine or so and I’ll have him ready to talk, okay?”
“Th-th-thank you. Where do I come? I mean, what’s your address? I only have your phone number.”
The woman gave him directions and left him standing with the receiver in his hand. He turned to Eden with a look of wonder.
“Tomorrow morning at nine o’clock. He’s an old man and he might not remember but she said he used to have a boat for rent. Maybe he’ll remember something.”

THE BANDIT QUEEN - Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

Walt stared out the windshield of the rental car and watched the traffic in front of them. This far north the days grew dark in late afternoon and the flash of oncoming headlights tired his eyes. He finally closed them and leaned his head back against the headrest. Harris drove at a steady pace along the highway south from Seattle toward the border with Oregon. They had already passed through Tacoma when Walt’s phone had rung. He jerked it out of his pocket and answered it brusquely. Harris caught the eyes of his partner in the rearview mirror and shook his head slightly. Neither of them was very happy with their situation and wished themselves anywhere but here. In the back seat, Sven shook his head in resignation and leaned back into the darkness of the back seat.
Walt listened in grim silence to the voice of Tom Adams telling him to abandon his quest and head back to the main office. Without a word, he flipped his phone closed and stuffed it in his pocket. After a few seconds, he pulled it back out and clicked off the ringer. No desk jockey was going to pull him off a job before it was finished. He’d just refuse to quit. Sven and Harris didn’t have to know either. Walt crossed his arms and dropped his chin. Harris glanced at him several times before he got up the nerve to ask him about the phone call.
“Have they spotted that rental car yet? Do we know whether we’re going in the right direction or not?”
Walt tipped his head to the side and said, “I’ll call in and check about that right now.”
This time when Walt flipped his phone shut, he spoke curtly to his subordinates. “No word yet on the car. How much father to Portland?”
“Maybe an hour and a half, maybe a little more.”
“Just get us there as soon as you can. We’ll find a place to stay the night and head out again in the morning.”
On that note, he leaned against the door and closed his eyes to prevent further questions. Harris was rather perplexed about the situation. He drove on through the gathering darkness with a head full of questions.

The next morning found them threading their way out of Portland during the morning rush hour. This time Sven drove them south along I5. About halfway to Salem, Walt received a call about the car. It had been spotted at a motel in Salem. The police had lost it but were checking all the roads out of town. As they neared the city, they found out the car had left Salem heading west toward the coast. Sven skirted the edge of Salem and took the same road west. Heavy traffic spread out in front of them for miles. Walt pulled out the binoculars and scanned each car they passed. The traffic thinned out but they still didn’t find the car Martin had rented. Walt tossed the map into the back seat and growled at Harris.
“Did you see anywhere they could have turned off? Check out that map. We must have missed them somewhere along the road.”
Harris ran his finger along the map and tried to remember what he had seen. Finally, his finger stopped and he said, excitedly,
“State park, back along this road. It’ll be on our left. Unless they stopped in one of these little bitty towns or at some private house, that’s the only thing I see.”
Sven pulled into the parking lot of the park and drove slowly along the line of parked cars. There, big as life, sat the car. Walt jumped out and felt the hood of the car.
“It’s still warm. They can’t be very far ahead of us. Harris, check out the office. Find out where they went. You know, a map of the park trails, that sort of thing.”
Harris plodded over to the small building and conferred with the inhabitants. He returned shortly with a handful of simple black and white maps. Walt grabbed one out of his hand and took in the map with one glance.
“Sven, I want you to take that path around the rock and come up the path on the other side of the rock. Harris and I will take this other one and climb up the front of the rock. We’ll wait ten minutes when we get to the base of the rock. That should give you time to get into position. I want all three of us to hit the top about the same time.”
Sven nodded and jogged off down his chosen path. Harris followed Walt along the main trail to the rock. Off to their right, Walt caught a glimpse of red. He stopped short and trained his binoculars on the bright color. A small woman moved into focus as she walked slowly through the bushes at the base of the rock. Walt gestured silently to Harris and the two of them ran toward the woman.
Mala turned a frightened face toward the advancing men and tried to run away from them. She slipped on an open stretch of smooth pebbles and fell. Walt and Harris hurried up to the motionless form on the ground. Harris dropped to one knee and placed his fingers on her neck. He was reassured by the strong pulse beating on her throat. He carefully turned her over and brushed the dirt from her face. A darkening bruise showed on her left temple. Her breathing was quiet but even. Walt pulled on his arm and dragged him back to the trail.
“I just saw a couple of kids sitting on a ledge up there. It could be the ‘Deakin’ boy and his girlfriend. Maybe they’re all meeting up there. We have to get to the top right now. She’ll be okay for now. Follow me up the path.”
The two men hurried up the trail. Even though they were in good physical shape, the steepness of the path and the altitude forced them to stop and rest halfway up. They both dropped to the ground and took deep breaths, letting their heart rate drop back closer to normal. Harris tried to talk, but Walt cut him off abruptly. The sound of voices drifted down from the top of the rock. The two men listened intently but neither one of them could make out any words. As soon as they could, they clambered back to their feet and continued to the top.
Walt led the charge over the edge and swept his gun in a circle. Harris followed him up on top and moved immediately to the side. He followed the sound of voices around the top of the rock until he caught a glimpse of color through the branches of a bush. He moved carefully around yet another pile of rocks in order to get a better view of the bush. Nothing. Whoever had hidden behind the bush had moved on. He ducked behind another large rock and listened intently. Walt’s voice drifted across the open area on top of the rock, calling for the kids to come out of hiding. A small slither of rocks pulled his attention to the left but he was too late. All he saw was the shadow of the man who whacked him on the head with a heavy stick. Harris slipped to the ground in a daze. Martin quickly felt his pulse to make sure he’d only knocked him out and then pulled him into the shadow of a large rock. The sound of a stealthy footstep sent Martin scrabbling for cover.
The bush shielding Deakin and Martin shook as the men changed position. The gunman in front of Eden homed in on the movement and slid into the shelter of his own bush. Eden swung the tire iron at the side of his head and he immediately dropped to the ground in a heap. She carefully peeled his fingers from the butt of his gun and slid on the safety. Then she slid the gun into her waistband and searched her pockets for something to tie his hands with. In one pocket she found a scrunchy to tie up her hair but she rejected it for the purpose at hand. A glint of metal below her sent her searching through the man’s pockets. The first thing she found was a leather wallet with a badge and identification card in it. Her eyes widened as she realized who’d been chasing them. The F.B.I. is not the adversary of choice for most ordinary people. She slid the badge back into his jacket pocket and knocked her knuckles against a pair of handcuffs. With a satisfied smile, she slid them around the man’s wrists and moved him into the shadow left by a stunted tree. She mouthed a silent apology to the man on the ground and ran her fingers softly across the knot on his head. She let out a sigh of relief when he moaned slightly and twitched. Eden peered around the bush at the action in front of her. With a bright red scrunchy holding her hair out of her face and a tire iron in her hand, Eden was definitely a force to be reckoned with.
Two men had climbed onto the top of the rock from the main path. The older man held his gun in front of him and scanned the area. The younger man moved to the side and slid around a waist-high pile of rocks. Eden ducked down and headed for the last place she’d seen Deakin. When she reached the bush, she found no one but she did hear someone crunching across the rocks to her left. A quiet hiss jerked her head around. Deakin grabbed her wrist to keep her from swinging the tire iron at his head. Then he pulled her behind a rock and whispered in her ear,
“Martin has gone to the left, around that outcropping, to come up behind that man over there. He said that guy right there, the tough looking one, is the leader. Martin said there should be at least three of them.”
Eden nodded her head vigorously. “I knocked out the third guy and left him back over there.” She slid her hand under her sweatshirt to pull out the gun when an unwary step sent a slither of pebbles over the edge. Deakin shoved her behind him into the shadows and faced the direction of the sounds.
It was too late to give the gun to Deakin so she wiped her hand down the side of her jeans and gripped her tire iron tightly. She turned her back to Deakin and guarded the rear. Stealthy steps sounded all around her but she didn’t know who was making the sounds. Good guys or bad guys? Were the F.B.I. guys really the bad guys or did they wear gray hats? Was her own hat a white one or was it gray also? Just what could happen to her for knocking that agent on the head and leaving him tied up? Did she really want to be around when he woke up? Decisions, decisions. Her attention wandered and she listened as the breeze rustled the leaves of the tree behind her. A small brown bird landed on the highest branch and surveyed his kingdom. A stealthy arm reached through the branches and grabbed Eden’s left arm. She screeched and tried to pull her arm away. When that didn’t work, she raised her tire iron and slammed it down on the man’s wrist. He howled and floundered around in the branches of the small tree. Deakin pulled Eden away from the man and around the top of the rock. Eden looked over her shoulder as Deakin dragged her away and stumbled over a foot-sized rock. She fell to her knees and closed her lips tightly against a howl of pain. Deakin turned to help her but never made it that far. A harsh, lined face appeared over Deakin’s left shoulder and a strong arm slipped around Deakin’s throat. The man held his gun to the side of Deakin’s face and smiled crookedly at the girl sprawled on the ground. Eden stood slowly up, keeping her eyes on the man holding Deakin. She left her tire iron on the ground next to her right foot. She held her hands up in the air and waited for the man’s next move.
“Well, well, what have we here? Does this mean I’ve found the famous Deakin and his trusty sidekick? Did you two think you could get away from me? That I wouldn’t ever find you? Boy, were you ever wrong? I think it’s about time the three of us had a little discussion. You, girl, move over there and sit your little butt on that rock. Now!”
The cruel, gloating voice echoed in her ears but it was the sight of the gun jammed against Deakin’s head that pushed Eden to sit on the rock. She listened desperately for Martin but heard only the panting of the man in front of her.
“Harris, Sven, over here. I’ve got them.” Walt turned his head slightly to listen and then said, “Goddamnit, where are those two idiots? At least I have the keys to the car.” He tightened his arm across Deakin’s throat and pulled him to the side away from Eden.
Deakin’s foot slid on the smooth rock and he leaned against Walt to catch his balance. He felt Walt wobble a little before he regained his balance too. Deakin flicked his eyes to his right away from the edge of the rock over and over until Eden got the message. Then he dropped his entire weight down and cannoned back into the gunman behind him. Walt’s left arm left Deakin’s neck and windmilled behind him in a desperate attempt to keep on his feet. Deakin jabbed a sharp elbow into the man’s stomach and dropped to the ground away from the gun. Eden lunged for her tire iron but missed it in her haste. She scrabbled through the pebbles and finally got a grip on the smooth piece of metal. She jumped back to her feet with the tire iron raised above her head to strike the gunman. She watched in amazement as the man stumbled backwards away from her. He raised his gun and tried to shoot her but his aim was hopeless. The first shot ricocheted off the rocks to her right. The second one grazed Deakin’s leg as he tried to crawl toward the man. The other two or three shots, Eden was never sure how many there were, fired harmlessly into the air as the man tripped over a root and fell backwards. He hadn’t realized how close to the edge of the rock he was. He landed on his back halfway over the edge and made a serious mistake. Instead of trying to halt his slide over the edge, he took one last shot at the two kids on the ground and missed them both.
Walt screamed all the way down to the ground below. The branch of a tree flipped him upside down and broke his back ten feet from the ground. He was dead when he landed in the shade of the tree. Eden spared no thought for the man. Blood stained Deakin’s jeans and dripped out onto the rocks below him. Eden pulled off her sweatshirt and wrapped it around Deakin’s upper leg. She tied the arms of the sweatshirt tightly over the wound. Eden paid no attention to anything that happened until a ranger found them and called for an ambulance. He wrapped Eden in his jacket and carefully lifted the gun from her waistband. The deep shock in her eyes let him know it was useless to question her right now.
Actually, he was in shock too. Nothing like this had ever happened in his park. There was a dead man down in the trees along with an unconscious woman. Two more men with head wounds and F.B.I. badges littered the top of the rock. One of them was probably going to be pretty happy his gun had been found. The ranger dropped to the ground next to Eden and watched her and the boy until help arrived.

THE BANDIT QUEEN - Chapter 22 continued

Deakin and Eden stepped into Martin’s motel room and faced the stares of three people. Deakin carried the two children’s books in his hand. He set them down on the small table and held out his hand for the letter Mala held in her two small hands. She took one last look at the yellowed envelope before she handed it over. Deakin dropped into a chair and stared at the neat writing on the envelope. He turned it over in his hand and looked solemnly at the signature on the back. This was actually his mother’s handwriting. He was holding in his hand something his mother had left for him. He’d never thought he’d ever get this far. He’d started out searching for a name, his real name. Along the way, he’d found not only his name but family and friends who had known both his parents. He glanced over at Eden and realized he’d also found a best friend. Did he really need to go any farther? He looked around at the circle of faces in front of him and answered his own question. Yes, he did. A great injustice had been done to his mother and his father and to him. He pulled a small penknife from his pocket and slid the blade under the flap of the envelope. He certainly wasn’t going to rip through his mother’s signature. He raised his eyes just before he pulled out the folded papers. Eden smiled a tiny encouraging smile and nodded her head for him to continue. He unfolded the pages and read them all the way through before he refolded the pages and slid them back into the envelope. Martin held out his hand for the envelope but Deakin shook his head and kept the envelope in his hand.
“Eden, where’s the list of letters I found in one of the books? I know where my mother went when she left Seattle, at least I know the direction she went. Those letters from the book will tell us the exact place. We were right about the numbers. They are the latitude and longitude of Salem so we’re in the right place.”
Eden slipped a small piece of paper from the center of one of the books and handed it to Deakin. Martin and Ian paged through the book and searched for any letters Deakin might have missed. They came up with several more. Deakin showed them the page and the five of them pored over the letters.
“Mala, what was Helena interested in besides her work? Where would she and Alex have gone to get away from everything? A museum, a movie, a book store? Maybe camping or hiking or something like that?”
“She and Alex liked to get away from the city. I would guess they’d go camping or boating, perhaps.”
“Do you have a state map? We may be looking for some place a short ways away from Salem? We have one in the car.”
Ian reached into a small duffle bag and pulled out a large atlas containing maps of the entire United States. He paged through it until he found the map of Oregon. Mala stared at the list of letters and tried to arrange them in some kind of order. Finally, she tore a piece of paper into small squares and wrote one letter on each, rather like Scrabble tiles. Then she moved them into different sequences without any luck. Eden moved next to her and helped her make words while Ian and Martin called out the names of different parks and towns near Salem.
Mount Hood National Forest
Fogarty Creek
Gleneden Beach
Cape Kiwanda
Cape Lookout
Cape Mears
North Santiam
Dallas
Monmouth
Lincoln City
Grand Ronde
Sheridan
“We could go on for hours calling out names. Give us some clues here, Mala.”
Mala looked up from the table with several squares of paper in her hand and laughed at Deakin. “Well, there are no ‘F’s’ in the list so that would leave out all the forests. There is no ‘P’ either so we can’t do ‘Park’ or ‘Cape’.”
Eden moved small slips of paper around swiftly and lined up several of them. She called out a question. “Any places with the word ‘rock’ in them? Or how about ‘tick’ or ‘track’ or ‘trick’ or ‘tack’ or ‘take’ or ‘rake’?”
Deakin grabbed the laptop and plugged it in. Then he searched for state parks in Oregon. There he found the mother lode. A great website popped up on the screen. He picked the search option and typed in the word ROCK. He drummed his thumbs on the edge of the computer as he waited. It didn’t take long for a list of cities to appear. He scrolled through the alphabetical lists and called out any hot prospects.
Arock
Cascade Rocks
Fort Rock
Otter Rock
Pilot Rock
Rockaway Beach
Seal Rock
Then he switched to the website belonging to the Oregon State Park Department and keyed in the search word “Rock”. Two parks showed up on the screen. Smith Rock State Park and Erratic Rock Natural Site were the only contenders. Mala and Eden tossed strips of paper around the table and tried to match their letters with any of the cities or parks Deakin had found.
Eden squealed and grabbed a scrap of paper from Mala’s fingers.
“And the winner is Erratic Rock. That’s what the letters match up to. Where is it?”
Deakin clicked on the icon for it and waited for the info to appear of the screen. “Uh, it’s a huge rock dropped by an iceberg 20,000 years ago. Six miles east of Sheridan on Hwy 18. Find it on the map.”
Martin hunched over the state map and ran his finger down the list of names until he found Sheridan. Then he turned the map over and searched for the correct highway.
“I found Sheridan but the park isn’t shown. It’s west of here, about halfway to the coast. Let’s ride. Do we all go in the same car?”
Eden quickly glanced at Deakin and then said, “Deakin and I will follow you. It’ll be too cramped if we all ride in one car.”
She gathered together their things and herded Deakin out the door before anyone else could offer an alternative plan. She stuffed him into the car and slammed the door. She had the car started and waiting at the edge of the parking lot when the others dithered their way downstairs and into their car.
“Why were you in such a hurry, Eden? We could have all gone together.”
“I don’t like that ‘Martin’ guy very much. He gives off some really pushy vibes. He can go along with us but he doesn’t have to hang over our shoulders. I have the feeling he has a very different agenda than we do. He really wanted to read your letter, you know. I think he intends to read it, no matter what.”
Deakin’s hand strayed to his pocket and unconsciously checked the safety of the letter. He stared out the windshield at the car in front of them and said, “He’s not going to see it. It has nothing to do with him or his mother or anyone else. My mother wrote it to my father. It really has very little to do with our search. There’s only one sentence in it that even brings up the theft of the project files. She just says she hid the stuff and the clues are in the books. Hey, I just thought of something. Do you think she hid it at this park or did she leave us another clue there? And how will we know it’s a message from her?”
Eden shrugged her shoulders and said, “If we see anything that refers to nursery rhymes, we can be pretty sure it came from her. We can’t even speculate about anything. Just drop it until we get there and take a look at the place. Maybe she carved something on this huge rock or on a tree or something like that.”
Deakin slumped back in his seat and shook his head. “I don’t see how we can find out anything else.”
“Don’t be so grouchy. Haven’t we already gotten farther than you ever thought we could? Hey, we found out what happened to your parents. You now have an aunt and grandparents and cousins. So what if we don’t find what she hid. It’s been a great adventure so far. We’re both still alive and there’s lots more stretching out in front of us. Smile and watch for any bad guys. We’ve been without them for so long that I’ve forgotten to look for them.”
With a start, Deakin turned in his seat and stared at the road behind them. Eden laughed at him a little and he poked her in the ribs.
“Hey, don’t hassle the driver. It’s not a good thing to do, especially at the speed I’m driving.”
Deakin punched her lightly in the arm again and resumed his scrutiny of the road. For a narrow state highway, it was definitely well-traveled. Cars zipped past constantly as they wound through the countryside. Martin drove directly in front of them and kept them at the constant speed of 65 mph. Eden considered passing him but gave it up. The traffic piled up behind her and she began to feel pressured by a truck hugging her bumper. She pulled over in the first tiny town and waited for the cars and trucks to stream past. Then she pulled back out on the highway and followed the line of cars through the town and out into the country.
After a few miles, Eden noticed the driver of the car in front of theirs. He continually edged over the center stripe to try to pass the car in front of him and then jerked back into his lane because the traffic was too steady. The other two men in the car watched the traffic through small binoculars. Eden dropped back slightly and nudged Deakin.
“Speak of the Devil. Check out those guys in front of us. They’re sure looking for someone. I don’t recognize them, do you? I wonder if they’re following Martin’s car.”
“Pull up closer to them and let me take a look. I can’t see much from back here.”
Eden sped up to give Deakin a chance and then she backed off. Deakin pulled out his cell phone and called Mala’s number.
“Mala, this is Deakin. We’re way back in the pack, probably half a mile behind your car. There’s a car in front of us with some strange men in it. They’re using binoculars to check out the cars around them. Has anyone been following you?”
“Oh, dear, do you think they’ve found us? Some men talked to Evan in California and then tried to talk to me but I’d already left. They showed up to question Marianne in Chicago but she wouldn’t tell them anything. They must have followed us from Chicago. We’re still driving the car we rented in Seattle. Have they recognized you?”
“No, they aren’t paying any attention to us. We’ll stay behind them and keep an eye on them. How far away is this big rock?”
“Martin says maybe a mile or so. Actually we can see it off to the right. Maybe we can pull into the park before they see us. We certainly won’t stop in clear view of the road. Thank you, Deakin. We’ll see you soon.”
Deakin flipped his phone closed and relayed the conversation to Eden. She nodded and concentrated on the car and the road in front of her. Deakin slid down in his seat and watched for the entrance to the park. The driver of the car in front of them drove straight past the entrance to the park without a second glance. Eden quickly pulled into the small parking lot and drove to the far side of the small rustic building housing the ranger’s office. Mala ran quickly over to their car and handed a park pass through the window.
“Follow us along that road over there. We have to walk to the rock. I asked the ranger how long this park has been open and she said it has been here for at least twenty-five years, maybe even more.”
Eden parked her car at the end of the lot in the deep shade. A minivan blocked the car from any casual observers. She and Deakin slipped out of the car and stretched the stiffness out of their bodies before they headed for the beginning of the path. A wide well-used trail led through the dappled shade of tall evergreen trees. Silence descended on them as they moved purposefully down the path. Martin led the way with Eden directly behind him. Deakin brought up the rear behind the other two members of their party.
Mala turned to him and asked, “What are we looking for? Do you have any ideas?”
Deakin shook his head and said, “It’ll have to be something that’s fairly permanent. It has been almost seventeen years, you know. Would she have carved something into the rock?”
Mala shook her head doubtfully and answered, “I can’t imagine her defacing any natural site but she was in a desperate situation. She was capable of anything. She was certainly strong enough to do something like that.”
Bright sunlight marked the end of the path and the five of them stepped into the clearing in front of the rock. Deakin stared up in amazement. “Rock” was not exactly the word he would have used to describe the vision in front of him. A rock is small enough to pick up and toss into a creek. This was not just any old rock. It was a huge chunk of mountain weighing around forty tons. In the far distant past, a glacier had carried it on its back until it had melted and left it resting on the floor of a wide valley. Bushes and trees grew on it now and paths wound up the side to the lookout points on the flat top.
Mala looked sadly at her thin leather shoes and said, “You’ll have to climb without me. These shoes will never make it. I’ll follow the path around the rock and check the sides of the rock for any graffiti Helena could have left.”
Deakin followed the others along the well worn track up the side of the rock. He ran his fingers along the rock, feeling for any indentations or gouges. Martin spotted several places that had once been spraypainted but they were too close to make out what the words might have spelled out along the side of the giant rock. Occasionally he caught a glimpse of Mala as she moved slowly along the path around the base of the boulder. She waved and pointed at parts of the rock and then shook her head. Eden dropped back to climb with Deakin. She murmured softly in his ear.
“Martin tried to find out if I read the letter but I blew him off. Look, he’s really moving fast. There he is, over to the right, almost to the top edge. Can you see Ian? Oh, I see him now over by that small tree.”
“Mala is down there. You can just see the red of her blouse through those two trees.”
“Where, Deakin? I don’t see anything red.”
Deakin looked again and then moved slowly along the ledge they stood on. About ten feet to the right, he stopped and looked down.
“I can see red from here. She’s down there between those trees. Now, she’s moving farther around the rock. She must not have found anything yet. Let’s follow Martin to the top.”
Deakin and Eden moved back to the trail cut into the side of the rock. Steps had been chiseled out of the smooth sections and large chunks of rock had been piled in strategic locations to make the climb accessible for more people. Deakin followed Eden up a rather long flight of steps which ended at another wide ledge littered with small pebbles. Eden massaged the tight muscles in her calves. Then she sat down and dangled her legs over the edge.
“Sit down for a minute and rest. It’s a great view. Look out over the valley to those mountains over there. Wouldn’t it be great to live around here? The air smells so clean, doesn’t it? Shall we move up here when this is all over?”
Deakin looked down at Eden’s tangled hair blowing in the breeze and let out a huge sigh. Then he dropped down next to her and began dropping small pebbles over the side. Eden took his hand and held it in her lap. She filled her lungs with the crisp air and laughed loudly.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, nothing at all. Just because I laugh doesn’t mean I’m laughing at you. Sometimes I laugh just ‘cause everything’s great. Look, there’s Mala down there. She may have found something interesting. She’s just standing there.”
Eden leaned farther over the side of the ledge until Deakin was sure she was going to overbalance and join Mala at the base of the rock. He threw his arm around her waist and held her steady while she stared down at the trees and bushes below them. She turned a worried face up to his and said, anxiously,
“I think something might have happened to Mala. She’s not moving at all. Do you think she hurt herself? Someone else is down there with her. You can just see them through the branches.”
Deakin leaned slightly over the edge and stared below. Then he quickly climbed to his feet and pulled Eden up also. He peered over the edge once again and met the eyes of a pair of binoculars scanning the side of the rock. He turned to survey their path up the rock. He shoved Eden in front of him and hustled her up the path.
“There’s someone down there with Mala but I don’t think they’re helping her. I saw the flash from a pair of binoculars. Those guys must have backtracked and found Martin’s car. Let’s get up to the top and tell the others about them.”
Eden stopped short and turned to him with a mulish set to his mouth. “What about Mala? Shouldn’t we make sure she’s all right?”
Deakin shook his head. “We’ll just run right into those men. We have to get to the top and take a different path back down. Do you have a map of the park? I know Martin had one.”
Eden checked her pockets and shook her head. Then she made up her mind and headed quickly up the path in front of her. The closer they came to the top of the rock, the steeper the path grew. They were both out of breath when they pulled themselves up onto the top of the huge rock. The 360 degree view stopped Eden in her tracks. She turned a slow circle and realized for the first time why people climbed mountains. She felt closer to God than she ever had and the wind seemed to scrub her inner self clean. Deakin set off to catch up with the other two men. Martin was checking the top of the rock for markings while Ian ran his fingers over the wooden posts of a large signboard.
Deakin reached Ian first and joined him in his search. “I think our shadows came back. I saw someone down at the bottom near Mala. I hope they haven’t hurt her. Where are the other paths off this rock?”
Ian turned a shocked face to the boy and darted a hunted look around the rock. “My god, surely they wouldn’t hurt her, would they? We have to get down there.”
He looked around once again and then turned helplessly to Deakin. There wasn’t a flashing neon sign pointing to another path so he really didn’t know what to do next. Deakin looked closely at the signboard in front of them and ran his finger over the wooden surface of a map of the park. There was even a little sign that said, “You are here.” Without a word, he pointed off to his right and sent Ian on his way.
Eden joined Martin in his search and told him about the men below. He looked quickly around and picked up a long stick from the ground. He leaned on it to test its strength and swished it through the air a few times. Eden followed his lead and walked over to an outcropping of rocks to pick up her own stick. As she stepped to the other side of the pile of rocks, she tripped over the exposed root of a small tree. The toe of her shoe dislodged several more rocks. She brushed them out of her way and reached for a branch that was wedged between several large chunks of rock. When she picked it up, she realized it wasn’t a branch. It was a tire iron. She brushed off the caked dirt and poked around the rocks with it. How on earth did a tire iron find its way to the top of a huge rock? A vague idea flitted through her mind and she glanced around for Deakin. He stood halfway across the rock with Martin and both men were staring at the edge of the rock. Scrabbling sounds and muttered curses drifted up over the edge. Eden slipped to the other side of the rock and checked for more intruders. She hid behind a large boulder and watched fearfully as a filthy hand reached up over the edge and felt around for a firm hold. Without a thought she bonked the knuckles of the hand with her tire iron and listened to a muted screech of pain. The body attached to the hand slipped back down the path. Eden heard the shower of pebbles which accompanied the man’s retreat. After a minute, the man crept up to the edge and peered over. Then he heaved himself up and crouched down on the other side of Eden’s rock. Eden peered over the top of it just as the man stood up. Their eyes widened in surprise and they both ducked down again.
This time Eden peered around the edge of the rock and the same thing happened again. She jerked back again and almost laughed out loud. This was too much like being in the middle of a cartoon. The smile dropped off her face when she heard a metallic click from the other side of the rock. She scrabbled quickly backwards and worked her way around another large rock. She slid her eyes around the squared off edge of the rock and watched a black gun float through the air, followed by the rest of the man. She pulled back out of sight and looked around the rock for the cavalry. Deakin and Martin stood halfway across the rock and faced the opposite direction. They didn’t know about this man. She bent down, picked up a handful of pebbles and tossed them at the feet of the man with the gun. Martin whirled around at the sound and pulled Deakin into the shelter of a thick bush. Eden stood motionlessly until the man began moving again. Then she stepped with each movement of his feet. Her only option was to get behind the man and clunk him on the head with her tire iron.

THE BANDIT QUEEN - Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

Eden nudged Deakin awake as she pulled into a truck stop on the outskirts of Medford, Oregon. The morning sun flashed on the huge tractor trailer rigs parked all over the huge parking lot. Diesel smoke hit Eden’s lungs like a hammer and she leaned against the side of the small car and coughed. Deakin stretched and stared at the cars parked around the restaurant. They had taken turns driving since they’d crossed into Nevada and headed north to Reno. After breakfast Deakin could drive the next leg of the journey towards Salem where Mala, Ian, and Martin waited for them. Deakin reached back into the car and grabbed the children’s books. Eden grabbed a bag of clean clothes and they homed in on food.
As they climbed back into the car, Deakin pulled out the map he’d just bought and spread it out across the dashboard of the car. He quickly found Medford near the northern border of California. With his finger he traced the highway through Eugene to Salem. As his finger moved up the map, he noticed tiny red numbers at the very left edge of the map. 42 marked the line of the border between California and Oregon. Farther north he found 43, 44, and 45. 46 ran along part of the border between Oregon and Washington. He looked along the other sides of the map and found other numbers along the top. 124, 122, 120, and so on corresponded to lines drawn straight north and south on the map. None of their other maps had shown latitude and longitude lines. Deakin folded up the map and started the car. Eden took the passenger seat and immediately flipped it back so she could get some sleep. Somewhere along the highway north through Oregon, Deakin’s mind made a connection. He pulled off the road at the first chance which happened to be a scenic lookout just off the side of the road. He joined several other cars and shook Eden to wake her up.
“Hey, cut it out, Deakin. It can’t be time for me to drive. I feel like I just got to sleep. Keep driving and leave me alone.”
Deakin shook her harder and said, “Wake up, Eden. I just figured out something very important.”
Eden reluctantly shook herself awake and pulled her seat upright. Deakin rattled open the map and spread it across in front of Eden. She pushed the hair out of her eyes and stared mutinously as Deakin’s face. He laughed at her and pulled her into a hard hug.
“Just look, Eden. I think I figured out the numbers from the book. Look at this map and tell me what you see.”
“I see a map of Oregon, that’s what I see. Uh, we should be along here somewhere and there’s Salem where we’ll meet the others. I don’t get it.”
“Look at these lines across the state here and here. Latitude, right? And here are the longitudes. Now, guess what the latitude and longitude for Salem is. Go ahead, guess.”
Eden put her finger on the city of Salem and then checked the lines closest to that point. “Uh, I’d say it’s about 45 degrees North and 123 degrees West. What’s so important about that?”
“The numbers from the book. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. 45 and 123. My mother drove straight through Salem on her way back to California after she left me in Seattle with her sister. Maybe that’s where she hid the laser project information.”
Eden looked at the glow on Deakin’s face and wished he looked like that all the time. After what had happened to him, it was amazing he could smile at all. She hated to burst his bubble but she really couldn’t see how the information could help them very much. Instead of telling that to Deakin, she said,
“I would never have thought of that. It’s certainly a better explanation than anything else we’ve come up with. Get back on the road and drive, man. I’ll look at the map and see if I can match up those letters we found in the other book with some place in or around Salem. Let’s go.”
Eden folded the map into a more manageable size and pored over it. After about an hour she finally gave up and closed her tired eyes. The next thing she knew, Deakin was shaking her shoulder again and speaking loudly.
“Eden, wake up. C’mon, open those eyes, girl. I just talked to Mala and they have rooms at a motel in Salem. We’re meeting them for breakfast at a restaurant nearby. That should give us four hours max to get some sleep. I think you’d better drive us through town, okay?”

Deakin and Eden hauled their tired bodies up one flight of stairs and fell on the bed, fully-clothed. The phone rang just as the light of the sun lightened the sky outside. Eden groaned and pulled a pillow over her head to drown out the sound of the phone. The ringing morphed into her dream and turned into a fire alarm. She leaped off the bed and stared frantically around for the smoke and flames. She finally reached for the phone and mumbled into the receiver. The cheery tones of the operator lifted the corner of her mouth into a snarl and she threw the phone onto the bed. Then she contemplated the sleeping form of her partner-in-crime. Sometime during the night Deakin had cornered the blanket market and wrapped himself up like a burrito. Eden stood on the bed and began jumping on the mattress. The blanket-wrapped bundle bounced higher and higher. Garbled sounds and muffled screams filtered out. Finally two hands appeared and reached for her legs. She nimbly hopped off the bed and bounced into the bathroom in a much better mood. A muffled thud followed by a body bouncing off the locked door of the bathroom squeezed a laugh out of her. She almost tripped over Deakin on her way out the door after her shower. He’d fallen asleep on the carpet right outside the bathroom door. She shook drops of water from her wet hair on his face and then quickly got out of his way. He threw a snarl over his shoulder and disappeared from sight. Eden hung clean clothes on the doorknob for him and finished dressing.

Eden and Deakin both were in better moods when they pushed through the door in to the restaurant. Eden quickly scanned the room and sized up the inhabitants. No one looked up at their entrance and no one matched her inner picture of Dr. Allen and the others. Deakin pushed her toward a large corner booth and ordered coffee for two as they sat down. He kept the front door in view and signaled Eden when the right group walked in. He stood up and waved to them. Mala Allen hurried up and slipped her arms around his waist in a warm hug. Deakin looked down at the smooth dark hair shot through with silver and put his arm tentatively around her small shoulders. She smiled up into his face and reached up to pat his cheek softly.
“How wonderful to meet you, Deakin Kimbrough. You are a beautiful boy and greatly favor your father. These are my friends, Ian Nelms and Martin Graham, Marianne Wolfe’s son. Sit down, sit down, everyone and we will talk.”
Deakin slid into the booth next to Eden and watched the others dither around before Mala slid next to Eden’s right side. The two men stared appreciatively at Eden. Martin held his hand out across the table and introduced himself to her. Then he pumped Deakin’s hand once and leaned back to let Mala tell their story.
The waitress moved smoothly in and out of their vision as she filled coffee cups, delivered plates of eggs and pancakes, and finally cleared the table. Deakin listened intently to Mala’s story and her description of the man who’d tried to question Martin’s mother. He passed on the bare bones of his search, leaving out any reference to Alden and the bandits. His sources were not anyone else’s business.
At the end of his recital, Martin asked,
“May we see the books you got in Arizona? I’d like to see them. Mala has the letter from your aunt. I’d advise her not to bring it out here. We can go to my room if that’s okay. I’ll get the check.”
Deakin pulled Eden to his side and let the others move off first. He put his hands on her shoulders and spoke softly in her ear.
“What do you think? Do we get the books and meet them or do we slip away right now?”
“We have to meet them. They have the letter from your mother. If we disappear, Martin will talk Mala into reading it. We have to get our hands on that letter, if only because it was written by your mother. I don’t much care for Martin but Mala is wonderful. Ian doesn’t care much about the people. He just wants us to find the laser information. Scientific knowledge is what’s most important to him.”
“What’s Martin’s angle in this?”
“Oh, I’d say he just wants to keep his mother from being hurt again. He’ll pass on the information to anyone who’ll promise to leave his mother alone. She may not realize it but that’s my best guess. You want to get the books now? They’re waiting for us. It’s your call, Deakin.”
Deakin kneaded her shoulders as he considered his decision. “We get the letter. The books are still in the room. You go with Martin and I’ll meet you at his room.”
Eden tipped her head backwards and looked up at her friend. “No, I’ll go with you and watch your back.”
She smiled upside down at Deakin and started to walk away. Deakin slid his arm across her chest and pulled her back. He dropped his head onto her shoulder and kissed the corner of her mouth. She stared sideways in surprise and then relaxed against his chest. Finally, he gave her a very slight push and the two of them walked out of the restaurant.

THE BANDIT QUEEN - Chapter 21 continued

The guard escorted the nurse to the elevator and held the car for the rest of the parade. They followed a maze of corridors and eventually entered the security office. Walls of television monitors filled three of the four walls and constantly changed views. Marina stared interestedly at the monitors and tried to identify each door and corridor she saw. She was amazed at the number of cameras that were mounted all over the building. Even the administrator’s offices were monitored. She made a mental promise that she would never adjust her bra or pick her nose outside the relative safety of the women’s bathroom.
Marina turned quickly and smiled shyly at the man who’d just joined them in the office. He showed them into an empty break room and gestured toward the coffee pot in the corner. Walt brusquely shook his head and dropped into a chair at one of the tables. Captain Garrison pulled out a chair for Marina and settled her carefully. Then he held out his hand for Walt’s identification. Walt reluctantly pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open. Just as he started to flip it closed, the captain took it from his hand and read it with interest.
“Okay, Mr. Rogers, ask your questions. Ma’am, I’ll be right back here if you need me.”
He patted Marina on her shoulder and sat in a chair behind her. Walt frowned in his direction and reached for his identification wallet on the table. Marina turned it around and read the name on it. Then she folded her hands on the table and waited patiently for the man to begin.
“Are you Marina Kirk? Formerly from the Soviet Union? Sister of Helena Rimchova?”
Marina nodded her head in reply to each of his questions and then waited for more. There always were more questions. At least, that was her experience.
“Now, did someone visit you yesterday? Who was it and what did they want?”
“Why are you asking? This is all about things that were over long ago and people who died long ago. Why do you care? My sister and her husband died at the hands of your people. Will I die now? What about my husband and my children? Will they die also? Will they die no matter what I say? If I tell you the truth, will they die? If I lie to you, will they also die?”
Walt looked at her in bewilderment. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, lady. I just want to know about the people who came to see you yesterday and what they wanted from you. Then I want to know where they’re going next. That’s all I want. I don’t know anything about any dead people.”
Marina gulped a little and then said, “Three people came to see me yesterday but I didn’t know who they were. They claimed to be old friends of my sister but they had no proof. I asked them questions but they couldn’t answer them. I gave them tea and we talked but about nothing of importance. They wanted to know about my sister’s work but I never knew anything about it. So they left and didn’t tell me where they would go next. That’s all I know.”
Marina tried to stand up but Walt grabbed her hands and held them down on the table. “Now, look, lady, you have to tell me everything they said. If you don’t, we’ll take you down to our office here and really talk to you. If you still won’t tell us anything, then we’ll just have to deport you back to Russia.”
Marina sat carefully back in her chair and clenched her hands tightly. She took a deep breath and said, “You can’t do that. I am a citizen now. My husband and my children are citizens. You can’t make me go back. Your people took my sister and her husband to your offices and they died. The only reason you didn’t kill their baby was because he was with me. When your men came to my house and took the baby away from me, I knew I would never see him again either. Did you kill the baby also? Where is he now? I was too afraid to ask questions back then. Now, I am a grown woman and I will ask the questions. What happened to my sister and her husband? Where did you take their baby and what happened to him? Why don’t you answer my questions? Is it not fair? I am supposed to answer your questions but you won’t answer mine. I don’t want to talk about this any more. My beautiful brilliant sister is dead. Who knows what she would have done if she hadn’t been killed? And her beautiful baby too. I am his family. Why did you take him away from me?”
A phone rang in the stillness and Marina pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She answered it and then listened for a minute.
“You have to excuse me. My patients need me. Unless you plan on killing more children, I must go back to work.”
Marina smiled tightly at the security guard sitting behind her and walked sedately out of the room without a backward glance. Only the people she passed in the hallway could see the tears coursing down her face. She wiped them angrily away and hurried to the small patients who depended on her.
Walt had leaped out of his chair and reached for her arm, but Marina was too fast for him. By the time he got his legs untangled from his chair, the security captain was standing in the doorway watching Marina hurry away. Walt kicked the chair in exasperation and gestured curtly for Sven and Harris to follow him out.
The three men landed back at the office around noon. Dennis Lofton met them at the door with a smile. “Well, well, just the men I was waiting for. I have some news for you and a brand new phone. One of our names rented a car and headed south toward Oregon. Martin Graham was the name. He lives in Chicago and works at Argonne Lab. Care to guess who his mother is? No, well, Dr. Marianne Wolfe. So, he definitely is one of the fugitives. Although, I’m still not clear why you’re chasing these people. They all seem to be upstanding members of their respective communities.”
Walt glared at the agent and barked, “Need to know basis. What road did they take out of this place? We need a car to follow them. We’ll be ready to leave in twenty minutes or so.”
Dennis raised his index finger and spoke slowly so Walt would catch every word.
“I’ve been instructed to tell you to rent a car if you have to follow these people. We’re running low on vehicles and don’t loan them out. They never seem to come back.”
Walt’s mouth opened and closed but no sound escaped. He looked at Sven and Harris and then back at Dennis. “B-b-b-but I always borrow vehicles wherever I am. What do you mean, I can’t have one of yours? That’s ridiculous! Just let me make a call or two and then we’ll see what you have to say.”
Walt reached for the phone on the nearest desk, but Dennis caught his arm and handed him the new cell phone.
“Call on your own account number. We’re on quite a strict budget here in Seattle. I’ll be back from lunch in an hour if you need me for anything else.”
Walt stared at the agent’s retreating back and shook his head to clear it of some unwelcome thought. He smiled a slightly superior smile and said to his two men, “Things are really different out here in the boondocks. Glad we work for the big boys and don’t have to count pennies.”
Then he punched in a long series of numbers and tapped his foot until the call was answered. “Walt Rogers, here. Tom Adams, please. Well, where the hell is he? . . . Okay, you set up a car for me then. I’m in Seattle and I need to drive to California. I also want you to put out a call for a rental vehicle heading south from here and probably driving through Portland. Don’t stop the vehicle – just have someone sit on it till I get there. That should do it for now.”
“Yes, sir. I have recorded your instructions and I will pass them on to Mr. Adams as soon as he contacts me. Have a nice day, sir.”
“Whoa, hold it right there. I don’t want you to wait at all. You do it right now and tell Tom about it later. I can’t wait until Tom gets back from wherever the hell he is. Get on this now!”
The calm pedantic voice droned on in Walt’s ear. “I’m sorry, sir, but I’m not tasked to make these arrangements. I can and will put out the call for that rental vehicle heading for Portland but Agent Adams is the only one who can authorize the expenditure of a rental vehicle for you. I’ll be sure to tell him it’s urgent.”
“That’s not good enough. Let me talk to your superior. Right now!”
Sven and Harris eyed each other behind Walt’s back and pantomimed smoke coming out his ears.
“Agent Adams is my superior and he is not available right now. Be assured that I will pass on your requests ASAP. Good day, sir.”
A determined look settled on Walt’s face as he stared at the phone in his hand. Then he pulled out the wallet holding his identification and slipped a small piece of paper from behind the card. He punched in the number and waited impatiently for the call to be answered. His right foot tapped on the floor as he listened to the rings. Finally, a polite voice answered the call and promised to transfer the call to the correct extension. Walt’s foot tapped faster and faster and he hummed a tuneless drone under his breath. A few minutes later, he had his chance to speak.
“Listen, Mr. Duncan, this is Walt Rogers. I’m in Seattle and I’m getting the runaround out here. I need a car to chase down some people and the assholes here won’t give me one. Some guy named Dennis wouldn’t even let me use their phone. How the hell am I supposed to get this job done if I can’t get any help?”
“Excuse me, Walt, but why are you calling me? Your contact is Tom Adams. Call him, not me.”
“Wait just a minute. I’ve just tried to call him but I can’t get him and he hasn’t returned my calls. What the hell is going on? Don’t you want me to succeed?”
“I don’t have anything to do with the details of your assignment. Tom is the expert and that is why I rely on him. I’m sure he’ll get to you as soon as he can. There is a big crisis right now and he may be involved in another investigation at the same time. Be assured he will talk to you at the first possible moment.”
“Am I supposed to stand here with my finger up my nose and wait until he happens to remember to call me? I was given an assignment and without help, I can’t complete it. At least authorize me to take a car. That will get us on the road after these people.”
“I’d advise you to wait until you hear from Tom. I just can’t break into his business, you know. He’s already made his decisions and we can’t second-guess him. If I hear from him, I’ll tell him you’re waiting for a call. Good-bye, Walt.”
Walt flipped his phone shut angrily and gestured for his two shadows to follow him out the door. He stopped just outside the front door of the office building and stared around for an idea. A taxi splashed to a stop ten feet away from them and two men jumped out. Walt moved quickly and grabbed the door before it slammed shut. He would just rent a car on his own if those idiots wouldn’t give him one. They could fight over the bill later.

Clark Duncan swiftly cut off the connection with Walt Rogers and set his phone down on the wide desk. He smiled grimly at the four men scattered around his office.
“Well, what do we do about Walt? He seems to be on the trail of someone who could lead him to the boy. Do we stop the investigation right now? Or do we let him run? Do we really want to catch this boy? I’m not too sure we want this whole story out in public. It doesn’t paint a very pretty picture of the way the agency works. Public sympathy will definitely be on the side of the poor orphan boy whose parents were killed by the government.”
The oldest man in the room leaned against the edge of the window and stared at the cars driving in and out the security gate. He turned slowly back to the room and ran his tired eyes over the other men. His gray hair was brushed back from his face and his hands shook slightly as he slipped them into his pockets. He rocked back and forth on his toes. Only one man met his eyes and nodded reluctantly to his unspoken inquiry. Then his low, gravelly voice filled the room.
“Well, it looks as though Todd and I are in agreement. We vote for abandoning the whole project. I’m too old to think killing a boy will solve the problem. There are too many people involved, too many people who will be missed if they all disappear. We just can’t keep this under wraps any more. If the boy had never surfaced, we wouldn’t have to make any decisions. But he did and now we either have to kill him and everyone around him or back off and let the whole thing drift away.”
A middle-sized bulldog of a man with the thick neck and heavy shoulders of a weightlifter straightened up from his post against the opposite wall and shook his head vigorously.
“We can’t let this get out right now. We have had way too much negative press over the last six months. We can’t add this on top. Sure, the original scenario played out years ago but the public doesn’t care about that. They love to hear about our mistakes, not our successes. I, for one, don’t want to be the one who has to explain this to the director. He doesn’t understand how we work. That’s the trouble with going outside the agency to pick the director. Someone who worked his way up through the ranks would at least understand how this all happened. I vote to continue the investigation and shut down all avenues that would lead back to us.”
Clark Duncan leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of his face.
“Donald, in some ways I agree with you. I also don’t relish explaining the workings of the agency to people who know nothing about guaranteeing the security of the nation. Then again, I also agree with Bill and Todd. This boy certainly doesn’t deserve to disappear just because of something that happened when he was a baby. The longer he stays on the run, the longer the list of people involved grows. If we’d caught the boy and the girl back at the beginning before they talked to anyone else, we wouldn’t be facing this problem. Now, we have no idea how far the ripples have spread. That’s very ambivalent of me, I know, but that’s one of the reasons I sit in this chair. I can see both sides of the problem. Tom, you’ve been in on this since we heard about the boy. Where do you stand?”
Tom Adams leaned forward in his chair and stared at the nameplate on the desk for a minute. Then he let out a large sigh and said,
“I think we’d be a hell of a lot better off if we got rid of Walt Rogers and let the boy alone. You know, I just don’t have the stomach to work with someone like Rogers any more. The world has changed greatly since I started working here. Now, I have a son about the age of this boy and I certainly would never want Walt Rogers chasing him down. The ‘Walts’ of our business should not be sent after innocent boys. Send them after hardened drug traffickers or crazed bombers or serial killers. But not after children. I vote with Clark.”
“Now, wait a minute, guys. Just how do you really know this boy is as innocent as you think he is? What if he really does know all about what happened to his parents? What do we do then?”
Clark Duncan waved the bulldog back into his corner. “Get real, Donald. How would this boy ever find out about it? He was only a baby when it all went down. Just how much do you remember from when you were still in diapers?”
“Yeah, yeah, I know that but he could have gotten information from some of these other people. What if they told him something?”
“Something they didn’t tell us years ago? Not possible, Donald. Give it up. Tom, pull Walt off the case and bring him back here. We’ll get a report written and it’ll be over with. The boy will give up when he realizes there is nothing to find out and that’ll be the end of it all. Reassign the two men Walt has with him. They could be sent to Wyoming to help in the investigation of the sheriff with the stash of illegal weapons. Anything else we need to discuss?”

THE BANDIT QUEEN - Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

Walt Rogers abruptly turned away from the closed faces of his two colleagues. He realized he was teetering on the edge of insane rage. He’d just chewed Sven and Harris out for not reading his mind. He pasted a blatantly false smile on his red face and turned slowly back to the two men.
“Hey, guys, I’m sorry I jumped your asses about letting these people get away. I’m a little tense and something else is bothering me right now. Give me a phone. I think something’s wrong with mine.”
Walt punched in the number of his cell phone and listened to the sound of ringing. The phone in his other hand neither rang nor vibrated. Walt leaned back to throw the phone out into the middle of the parking lot but Harris snatched it just before Walt threw it. He slid it into his pocket and said,
“Maybe it can be traced. I’ll turn it in soon. When was it switched? That’s the place to start looking.”
Walt nodded grimly and thought hard about his last day. Then he slapped the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small white business card.
“Lady in the bar at LAX. Drinking wine right next to me. We talked while we waited for our flights. After I landed here, my speed dial wouldn’t work. I just thought the phone was screwed up. It never occurred to me that she’d switched phones on me. I’ll keep your phone for now.”
Walt clapped both men on the shoulder and walked them to their car. Evening was closing in over the city of Chicago and the street lamps left big pools of yellow light along the street. Cars flashed in and out of the bright circles. One of the men shivered in the wind blowing straight off Lake Michigan.
Sven turned up the collar of his coat and asked, “What do we do next, Walt? Check out Dr. Wolfe’s apartment or check out the airports?”
Walt contemplated the shivering men and decided. “Harris, drop that phone off and then try the good doctor’s apartment. If she answers the door, ask her if she’s heard from any of her old friends from the laser project. She’ll probably slam the door in your face, but we’ll know where she is. Sven, you follow me to the office of that scientific journal, okay? I swear that van had something to do with Dr. Wolfe’s disappearance.”
Sven and Harris sketched quick salutes and wheeled around in unison. They drove quickly away from the campus. Walt dropped into the driver’s seat of his car and pulled out the borrowed phone.
“Tom, this is Walt. First, get me a new phone with a new number. Don’t leave any more messages on the other number. Somebody switched phones on me at the LA airport. I took Harris’s phone for now. Second, I need an address for the Journal of Applied Physics, the name of whoever runs it, and his home address. I think he helped the Wolfe woman get away from us. Call Sven and give him the addresses too. Thanks.”
An hour later, Walt studied the front door of a small three-story office building. The lights in the tiny lobby shone out into the darkness. Walt looked down at the floor and walked inside. He raised his eyes fleetingly to read the building directory. Then he took the stairs up to the third floor. Only one office seemed to be occupied at this time of the evening. Walt slipped silently past the door of Lamprey and Morey, Attorneys-at-Law. No lights shone through the frosted glass in the Journal’s door. Walt knocked softly and then pulled a small leather wallet out of his pocket. He selected a thin strip of metal and slid it between the door and the jamb. His fingers worked quickly and the door popped open with a small sigh of escaping air. Walt slid around the door and carefully closed it behind him. He pulled out a penlight and flashed it around. Untidy stacks of bound magazines lined the walls. An old metal desk sat in one corner of the front office next to the door to another room.
With two long strides, Walt grabbed the doorknob. Loud voices and slamming doors sent him swiftly into the relative safety of the back office. He turned off his light and watched several shadows pass the outer door on the way to the elevator. Walt waited for the car to grind its way to the top floor and then start its journey back down before he continued his search of the office.
Within an hour, Walt had gone through two desks and one file cabinet. He was trying to get into the computer files when the knob on the front door slowly turned. The cell phone in his pocket vibrated its signal for an incoming call at the same time. Walt quickly raised it to his ear. A thready whisper drifted out of the phone.
“I’m outside the door. Do I come in?” Walt immediately relaxed and flipped the phone closed. He slipped through the dark office and opened the door just enough for Sven to eel his way inside. Walt plucked at the sleeve of his coat and led him into the back office. Sven dropped into the chair in front of the humming computer monitor and placed his fingers on the keyboard.
Fifteen minutes later, he shut down the system and admitted defeat.
“This guy’s too good, Walt. Without his password, I’m up shit creek. Do we take the whole damn thing with us?” “It depends. Was Dr. Wolfe at her apartment?”
“She yelled at us through the door. I left Harris sitting in the car and came over here. How about this guy’s apartment?”
Walt shook his head. “I called his home phone from here and got his machine. I have the feeling he’s skipped. Tom’s checking the airlines for me. He should have something soon. Let’s get the hell out of here before we get caught.”
Walt and Sven met up with Harris just in time for the message from Tom Adams. They now knew Ian Nelms had just flown to Seattle. They were behind in the chase but maybe not too far behind. Next stop for them, Seattle.

Walt stepped out of the Seattle terminal into a bone-chilling rain. The wind from offshore blew the icy drops directly into his face. He ducked his chin into the upturned collar of his coat and peered at the taxis parked in front of him. Sven and Harris cannoned into his back and pushed him under the freezing waterfall running off the building’s roof. Walt threw them a venomous glare and then marched through the downpour to a black SUV with darkly tinted windows. The other two men slid into the back seat while Walt took the front. The driver resignedly watched them shake water all over the interior. With a stony look on his face, he asked,
“Where to, gentlemen? The office or somewhere else?”
Walt deliberately brushed water off his coat toward the driver and said, “Office, son. We need to get this job done quickly. Pick up speed. We’re playing ‘catch-up’ with these people. We’re a day behind them already.”
The driver slowly joined the long ribbon of traffic leaving the airport. He drove sedately through the heavy traffic and refused to exceed the speed limit.
“No, sir, I will not speed through traffic. Weather conditions require a slower speed to ensure our own safety as well as the safety of those other drivers on the road with us.”
“Who the hell taught you to talk like you’re reading from a manual?”
Walt fussed and fumed and threatened without any visible results. The young man at the wheel readily supplied Walt with his name and badge number, but he refused to drive recklessly through the worsening storm. The cold intensified as night closed in around them and ice crept across the bridges and elevated roadways.
When the vehicle slowed below the mandated speed limit, Walt erupted from his forced silence and shouted into the quiet interior of the car.
“Goddammit, man! Now, you’re going below the speed limit. I could walk faster than you’re driving. What the hell kind of agent are you anyway?”
“A live one, sir. We’ll be at the office in about ten or fifteen minutes.”
Walt jumped out the door of the SUV before it came to a halt and both his feet slid out from under him. His eyes widened as he clutched the door to keep from hitting the icy sidewalk with his butt. Sven and Harris carefully stepped out into the night and stood waiting for Walt to shut his door. Just as he reached in to grab his bag, the driver said,
“Have a nice day!”
Walt slammed the door so hard the car rocked a little before it slipped away from the curb, throwing a spray of icy slush on the legs of the three men. If the water hadn’t been so cold, Walt might have surprised a smile on the faces of the other two men. As it was, he brushed past them roughly and pushed angrily through the building doors. Sven and Harris followed in his wake.
Only one man met them in the after hours gloom of the office. Sven and Harris automatically stepped back as Walt swung off his coat and shook water drops all around the room. A tired-looking man of forty-five looked steadily at Walt and brushed the cold water from his suit without looking away. Then he picked up his cup of coffee with his right hand and glanced at the suspiciously blank faces of Sven and Harris.
“Dennis Lofton, here. And you must be Agent Rogers.”
Walt held out his hand but Agent Lofton raised his coffee cup in greeting instead. A grim look passed over Walt’s face when he realized his hand was shaking air. He covered quickly by running his hand through his damp hair. Then he smiled and said,
“That coffee sure looks good. Can you spare us a cup?”
“Uh, actually, this was the last cup in the pot. We’ll get you some when we get dinner. Now , exactly what do you need from us? I’m in the dark about your little job.”
Walt’s eyebrows snapped down into a thick line across his face. He had never been treated so shabbily in all his years with the government. Most people were frightened of his power and were more than happy to help him in any way, especially if it would get rid of him quickly. Something was happening behind the scenes. He shook off his suspicions and asked,
“What information do you have for us? Were you able to meet Ian Nelms’ plane and follow him? Where did he go? Who else was with him? Where is he now?”
Agent Lofton lifted his cup and drank half his coffee before he set the cup on the desk behind him.
“Why don’t you come to my office and I’ll fill you in with what we have.”
He led them down a short hallway and into a small office with only enough room for a desk and a few chairs. Dennis slid easily into the chair behind the desk while Walt dropped into the chair in front of the desk. Sven and Harris leaned in the doorway, distancing themselves even further from Walt.
“Okay, now we can get down to business. One of our men covered the flight from Chicago. He was just a wee bit late getting there, what with the weather and the traffic, you know. Most of the passengers had already left but he did question the flight attendants. Your man was on board. There may also have been two other people accompanying him or he may just have met them on the plane. Another man – younger, very athletic, thick dark hair, lots of energy. There was a woman also – mid-forties, dark, foreign-looking, very calm. They left the plane in a group. According to the airline, the others were M. G. Allen and Martin Graham. Ah, this seems to mean something to you.
“Now, don’t get too excited. We think your man took a taxi and we’ve had men out inquiring into all the fares picked up at the airport around the time the flight landed. We don’t have anything concrete but we will soon. Maybe by morning we’ll have covered all the cab companies. What are your plans until then?”
Walt jerked out of his chair and paced to the door. He turned back to the man behind the desk and asked,
“Just when exactly will we know about the cabs? Okay, find us a room to sleep in then. This is a goddamned waste of time. We’ll need a driver in the morning. Uh, thanks, uh, Dennis for your help.”

Walt Rogers slept very little and woke up feeling tired and heavy-headed. Three cups of coffee did little to dispel the fuzzy feeling in his head. He felt like he’d lost the whole focus of his search. Everywhere he turned, he ran smack into a brick wall. No one seemed to be on his side. God damn it, he was the good guy. Why did everyone just assume the kid was right and he was wrong? Well, he’d just have to change their minds, wouldn’t he? He looked across the table at the men shoveling eggs down their throats. They obviously didn’t have any trouble sleeping. He irritable waved away the waitress when she swooped by with the coffee pot.
“When the hell are we going to get that information from the cab companies?”
Walt stared blearily through the plate glass window at the slate-gray fog covering the town.
“I hope we don’t have to stay here long. I hate this dreary weather!”
Sven and Harris looked at him in surprise. After a quick look out the window and an almost hidden smile at his partner, Sven said,
“Oh, I kinda like the fog. Everything’s so quiet. It’s like being in your own personal world, you know.”
“Bullshit. That mist out there is just messy. Traffic’ll be all screwed up and nobody’ll be where they’re supposed to be, including our driver.”

Rain began to fall just as their driver pulled up in front of the café. It quickly turned into a cloudburst. The driver drove slowly through town until he pulled up in front of the neat small house belonging to a family named Kirk. No lights shone in the windows so Walt sent Harris through the pouring rain to knock on the door. He also checked the houses on both sides before he dashed back to the car and jumped into the back seat.
“Lady at the house next door says the Kirks both work. She works at a hospital somewhere and he works for some car dealer. She just moved in so she doesn’t know them.”
“Call that prick at the office and get him to check them out. We should already have that information. That stupid shit is going to wish he’d never run into me. Before he knows it, he’s going to be sitting in some hut on the Arctic Circle monitoring weather satellites or maybe even something worse.”
The next time Walt stopped the car, a large hospital loomed through the slashing rain. This time all three men rushed into the building and headed for the administrative offices hidden away behind closed doors. Here he ran into another stumbling block. Nobody really cared who he was or what he wanted. They were all too busy to listen. He finally pinned down a woman who decided the quickest way to get rid of him was to give him what he wanted. She ran the name he gave her through her computer and found his quarry. Marina Kirk was a nurse on the pediatric floor of the hospital and she was actually at work, according to the computer. The woman gave Walt sketchy directions to the correct floor and immediately forgot him.
Walt and his two shadows walked out of the elevator on the correct floor and stopped the first person they ran into. The man waved them down the hall to a counter manned by a busy clerk. There, after a close scrutiny of his identification, the clerk pointed out a small woman with dark hair. She wore brightly patterned scrubs with a matching scarf tied on her hair. She pushed a small wheelchair with a young girl in it along the hall. The girl couldn’t have been more than seven years old. She had wildly curling red hair and the freckles on her face stood out in stark contrast to the pallor of her skin. In spite of her illness, she viewed the world with great humor through large bright brown eyes. These eyes focused on the Walt’s shoes and worked their way up his body to his face. Walt held his identification to the woman behind the wheelchair and smiled knowingly at her gasp of surprise. The child glanced quickly at the other two men and then narrowed her concentration on the man in front of her. He leaned over her head and let loose a quick burst of words into the horrified face of the nurse. The child immediately took the side of her nurse and kicked the man in the shins. Then she screamed loudly while the man grabbed his shin and cursed at her. She almost laughed when the man hopped on one leg and knocked his friend into the wall. The man almost fell down but he recovered his balance and glared at the tiny child. The nurse, Marina Kirk, had time to gather her wits and present a controlled face to the three men.
“What are you doing to the child? She is very ill. You can’t just come in here and bump into her wheelchair. Go away while I take care of her. I don’t know who you are or what you want but you shouldn’t be on this floor. Go away.”
Marina turned the chair around but the man grabbed her arm. She tried to shake him off but he held on and whispered into her ear.
“You’re going to have to talk to me sometime, Ms. Kirk. Do we do it here or do we take you down to our office and talk to you there?”
The nurse cast a frightened look up into the implacable face looming over her and shook her head.
“I have to put Emily back to bed. I can’t leave her in the middle of the hall. Wait by the desk and I’ll join you there in a few minutes.”
Walt released her arm and watched her walk shakily down the hallway. She turned into a door and disappeared from sight. After ten minutes he headed down the hall with Sven and Harris in pursuit. At the door of the child’s room, he heard two voices laughing softly. He glanced quickly inside and saw the nurse holding the child’s hand and smoothing her covers. The tension left his shoulders and he leaned against the wall outside the door. Sven touched his arm and pointed to the elevator. The doors had just opened and two security guards marched purposefully toward the three men. Walt muttered under his breath and stood up as the two guards stopped in front of him.
“Excuse me, sir, but do you have business here in the hospital?”
The two guards held their hands on the guns holstered on their hips and stared straight into his eyes. They tensed up and crouched a little when he made a move toward the inside pocket of his jacket. Walt stopped the movement and said,
“Identification in my pocket.”
One of the guards patted the front of his jacket and then gestured for him to pull out the identification. Walt handed it over and tersely explained his mission. He gestured toward the woman who’d appeared in the doorway. The second guard radioed the information in and waited for a response from his boss. He clicked off the radio and said, calmly,
“Ma’am, if you’ll just come with us down to the security office. You gentlemen can follow us and talk to the captain. We have a room you can use to talk with Ms. Kirk. You know, you should have come to us in the first place.”