THE BANDIT QUEEN - Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

Ray and Wendy soaked their bruised and cut feet in the privacy of their motel room. Neither one of them had made the inevitable call to announce the failure of their little foray into the wilderness. Darkness fell quickly in the valleys between the mountains and they’d stumbled up to the cabin just before the light disappeared. They’d dropped into the seats of their SUV with great sighs of relief and settled in to wait for Deakin and Eden to return for their car. Ray started the engine and turned on the heater to warm them up. The headlights automatically turned on and shone on the rocks and trees behind the cabin. It took them several minutes to realize that Deakin’s car was no longer parked in front of theirs. They jumped out and circled the cabin without any luck. Somehow, those two kids had beaten them back and driven away. Now they really had to confess their failure, but neither of them was in any hurry to do so.


Walt Rogers stood outside the large building on the campus of the University of Chicago. Two large men flanked him. Hefty blonde Sven Douglas and dark Albert Harris were menacing enough to scare 99% of the people they questioned. The other 1% were either too stupid to be scared or too tough to be scared of anything human. One doctor named Marianne Wolfe would surely fall in with the 99%. Walt brushed a few creases from his suit and entered the building with his escort. To his surprise, three security guards met them inside the front door and demanded to see their identification. With a sinking feeling in his gut, Walt handed over his identification and waited impatiently while his name was entered on some sign-in sheet. He then signed his name and started to walk away. The guards stopped him and made him wait while the other two men went through the same procedure. Then two of the guards patted the men down and ushered all three of them into a large conference room.
A heavyset woman with flecks of gray in her short black hair sat on the far side of the table with her hands held tensely in her lap. Her eyes darted from one man to the next until she’d decided she didn’t know them. Her voice carried easily in the room and she asked,
“Who are you and why are you here?”
Walt Rogers introduced himself and pulled out the chair directly across the table from the woman. “I assume you are Dr. Marianne Wolfe. I’ve been sent to ask you a few questions about the past. I hope you’ll answer them as truthfully as you can.” He smiled ingratiatingly at her.
Dr. Wolfe stared at the two men standing behind Walt’s chair and then at the security guards flanking the closed door. She nodded her head and pulled out a small voice-activated recorder.
“Would you please repeat your name and the number from your identification? And then the other two gentlemen can do the same. Then you can ask your questions and I will decide whether they can be answered or not.”
Walt stared at the tiny machine on the table in disbelief and said forcefully, “No recording. Uh-uh, no-no, not at all. My agency doesn’t allow the outside taping of any interrogation. You’ll just have to turn off that machine right now and then we can get on with business.”
Dr. Wolfe folded her hands in her lap and stared at the man across the table from her. The silence stretched to a breaking point. Walt’s two backup men broke first and shuffled their feet. They fidgeted with their jackets and jingled the change in their pockets. Walt shifted his position in his chair several times and tried to stare down the woman. The security guards shared tiny smiles over the discomfort of the men. They knew Dr. Wolfe very well and figured she could keep silent for a long time.
After just about the longest ten minutes of his life, Walt Rogers slammed his hand down on the table with a loud smack and said,
“Goddammit, what the hell is going on here? Turn off that damned machine so I can ask you some questions.”
Marianne Wolfe sat silently in her chair and contemplated Walt’s agitation. She’d made a mental bet with herself that he wouldn’t last fifteen minutes without speaking. He’d only lasted ten minutes. One point to her side. Next he’d probably damage her recorder and expect her to give in. He certainly hadn’t done his homework. Her last interrogation had left her with multiple fractures in both legs. What made this pathetic little man think he could make her talk if she chose not to?
Walt slowly stood up and leaned menacingly across the table. He stared into Dr. Wolfe’s calm eyes. What he read there made him angrier than before. He raised his hand to smash the recorder but the slither of guns being pulled from holsters stopped him in midair. Like some stupid beginner, he’d forgotten about the guards behind him. They must have thought he was about to hit the woman instead of the recorder. Walt slowly straightened up and walked stiffly to the door. His two satellites drifted in his wake. The guards kept their guns drawn while escorting the men from the building. Marianne Wolfe waited until they had left the room before she shook the tension from her neck and reached for her metal crutches. She slowly pulled herself to her feet and inched her way to the door. Maybe those men really would leave her alone this time, but she wasn’t going to hold her breath.
Marianne waited until she was seated behind the desk in her own office before she popped the cassette from the recorder and dropped it into her briefcase. Then she pulled out her cell phone and punched in a long series of numbers.
“Mala, dear, this is Marianne. Some dreadful little man came to see me but he never got around to asking me any questions. There was some sort of disagreement with the security guards. He will probably follow me when I leave here so pick somewhere safe for us to meet. I will wait in my office to hear from you.”


Walt Rogers smacked his hand on the roof of his car until the palm turned red and stung like crazy. Then he sent Sven and Harris to stake out different campus exits. He planned to wait here for Dr. Wolfe to leave her office. His plan changed when a security car pulled up beside him and asked him to move his car to another parking lot. He swallowed his anger and meekly drove off the campus, turned around, and returned to his original position. Surely the good doctor would leave before the guards drove past again. This time he slid down in the driver’s seat and kept one eye on the front door of the building and one eye on the rear view mirror. After an hour, he started his car and drove around the campus looking for the Mercedes-Benz registered to Dr. Wolfe. He finally found it parked next to a van with a Press card on the dashboard. A sign on the door said it belonged to The Journal of Applied Physics. As he watched, a man walked out of the building and unlocked the van. He pulled out a stack of glossy magazines and carried them into the building. He returned for another load about ten minutes later. The man brushed his thick brown hair out of his eyes and looked around the parking lot before locking his van and disappearing into the building.
More security guards showed up and this time they escorted Walt off the campus and asked him not to return. He sent Sven in to watch the doctor’s car while he waited outside the main entrance to the campus. Sven watched the Mercedes for thirty minutes before Walt thought to ask him if the van was still parked next to it.
“God damn it, why didn’t you tell me it was gone?”
“What the hell do you mean, Walt? I called you when I got into position but you never answered. So I’ve been watching the Mercedes every since. Anyway, how could I tell you it was gone if I never knew it was there in the first place? Why didn’t you ask about it before now?”
Walt narrowed his eyes and stared fixedly at the small phone in his hand. He finally shook off his thoughts and said, “Oh, just forget it, Sven. Let’s get out of here. We have to find the office of that journal.”


Ian Nelms and Marianne Wolfe had waited until Walt had been shepherded away before they walked slowly to the van. Mala Allen helped Marianne into the back of the van with her and they drove away.
Mala held Marianne’s hand tightly and turned her head away so her old friend wouldn’t see the tears sliding down her cheeks. Ian Nelms glanced at the two women and asked,
“Where are we going? My office and my apartment are out.”
Mala looked questioningly at Marianne and waited for her to speak. “I’d say a change of car is the first order of business. I’m sure that man saw the sign on the door. Park the van in its regular place and we’ll take the train to a friend’s house out by Argonne. He’s been searching for Marina since I first heard from you. Hopefully, he’ll have some news for us.”
Mala fidgeted in her seat and then asked, “Can we trust him? Are you sure he’ll keep our secrets?”
Marianne Wolfe patted the small hand clasped tightly in her own. “Don’t worry, little one. He hasn’t given anything away yet. His name is Martin and he’s my son.”
“I didn’t know you had children. How old is he and where has he been all this time?”
“Don’t be so credulous, Mala. Evan and I were the eldest of the group. It wasn’t anyone’s business but my own, so I never told anyone about Martin. He lived with his father until I recovered enough to take up teaching again. Now he works at Argonne and has been borrowing their computers to search for Helena’s sister.”

Mala, Ian and Martin hurried from the warm terminal at the Seattle airport and jumped into the taxi at the curb. They huddled in separate corners as the taxi slowly churned its way through the icy slush to the address Martin had found in the State Department files. Marina Rimchova had never left the Seattle area. She had married, changed her name, and moved to a new address. Marina Kirk supposedly lived with her husband Wilson and their three children on a quiet street in Seattle. Mala had left a message on her voice mail but had received no reply.
Martin jumped out of the taxi and carefully navigated the slushy sidewalk up to the neat brick house with lights shining out into the grayness of late afternoon. A child answered the door and held the door open in invitation. Martin waved to the other two in the taxi. The three of them stamped their feet on the mat inside the door and waited in silence for someone else to speak. A small dark woman stood in the doorway to the kitchen. She wore the brightly patterned scrubs of a nurse and glanced fearfully around at the three school-age children watching TV in the living room. Finally, she motioned the three people into her kitchen and busied herself making hot tea for them. Without a word she set cups on the kitchen table along with a plate of moist dark spice bread.
Marina nervously twisted her wedding ring around and around her finger as she asked, “What are you doing here? My children don’t know anything about what happened so long ago and my husband doesn’t want to remember it. We have a good life. Please go away and forget about me.”
Mala reached out and placed her hand over Marina’s and said, “We had to come. Things are starting to happen again and we want to stop it all. Dr. Phillips has already been contacted and so have I. This young man is Marianne Wolfe’s son, Martin. Three men visited her just yesterday but found out nothing from her. This other man is Ian Nelms and he has been helping me hunt for you. We’re hoping you know some little something that could help us find what Helena and Alex hid away.”
Tears formed in Marina’s eyes and slowly slid down her cheeks. “But I never knew anything about their work. The only thing of theirs I ever had was their son and those horrible men took him away from me. Why is this starting all over again? Fifteen years is a very long time. Surely their work is of no interest to any one anymore.”
Ian Nelms cleared his throat and said, pedantically, “Well, it’s true that a lot of new ideas have been introduced during those years, but their research could still be the pivotal point for a great many new applications. One of the original group of scientists still works at Los Alamos trying to duplicate Helena’s process, but he hasn’t been successful. But that’s all beside the point. They’re not the ones who’ve rekindled the interest. It’s the boy who’s started it all over again.”
Marina looked at the three people in bewilderment. “What boy? What do you mean?”
Mala said softly, “Why, Alex and Helena’s son, of course. Deakin has come back to life and seems to be asking a lot of questions. We have no idea where he’s been or how he found out about his parents. None of us have even seen him. Evan Phillips heard from him in a roundabout way and told him to get in touch with me. After Evan called me, I immediately left for Chicago to consult with Ian and Marianne. A strange boy, who swore he was only a friend of Deakin’s, got a message through to me and I faxed a letter to Deakin telling him I was looking for you, dear. I don’t think he would have followed me to Chicago. Shall I call the number I was given and leave a message for Deakin? Should he call me or meet us or what?”
Into the silence that followed, Martin Wolfe spoke for the first time. “I’m just a little confused. Just exactly how old is this Deakin? And what does he think he can actually find after all these years?”
Marina raised her head and said with amazement, “Deakin must be almost eighteen years old. Where has he been all this time? Who did he live with? What kind of person is he?”
“Slow down, Marina. We don’t know the answers and it really doesn’t matter either. The only thing that matters is that someone out there wants to stop him. They either don’t want him to find out anything or they want to control his search. They obviously think he might find some of the records Helena hid away. Our next question is: do we help the boy with his search or do we disassociate ourselves from the whole situation?”
The two women stared at Ian and both spoke at once.
“Of course, we have to help the boy.”
Martin broke into the conversation. “There is no ‘of course’ about it at all. My mother was involved in the first investigation and she has never gotten over it. Mrs. Kirk has a husband and three children. She can’t actively risk their lives for this. What we need from Mrs. Kirk is her memories of the last time she saw her sister, what they talked about, what Helena brought with her, that sort of thing. Then, we walk out of her life as if we never existed. If this whole deal ends well and we find Deakin, we’ll bring him for a visit. But, for right now, we need facts.”
Martin pulled a small recorder out of his jacket pocket and set it on the table. “Shall I ask you questions to begin with?”
Marina shook her head decisively. She brushed the cake crumbs on the table into a small pile and then said, in a hollow voice,
“Helena came to my apartment one night. I lived by myself then. Alex was not with her but she brought the baby. She only stayed one night. Late the next afternoon she drove back to Los Angeles by herself. Deakin was almost a year old by then and crawling all over the floor. Helena brought clothes, bottles, toys, and a few books. Mostly she told me about the baby and what he liked and didn’t like. Just before she left, she said she was afraid to keep him with her. Her work was getting very serious and she was spending more and more time away from home. Then she said, ‘Just like father.’ I didn’t ask her any questions after that.”
Martin looked at her quizzically, and asked, “Why not?”
Marina waved her hand in the air. “Oh, that was a very bad time in our childhood. Our father was a scientist in the Soviet Union. I never even knew what he was working on. I just remember that he rarely came home and when he did show up, he was sick and worried. He would just sit in a chair and stare at us while he struggled to breathe. He must have been asthmatic or had emphysema but he never stopped working. One day I realized I hadn’t seen him in quite a long time and I understood he was gone. I didn’t really know ‘death’ but I knew people disappeared and never came back. Mother took care of the three of us. My other sister Leah still lives in Russia. I haven’t seen her in over twenty years. Mother was very frightened of Helena’s intelligence. She didn’t want her to disappear also so she made her hide her abilities but it was too hard for Helena. All Helena wanted to do was to come to the United States to study and work. Mother made me come with her so she wouldn’t be so alone. I stayed with her until she met Alex. I went to Seattle to get away from what she was doing. It frightened me terribly and I was afraid she would disappear too. And she did. I don’t know anything about what she was working on so I can’t help you at all. I don’t want to know what you’re doing either. I just want to know one thing. How is Deakin? I would like to see him sometime. He was such a beautiful baby and so smart too. He learned to talk very quickly and I taught him little rhymes. I was starting to teach him some Russian words when they took him away. Horrible, horrible men just smashed down my door and grabbed up the baby and took him away. They wouldn’t even let me pack up all his toys and clothes. Later on, a woman and a man came to get the baby’s things but I lied to them and said I’d already thrown them away. I kept them for a while until I came to understand that Deakin was never coming back, just like my father and my sister. I packed up everything and gave it all away. Why? What good would those old things be to you?”
Mala looked tiredly across the table and shook her head. “I don’t know what help any of that would be but we have to look. Do you have anything at all that belonged to your sister or to her son? Anything. A picture, a piece of paper, a memory of some favorite place or time.”
Marina pushed herself away from the table and stood up. She left the room for a few minutes and returned carrying a small shoebox. She set it on the table and untied the string looped around it. Then she carefully lifted the lid and looked inside. She slid the box across to Mala and busied herself at the stove, making another pot of hot tea. Mala reached inside the box and pulled out a small pile of papers. She spread them out on the table and carefully read each one. Yellowed newspaper cuttings told the bald tale of the accident that killed Helena and Alex. There were several dark photographs of a lovely woman with long dark hair in a single heavy braid playing on the floor with a happy baby. Martin quickly took the pictures from Mala and held them under the light. He checked the backs and read the date written in tiny figures.
“Was this the last time you saw your sister? Is this when she brought you the baby?”
Marina nodded her head sadly. “Yes, I sent her copies of those pictures and some others. Oh, not of the baby but ones from when we were children. I took those pictures because I was afraid Helena would go away and I’d never see her again. I wanted to make sure her son would know what his mother looked like. I didn’t say all this to Helena but she knew why I did it. She knew because there was no other reason for her to bring me her baby.”
Mala held up another picture of a laughing young couple. On the back was written “Alex and Helena.” Then she unfolded a birth certificate for Deakin Alex Kimbrough complete with footprint.
Marina looked up from pouring hot water into the teapot and said, “We will need that to make sure the boy really is my sister’s son.”
Mala folded it carefully and then replaced it in the box. One more memento lay in the bottom of the box and she pulled it out. She stared at the envelope with the signature scrawled over the sealed flap on the back. A piece of clear tape covered the edge of the flap and crossed the signature. Helena had left this envelope for someone. Mala turned it over and read the name written on the front. Alex, you’ll need this some day. I love you, Helena. Then in parentheses underneath her name, Helena had written For Deakin if Alex is gone.
Mala looked at her friends in confusion. “Do we open this or do we leave it here? Do we take it with us to give to Deakin when he finds us? Marina, what do you wish?”
“I wish it were all over. Since it isn’t over, I will keep the photographs and the birth certificate. You are three very strong people so you take the envelope and give it to the boy who says he is Deakin. If you are uncertain about him, then we will use the birth certificate for proof. Now, would you please go away? My husband will be home soon and he will be very angry if he finds you here.”
Mala slipped the envelope into her bag and walked out of the room with Ian and Martin, leaving the small dark-haired woman sitting at the table and staring at the steam rising from her teacup. One hand rested on the small shoebox but her mind was years in the past. None of them spoke until they were blocks away from Marina’s home and then it was only a question about where to go next.
Martin answered the question by asking the cab driver to take them to a car rental office. Los Angeles was their next destination but he didn’t want to fly there. He also desperately wanted to open the envelope. Maybe it would say where Helena had hidden the computer disks. Then they would have something to deal with and Martin could make those men leave his mother alone forever.