The pen is mightier than the sword,
Derek mused as he woke on Saturday morning.
Armed with the knowledge gained because others had the foresight to
write it down, I can go into battle against this situation. I will have the advantage that everyone
before me has lacked.
The Enforcers .. in all likelihood
will not be able to enter. That’s why
none of them have any experience of this.
Whatever they do to disperse this bubble must be accomplished from the
outside. A two pronged attack. The classic pincer movement which has worked
so well in the past.
He sat up at the knock on his
door. “Who is it?”
“It’s me,” Alex called. “Philip and I are going to breakfast.”
“I’ll be there shortly.”
Derek had arrived around eight the
preceding evening and Alex had briefed him on their findings to date and their
interview sessions. She’d gone to speak
with more families of other, earlier victims while Philip had started work on the
laptop.
“Those people are suffering so much,”
she’d concluded. “They don’t know if
their sons or daughters, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, even parents are
alive or dead. They can’t mourn, they
can’t hope. They’re just as stuck as
the people they’ve lost.”
“Every disappearance was preceded by,
or coincided with, a storm that .. never quite happened?” Derek had
queried. “There was rain, but that’s
about it.”
“So it seems,” she’d agreed,
nodding. “It means we’ve been able to
pinpoint the time of each disappearance to within an hour, at least where there
are weather records.”
Derek had nodded. “What does it mean, Alex?”
She’d blinked. “I don’t understand.”
“All right. Let’s consider. Mr and
Mrs A are driving along the highway.”
“Okay. They either trigger the storm or the storm heralds the arrival of
the bubble – ” she’d said but Derek had shaken his head. “We can’t determine that unless we go out
there.”
“Alex, think. It doesn’t matter which comes first. Mr and Mrs A are driving along the highway.”
She’d thought. “The storm hits.”
Derek had nodded encouragement. “And?”
“Right.” She’d sat up. “They look
for shelter. Pull off the road.”
“Exactly. When they do that .. they enter the interface. It’s a natural reaction, to slow down in
torrential rain, to look for somewhere to wait it out.”
“But, according to the police, there’s
nothing along that stretch of road. You
can see for miles. It’s just
grassland.”
“In rain that heavy, you can hardly
see anything. And, in the bubble, there
is a town. Between the two is an interface. Who knows what people see in that? It could be anything.”
She’d left him to unpack and settle
in. Derek had slept well for the first
time in days. Alex and Philip hadn’t
gone into the field in a rash attempt to get answers. They’d been methodical, logical, covering the bases, reining back
the impatience despite the anxiety and concern.
Derek called Rachel before he went
down to breakfast. It rang for several
seconds before she answered.
“Hello ..?”
“Did I wake you? I’m sorry if I did,” Derek responded.
“Oh .. yeah, but I needed a wake up
call so you did me a favor.”
“How soon can you leave?”
He heard her sigh. “I have two follow up sessions today,
Derek. These patients are too
vulnerable to be left alone for long.
I’m hoping that today will see them all right to last a week.”
“Can’t you .. ask a friend to cover
for you?” he suggested.
“Not after it’s taken this long to
build up this level of trust! How would
they feel if, during a personal crisis, a complete stranger turned up? No,” she refused, then paused. “Look, I can call a few friends, pull in a
couple of favors, an’ ask them to keep an eye on my patients but .. if I’m
needed back here, I really have to leave an’ return to the city.”
“Of course. I understand.”
“As for traveling down, I may be able
to get away early evening.”
“No.”
He straightened. “Tomorrow will
be fine. I don’t want to risk you
taking a wrong turn in the darkness on a strange road and ending up in a bad
place. Drive down tomorrow, in
daylight. And come via San Jose then
cut across. It’s safer.”
“Okay. Well, thanks for the wake up call. I’ll see you tomorrow sometime, I hope.”
*****
Merlin woke and glanced sideways. Nick was fast asleep beside her. She grinned. She hadn’t heard him come in last night but that was an
improvement because he hadn’t come in at all the night before. He was sprawled on his stomach, snoring
lightly. She let him sleep on.
All right, Aquila, let me have
it. What did you find?
She stepped into the shower and closed
her eyes against the water.
Nothing.
Excuse me? Nothing?
There’s nothing out there. I traveled the entire highway last night and the night before. I didn’t rush, I took my time. On both occasions, it was a beautiful
night. Warm. The stars were twinkling.
Not a cloud in the sky. And not
a thing to be seen, smelled, touched or tasted. If there’s a bubble containing a town out there, it never showed
itself to me.
Did you test for it?
I did. I probed with every sense I have. There’s just grassland on either side of the tarmac. It’s a standard two lane highway. Nothing strange in its composition. Nothing strange in the grass growing on each
side. It’s perfectly normal. I don’t know another way to say it.
Okay.
You tried. Can’t ask for more.
There was a pause.
Have you considered the possibility
that my presence prevented it from materializing?
Yeah, it had crossed my mind.
You may not be able to enter the
interface.
I thought of that too. And it may be useful. One of us standing there, invisible to
passing drivers, will render the area harmless. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to do anything other than stand
at the side of the road. It’ll be a
constant guard. And, with the bubble
unable to form, it also means that no one ever has the chance to get out.
We could assist the others .. somehow
.. and, once every one is free, enclose the area in another bubble. A force dome. It’ll stop the disappearances.
Good idea. We’ll do it after we
figure out the first part. Somehow, we
have to turn ‘somehow’ into ideas with bite.
You work on that while I enjoy the wedding. I’ll check in with you later.
Merlin took her time in the
shower. It was a warm day. The sun was shining. It was perfect for a wedding. She wrapped a towel around her body and went
to waken Nick.
“And what time did you crawl in last
night?” she demanded in a stern voice.
He jerked awake, grunting and wincing
at the light.
“Good morning,” Merlin said
cheerfully. “Hangover?”
He grunted again, rolling onto his
back. “Just a little.”
“How’s Jazz?”
“Worse than me. It was the bachelor party last night. We pack any aspirin?”
Merlin held out two pills and a glass
of water. “Shower’s waiting for you,
Nicky. You’ll feel much better when you
stagger out.”
His eyes opened a slit. “Can’t you heal me?”
She bent closer. “Not from self inflicted wounds.”
*****
Liz put down the phone. “Kevin!” she called.
“Who was it?” he called back.
“Your father.”
“Did he say what he wanted?” Kevin was upstairs, Liz was in the lounge.
“Yeah. He needs you to go pick them up.
Someone rear ended his car last night.
It’s in the shop.”
“Great … ”
Kevin padded downstairs, barefoot and
tousled from sleep. Liz regarded
him. “You could suggest they take a cab,”
she remarked.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll go pick ’em up.” He glanced at her. “Is there anything I can do while I’m out? Collect something? Go grocery shopping?”
She smiled. “It’s all done.”
“Okay. Thought I’d ask.”
“And it’s appreciated. It’s kind of you. When are you going?”
“This afternoon. I’ll be back early evening. Can they stay here or should I try and find
a hotel?”
“Of course they can stay here. They’re your parents, our kids’
grandparents. I’ll get the guestroom
ready for them.”
It was almost normal. If he closed his eyes, Kevin could imagine
it was normal. Just any other Saturday. The atmosphere in the house was back to the
way it had always been. Liz was tired
because of the baby. He was tired
because he had to work and help out in the house once he got home, plus they
had a little girl who didn’t like to feel left out.
But deep inside he knew it was just an
image, a mirage. Liz was being nice
because she felt good. She felt good
because, tomorrow, Nick would be here.
Nick Boyle, the ghost from the past.
The man who had turned her down, turned his back, and walked away. And that one action meant that, forever,
Kevin would be second choice, second best.
No matter what he did, he would never quite measure up.
“What is it, Kevin?” she asked softly,
seeing his eyes unfocus.
“Nothing. I’ll call Dad, tell him I’ll be over later.”
Liz hesitated then put a hand on his
arm. “Look, everything’s ready for
tomorrow. Why don’t we all go? It’ll be a fun trip out for Marilyn. We don’t have to rush.” She waited.
“Unless you’d rather go alone, of course.”
“No.”
Kevin was surprised and gently pleased.
“No, I think that’s a great idea.
We could use the time, Liz.
Unwind a little. Okay,
sure. Let’s do it. Can you get the kids ready for .. two?”
“Absolutely,” she smiled.
“Wanna hand with the guestroom?”
“How about you play with the
kids an’ I’ll get the guestroom ready,” she countered, laughing. “You don’t see enough of them an’ I need
time away from them.”
“Deal,” he nodded.
Damn .. but it was almost normal. Almost .. but not quite. In the background, invisible yet potent, was
the ghost from the past.
*****
“Good morning,” Derek greeted as he
sat at the table. “Philip, it’s good to
see you again.”
“Likewise,” Philip responded with a
brief nod. “You were surprised to do
that, no doubt – see me. You believed
I’d throw caution to the wind and go off on some harebrained race into danger.”
“Can you blame me?” Derek queried in a
mild voice.
“Not in the slightest. I’ve been known to have my moments,” Philip
grinned. “But you sent me a stable
influence to be my partner.”
“I wouldn’t be so quick to judge,”
Alex remarked. “If this had just been
the Brompton family, I think we would have driven along that highway by now,
just to check it out. The fact that
this investigation turned out to be so much bigger meant we had plenty to do
while we waited for the others.”
“For me, at least,” Derek
commented. “I called Rachel
earlier. She won’t be leaving
today. I told her not to risk the
journey at night.” He paused to study
the menu. “I think I’ll call her
again. See if she can find some
contacts in this area who would be prepared to help the families come to
terms. As you say, they don’t know
whether to mourn or to hope for the best.
We could try bringing them together to form a self support group. They could talk out their frustrations and
their pain. It won’t make anything go
away but they would be with others in the same situation. People who are sharing the same emotions and
who would, therefore, understand.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Alex
agreed. “Philip?”
“It’ll certainly help the families in
this area. Not all the victims are
local, though. Their families won’t be able to share in this.”
“We must do what we can, Philip, and
acknowledge the fact that we cannot do everything. If we could,” Derek replied, “the world would either be a better
place or in total anarchy.” He looked
across the table. “Have you heard
anything from Nick?”
“Not yet,” Alex answered. “To be honest, I didn’t expect to. You know Nick and his friend Jazz. They will have been celebrating and catching
up on old times. If he’s thought of us once, I’ll be amazed.”
*****
“How do you feel now?” Merlin asked.
“Like something the cat dragged in,”
Nick replied. “But that’s better than I
felt before. Then, I felt like
something the cat threw up before it
dragged it in.”
“Can you face breakfast?”
“Not yet. Maybe brunch.” He shifted
position. “You go on.”
She nodded slowly. “Y’know, you’d make a very good
Enforcer. We’re the same way when we
get hurt. We don’t do sorry for
ourselves very well. We were put on
this earth to be warriors, Nick, not martyrs.”
Merlin flexed a hand and held it to his forehead. “I’m not curing you, okay? Just bringing you up to a level of
reasonable competence so you can quit being a martyr.”
The pain left his eyes and his
expression loosened from the tight mask it had been. “Okay, I can manage some coffee now. An’ maybe some scrambled eggs with toast .. an’ a couple of bacon
strips.”
They went to the diner on the other
side of the parking lot.
“What d’you remember of the party last
night?” she asked.
“Not a whole lot. There were some Team guys there. Not everyone can make it today so some came
up for last night. God only knows how
they got back again. I met Jazz’s best
man. Nice guy. It’s his present swim buddy.” Nick shrugged. “He said, if Mikey had refused, I was the next choice. I’m kinda glad Mikey accepted.”
“Why’s that?”
“I’m not up to taking care of the
rings an’ making speeches. I’m just
about ready to sit somewhere quiet about half way back an’ watch.”
“Is Jazz gonna be okay?” Merlin
wondered. “Is he even awake yet?”
“I’ll go check .. after breakfast.”
They gave their order to the waiter.
“So .. what’s Aquila found out?” Nick
asked.
“Nothing. I’m gonna go into this blind, if I can get in at all. She was out on the highway the last two
nights and, to put it simply, she found fuck all. There’s nothing there to
find. We think that her being in the
area could have prevented the bubble appearing. We may have that wrong but, if it’s true, we’ve found a method to
stop anyone else taking a one way trip to the town with no name.”
“So Alex hasn’t ignored all the
warnings an’ gone there.”
“I don’t think she has, no. I know for sure she didn’t take a drive out
there last night or the night before.
Maybe .. if the bubble had been there during the day an’ claimed another
innocent victim, there’d be some kinda energy residue .. and Aquila didn’t
trace any. Didn’t Alex say the readings
were off?”
Nick nodded. “Yeah, she did.”
“So something happens to change the
energy composition in the area.
Nothing’s happened there for a while.”
He thought about this. “So .. it could be about due to happen
again.”
*****
“Alison, you are doing so well,
really. I wouldn’t lie to you because
it would serve no purpose,” Rachel said, leaning forward. “An’, with this daily plan, you could make
some great strides, you really could.
Now, I know you find that difficult to believe right now but I want you
to trust me.”
“I do,” Alison nodded quickly.
“Okay. Now, I have to go outta town for a week but,” Rachel went on as the blood fled from Alison’s face and she
looked scared, “here’s my card. If you
need to talk, call me. If you need to
see me, call me an’ I’ll come straight back.
I’m only down the coast a little way, just a few hours. If you’re really panicked an’ you can’t
wait, call this number right here an’ a friend of mine will come by an’ wait
with you till I arrive. His name is
Steven. He’s a therapist, like I
am. I’ve told him you may call him an’
he’s fine with that. In return, I want
you to not only promise me you’ll try this plan but also to stick with it. Just for a week, at first. All the exercises, every day. Lifestyle changes – they’re not many an’ you
can easily incorporate them into your schedule. Small changes to your diet.
Okay? Will you promise me?”
“An’ I can call you any time?”
“Sure. Day or night.”
“Okay. I promise. I’ll give it a
real try, Dr Corrigan.”
“Good for you. An’, if I don’t hear from you, I’ll call when I’m back in the city to
schedule your next appointment.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“You’re very welcome. You’re doing really well, Alison. I’m proud of you. Take care now.”
Rachel escorted her to the door and
waved, then closed it and breathed a sigh of relief. It had hardly left her body when the phone rang.
“Never rains but it pours,” she
muttered, going to get it. “Rachel
Corrigan.”
“Rachel, it’s Derek. Can you talk?”
“Yeah. I’m between appointments.
What’s up?”
“A little something you can do to help
us before you drive down.”
“Okay, I’m listening.”
Derek explained his idea and why he
felt it was needed. Rachel was nodding
as she listened.
“Sure, I can make a few calls, see if
I can get some support for these people.
You want me to call you back?”
“That’s not necessary. Bring the information with you. Thank you, Rachel.”
“No problem.”
She hung up and went thru to her
consulting room, picked up the phone in there and opened her address book. It was one positive way to spend the time
before her next patient arrived.
*****
Now he was in the area, Derek wanted
to go take a look at the suspect highway.
Suddenly, Alex’s restraint seemed remarkable. It was that steel backbone asserting itself. Instead, Derek pored over the map, trying to
visualize the reality from what was, essentially, a diagram.
Alex knocked on his door. “Come in!” Derek called.
“Derek, I went back to see Detective
Redding to tell him what we’ve found so far.
He let me keep these photographs.
Officer Houseman took them for us yesterday.”
Eagerly, Derek accepted them and gazed
at a picture of a road. It was nothing
special, just a road. There was miles
of grassland to either side. Abruptly,
his world vanished into the monochrome of vision.
He didn’t see the town this time. Instead, he stood at the side of the
highway. It was a bright, clear
day. He could feel the warmth of the
sun, smell the particular aroma of warm grass.
Butterflies danced in the stalks.
Birds soared overhead. There was
.. nothing there to cause alarm. The
highway ran straight in both directions.
As he looked, a station wagon drove toward him, passed him, drove
on. Nothing happened. Derek watched it head into the distance.
“Derek ..?” Alex ventured.
He snapped back to reality .. or the
vision threw him out. “I saw the road.”
“The one in the town?”
“No, the highway. This
highway,” he said, handing the photos back to her. “It seems normal. I
watched a station wagon pass me, and drive into the distance. Nothing happened. It’s a quiet stretch of road, nothing more. Yet it is
obviously so much more. It guards its
secrets, Alex.”
She sat down at the table in the
window of his room and, for a moment, didn’t say a word. Then Alex drew in a breath. “Is it possible that .. this bubble picks its victims?”
Derek raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”
“I have nothing to base this on,” she
warned. “There’s no real evidence as
such. It’s .. a gut feeling. Most of the reports I’ve read say that the
victims were on their way home. That
means it’s probable that they traveled that highway earlier the same day or the
day or days before. Could they have
been marked in some way during their first trip?”
“Interesting. And, yes, it’s possible. Even those who apparently had never traveled
that road could have used it previously, maybe weeks or months before. It means, of course, that this bubble isn’t
as random a phenomenon as we thought.
It suggests that someone is directing it. Taking these people on purpose.”
“But .. why?” Alex frowned.
“Another question with, as yet, no
answer,” Derek replied.
*****
Somehow, and Nick couldn’t begin to
guess how, Jazz made it to the church on time.
He looked a little pale, a little uneasy on his feet, but he was there,
upright and coherent. Mikey, standing
beside him, looked paler and more queasy.
Nick took his seat. Merlin sat beside him, and she was as good
as her word. She was not embarrassing
him in any way. She wore a turquoise
silk sleeveless top, a wrap around silk skirt in the same color and it
completely covered her legs. On her
feet, she had a pair of stick heel sandals in a slightly darker shade of
aquamarine. Her hair was brushed and
twisted into an elegant knot secured with a silver pin.
Nick resisted the urge to loosen his
tie. “Where’s Aquila now?” he murmured.
“Working on some ideas, I sincerely
hope.”
“Such as?” he asked, glancing at her.
“I have to face the possibility that
you’ll go in without me. Maybe Derek
will have to take my place. Therefore,
I have to do what I can to force an opening thru the interface. If it won’t appear when I’m in the area, it
makes it tough for me to do anything.
If I do find it, if I’m there when it takes you, if I can collapse it,
you may collapse with it. I don’t want
that to happen.”
“That’s good to know,” he remarked,
grinning.
“So she’s working on some ideas on how
we tackle this thing. Forewarned is
forearmed, an’ all that. Oh .. here
comes the bride,” she said, sitting up.
*****
Alex’s idea stuck like a burr in his
mind. Derek knew his visions were
rarely without purpose of some kind.
Yet .. all he’d seen was a road.
And a station wagon. Abruptly,
he felt his blood run cold. Nothing had
happened to the vehicle, not on this journey.
However, it may return along the same stretch of highway. And, when it did …
He closed his eyes, trying to recall
the exact memory of the vision. The
station wagon had driven toward him and by him in slow motion. If he could only see the license plate. The vision had been a warning. This family was the next victim. Derek concentrated, slowing his breathing. California plates. A string of numbers. They
came into focus. Yes … One two two five nine six.
Thank God. Now there is a chance.
Derek went to the phone and called
Alex’s room. He figured that she could
contact Detective Redding, have him trace the vehicle, warn the people who
owned it to change their plans. Or ..
if they’d already left, call them to say take another route home, not to use
that highway ever again.
There was no answer. Frustration began to tear at him
afresh. He rang Philip’s room.
“Come on … ” he urged.
“Hello?”
“Philip, is Alex there?”
Once, Philip might have cracked some
joke about a woman being in his room but he didn’t on this occasion. Some quality in Derek’s voice told him it
wouldn’t be appropriate or appreciated.
“What’s happened?” Philip asked
instead.
“I – ”
Without warning, he crashed into the
world of vision again. His voice
stuttered into silence, the phone gripped against his ear. He stared into another place. Grassland, as far as the eye could see. Slowly, it revolved around him, as if he
were turning. There was a group of
trees. Two tall, one slightly
shorter. He looked down, and, to his
horror, saw bones. Skulls. Scattered around. Discarded. Half buried in
the long grass but not at all hidden.
Derek caught his breath and heard a
dialing tone. “Philip ..?” he croaked.
The pounding on his door made him
jump. “Derek! It’s me! Open this door!”
Philip shouted.
Derek opened it before Philip decided
to break it down.
“What happened? Did you have some kind of fit?” Philip
asked, studying him carefully.
“No.
Another vision.” Derek swallowed
and shook his head. “My God, Philip,
what are we dealing with here ..?” he whispered.
“Sit down,” Philip urged. “I’ll get Alex.”
*****
Nick watched Jazz and Janice exchange
their vows. It brought back memories of
his own wedding. This wasn’t quite as
serious as the ritual Nick had gone thru.
Jazz wasn’t speaking before an archangel with God as his witness, but it
was just as solemn and just as sincere.
He glanced at Merlin and saw she was smiling slightly. Nick squeezed her hand.
“By the power vested in me by the
state of California, I pronounce that Greg and Janice are husband and
wife. Congratulations,” the minister
said. “You may kiss your bride.”
Janice’s mother was crying. Jazz’s father smiled proudly. Mikey looked like he was going to pass out.
“A job well done,” Merlin nodded. “And now we party.”
*****
“Derek ..?” Alex began, her voice
alarmed. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It just .. struck me without warning, in the middle of a phone
call. I’m sorry I scared you,
Philip. Alex, you have to contact that
detective. I must speak with him.”
“What did you see?” Philip asked,
watching Derek pace in agitation.
“Bones, skeletons, skulls. I can show him where they are but it means I
have to go out there. I saw it,
Alex. I know where they can be found. He’ll never find them if he looks by
himself.”
“All right,” Alex nodded but her eyes
expressed her reluctance.
“Philip, you need to speak with the
other police officer.”
“Officer Houseman?” Philip
queried. “Why?”
“Yes.
Him. He has to trace a
California license plate. One two two
five nine six. The station wagon from
my earlier vision, Alex,” he went on, turning to her. “I thought I was just seeing the road but I wasn’t. The station wagon was driving along the
highway and nothing happened. I saw it
for a reason. I think the occupants are
the next victims. They cannot drive
back that way. They need to be tracked
down, located. Warned.”
Philip nodded. “I’m on it.”
“Pray God we are in time,” Derek
muttered.
“Amen,” Philip breathed.
*****
Within the hour, Derek was on his way
out of San Stefano with Jon Redding.
Alex insisted on going with them.
“You might have told me you were
bringing in a psychic,” Redding remarked.
“It’s all part of the way we work,”
Derek replied. “And this is a break for
you. Something tangible to work with.”
He spoke briskly, his voice
clipped. A stranger, like Redding,
might have taken this as aloofness or distance but Alex knew it came from a
burning need to be doing something.
Derek was scanning the land on either
side of the highway, looking for one particular clump of trees. Thankfully, the area was mostly grassland
and the trees were either single or the clumps were widely spaced apart. They could be easily seen and identified.
“Part of me is hoping you’ve gotten
this so wrong,” Redding commented. “All
the time these people are only missing, there’s hope they’ll turn up
someplace. If there really are bones …
”
“It’s murder,” Alex concluded.
“There.” Derek pointed at a group of trees on the horizon. “That’s them. Two tall, one slightly shorter.”
“Have you ever searched over there?”
Alex asked.
“No.
It’s too far from the highway.”
He sounded embarrassed. “You
have to understand, Ms Moreau, Dr Rayne, Rick and I were looking for possible
car wrecks. Injured people. We searched, an’ thoroughly, but
concentrated on a five hundred yard strip next to each side of the road. Those trees are miles away.”
Carefully, he steered off the road and
began a slow, rolling progress thru the grass.
“You say they’re not buried?” Redding
queried.
Derek shook his head. “Not as you would normally mean. Buried in the grass, yes, but not in the
earth. They’re just .. scattered
around. Discarded. It was a terribly callous act, as if these
bodies had no value, not in death, not in life.”
Alex was watching the sky as well as
the direction they were taking. It was
still calm and sunny, not a cloud to be seen.
She hoped it would stay that way.
*****
Merlin emerged from the ladies
restroom and Nick’s jaw unhinged.
“I was perfectly discreet during the
service,” she remarked. “This is a
party. I always dress for the occasion.” She watched his eyes travel down her
body. “All I’ve done is remove the long
skirt.”
His eyes trailed up again.
“Don’t you like it?” she asked.
He swallowed.
The skirt was short. Strips of satin in dark and mid blue,
turquoise, aquamarine and white were woven into a patchwork effect which ended
toward the upper part of her tanned, toned thighs.
“It cost a lotta money last time I was
in Rome,” Merlin commented.
“I like it. An’ so does every other guy in the room.”
“I’m not with every other guy in the
room, Nicky. I’m with you.”
His eyes kindled and he took her
hand. “Let’s party.”
*****
“California plates?”
“Yes,” Philip nodded. “He was specific on that.”
“An’ you’re sure these are the correct numbers.”
“As sure as we can be.”
Rick Houseman typed in the string and
hit the search icon. “How’d you get
this, Father Callahan?”
“A friend saw it in a vision.”
He said it so matter-of-factly that
Houseman didn’t react for a moment.
Then he glanced round. “A vision. You mean .. like a psychic vision?”
“Does it matter? Is there a vehicle with those license
plates?”
Houseman looked back at the screen and
blinked in surprise. “Yeah. An’ it’s a station wagon. Not exactly what I’d call local though. It’s registered to a family in
Watsonville. Kevin Sumner.”
“Can you trace him? Call him?
Warn him not to go home along that highway?” Philip demanded.
“I can try.”
“Try hard,” Philip ordered.
*****
“Stop here,” Derek instructed.
Redding obediently braked. They all sat still for a moment, reluctant
to discover the truth. Then Derek
moved, opening the door and climbing out.
“Ms Moreau .. what if this entire
field is some kinda dumping ground?” Redding asked quietly. “What if I do have a serial killer on the loose?”
Alex regarded him. “You really believe that’s what’s been going
on here?”
He couldn’t answer that. “I thought .. it was just missing
persons. A mystery. It wasn’t quite a joke assignment – I take
it very seriously an’ so does Rick – but .. there was never any starting
point. What if a serial killer has been
at work .. an’ I’ve just let him go on because I never knew? Because I didn’t investigate it properly.”
“Detective, your first case was back
in thirty four. That’s sixty seven years
ago,” Alex pointed out. “How old is
your serial killer going to be? In his
eighties? Or has it been passed down,
father to son, mother to daughter? I
don’t think, not for one second, this is as simple as all that.”
“Here!” Derek called, pointing.
*****
Rachel drove to the ATM to get money
to leave for Kat. She’d managed to
contact a counselor in Hollister who was prepared to organize a self support
group in San Stefano and she would do it for free. Kathy Perkins was state registered, and she had been instantly
sympathetic to the situation. Rachel
had promised to call her again tomorrow with some names and numbers.
She felt she’d achieved some good
results today. Alison was prepared to
try the plan for a week at least and Rachel believed she would succeed. Success would strengthen her, open her eyes
a little to the possibilities of what more she could accomplish on her
own. Alison might not get thru the week
without calling, but Rachel felt she wouldn’t need to return. Alistair was a different matter but he’d
agreed to call Steven if he ran into problems.
He had a plan to work to as well.
He was determined but he needed almost constant reassurance that he was
worthwhile.
She took out cash for her trip as well
as cash for the house. She was all
packed, ready to leave in the morning.
Tomorrow, she would face a new set of problems, problems not so easily
resolved. For now, though, she was in a
little haven of peace and Rachel decided to enjoy it while she could.
*****
Jon Redding hunkered down and passed a
trembling hand over his eyes. He hadn’t
expected this. He’d never even imagined
this.
Alex was carefully moving around,
counting skulls. She’d already skirted
the perimeter and established the area containing the bones was about fifty by
twenty yards. As Derek had described,
none of them had been given a proper burial.
They’d just been thrown there and the grass had grown to cover them.
The most horrible part for all of them
was that the skulls were of various sizes.
Some were clearly adult. Some
were those of children.
“This is the worst thing I’ve ever
seen,” Redding muttered as he straightened.
“You should be able to identify some
of them, if not all,” Derek commented solemnly. “Dental records. DNA
analysis. You have a list of
people. At least, now, you can make
some headway into clearing up some of those reports and closing them.”
Redding nodded. “I’ll call Rick. Get a forensics team out here.
I guess I should say thanks, but … ”
“It sticks in your throat,” Derek nodded. “I understand.”
*****
Rick Houseman’s line was busy because
he was on the phone. It rang and
rang. He was aware of Philip’s
curiously intense and direct gaze on the back of his neck.
“Well?” Philip demanded.
Houseman slowly shook his head. “There’s no answer. They’re not at home.”
“Call another number!”
“What other number? This database isn’t tapped into the CIA,
Father Callahan. There’s no way I can
reach these people to warn them. If
they were local, maybe I’d know if they have family elsewhere, but they live in
Watsonville. That’s over on the
coast.” Houseman shrugged helplessly as
he hung up. “They’re on their own in
this. My hands are tied.”
“How can you say that? How can you write them off as if they have
no value?” Philip was angry and it
showed. “Call other police departments
in other towns! Set up a roadblock or
something.”
“What crime have they committed? Father, I know you’re worried. I’m
worried. The plain fact is .. I have no
authority to order a roadblock for people who are not wanted in connection with
a crime. It costs money and the boss
isn’t going to agree to it.”
Philip turned away in disgust.
The phone rang and Houseman scooped it
up. “Yeah. Oh, hi, Jon. What
..? Okay, I’m on it.”
“What is it?” Philip asked sullenly.
“Your friend Alex an’ that other guy
.. they’ve found bones. Lots of bones. I have to get a forensics team out there.”
“Well,” Philip said, a little nastily,
“let’s hope none of them disappear as
well, eh? I’m sure, if they did, the
money wouldn’t be such a big problem.”
*****
As the afternoon drifted toward
evening and the forensics team called it a day and made plans to get back on
site in the morning, Kevin Sumner said, “Are you sure? It’s no big deal. There’s plenty of room in the station wagon an’ we have the
guestroom all ready for you.”
“I overreacted, son. I forget your mother can drive an’ she has
her little compact. We’ll fetch
ourselves over. I’m sorry I got you all
the way out here for nothing.”
“It wasn’t for nothing,” Liz
smiled. “We had a nice trip out
here. We needed the time out, Dad. An’ Marilyn loves coming here. But it is getting late and it’s a big day
tomorrow for us.”
Kevin nodded. “Well, Dad, if you’re sure – ”
“We are. Very sure. We’ll see you
tomorrow.” He glanced up. “You’d best get going, Kevin. Looks like a nasty storm’s on the way. Don’t wanna get caught in it.”
Kevin looked up too. The sky was growing black toward San
Stefano.
“You’re right. C’mon, honey, Marilyn. Time to hit the road.”
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