In the distance, the blackened skeleton of Grid Manor rose like the remains of some prehistoric beast as Aaron approached behind Ken, Marian next to him with Virginia behind. They had just been to the library, where Virginia could return the books Kilkenny had saved from the fire—and explain what happened to the ones he hadn't. Now they were going to pay a quick visit to what was left, just out of curiosity. Tontine, Black King Leo and Kilkenny had gone ahead to make sure no one was lurking at the site. Clouds in the west threatened a shower, but for now the sun was blazing, which had prompted Marian to don T-shirt and shorts, leaving her hair free.
"The hell with it," she'd said, "if they're still looking, then here I am."
Actually, her brash statement seemed to reflect the general attitude after the fire, as if the brush with death had energized everyone. Tontine's careful planning had paid off—injuries had been kept to minor cases of smoke inhalation. No one had been hospitalized, but everyone lost something in the blaze—Kilkenny couldn't grab it all. Half the night had passed before they found shelter, a run-down motel far out on Central Avenue. The fire department provided transportation, taking everything that had been saved, including Marian's chair and Betty's cart. Tontine drove his old Ford, which had escaped unscathed. Arson was the suspicion, and of course, Aaron and Marian were probably the reason.
Just as they rounded a corner two blocks from the site, Tontine, Black King Leo and Kilkenny rushed over.
"Not a good idea," Tontine said, slightly bushed. "Guys in suits are poking around."
"Guess we'd better head for the car," Virginia said. "Sorry, gang."
Aaron shrugged. "Ah, well. You've seen one burned building, you've seen them all."
"Buncha guys in suits, eh?" Ken said as the group headed away.
"Yeah," Leo said, "three or four. And a coupla cops."
"And b-boy," Kilkenny said.
"Yeah, the boy."
"What boy?"
"Some redheaded kid—
Aaron and Marian spun instantly as if on cue.
"Red—"
"Who—"
They looked at each other, Aaron indicating she should go ahead.
"You saw a redheaded boy about our size?"
"Yeah."
"Tontine, I, we, have to see him."
"Could be dangerous. He's with the guys in suits."
"I have a hunch I know who it is," Aaron said.
Tontine nodded. "Leo, come with us. The rest of you head on over to Civic Plaza."
They approached cautiously, keeping something in between as they came within a half-block. They huddled behind a set of dumpsters and peered at the wreckage. Some of the blackened girders had twisted in the heat, and the interior structure had burned out completely. In the alley, the deployed chain ladder still dangled.
"Still there," Tontine said. "The kid, too, by what used to be the first stairway."
Aaron peered through a gap between the two dumpsters. He focused on the boy's white T-shirt, blue shorts—
And flame-red hair.
He moved aside for Marian. "See what you think."
In an instant, her body tensed. "Earl."
Aaron nodded.
Tontine and Leo knelt beside them.
"The kid with red hair is Earl, one of us, a Rewoundee," Aaron said. "I don't know if he's a prisoner. He doesn't look like it. He's all by himself kind of kicking through the stuff. I'd like to get a mess—"
"Someone's talking to him, a skinny guy in a suit," Marian said.
"Can you tell how they're getting along?" Tontine asked.
"Just talking," she said. "Now they're leaving, looks like. Yes, headed for a red minivan."
"Not white?" Aaron said.
"No."
"Does it look like he's leaving voluntarily?" Tontine said.
"Evidently. The man isn't even touching him." She turned to them. "Out of sight now."
"You want to talk to that ki-person?" Tontine said.
"Yes, I want to know his status," Aaron said. "I haven't heard a thing about him all year, and he's a friend, I'd like to think. And I'm curious as to why he's in Albuquerque."
"And poking around Grid Manor," Marian said. "It's more than coincidence."
"Yeah," Tontine said. "Leo, follow them. The rest of us will wait at Civic."
"Right." Leo stood, hurried around the dumpsters.
At Civic Plaza, the group stayed in a tight knot, Marian and Aaron in the center. Talk was spare, but the wait was short. Leo came over a grassy knoll barely twenty minutes after leaving the group.
"The Hyatt," he said, pointing to a hotel rising high across the street.
Aaron looked at Marian.
"Miguel," they said together.
"Kilkenny, does Miguel work today?" Tontine said.
Kilkenny hesitated a second. "Y-yes. Convention catering, ten to six."
"Let's go."
The entire group followed him around to the employee's entrance. Tontine, Ken, Marian and Aaron went inside. Various manorites had worked there off and on, including Tontine and Ken, so they were allowed through the huge kitchen to a door opening into a large room. About a dozen men and women in snappy turquoise short jackets with tails and dark trousers carefully placed floral centerpieces on tables covered with white cloths.
A woman in white blouse and long dark skirt approached. "What's up, Tontine?"
"We need to talk to Miguel. It's urgent, but it'll be brief."
"All right."
She wound her way around the tables and spoke to Miguel, who hurried over.
"Que?"
"There's a man—boy, whatever, we think is staying here," Aaron said. "He's one of us. He's our size with bright red hair. His name is Earl Othberg. We must get a message to him and him only."
"His name again?"
"Earl Othberg." He spelled it.
"The message?"
"Tell him, tell him, Aaron says it's time to throw off the disguises and take over the planet."
"Oh, that'll be real helpful if someone hears it," Marian said.
"That's all right, they won't get it out of Miguel even if they torture him."
Miguel raised an eyebrow.
"That's for identification, so he'll know it's real. Tell him also we need to see him as soon as possible. Somewhere."
"How about the employees' entrance, about eight?" Tontine said.
Miguel nodded. "I will get the message to him."
* * *
Earl felt the cool evening touch him as he stepped through the doorway. The scent of rain still lingered, and water from the quick shower had pooled in a low spot in the sidewalk. He'd been alone in his room scanning e-mail on his laptop—a gift from the foundation—when the soft knock came. The slim, dark youth in the waitperson's uniform had delivered a startling message.
He stepped over to the puddle, tapped it with the toe of his sandal. The ripples distorted the reflection of the buildings around him. He stomped on it hard, splashing water on the parking meter pole and the car next to it.
"Mister Othberg, you're acting like a child."
Earl spun. Aaron stood next to an entrance to the underground garage wearing jeans and a T-shirt.
Earl leaped forward. "Aaron! Damn, it's good to see you!"
Aaron moved toward him and they met about halfway, grasping each other, then they embraced and slapped each other on the back. They stepped apart and gazed at each other. Aaron looked well, grin creasing his face. "How did you know I was here?" Earl asked.
"Saw you playing in the ruins of Grid Manor this afternoon," Aaron said.
"Grid Manor? You mean that homeless shelter?"
"Yeah. You look fit."
"Lots of swimming and biking. You don't look so bad yourself. Where's Marian, is she OK?"
"Marian's fine. What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you and Marian. I have a proposition for both of you."
"You're doing this of your own free will?"
Earl studied Aaron a moment. A wariness had suddenly settled into his features. "Yeah. Um, I brought some friends. You remember Jack Theodoric?"
Jack stepped out of the door.
"The FBI man? Sure, from that first day." They shook hands. "You were most kind."
"I'm very happy to see you well. I, uh, we brought some other friends."
At his gesture, Alex and Giles came out of the door. Aaron stepped back.
"This is Alexandria—call her Alex—Roth and Giles Lassiter." Jack said. "They represent the MacAlister Foundation."
"The genius grant people?"
Alex sighed. "The same."
"The foundation is making all the arrangements—"
"What arrangements?"
"I'd like to outline it with you and Marian together."
Aaron studied his shoe a moment, glancing twice at Earl. Earl, for his part, was a bit surprised; he hadn't met this kind of reticence before.
"Earl, can you trust these people?" Aaron burst out in a rush. "Can you personally guarantee neither I nor Marian will be hurt?"
What the hell has happened to them? "Yes to all your questions. I have put my own safety and life in the hands of these people. And the other members of the group have agreed to do the same."
"The other members?"
"All of us."
Aaron studied him a long moment. "I'd like you to meet a friend of mine," he finally said. "Tontine?" A tall, solid man with black hair just going to gray, grizzled beard and sharp eyes stepped around a corner. The way he stood, Earl got the impression of a coiled spring. "This is Tontine. He and some others have watched over us for a year. I trust them." He indicated the three behind Earl. "Can you say the same about them?"
"Yes," Earl said without hesitation.
Aaron looked up at the man. "I guess we should at least hear what they have to say."
The man nodded. "You yourself talked about Mr. Theodoric. I think they deserve a chance."
Aaron looked at something across the street.
"OK. Tontine, the limo, please."
The man snorted. "Right. Limo. Sure."
The "limo" was a beat-up old sedan. Jack and Earl rode in the back seat while Giles and Alex followed in a rented minivan—"Red," Aaron had said; the other man had nodded. During the drive, Aaron told Earl about the "clinic" and subsequent events.
"Do you have any idea who these people were?" Jack said.
"Nada. They were very careful not to say anything in our presence." Aaron had to peer between the seat backs to see them. "Except for Nurse Ames, and just before the Lexus got shot, she called Slick Suit Curt."
Jack tapped his teeth and looked out of the window. "And the gun?"
"Local police should still have it," the dark-haired man said.
"It'll be a start."
Earl found Aaron's descriptions of their reactions to Harold's and Alisa's deaths fascinating.
"I didn't see it until reruns the next day," he said. "I started watching standing up, and the next thing I knew I was on my butt on the floor with Walter's family bending over me. I guess it just knocked the stuffing out of me."
"Yeah." Aaron scratched an ear.
The rest of the trip was made in silence, with Earl beginning to understand Aaron's caution. And that friend—taciturn and wary, but Earl had the feeling little was escaping the dark eyes.
The friend steered the car into a parking lot surrounding a motel that charitably could be called run-down. Earl got out and stepped over to Aaron's side and waited as Alex parked the van.
"Upstairs," Tontine said and led the way up a concrete-and-metal staircase. The light in the room caused Earl to blink. Two of the standard rooms had been combined into a sort of living room. Little was done, however, to lessen the hardness of the concrete-block walls or soften the garish light from overhead fixtures. The carpet was faded and threadbare, and the shabby furniture looked about ready to collapse. This feeling was exacerbated by the sight of several people crowded into the room, sitting on the rickety tables and chairs, all watching him as he stepped inside. It took a moment to separate a coffee table placed nearly in the center of the room, and next to it, a sturdy rocking chair, out of place in the midst of tackiness. Seated in that chair was a lithe girl with extraordinarily long hair. In the next second, she was out of it and had thrown her arms around him.
"Oh, Earl, it's so good to see you," Marian said into his ear.
"Double back on that," he said, hugging her tight. They released each other, both smiling. Her eyes managed to sparkle even in the harsh light.
"Oh, Earl—God, you look great," she said.
"You look pretty smashing yourself."
In his peripheral vision, Earl caught a glance of Aaron, eyebrow arched, half-smile on his face.
"Come, sit down."
"Uh, you remember Jack Theodoric of the FBI?"
"Vaguely, yes. Hi, Mr. Theodoric."
"Jack, please. May I also introduce Alexandria Roth, AKA Alex, and Giles Lassiter from the MacAlister Foundation."
"Yes, we are the ones who go around giving money to smart people," Alex said rapidly. Then, conversationally, as she shook hands with Marian, "I am very glad to meet you."
"I, too," Giles said.
"Well, thank you all."
A couple of the people got up and moved four chairs over. Giles, Jack and Alexandria arranged theirs in a semicircle as Earl moved his next to the coffee table not far from Marian. As he sat down, a large brown-and-white cat ambled over.
"Do I pass muster?" he said to it.
"Merlin, behave." Marian curled back into the rocker. "So, what's—"
Jack stepped over to the coffee table and stared down at the cat, who looked back and said, "Mrrow?" Jack snapped his fingers and pointed at Tontine.
"You took this cat from Lovelace Hospital."
"Yes," Tontine said.
"Oh, damn, hell! We were that close and didn't follow up—fu-damnation!"
"What is it, Jack?" Alex said.
"Remember I was telling you about Marian's cat that disappeared from the hospital? This is it. And that gentleman over there was the quote, 'scruffy veteran' who took it. Instead of following the cat trail, we dropped it, assuming the scruffy man had stolen cat and money."
"That's what you were supposed to believe," Tontine said evenly. "Especially if you were someone out to hurt Marian or Aaron."
Jack shook his head. "Very nicely done," he said as he sat down.
In the silent minute that followed, Aaron sat on the end of the table next to Marian. The cat padded over to him, and he reached out and began to scratch it behind the ears. "Earl and these people have a proposition they want us to hear."
"It's about our future," Earl said. "Short-term and long-term."
He outlined the MacAlister proposal. Neither Aaron nor Marian interrupted while he spoke.
"And the others have agreed to this?" Marian said when he ran down.
"Every single one," Earl said. "And some are bringing their families." He listed those he knew. "You and Aaron will be allowed to bring anyone you wish to."
Giles gestured at the room. "Everybody, if you want."
"To a 'sanctuary.'"
"I've been to the place," Earl said. "A thousand acres of beautiful forests and meadows. It's a resort that failed, and one reason it did was because of the money sunk into it. There are two lakes, one a swimming lake where the water is conditioned and treated and kept crystal clear. The cabins are the latest in solar and wind technology and are cushy as hell. Gymnasium, tennis courts, hiking trails, satellite TV, equestrian center—the works. This is the place the foundation is proposing we live in. And grow up again in."
Marian rocked in the chair as she studied Earl. "And these people? Can we trust them?"
That suspicion again. "I'm staking everything I have on it. I have talked with Wynona MacAlister, and while it was on the phone, I believe her when she says she's doing it for us. Before we all get killed."
"Too bad she didn't do it earlier—" Aaron began.
"Yes, she regrets it very much," Alex said.
Marian rocked. Aaron continued to pet the cat, which by now had draped itself half over his lap.
"Excuse me, but I don't quite understand your reluctance," Alex said. "Everything Earl has said is true—"
"You care to repeat what you told us in the car, Aaron?" Jack said.
Aaron did, and when he finished, Alex sat back.
"Do you know who did this?" Giles said to Jack.
"No. We have suspicions, nothing proven."
Alex leaned forward. "Now I understand. I will tell you right here and now we are not those people and we will not treat you like that. No, I—" She just shook her head.
"Kilkenny," Aaron suddenly said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out something. "Go to my room, look in my backpack. Bring the object wrapped in plastic, please." He tossed a key and a wiry youth whose hair was combed impossibly neatly snatched it.
"R-right." The youth fairly leaped to the door and charged out.
"When do you hope to have the place ready?" Marian said.
"Work has been progressing very well," Giles said. "We'll be ready for tenants by the end of June. The uh, the task force wants to bring you all together to make some, uh, some measurements before then."
"I'd like to get some measurements myself," Aaron said.
The young man leaped back in, handed the object to Aaron, who struggled to pull off several layers of plastic wrap. "This is still around because of Kilkenny, who saved it from the fire." Kilkenny grinned and stuck a thumb up as he returned to his spot. "Give this to one of your friends, Earl."
Earl handed it to Alex, who read the label on the edge. "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
"You'll find a couple of episodes at the beginning," Aaron said. "About halfway through, you'll find the good stuff. I taped the conversation I had with Janessa and her shyster. I don't know if it'll be any help, but I thought I'd get it down on tape."
"You're sneaky. I'll have to remember that," Marian said. "Maybe you'll get your Maserati back."
"Afraid not," Jack said. "The man Janessa married wrecked the Maserati this last winter. Spun out on I-635 and hit an overpass abutment. He walked away, but the car was totaled. Insurance refused to pay because they had questions about transfer of title."
Aaron laughed. "Serves that asshole right."
"You trust us with this?" Alex said.
Aaron shrugged. "We have to start somewhere."
"All right, I'll make a deal." She indicated Earl. "Anything we do with this tape will be done in his presence."
Aaron nodded.
"Is there going to be a school at this place?" Marian said as everyone stood up.
"One of the first things we thought of," Giles said. "Then we remembered we're dealing with adults, not children who need to be educated."
"I wouldn't go that far," Marian said. "Perhaps offering college courses would be appropriate."
"It's under consideration, yes," Alex said.
"If it does happen," Aaron said, "then I would recommend for a staff position Dr. Virginia Barker."
Earl saw a woman sitting in a corner react as if shot.
"Medical doctor?" Alex asked.
"Uh, no, uh, doctorate," said the woman. "In particle physics. I sort of stopped. I'm not sure I could. Uh, teach, I mean." She glared at Aaron. "I'll get you for this, Fairfax."
Laughter echoed in the room.
"Normally, I'd arrange for a security detail," Jack said. "However, your group did a pretty good job protecting them, Tontine. You think you can do it a couple more days?"
"No hay problema," he said as he shook Jack's hand.
Earl's group led the way out. Outside, Marian and Aaron joined him.
"How's your nephew?"
"Oh, doing fine. They plan—huoof."
He suddenly found himself being pushed firmly along the balcony by the pair. They didn't stop until they reached a corner well away from the rest of the group. A yellow bug bulb cast a sickly light on Marian's hair.
"All right, Earl Othberg," Aaron said, "I'm asking you again, and I want the plain truth, the whole truth, out of earshot of those who control y—"
"Nobody controls me—"
"Oh, sure," Marian said. "And if you get out of line they slap you down damn quick because you are as powerless as a child."
"The scientists are going to be there, aren't they, with all their probes and tubes and stuff?" Aaron demanded.
"Yes, but with a different attitude. You should read—"
Marian jammed a finger into his chest. "I will not be a lab animal again. I will not, do you understand? I got away from that once and I will not—"
Earl grabbed her shoulders. "Marian, Marian, listen! That will not happen here. I have the personal assurance of the leaders of the task force." He let go, ran a hand through his hair, distressed at the difficulty he was having in breaking through their fear and distrust. "Look, Dr. Rolstein, Dr. Avram Rolstein, was one of the faces behind the masks at Lovelace. He's apologized to me about the treatment, in a letter and in person, and he's vowed to personally apologize to every member of the group. I had the same skepticism about the whole thing as you do. Well, maybe not completely, not having been sold and all, but I'm telling you this might be our only chance. For ourselves and for the people we love. You should see the others. They're frightened, really frightened. And you should've seen the looks on their faces when we told them about the sanctuary. Linda Rithen, tough, down-to-earth Linda Rithen, wept." He took a deep breath. "The one you really need to talk to is Dr. Miranda Sena. She's the scientific chief of the task force, and she's been riding Jack hard about you two, demanding he find you, and making him quail every time he's had to call her to tell her he's failed again. You'll like her. She's a warm, sensitive person who likes to draw pictures. She's human, too—"
"She's never talked to me—"
"Because you've been missing. Look, all I have to offer here is my word. The foundation is for real, the proposal is for real. I've seen the sanctuary site and it's a good place." He raised his hands in a supplicating gesture. "Trust me. That's all I can say."
Marian's face was in shadow because the light was behind her. Earl could see Aaron's face only in profile as they looked at each other. They stood like that for several seconds, and Earl realized how quiet things around them had become.
"All right, Earl," she said softly. "You have my trust." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.
He pulled her to him, reached out for Aaron and the three embraced there in the corner under the yellow light.
* * *
Miranda found it peaceful in the three-sided ozone shelter that not only blocked UV light but cut some of the noise around her on the beach. This was not the most elaborate shelter; it was made to be portable and go up in a hurry. It belonged to Matt Gunnarson, and she found it amusing she was sitting in his shelter.
Just as she'd found it even more amusing to find herself in his bed that morning. They'd gone out for a pre-birthday dinner the night before, and then to his apartment, where she discovered first, his wall of trophies won in triathlons and marathons and such, and second, his collection of 1930s-'40s big band records. Had to pay a fortune to find a turntable with 78 rpm still on it, he said as he put Glenn Miller on.
In the ensuing evening, she'd discovered how compassionate Matt could be. And passionate . . .
She shook her head. Don't get into that mood now.
The resonant mood had deeper roots, though. The message from the Holn still galvanized the task force, giving enough clues to send them off into frenzies. Answers at last seemed within reach.
Matt ducked inside and sat next to her on the blanket, muscles in chest and arms and legs tensing and relaxing in a coordinated, smooth dance of perfect symmetry—
"Give me that." She grabbed an iced tea from his hand. "I need it to cool off."
"Why?" He straightened, flexing shoulder and chest muscles. "Something making you hot?"
She glared at him. "Would you like to wear this?"
He laughed, relaxed. "You have a lot of gall, sitting there in your form-fitting one-piece backless beach wear, exposing long shapely legs—"
"Be quiet. The beach patrol frowns on too much physical activity."
They both laughed. "Thirty-four years old today, and I'm acting like a schoolgirl."
"Why not? You've been under a lot of stress. Physical activity is a good way to relieve that tension."
"Mmmm," she said, sucking in the cool herbal tea.
"I'll take you on a ten-mile hike with full backpack. That'll—"
A trilling cut him off. He raised an eyebrow as she closed her eyes and drank more tea. The trilling sounded again. She hunched her shoulders. Again.
"Blast!" She set the tea down, reached behind her and yanked out her cell phone. She jabbed the PHONE button and popped the screen open.
"Sena here," she snapped.
"Jack Theodoric," the voice said. "I just wanted to let you know we've found the last two of the group."
A wave of dread passed over her and thumped in her stomach. "Yes?"
"They're fine, Miranda. We met with them last night. They're not dead, they're not hurt, they're not prisoners. They're healthy as oxen and as sharp-minded as ev—
"Dr. Sena? Miranda?"
"Give me a minute." She took several slow breaths, trying to get her heart to stop hammering. She felt a strong grip on her shoulder and looked into gentle eyes in a face close to her own. "I'm all right now, Jack. Unexpected good news is a little hard to take."
"I can understand. I felt like jumping up and down and hollering when I saw them myself."
"Where did you find them?"
"In Albuquerque, right where we were in January. I'll save the tale of how we bollixed the cat connection for later. Aaron and Marian have been living with a homeless group for several months. Two nights ago, their shelter burned down, and we saw them on TV. That's how we found them, not through any clever detective work."
"That's terrific—"
"There's a little more you need to know, Miranda. It seems Mr. Fairfax has been dragging around a videotape all this time, a tape he made of his wife signing divorce documents. He made the tape because he thought she was up to some chicanery with her lawyer. He was right, but that's not the best part. He didn't even know he had the rest of this because he'd been locked in the laundry room.
"He recorded the sale of himself to a drug company, Tydings APR, one of the biggest. A lawyer for the company came in and they discussed terms right there in front of the camera they didn't know was on. The idiot lawyer even boasted about their other purchase: Marian Athlington. We've got enough evidence to charge the lawyer, the drug company and its CEO with trafficking in human lives. We're also going to nail Marian's sister and Aaron's ex-wife. You will be hearing of arrests later this week."
"God in heaven," Miranda muttered.
Matt leaned toward the phone. "That's a truly amazing piece of news, Mr. Theodoric."
"This has been a truly amazing year, Dr. Gunnarson."
Miranda folded the phone shut, looked over at Matt.
"Happy birthday," he said.