Mind Bender

by Linsey Lanier

  “I found Audrey,” he explained. “Then Erskine and his men broke into whatever that place is down there and found us. When they took Audrey out to one of the squad cars, I went with her. But they wanted to talk to her alone, so I came back here to see if I could find you.”

  “Guess you showed up in the nick of time,” Miranda said. “You saved my life, Holloway.”

  He shrugged. “I couldn’t let him kill you. And it was a good excuse to pay him back.”

  “Good thing you got in that extra target practice.”

  He answered with a half-grin.

  Parker extended a hand. “Excellent aim, Detective. Thank you.”

  Holloway gave Parker’s hand a stiff shake. “You’re welcome.”

  “I hope this means you’ll reconsider tendering your resignation,” Parker said.

  Holloway put his hands in his pockets and looked down at his feet. “I think I’m going to need some time off after this, sir.”

  “Oh?”

  “Audrey needs me.”

  Miranda looked at Parker. Audrey was going to jail. She might have been under the influence of her captors, but she’d need to prove it to a judge first.

  “Ms. Steele?” the officer on the hill called out.

  Miranda started toward him. “Yes?”

  “Is this the spot where you saw the jeep?”

  Miranda climbed the hill with Parker behind her. “That’s the spot.”

  “Yes, it is,” Parker agreed.

  “It’s not here.”

  The three of them trudged up to where the officer stood. Miranda retraced her steps, Parker confirmed this was the correct place. They stood together in the small clearing surrounded by pines. This was definitely where she and Parker had seen the jeep before they’d gone down into the tunnel system.

  But there was nothing here now except the tarp lying on the ground and a few tire tracks in the pine straw and leaves.

  “Someone else was here with Iwasaki,” Miranda said, her body tensing.

  The officer started down the hill. “I’ll have Lieutenant Erskine put out another BOLO on that plate. We’ll find him.”

  If the other guy wasn’t smart enough to take the tag off once he got somewhere he could stop.

  “I’ll go with him,” Holloway said. “I want to check on Audrey.” And he scampered down the hill and around the brick ruins.

  Miranda put her hands to her face. “What are we going to do now, Parker?”

  He slipped his arms around her and pulled her close. “You’ve been up twenty-four hours. We’ve both been through hell. I’m going to take you home, feed you, and put you to bed.”

  She looked down at the gash on her arm, then at Parker’s torn and bloody suit. “And maybe put something on these wounds?”

  “Yes. That, too.”

  She closed her eyes and rested her forehead on his strong chest. “That sounds wonderful.”

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Two days later Miranda got up extra early and texted Mackenzie to see if she wanted to go for a run before school. She picked her up at the Chatham mansion, and they went to their old trail in Chastain Park.

  With her long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, Mackenzie had on black tights, a pink sleeveless quilted jacket-vest, and new pink-and-blue running shoes. Miranda was happy her parents took care of her every need.

  They did some warm-up stretches, then took off on the five K path.

  The air was crisp and cool, and the oak trees along the path were a burst of color with their flaming orange and red leaves. As they jogged along, Miranda drew in oxygen and relished how clear her head felt. She peered through the evenly spaced trees trunks. Not a zombie in sight. And best of all, she was spending time with her beloved daughter.

  After three miles, they stopped to cool down.

  “How’s the anti-vaping project going?” Miranda said as they strolled along.

  “TAV,” Mackenzie corrected.

  “Yes, TAV. How’s it going?”

  “Okay. Not as many kids have signed up as I had hoped. Donations are sparse.”

  Mackenzie’s speech seemed to have impressed the adults. Didn’t mean it would have the same impact on her peers. It might have the opposite effect.

  But Miranda wanted to be supportive. “Maybe it’ll pick up later.”

  Mackenzie started to walk a little faster. “I just have to put more work into it.”

  Right. Picking up her pace, Miranda decided to change the subject. “You’ll be turning fifteen next month.”

  “Yes, I will.”

  “And so will Wendy. I can’t believe it.”

  She could still remember holding the tiny baby in her arms when she was just three weeks old. Of course, there was nothing to remember after that. She’d missed Mackenzie’s childhood, though Colby and Oliver had shared pictures of Mackenzie growing up with Miranda. She’d appreciated their generosity, but it wasn’t the same.

  “So what do you want for your birthday?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it much.”

  Something else on your mind? Miranda wondered.

  She caught a yellow leaf in her hand as it drifted to the ground. She twirled it between her fingers as they walked, a little slower now. “It’s funny. I’ve always had trouble with this time of year. More winter, really. But fall means winter’s coming.”

  “Is that so?” Mackenzie kept her gaze straight ahead. She didn’t ask for details like she once had.

  Miranda forced herself to continue. “It must be hard for you now, too—after what happened last year.”

  She lifted a shoulder. “I try not to think about it.”

  Is that what all these projects were about? Was she keeping herself too busy to think about what Leon had tried to do to her? Miranda knew that wasn’t Dr. Wingate’s advice. She didn’t think keeping things buried was healthy.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “About what?”

  “About Lake Placid. I went through it, too, you know.”

  For a long time Mackenzie walked along in silence. It was as if she were building a wall between them. Then she pointed toward the street where cars were parked. “Oh, there’s Rachel.”

  “Rachel?”

  “Rachel Alex. She’s a junior at school. She’s interested in TAV. We’ve been discussing ideas lately, and we’ve sort of become friends. I asked her to pick me up, and there she is.”

  She let out an awkward laugh and started for the car, as if she couldn’t escape fast enough.

  Taking a long step, Miranda reached for her hand and turned her around.

  The girl scowled at her in surprise. “What are you doing?”

  “Mackenzie, it’s not good to avoid your feelings. I know. I did it too long.”

  Miranda watched her cheeks color. Whether from embarrassment or anger, she couldn’t tell.

  She shuffled her feet and looked away. “You know, Mother, I’m going to be really busy with my schedule and my extracurricular activities and all for a while. I’m not going to be able to get together with you much. Maybe I’ll see you during the holidays. Mom wants to do something, I think.”

  She looked down at the hand Miranda was still holding onto.

  Miranda let it go, not knowing what else to say.

  “Gotta run.” Mackenzie gave her an artificial smile, then turned and hurried toward the waiting car.

  She was definitely hiding something. Not that they’d ever been able to talk about the past. Or anything, really. But Miranda was more certain than ever that deep down Mackenzie was troubled.

  And she didn’t think it was just about Lake Placid.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  “I don’t know what to say,” Parker said quietly.

  It was after lunch and Miranda was sitting next to him in the Mazda as they drove down Piedmont heading south. She’d just confessed to him how she’d bombed out with Mackenzie that morning.

  She shrugged. “Not much to sa
y. I guess I’ll have to wait until she’s ready to tell me what’s bothering her.”

  “I wouldn’t stop trying.”

  “No. But for now, I think I need to give her some space.”

  He was quiet for a moment, then he changed the subject. “I spoke to Hosea earlier today. He and his men are still going through Iwasaki’s underground lair.”

  Her hands clenched involuntarily at the mention of that place. “A lot to go through and catalog.”

  Parker nodded. “They found a cache of handguns, explosives, and teargas. And a control room where Iwasaki and his accomplice must have watched all of us on hidden cameras. They also controlled the lights and their ‘games’ from there.”

  Miranda shuddered remembering what Parker had told her he’d been through in those dark halls of horror.

  “The chamber of commerce, the Conservancy staff, and even the governor are aghast at the lax security that allowed something like that to be built under a historic landmark.”

  “Right under their noses.” She let out a smirk. “Bet they’re all pointing fingers at each other.”

  “That’s putting it mildly.” He made a turn onto the ramp to I-85, heading toward Midtown. “One of the first things Hosea did was to take those caged animals Iwasaki and his unknown accomplice had been experimenting on to a shelter where they can be restored back to health and found homes.”

  “That’s good.” She’d felt so sorry for those poor creatures. She knew what they felt like.

  His next words were low and ominous. “Hosea is calling in the GBI and FBI to help process all the evidence.”

  FBI? She turned to face him. “Parker, someone with a lot of money had to finance that project.”

  “Yes.”

  She thought about Simon Sloane and The Custodians, the organization they’d run into during the Dylan Ward Hughes case. Sloane had sworn her and Parker in as agents, but she assumed that had expired by now.

  “Group 141?” she said softly.

  The name Sloane had given the Ukrainian syndicate he’d thought was running a kidnapping ring. But they had found only one Ukrainian at the scene. A big man named Doroshenko. The FBI had taken him into custody, and she and Parker hadn’t heard any more about him.

  Parker gave her a meaningful glance. “Possibly. There’s no way of knowing yet.”

  Except your gut. Was someone—after them? That seemed so farfetched. But so was that underground labyrinth.

  Turning onto Peachtree, Parker changed the subject. “Audrey’s arraignment is set for next week. Curt wants Estavez to represent her.”

  “Is he going to?”

  “He’s thinking about it. Even so, the mandatory minimum for attempted bank robbery is ten years.”

  “Estavez will get her off. He can work magic.” Almost as well as Parker could.

  And their testimony would help, too. After what she’d gone through, she’d be happy to tell a judge about the experience. And so would Parker. And, of course, Holloway.

  “Are you giving Holloway the time off he requested?” she asked, glad Parker hadn’t made her make that decision.

  “I’m going to give him two weeks.”

  Miranda nodded. She straightened her slacks and decided to ask the sensitive question. “What about Gen?”

  Parker drew in a long weary breath. “She told me she’s going to break up with him.”

  “Oh.” Miranda thought about that note pad on her desk. Poor girl.

  “She said she feels as if she’s been dating a married man.”

  Miranda didn’t blame her. She couldn’t figure Holloway out, even if he did just save her life. “That’s probably the right decision.”

  “I hope so.”

  Wanting to think of something more pleasant, Miranda returned to her phone and the sites for luxury car dealers she’d been looking at.

  So far they’d been to four different dealerships. They’d looked at two Ferraris, three Porsches, and countless Lamborghinis.

  Parker didn’t like any of them.

  Why was he being so picky? At this rate they’d never find a replacement for his ruined sports car.

  “How about an Alfa Romeo? The 4C Coupe looks pretty cool.”

  And it was more in her price range than the half a mill the dealer had wanted for the sleek silver Aventador at the last place they’d visited. But she was bound and determined to get Parker a new car if she had to pay most of her salary for the rest of her life.

  “I’m thinking of something else. Maybe in red.”

  Red? That was more her color.

  He took a turn onto 17th, then went left on Techwood.

  Hey, she thought. This was near her old apartment.

  They passed a fire station and a church she recognized.

  “I think we should stop in here.” He turned into a drive along a chain link fence and a sign boasting low monthly payments.

  “Here?”

  It was a used car lot. Not where Wade Parker the Third bought his vehicles. Then she looked around. Wait a minute. She knew this place.

  “In fact, I called the dealer earlier. He has a model I think you’ll find particularly interesting.”

  He drove around the beige brick building, past the garage and the lot full of clunkers, all the way to the back.

  And there parked in a spot with no other cars around it was a very familiar looking red sports car.

  Her mouth fell open in shock. “Is that my Corvette?” The ZR1 she’d traded in for rent money after she’d left Parker?

  “I believe it is.”

  She sprang out of the Mazda and rushed over to the tapered side. She ran her hand over the curved hood. Smooth as glass. Freshly polished. The tires were new, too. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed it.

  Parker strolled over to her with a smug look on his face. “I bought it back shortly after the case in Jasper County. The dealer was kind enough to hold it for me.”

  Her mouth still open, she gave him a punch on the arm. “You sneaky devil. You’ve been keeping it here all this time?”

  His gray eyes grew tender. “I was waiting for the right moment.”

  A skinny man in a bold green jacket ran out from the main building, a huge smile on his face. “She’s in great shape, Mr. Parker. Just as you ordered.” He held up the keys and dropped them into Miranda’s hands.

  Her heart full, she stared down at them. She was getting teary-eyed. “You want to give me this, even after I tried to kill you?”

  Parker chuckled. “You could only do that if you left me again.”

  And he didn’t mind saying it out loud. But she never would. She’d never leave him or try to kill him again.

  She suddenly felt so happy, she didn’t know what to do. Not caring that the dealer was watching, she put her arms around his neck and let him swing her around in the air.

  “Whee!” she cried, feeling lighter than she had in weeks. “I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”

  Chapter Fifty

  It had turned cold today. The temperature had dropped and the weather people were predicting snow by the end of the week.

  Nonetheless he pulled on his coat and left his office on the fiftieth floor of the Sector Building. He rode down the elevator to the parking deck, and got into the back of the limo.

  The driver took off, heading west on Essex Street. It wasn’t his regular driver. It was a man from his other enterprise. Someone he could trust.

  As much as he could anyone.

  As they drove along, he stared out the window at the old brick buildings of Boston and thought of his mother. He’d never known who his father was, but his mother had been a sweet, kind woman. A simple and very beautiful woman. A giving woman. She’d worked as a clerk in a medical office doing menial grunt work, never wanting more. They got by, but barely.

  He remembered the cramped little apartment in Mission Hill he’d grown up in. He thought of how she used to take him in her arms and comfort him whenever the bullies at school would t
ease him about his worn clothes.

  He had loved her very much, but he never could understand how she could be so content with so little. And then when he was eighteen, she developed a brain tumor and died within a year. He’d gone to live with her sister in a commune in Kentucky. It was there he met the people who would change his life.

  There he learned what possibilities lay before him.

  He wanted more than his mother ever had. A lot more. He wanted everything. And now there was an opportunity that would put him beyond the richest men in the world. Billions were at stake.

  Except there was Doroshenko. If he talked, he could lose everything. The organization could lose a great deal, as well. And he would no doubt be running for his life.

  He reached into his pocket for an antacid tablet and slipped it into his mouth. The stress was eating away his stomach lining.

  The assassination attempt he’d had executed two days ago had failed miserably. He’d had to put down the man who hadn’t been able to deliver. The guards would be on alert from now on. The mission would only get more difficult. For now, all he could do was hope Doroshenko understood what the attempt on his life meant and keep his mouth shut.

  And now this.

  They drove for another hour heading south, well away from the city. After a long excursion through a rural area, the driver turned into a park where the trees were dense. They drove over a rough dirt path to a picnic area near a small lake.

  When the limousine stopped, he got out of the car and walked down into a small valley where the fall colors were dazzling, despite the overcast sky. The dry leaves crunched beneath his feet as he went. The late morning air was chillier than he’d expected, and he pulled his double-breasted topcoat around him as he took his place. The driver standing just behind him, he waited.

  Soon another limousine appeared. It was black, like his own. It parked beside his and after a moment a man exited the rear door and made his way down the same path.

  His dark trench coat rippled in the wind as he walked and ruffled the dark patch of graying hair atop his head. But his perfectly trimmed black goatee remained in place. He was as fastidious as ever.