Cook,Robin - Mortal Fear.txt
Page 21
have to see me tonight? Maybe we can work something out of tomorrow.
Jason thought about asking her on the phone to go to Seattle, but
decided he'd have a better chance convincing her in person. It was a bit
out of the ordinary asking a young woman to accompany him to Seattle
after only two meetings.
"Is this bodyguard alone?"
"Yes. But what difference does that make? The guy's built like an ox."
"There's an alley in back of your building. I could come up the fire
escape."
"The fire escape! This is crazy! What on earth is so important that you
have to see me tonight?"
"if I told you, I wouldn't have to see you."
"Well, I'm not crazy about men coming to my apartment at night.".
Oh, sure, Jason thought. "Look," he said aloud, "I'll tell you this
much.
I've been trying to figure out what Hayes could have discovered and I'm
down to my last idea. I need your help."
"That's quite a line, Dr. Jason Howard."
"It's true. You're the only one who can help me."
Carol laughed. "When you put it that way, who could refuse? All right,
come along. But you're coming at your own risk. I have to warn you, I
don't have much control over Atlas outside."
"My disability insurance is all paid up."
"I live at ..." Carol began.
"I know where you live," Jason interrupted. "In fact, I've already had a
run-in with Bruno, if that's the charming fellow guarding your door."
"You've met Bruno?" Carol asked incredulously.
"Lovely man. Such a wonderful conversationalist."
$'Let me warn you, then," Carol said. "It was Bruno who walked me home."
"Luckily he's pretty easy to spot. Watch out your back window. I don't
want to be stranded on your fire escape."
"This is really insane," Carol said.
Jason changed into a dark slacks and sweater. He'd be visible enough on
the fire escape without wearing light colors. He donned running shoes and
went down to his car. Driving along Beacon Street, he kept an eye out
for Bruno.
He went left on Gloucester Street and left again on Commonwealth. When
he crossed Marlborough, he slowed. He knew there was no chance to find a
parking place, so he pulled in at the nearest hydrant. He left the doors
unlocked; if need be the firemen could run the hoses right through the
car.
Getting out of his car, Jason peered down the alleyway between Beacon
and Marlborough streets. Intermittent lights formed pools of
illumination.
There were lots of dark areas, and trees threw spider-weblike shadows.
Jason could vividly remember his last attempted flight from Bruno down
the same alley.
Marshaling his courage, Jason started into the alley as tense as a sprinter waiting for the starting gun. A sudden
movement to his left made him gasp. It was a rat the size of a small
cat, and Jason felt the hairs on the back of his neck spring up. He kept
walking, happy to see no sign of Bruno. Itwas so quiet he could hear his
breathing.
Arriving at Carol's building, he noted the familiar light in the
fourth-floor window before taking a good look at the fire escape.
Unfortunately, it had one of those ladder mechanisms that have to be
lowered from the first floor. Jason glanced around for something to
stand on. The only thing available was a trash can, and that meant
turning it over and dumping it. Despite the fact it would make a lot of
noise, he realized he had no choice. But he shuddered as the metal
clanged against the pavement and a number of beer cans clattered down
the street.
Holding his breath, he looked up. No lights had come on. Satisfied, he
climbed up on the garbage can and got hold of the lowest rung of the
raised ladder.
"Hey!" someone yelled. Jason's head turned and he saw a familiar bulky
figure coming down the alley on the run, his thick arms pumping, his
breaths coming in puffs like a steam engine. At that moment Bruno looked
like a fullback for the Washington Redskins.
$I Shit," Jason said. With all his strength he pulled himself up on the
ladder, half expecting it to drop under his weight. Luckily it didn't.
Hand over hand, he lifted himself until he could put his foot on the
first rung and scamper up to the first floor.
"Hey, you god damned little pervert!" Bruno was yelling. "You get the
hell down here!"
Jason hesitated. He could hold the man off by stepping on his fingers if
he tried to come up, but that wouldn't get him in to see Carol. And
somebody would call the police if there were enough ruckus. Jason
decided to take the 6ance. He ran up the next two flights of the fire
escape, arriving at Carol's window. She was looking out and raised the
sash the second she spotted him. Before she could speak, Jason gasped,
"Your neo-Nazi is on his way up. Do you think he has a gun?" Jason found
himself standing in a large kitchen.
"I don't know."
"He's going to be here in a moment," Jason said, slamming down the
window and locking it. That was going to delay Bruno just about ten
seconds.
"Maybe I should talk to him," Carol suggested.
"Will he listen?"
"I'm not sure. He's kinda bullheaded ..."That's my impression," Jason
said. "And I know he's not fond of me. I think I need something like a
baseball bat."
"You can't hit him, Jason."
"I don't want to, but I don't think Bruno wants to sit down and talk
this over. I need something to threaten him with to keep him away from
me."
"I have a fire poker."
"Get it." Jason turned the light out in the kitchen. Putting his nose to
the glass, he could see Bruno struggling to pull himself onto the first
ladder. He was strong but he was also bulky. Carol returned with the
fire poker. Jason hefted it. With a little luck he might be able to
convince the guy to listen.
"I knew this was a bad idea," Carol said.
Jason glanced around the room and noticed that the floor was
old-fashioned linoleum. He looked at the door leading from the kitchen
to the rest of the apartment. It was thick and solid, with a lock and
key. At one point the room had been something other than a kitchen.
"Carol, would you mind if I made a mess? I mean, I'll be happy to pay to
have it cleaned up."
What are you talking about?"
"Do you have a big can of vegetable oil?"
"I suppose."
"Can I have it?"
Perplexed, Carol opened the pantry door and lifted out a gallon can of
imported Italian olive oil.
"Perfect," Jason said. After another quick check out the window, he
hurriedly pulled the two chairs and table out of the kitchen. Carol
watched him with growing confusion.
"Okay, out," Jason ordered. Carol stepped into the hall.
Jason uncorked the olive oil and began pouring the contents over the
floor in wide, sweeping movements. As he closed and locked the door, he
heard banging on the kitchen window, followed by the crash of glass.
He wedged the kitchen table between the door and the oppos
ite hall.
."Come on," he said, taking Carol's hand. In his other he still held the
poker. He led her to the front door of the apartment, which was
adequately secured with double latches and a metal-pole police lock. In
the kitchen' they heard a tremendous crash. Bruno had fallen down for
the first time.
"That was ingenious," laughed Carol.
"When you're one hundred and sixty pounds, you have to compensate."
Jason's heart was still racing. "Anyway, I have no idea how long Bruno
will be entertained in there, so this has to be fast. I need you. The
last chance I have of reconstructing Alvin Hayes's discovery is to go to
Seattle and try to find out what he did there. Apparently, he ...", There
was another crash followed by a volley of swear words, some of which
were appropriately in Italian.
"He's going to be in a foul mood," Jason said as he undid the locks on
the front door.
"So you want me to go to Seattle with you. That's what this is all
about?"
"I knew you'd understand. Hayes brought back a biological sample from
there, which he processed at Gene, Inc. I have to find out what it was.
The best bet is the man he saw out at the University of Washing ton.
"The man whose name I can't remember."
"But you saw him and could recognize him?"
"Probably."
"I know it's presumptuous to ask you to come," Jason said."But I really
do believe Hayes made some sort of breakthrough. And considering his
previous track record, it has to be significant."
"And you really think going to Seattle might solve it?"
"It's a long shot. But the only one left."
The door to the kitchen rattled and they heard Bruno begin a steady
pounding.
"I think I've overstayed my welcome," Jason said. "Bruno won't hurt you,
will he?"
"Heavens, no. My boss would skin him alive. That's why he's so rabid
now.
He thinks I'm in danger. #~ "Carol, would you come with me to Seattle?"
Jason asked while removing the pole to the police lock.
"When would you want to go?" Carol asked, vacillating.
"Late today. We wouldn't stay long. Would it be possible for you to get
off on short notice?"
"I have in the past. I just say I want to go home. Besides, after
Helene's murder my boss might be relieved to have me out of town."
"Thensay you'll go?" Jason pleaded.
"All right." Carol gave him one of her heartwarming smiles. "Why not?"
"There's a flight to Seattle at four this afternoon. We'll meet at the
gate. I'll get the tickets. How does that sound?"
"Insane," Carol said, "but fun."
"See you there;" Jason ran down the stairs to his car, fearful that
Bruno might have reversed direction and gone back out the window.
Jason woke early and called Roger to brief him on his patients. He
wasn't going to the hospital today. He had another trip he wanted to
take before meeting Carol for the four o'clock flight to Seattle. He
packed quickly, being careful to take clothes for rainy, chilly weather,
and called a cab to the airport, getting there just in time to store his
bag in a locker and take the ten o'clock Eastern shuttle to La Guardia.
At La Guardia he rented a car and drove to Leonia, New Jersey. It was
probably even less of a possibility than Seattle, but Jason was going to
see Hayes's former wife. He was not about to leave even the smallest
stone unturned.
Leonia turned out to. be a surprisingly sleepy little town that belied
its proximity to New York. Within ten minutes of the George Washington
Bridge, he found himself on a wide street lined with one-story
commercial establishments fronted by angled parking. It could have been
Main Street, USA. Instead, it was called Broad Avenue. There was a
drugstore, a hardware store, a bakery, and even a luncheonette.
It looked like a movie set from the fifties. Jason went into the
luncheonette,- ordered a vanilla malted, and used the phone directory.
There was a Louise Hayes on Park Avenue. While he drank his malted,
Jason debated the wisdom of calling or just dropping by. He opted for
the latter.
Park Avenue bisected Broad and rose up the hillside that bordered Leonia
on the east. After Pauline Boulevard, it arched to the north. That was
where Jason found Louise Hayes's house. It was a modest, dark-brown,
shingled structure, much in need of repair. The grass in the front yard
had gone to seed.
Jason rang the bell. The door was opened by a smiling, middle-aged woman
in a faded red housedress. She had stringy brown hair, and a little girl
of five or six, a thumb buried to the second knuckle in her mouth, clung
to her thigh.
"Mrs. Hayes?" Jason asked. The woman was a far cry from Hayes's two
other girlfriends.
"Yes."
"I'm Dr. Jason Howard, a colleague of your late husband." He'd not
rehearsed what he was going to say.
"Yes?" Mrs. Hayes repeated, reflexly pushing the young girl behind her.
"I'd like to talk to you if you have a moment." Jason took out his
wallet and handed over his driver's license with its photo and his GHP
staff identity card. "I went to medical school with your husband," he
added for good measure.
Louise looked at the cards and handed them back. "Would you like to come
in?"
"Thank you."
The interior of the house also looked in need of work. The furniture was
worn and the carpet was threadbare. Children's toys littered the floor.
Louise hastily cleared a spot on the couch and motioned for Jason to sit
down.
"Can I offer you something? Coffee, tea?"
"Coffee would be nice," he said. The woman seemed anxious, and he
thought the activity would calm her. She went into the kitchen, where
Jason could hear the sound of running water. The little girl had hung
behind, regarding Jason with large brown eyes. When Jason smiled at her,
she fled into the kitchen.
Jason gazed around the room. It was dark and cheerless, with a few
mail-order prints on the walls. Louise returned with her daughter in
tow.
She gave Jason a mug of coffee and placed sugar and cream on the small
coffee table. Jason helped himself to both.
Louise sat down across from Jason. "I'm sorry if I didn't seem
hospitable at first," she said. "I don't have many visitors asking about
Alvin."
"I understand," Jason said. He looked at her more carefully. Underneath
the frowsy exterior, Jason could see the shadow of an attractive woman.
Hayes had good taste, that was for sure. "I'm sorry to barge in like
this, but Alvin had spoken of you. Since I was in the area I thought I'd
drop by." He thought a few untruths might help.
"Did he?" Louise said indifferently.
Jason decided to be careful. He wasn't there to dredge up painful
emotions.
"The reason I wanted to talk to you," he said, "is that your husband
told me he'd made an important scientific discovery." Jason went on to
explain the circumstances of Alvin Hayes's-death, and how he, Jason, had
m
ade it a personal crusade to try to find out if her husband had indeed
made a scientific breakthrough. He explained that it would be a tragedy
if Alvin had come across something that could help mankind, only to have
it lost.
Louise nodded, but when Jason asked if she had any idea of what the
discovery could have been, she said she didn't.
"You and Alvin didn't speak much?"
"No. Only about the children and financial matters.
"How are your children?" Jason asked, remembering Hayes's concern about
his son.
"They are both fine, thank you."
"Two?"
"Yes," Louise said. "Lucy here7-she patted her daughter's head-"and John
is in school."
"I thought you had three children."
Jason saw the woman's eyes film over. After an uncomfortable silence she
said, "Well ... there is another. Alvin Junior. He s severely retarded.
He lives at a school in Boston."
m sorry.