by Nina Post
He stepped out from behind the desk and walked toward her, arms wide open. “Ladron,” he said, and enveloped her in a rib-crushing hug. That was how Benjamin and Mohini found them, with Cate in the embrace of a tattooed man twice her age in intimidating physical condition.
“I take it you know each other?” Benjamin asked dryly. “Or is this gentleman attempting to kill you with a cleverly concealed headlock?”
Cate stepped back.
“Morty Nash,” Mort said, thrusting out a tan, muscular, and tattooed arm. They both shook his hand. “You can call me Mort, Morty, or Flying Jibboom.”
Chapter 15
“This location is ideal for Far East trading,” Mort said. “And sailing. Hung my shingle almost a year ago.” He laced his fingers together and rested his weathered hands on the desk. “What brings you here? My first guess is diving.”
“We’re here to hide something,” Cate said.
Benjamin gave her a look. “Cate, can I talk you in private for a minute?” He left the office and went out the front door.
“You give me a hard time for trusting Mohini?” Benjamin said.
“You give me a hard time for worrying too much?” Cate shot back.
“Why don’t we just post flyers on every pole with a picture of us and a caption that reads, ‘We’re here to hide something’!”
“But it’s Mort.”
“Who is he, Cate?”
Cate crossed her arms. “After I pulled myself out of the hole I was in long enough to look for a steady job, I applied as a secretary in an import/export office in Belgium.”
Benjamin’s face showed surprise then weary assent.
“Mort took a chance and hired me.” She had a college degree and graduate coursework in history, but her typing speed didn’t compare to any secretary with experience. “Not only that, but he taught me everything he knew about the business. And a few years later, when he decided to sell, he sold it to me. He gave me purpose. He might have saved my life, so yes, I trust him enough to mention that we’re here to hide something. Mohini is just someone you did work for.”
Benjamin looked over her shoulder. She turned her head and saw Mohini standing there watching them. Cate turned back to Benjamin, let her eyes linger on his, then went back inside the house.
“Where are you going to hide this thing?” Mort asked, when they were all back in the office.
They both looked at Mohini. “I have a place in mind,” she said. “They have very specific requirements.” She glanced at Benjamin. “We should go.”
Mort got up and embraced her again. Tears burned her eyes but didn’t spill. “Okay,” he said brusquely, turning back to his side of his desk. “I’ll see you later.”
“Mr. Nash — ” Benjamin started, pausing by the entrance to the office.
“Mort’s fine.”
“Regarding the gravesite on the lawn …”
Mort chuckled. “It was here when I bought the place. I’m sure Miss Westwood here knows about this. It’s common enough — the dead here tend to be buried right in the backyard. Or front yard, in this case, a little unusual.”
“Perhaps that contributes to the belief in spirit possession,” Mohini said with wry mirth.
“Excuse me?” Benjamin said.
“Chuuk is a Christian population,” Mohini said, “but traditional beliefs in spirit possession by the dead do persist. It’s usually brought on by family conflicts. The spirits speak through women, and reprimand family members to treat each other better.”
They said goodbye to Mort then climbed back into the Jeep.
Mort waited until they were gone to make a call. “It’s me. She was just here.”
Mohini pulled back on the road and headed east again. They were each focused on their own thoughts until they reached a white building on a ridge, the only building Cate could see in the area.
“That’s Xavier High School,” Mohini said. “In 1938, the Japanese government selected this location for their radio and communications station. They commissioned the Mabuchi Construction Co. to demolish the wooden church and priest’s house that was already on the site and build the comm center, which was supposed to be bomb-proof — until it was bombed to rubble.”
“Did the priest’s house have a priest’s hole?” she murmured to Benjamin.
“The locals referred to the site as ‘Mabuchi,’” Mohini added. “Xavier is operated by the Jesuits of Micronesia.” She parked and they went inside a section of the building. “In the comm center you can find the administrative offices, teachers’ offices, faculty and student dining areas, infirmary, computer and media rooms, and a gym. We’re going to the gym. It will be empty right now.”
The gym looked new. Very new.
“They just completed an ambitious renovation project funded by an anonymous donation,” Mohini said. She led them past the wide open area and into an equipment room, where Mohini had Benjamin help her move a rack of balls. She crouched down and removed a piece of the rubber flooring, then the concrete, revealing what looked like a large, flat faucet. She turned it clockwise and a door appeared in the wall. Cate hadn’t noticed any line of the door, or any removable piece in the floor when Mohini was removing that. It was ingenious, and better than Gaelen’s secret room.
Benjamin pushed open the door, which just led to a white closet.
“There?” Cate asked, skeptical.
“No,” Mohini said. She pressed in a part of the wall that didn’t look like anything special, revealing a panel with a number pad.
“Benjamin, why don’t you try the passcode I gave you,” Mohini said.
Benjamin pressed in five numbers, and another door in front of them opened, turning on an automatic light. He went through the door first, then Cate. The entrance was cool, and Cate could immediately feel the difference in temperature and humidity. At her left was an obviously expensive thermostat. Right in front of them was a raised platform. Mohini opened another panel and had Benjamin open it with a different set of numbers. The top of the panel clicked and Mohini raised it. Inside was a large rectangular inset where the book would go.
“Why the gym?” Cate asked.
“A working gym would be the least likely thing to convert to an alternate use later,” Benjamin said. “It has specific configurations, high ceilings, expensive fittings. Supplies need to be stored here, so there are a lot of cubbies. It’s easy to put a false wall into an equipment room, and it was easy to have it done during the renovations. The anonymous donor allowed the school to resurface the court, replace the backboards and rims, refinish the bleachers, put in a new scoreboard, and redo the locker and equipment rooms.”
“And this room is definitely climate-controlled?”
“Oh, yes,” Mohini said. “It’s a museum-quality environment. It just happens to be in a high school gymnasium.”
Benjamin unlocked the Halliburton briefcase the book came packed in, removed the book, then placed it on a raised area below the platform. He undid the wrappings, making Cate half-expect a mummy underneath. When he folded back the layer of tissue paper, Cate took in a sharp breath at the sight of the book.
“Does the Severn family know about this?” she asked.
“Yes,” Benjamin answered. “Gregory has all of the information.”
Cate stepped toward the book and leaned down to get another close look at the beautiful leather binding, at the brass clasp engraved with a single yesuþofoh, or glyph. She remembered what it was like to have it in her hands, and felt a pang of regret to let it go. Where had Benjamin hid the other two books, and where would he relocate them? Was he honest about involving her?
Benjamin wrapped the book just as meticulously as before, and placed it carefully in the platform. He lowered the top and made sure it was secure. Cate had memorized the numeric passwords and quickly wrote them down when Mohini and Benjamin weren’t looking.
“Thank you for overseeing this project, Mohini,” Benjamin said.
“I was happy to do i
t,” she replied, and moved the lei from her wrist to the crown of her head on the way back to the Jeep.
Cate wondered if she should have the book moved. Benjamin wasn’t the only one with a contact in Micronesia. At the very least, she’d have to find someone to keep an eye on Mohini.
A mile past the former command center, it started to rain and Mohini stopped the Jeep to let several feral pigs cross the muddy road. Cate heard a sound like a champagne bottle being uncorked.
“What was — ” Cate started to say, looked to her left, and saw that Mohini seemed to be asleep in the driver’s seat, though her eyes were open. Cate reached out and grasped Mohini’s arm and got no response. She scrambled over the gearshift to get a better look at her. “Oh, fuck.”
The dentist’s eyes were lifeless behind the oversized glasses, the lei coated with blood on the left side. Cate’s blood heated and she grasped the wheel, nails digging into her palms. She thought of being with her father when he died, and the second she knew when he was gone.
“What’s wrong with her?” Benjamin started to open the door.
“Stay down!”
The bullet that entered Mohini’s head must’ve made very quick work of her brain tissue. Cate looked to the east, where there were green mountains, some tree cover, and a few low buildings. “Okay, we’re going to run to the right side and get behind something. Then we’re going to run to Mort’s. Got it?”
“What about Mohini?”
“She’s dead, and if we don’t move, we could both get killed right here. Use the door on your right, Benjamin. Go!”
Cate lunged for the right front door and jumped to the muddy ground, then ran full out for the cover on the west side of the road, skidding then regaining her balance. She heard the popping sound again and hoped to God it didn’t hit Benjamin, but heard him curse behind her after the sound — probably cursing his decision to hide the book here. When she reached a shack with a taxidermy sign, she crouched behind it and looked.
Benjamin was right behind her, and leaned over to put his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.
“Don’t get to the gym much, do you?” she said.
“Disgusting, of course not. Are you sure she’s — ”
“Sorry. Yes.”
They were only feet away from the water. He leaned against the back wall and she saw fear and confusion in his eyes, close to the color of the ocean on their left. “What just happened, Cate?”
“While you were napping, a sniper attacked us with a scoped assault rifle,” she said. “We need to get to Mort’s.”
“And leave Mohini there? No. I’m not leaving her in the middle of the road. What if a car — ”
“Benjamin, I’ve seen tourists in Manhattan walk faster than the locals drive here. We’ll come back for her later, or call the police. But not now.”
They ran behind the broken string of buildings until mud caked their legs up to their knees.
Cate halted after a mile and scrutinized a small white house. Was it Mort’s? It was nearly impossible to tell from the back.
She waited a minute for Benjamin then held up a finger. “I have to check the front. Stay here.” When she saw the grave and the sign, she signaled and they tried a door in the back. It opened into a cabana-style bathroom with a shower. Benjamin looked at it with longing. “If only.”
Cate ran to Mort’s office, leaving muddy tracks on the wood floors. Please be here, Mort …
She sighed with relief when she saw him behind the desk. He looked up and took off his glasses.
“We’re in trouble.”
Lajos Lovász, who had short spiky blond hair, eyes like a frozen lake, and a glossy white scar that sloped from eye to ear, squinted through the scope. Kieran Nicol checked the map. He had bottle-green eyes, a broad mouth, and a watch cap over his shoulder-length brown hair.
“We should wait until we get the green light from the gelnivoh. Oh, and you just killed what amounts to a bystander. You better hope he doesn’t find out or he’s going to string our eyeballs on a chain and wear them as a fucking necklace.” Kieran was extremely agitated because his partner was like an old stick of dynamite and despite his numerous requests to work with someone else, the leader didn’t want to change things around. On their flight over from SFO, Kieran fantasized about parachuting out the plane.
“No,” Lajos said. “They already stored the second book, and we came all the way here. He would want us to take the initiative.”
Kieran turned and glared. “Are you kidding me? He would flay us alive for taking initiative. If he thought now was the time to kill her, he would have said so.”
Lajos snorted. “Our fearless gelnivoh,” he said the words like he was drinking curdled milk, “has mummified with his hand over the button and I’m tired of waiting for him to press it. We’ve watched her from Istanbul to San Francisco to here, and I say now is the time.”
“It’s not your place to make that determination,” Kieran said. “Our orders were to find out where they’re putting the second book.” He made a slashing motion with his arm. “That’s it.”
“Listen to yourself,” Lajos said. “You’re a warrior, not an accountant. Total free will, remember? He believes in free will, and I’m exercising mine.”
Kieran shook his head. “That’s not how we work.”
“He’s a goddamn hypocrite. It’s how I work, today.” Lajos tensed at the approach of a vehicle. “That’s them driving up now in that Land Cruiser. Let’s go.”
Mort drove them north to Chuuk International Airport in his rickety, forest green Land Cruiser. “It was probably just a stray bullet. Damn unfortunate about your friend. But maybe some kids got hold of a gun and don’t even know what they did.”
As they passed a gas station on the right, a car pulled out in front of them and screeched to a halt, forcing Mort to brake hard. Two men drew guns and bullets rained across the right side of the Land Cruiser. Cate kicked up her knees to get down until her back was on the seat. When the window didn’t shatter, she thought she must be imagining things.
Mort burned rubber getting out of there. “Heys-and-how! This baby’s bulletproof!” he boomed, a little too cheerfully. “Had it shipped over. Useful in my line of work.” He checked the mirrors. “Unfortunately, this means you all were right. You should head back home.”
Cate pushed herself back up and turned to look at Benjamin, who in that moment looked as anxious as she felt on a normal day. “We have to get out of here. Now.”
“Oh?” Benjamin’s voice was shaky. “You don’t feel like staying for another week?”
“I’m gonna try to get you on the Island Hopper,” Mort said.
“We can’t just leave Mohini’s body!” Benjamin protested.
“Do you want to be dead here with her?” Cate said through her teeth. “I don’t. We told the police, and Mort’s going to make sure she’s taken care of.” She leaned back against the seat as Mort raced to the airport. “This has to be connected to the book.”
Benjamin leaned forward. “Are you accusing Mohini of telling someone about the location? I told you she wouldn’t talk, but your suspicions just won’t be assuaged, will they?”
“No, but it doesn’t matter — she’s not talking now, and we can’t know if she did talk. This could only be related to the book, unless Mohini was targeted for something you don’t know about.”
Mort made a hard turn toward the airport and found a spot to park near the terminal. “Hold up a minute,” he told them, got out and shut the door behind him, then walked into the terminal building.
“What’s he doing?” Benjamin said.
“No idea,” Cate said, and rubbed her eyes. The image of Mohini’s bloody lei was burned onto her brain.
After a few minutes, Mort strode back, settled his heft onto the driver’s seat and started up the engine. “You can’t take this flight.”
“Why not?”
“I know everyone who works here. And I didn’t see a single person I
recognized at the ticketing desk, or at the gate, or anywhere else.”
He drove out of the terminal. “And there’s more. When I checked the janitor’s closet, they had a bunch of industrial-size vats of bleach plus a few of those hazmat suits and respirator masks. Not exactly standard-issue for a tiny island airport.” Mort paused. “But don’t you worry.”
Cate smiled a little. If she had a dollar for every time she’d heard that …
“I’ve got a friend over on Kosrae,” Mort continued. “He’s got his own plane, uses it for cargo runs. I can get you there on Jo.”
“Excuse me?” Benjamin said, crinkling his forehead.
“His boat, Josephine,” Cate said. “He can take us to Kosrae.”
“My friend can probably get you to Guam, at least,” Mort said. “Maybe Honolulu.”
“You mentioned cargo runs,” Benjamin said. “What kind?”
“Cargo,” Cate said.
“Yes, but what kind of cargo?” Benjamin asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Cate told him. “This is the only way we can leave.”
Mort got back on the road.
Benjamin grabbed her shoulder. “Cate, this is insane. If whoever’s shooting at us knows about the book, then why didn’t they try to get it earlier?”
“Maybe it’s not just about the book. Maybe it’s also about us.”
They took Mort’s sailboat, the stately and lovingly maintained Josephine, from Chuuk to Kosrae.
Mort squinted at the sky, then at the radar screen. “Gonna be oragious in about an hour.”
“Is that good or bad?” Benjamin asked.
“Bad,” Cate said.
“But the sky is clear.”
Cate shrugged. “Morty’s almost always right about the weather.”
Mort looked at the sky with a wary expression. “See those storm-breeders?” He pointed at the clouds. “Just hope it’s not a white squall.”
Once they got going, Mort took Cate aside. He looked like he was mulling something over. He put a foot up on a locked box and rested his forearms on his leg. Cate stood to his right and they both watched the clear blue water cut into gentle waves. “I wasn’t entirely forthright with you before.”