'I assume so since she's the only one I gave my card... wait! I gave Terra my card, too. It could have been Terra.'
'Your card had your cell phone number on it?'
Marge nodded. 'Venus's voice is throaty. Terra's more meek. But I couldn't tell. All I heard was a scared whisper.'
'Did she say something about the back door?' Martinez asked.
'She said all the doors and windows were booby-trapped but the back door was probably the easiest to defuse because Bob has been going in and out of it. She said we' d better move quickly because Bob was working on electronically wiring the outdoor fence.'
Decker said, 'Think the call might have been a trap to rope us into action? Europa said that Bob likes playing games. If we waited him out, she said that he'd make a move. This could be it.'
Silence. Then Marge said, 'Maybe. Except the voice certainly sounded terrified.'
'Could be legit,' Decker said. 'But it could be acting. Cults attract the fringes, and so does Hollywood. Lots of past thespians have wound up with some mighty strange gurus.'
After apprising the LAPD brass and FBI of the latest communications, Decker and his crew waited for instructions. Marge was interviewed first, her phone immediately confiscated. Lots of questions; for every ten people, there were eleven opinions. The diversity led the top brass to convene yet another task force operative in the form of- guess what? - another meeting. Even had Decker been invited - which he wasn't - he would have excused himself. With so many people calling the shots, chances of a screw-up were great.
The consensus was that the phone call had been a trap. Marge took the role of the lone voice of dissent. She stood against the elm tree, staring at the lifeless building, sipping coffee from a paper cup. With her were Decker, Oliver and Special Agent in Charge Bennett McCarry, who had joined the group by default. Their own small task force - one devoid of power and importance, but at least her voice could be heard. She rubbed her eyes, blinking back glare from the overcast, mid-morning sky. Mr Sun was trying valiantly to break through the pewter clouds.
'If Bob really wanted to hook us, why didn't he use a kid on the phone? He knows we'd be more likely to take risks for children.'
'Kids are unreliable,' answered McCarry.
'Not the Order's kids,' Marge responded. 'They've been programmed to be little robots.'
Recalling her interview with fourteen-year-old Vega, thinking about the glimmer of light behind the young teen's eyes as she spoke about the Little Prince's adventures into magical worlds. Such a bright child, yet she had lived out her short life behind concrete walls, her mind crammed with hard-nose sciences, and the false faith of a guru, dropout astrophysicist. A pain shot through Marge's heart.
McCarry was speaking. '... like she was talking under someone else's orders?'
'The woman on the phone?' Marge said.
McCarry almost repressed his annoyance. 'Yes, Detective. The woman on the phone. Did she sound like she was repeating someone else's orders?'
Marge pondered the question. 'To me, she sounded genuinely scared.'
Oliver said, 'Even if it's a ploy to draw us out, we still can't ignore it.'
Decker said, 'I'm sure the current task force is working on it.'
'Why aren't you with them?' Oliver asked.
'Guess I've been kicked out of the loop.' Decker yawned, then faced McCarry. 'So what's your excuse for hanging around us losers when you could be part of the bigwigs?'
McCarry shrugged. 'I like losers. Feel at home with them.'
Decker smiled. He knew a couple of reasons why McCarry elected to stay. First, Decker had clout - albeit minimal - with Bob. Maybe the FBI agent wanted to ride his wave. But more than that, Decker sensed that McCarry had grown tired of useless meetings. He was beginning to warm up to the agent, sensing a reciprocal thaw. There were small signs of mutual trust. Things like McCarry getting Decker's people fresh coffee when he had exited the task force's trailer.
The agent asked, 'Where are the other two? Blondie and Mustache?'
'Martinez and Webster?' Decker rephrased. 'They're petitioning to subpoena Reuben Asnikov's files.'
'Which judge are they asking for the warrant?' Marge asked.
'Ryan.'
'Good choice.'
'Asnikov's a first-class bastard,' McCarry shot out. 'Sitting on information while there are kids inside.'
'Asnikov claims he's never rescued anyone from the Order,' Oliver said.
McCarry said, 'You ever mention him to anyone in the Order? See their reaction?'
Marge said. 'Couple of times.'
'To them, he's the devil, right?'
'In the flesh.'
McCarry sipped coffee. 'You don't elicit naked hatred unless you've messed them up. Over the years, the L.A. Bureau alone has received close to fifty kidnapping complaints against him.'
'Kidnapping complaints from the Order!' Marge asked.
McCarry shook his head. 'The Order would never contact the FBI about Asnikov. First of all, they're kidnappers themselves. Second, the gurus all have clouded pasts, I'm convinced of it. No, most of the complaints against Reuben have come from divorced parents. Kidnapping kids for one parent or the other. You know the scenario. Dad decides to stick it to Mom by kidnapping sonny.'
Decker said, 'Does Asnikov kidnap for the custodial or noncustodial parent?'
'He swings both ways. We have at least fifteen cases where he's taken the kid away from the court-assigned parent. Although in a few cases, looks like the court made a mistake. I'd say the bulk of his work consists of returning kids to the custodial parent.'
'Nothing wrong with that,' Marge said. 'That's restoration.'
'In theory, no.' McCarry's eyes turned steely. 'It's his methods.'
'It's your kid, you have the legal rights, the system is failing you...' Marge shrugged. 'I don't see a problem.'
'It's vigilante justice,' McCarry said.
'To me, it's plain justice.'
The agent didn't press it. Decker looked around the area teaming with steel and flesh - cars, trucks, SWAT vans and other assorted vehicles along with newspaper and TV people with cameras, spotlights, makeup personnel (mascara and foundation run in the fog) and sound booms and mikes. In the last two hours, the bodies seemed to have multiplied by mitosis. An ant farm in macrocosm. Everyone just waiting for something to happen.
Decker said, 'We could cut the manpower in half without losing anything.'
'At least by half,' McCarry answered. 'What a waste of money.' To Marge, he said, 'My techs are wiring your line to our tape machine in one of our equipment vans. They should be done in fifteen minutes. You'll need to stick around in case someone calls you.'
Oliver said, 'In the meantime, Loo, I think we should look for the alleged hole in the fence. See if it even exists. I've got a pair of binocs in the trunk of the car.'
'Sure, go look, Scott. Who knows what you might find?' To McCarry, Decker said, 'Does anyone in your agency have any idea if the compound's doors and windows are really hot-wired?'
'Nobody,' McCarry answered.
Oliver spoke. 'The phone call said that Bob was in the process of wiring the fence. I'm just wondering if maybe Bob already has. Like he has a switch to turn it on and off. So we plan our move thinking that everything's copacetic. Then the moment Bob sees us futzing with the fence, he flips on the juice, turning us into krispies.'
But Decker was staring off into the distance.
Marge said, 'What're you looking at?'
'At ten o'clock... just before the ropes.' Decker pointed several hundred feet to the left of the cordoned-off press area. 'Looks like some kind of security break.'
Several uniformed men were interrogating a woman wearing jeans, a black turtleneck sweater and red Keds sneakers.
They were more than interrogating her; she was handcuffed. She was rocking on her feet. On closer inspection, she was stamping them on the ground.
Her body language seemed young... the energy with which she move
d. She was thin with long, stringy brown hair. She appeared to be shouting although Decker couldn't hear from where he stood. Within seconds, the officers had closed rank around her, and she was buried beneath a blanket of blue security uniform shirts. Then the seas parted, and two of the men started dragging her off, the toes of her red sneakers digging tracks into the ground.
Marge said, 'C'mon, Scott. Let's check it out.'
Oliver took the last sips of his coffee and tossed the cup in a brown shopping bag that had been designated as garbage. 'I'm with you, babe.'
Decker rubbed his forehead as he watched them jog toward the scene. He saw them flash ID, then talk to the group of officers as the woman was being shoved unceremoniously into a black-and-white. At first, Marge seemed to be nodding with a distracted air. But within moments, her entire expression underwent a radical change. Even at this distance, Decker saw her eyes widen several diameters.
As the police car began to pull out, Oliver bolted to the front of the cruiser as Marge rushed over and banged on the passenger window. Decker heard her screaming, but again he couldn't discern any intelligible speech. Abruptly, the police car braked, and jerked backward. Marge didn't even wait until the car was motionless. She yanked open the back door and stuck her head inside.
Without a word, Decker began to run toward the car. He could hear McCarry sprinting behind him. Obviously, he had the same idea.
As Marge attempted to help her out of the car, the girl kicked up dust, legs flailing in every direction as she tried to break from Marge's grip.
'Get your fucking paws off of me!'
'Just calm-'
'... come here, risking my life, and you morons try to arrest me!'
'The officers didn't know-'
'So they should shut up and listen! I knew I shouldn't have come back!' The girl continued to struggle against Marge's grasp. 'Let go of me, you idiot!'
Marge released her hold, and the girl flew backward, landing on her butt. Wordlessly, Marge gripped her arm and pulled her back to her feet.
The girl said nothing for a moment, wiggling her hands. 'Think you can take your B and D fun bands off my wrists?'
Marge said, 'I'm on your side-'
'Listen, girlfriend, you want to build rapport, take the handcuffs off!'
Breathlessly, Decker stopped in front of the girl, looking deep into her eyes, recalling the lone fuzzy picture of Andromeda that he had seen. It could have gone both ways. 'Are you Lauren Bolt?'
'Depends who's asking,' the girl answered defiantly. 'Who're you?'
'Lieutenant Peter Decker - LAPD. Where's Lyra?'
'None of your damn business!'
'Just tell me...' Decker was still breathing hard. 'Tell me that she's okay. Please.' A breath. 'All I want you to say is that she's okay!'
For the first time, the girl seemed to sense concern. 'She's okay.'
'Safe?'
She nodded.
'That's good.' Decker put his hand to his chest. 'One less thing to gnaw at my gut.'
'You've been looking for her?'
'Looking for the both of you. The Order claims that you were kidnapped by Reuben Asnikov.'
A disdainful snort. 'Sounds like something the Order would say.' Another snort - more forceful. 'Sounds like something Pluto would say. Pompous ass. Is he really dead?'
'Yes.'
'Wish it would have been Nova-'
'Nova?' Marge asked.
Lauren regarded Marge. 'You know him?'
'We've interviewed him,' Oliver said.
A light of recognition behind the eyes. "That's right. I was still there when you did. Guess he forgot to tell you he's a perv! They're all perverts. But he's the worst because he likes kids.'
'Nova's dead, ma'am,' Oliver said.
A smile spread across Lauren's lips. 'Now if you could just get the rest of them, my life would take on meaning.'
'Do you work for Asnikov?' Marge asked.
'No. But he's the reason I've come... well, one of the reasons. Even if he hadn't called, I would have probably come down.' She looked at her feet. 'Because of the kids. You get... attached...'
She looked up and squinted in the harsh light.
'He got me just in time. We were about to jump ship for Australia.'
'But you don't work for Asnikov,' McCarry stated.
Lauren's face flared up in hostility. 'I just said that, didn't I? Are you deaf?'
McCarry tapped his foot. 'I thought you came here to offer us help.'
'That's up to you, bub.'
Decker regarded her. She had to have been in her early twenties: so skinny you could break her with a bear hug. Yet, here she was, mouthing off to a swarm of security officers, lashing out and swearing like a sailor, not the least bit deterred by authority. She was brash and rude and physical. No wonder they had slapped cuffs on her. Yet Decker understood her blatant gall. She had needed it to infiltrate the Order.
One of the arresting officers stood on the outside of the group, his hand on his hip. 'Do you want me to take her in, Lieutenant?'
'No,' Decker answered. 'Leave her be.'
'Yeah, leave me be, bub,' she answered.
Marge took McCarry aside. 'I'll fill you in.'
Decker gave her an A-okay sigh as he studied the young girl's face, her familiar patrician features blurred by rage and impudence. He computer-aged her visage about sixty years. 'The Farranders had said that Maureen was their youngest so you couldn't be Lyra's aunt. I'd say you're Maureen's niece... the daughter of one of her older sisters.'
Lauren glared, but said nothing.
'Maureen?' Oliver asked.
'Known as Moriah in the Order.' Decker faced Lauren. 'When I was hunting for Lyra, I interviewed your grandparents. You look like your grandmother.'
The girl tensed. 'The selfless Ceese - a bastion of altruism!'
Decker said, 'We're all prisoners of our past-'
'Not all of us, bub!'
'No, not you. You're the righteous cousin on a mission to save Lyra. Good for you, Lauren! You did it! You got her out and probably saved her life. That's no exaggeration. Now help us get the other kids out and you'll be a true hero.'
At once, Lauren's eyes welled up with tears. 'First, take the damn hardware off me.'
Decker glanced at the officer with the ring of keys. 'Remove the handcuffs.'
The man was dubious, but listened to orders from a superior. Within moments, the girl was rubbing her wrists. Freed of the shackles, she seemed less sure of her position. Quiet but guarded.
She said, 'I suppose I owe you something. The police investigation disrupted the Order's robotic schedule.' A long look into space. 'You gave me the break I needed.'
Decker asked, 'How long had you been underground?'
'A little over two years.' Lauren wiped her eyes. 'It was hell, but I'd do it all over again. Especially after what I know. No way I'd let her rot there.'
'You couldn't have known Lyra before you went inside,' Decker said. 'Chances are you never even met her. She was raised inside the Order. What made you go after her?'
She hugged herself. 'That's me! Always a sucker for the underdog. The kind of kid who brings home stray cats and baby birds.' The girl looked away, her face still holding sadness. 'I can't stop thinking about the other kids.'
'Join the club,' Marge said. 'Did you know the dangers going in?'
Lauren shrugged. 'Reuben pretty much gave me the details. He told me not to do it. He told me how dangerous the Order could be. He told me that Pluto' d be watching my every step. He told me if I stepped out of line, I'd be physically punished. He told that Bob would come on to me because I was young and cute. He told me that I'd have to sleep with him and if I didn't, I'd pay dearly. He told me there was a very good chance I'd never get out. He told me he couldn't help me - no one could - because the Order was impenetrable. He told me to think it over... not for days, but for months. And I did.'
'But you went anyway,' Decker said.
'I don't thin
k I believed Reuben. The arrogance was a good thing. Because if I had really known...' She looked away. 'I had worked with poor kids - kids in the inner city - much to my mother's horror.' She looked at Decker. 'Did you meet Mom?'
Decker shook his head no.
'A mini-Ceese. See, I grew up among a family who thought that people should only be vanilla-flavored. When I realized that chocolate had lots to offer, I got to thinking about Maureen's kid. No one else in the family was interested in saving her... charity begins at home.'
Faye Kellerman - Decker 11 - Jupiter's Bones Page 32