"So you're a travel agent, you said?" Mahoney's eyes looked back at me from the rear-view mirror.
"Yes I am," I said.
"But you're some kind of detective on the side?" said Mahoney. "I figured, what with your tracking down this killer and all..."
He was being nosy, but I was flattered he'd taken an interest. "I'm here out of personal interest. The killer murdered my best friend, remember?"
"Yeah, but you've done this kind of thing before, right?" Mahoney was still watching from the mirror. "You've helped the cops with a bunch of cases, haven't you?"
I frowned. "How'd you know that?"
Mahoney whipped his head around for a second to flash me a grin. "I Googled you, of course."
Again, I was flattered. Stayed frowning as I looked out the side window, but I was secretly smiling.
"So, what?" said Mahoney. "Are you like this expert consultant they call in for the toughest cases?"
I thought it over. Noticed Laurel listening carefully, ear cocked in my direction. Mahoney's ear was cocked my way, too.
But I wasn't ready to tell him the truth about my earth-moving crimefighting techniques. "Consultant's a good way to put it," I said.
"Well, you must be pretty good at it," said Mahoney. "I found a bunch of newspaper stories on the web that mention you helping with cases."
I shrugged. "If you say so."
"So what's the plan going into Parapets?" Mahoney spun the wheel, and the Jeep darted up a steep two-lane road. "How're you going to find the killer?"
I decided to stick with the truth on that one. "It's called improvising. That's the plan."
"Seriously?" Mahoney's eyes in the mirror looked surprised. "Who's this guy you're after, anyway?"
"The killer, you mean?" said Laurel.
"The one you're looking for, yeah," said Mahoney. "What's he look like?"
"We'll know him when we find him," I said.
"Wait," said Mahoney. "You mean you don't know what he looks like?"
"He or she, actually," said Laurel.
Mahoney gasped. "You don't even know if it's a..."
"Pretty sure it's a he." I made an effort to sound nonchalant. Like everything was under control. "Don't worry about it."
"But how will you find this killer if you don't even know what he or she looks like?" said Mahoney.
"We'll know who it is," I said. "It'll all work out."
Mahoney shook his head. "Why am I still afraid you two are as crazy as everyone else who wants to go to Parapets?"
"Did you ever stop to wonder," I said, "if you're the one who's crazy?"
Mahoney laughed. "Oh, I know I'm crazy for taking you two to Parapets! I've finally lost it!"
"Where's your sense of adventure?" I met his gaze in the mirror...and winked. "Don't you like a challenge?"
"Sure." Mahoney's eyes twinkled. "As long as it doesn't get me killed."
"Well, we're not planning on getting you killed," I said. "Are we, Laurel?"
"That's right," said Laurel. "We want to keep you alive."
"To use as a human shield." I let the line hang there for a moment...then laughed and leaned forward to sock Mahoney in the shoulder. "Just kiddin', pal."
"Oh, that's funny." Mahoney's sarcasm was thick. "Har de har har." He swung the Jeep hard right onto a dirt road, jolting me left against the door. "Y'know the only thing that's stopping me from turning around right now and taking you back to town? Other than the rest of the gold you're paying me?"
"My sense of humor?" I said.
"Something else," said Mahoney. "I'll let you figure it out."
I frowned. "Something about me?"
"Oh, yes." When I looked up, I saw him watching me in the mirror again. "Think about it. Let me know what you come up with."
"Okay," I said. "I'll get back to you."
But the truth was, I didn't really have to think about it. I was pretty sure I already knew from the way he was looking at me.
*****
We'd only been on the road a half-hour when we reached the checkpoint: a big metal and glass guard shack with a red-and-white-striped roadblock arm across the dirt road. No sign to indicate it had anything to do with Parapets.
A young guy in a dark brown uniform emerged from the shack and walked to the driver's side window of the Jeep. "May I see some identification, please, sir?"
Mahoney handed over the letter. "This should cover it."
The guard read the letter. "Identification as well, sir." He leaned down and looked at Laurel and me. "For all of you, please."
I was worried Laurel might not have I.D. on her, but she did. In fact, she whipped out her driver's license faster than I did.
The guard walked back to the booth with our IDs and letter. He was gone a long time.
"I wonder if there's a problem." Just as Mahoney said it, the guard reappeared...and this time, he wasn't alone. Another guard, older and brawny as a bulldog, strolled out of the shack with him.
"Would you please step out of the car?" said the first guard.
"Everyone out," said guard number two, the bulldog, when Laurel and I stayed in our seats. "And leave the key in the ignition."
As soon as we were out, the bulldog got in the Jeep. The roadblock arm went up, and he drove away.
I watched the Jeep disappear up the road in a cloud of dust. "How do we get to Parapets without the car, by the way?"
"You'll see," said Mahoney. "It'll all work out."
Five minutes later, the bulldog returned in a different vehicle—what looked like a big silver golf cart on fat all-terrain tires. The first guard ushered us aboard, even opened the doors for Laurel and me.
Mahoney sat up front in the shotgun position. "So even an authorized V.I.P. visitor can't drive to the gate alone?"
"Not anymore," the bulldog said ominously. Then, he threw the cart into gear and took off up the dirt road.
We rolled along in silence for a moment before Mahoney spoke up again. "I can't help but notice," he said. "Neither of you guards are armed."
The bulldog turned and gave him a glare whose intensity reached all the way to the back seat. "That's what it looks like, huh?"
Mahoney's chuckle had a nervous edge. "Then again, appearances can be deceiving, can't they?"
"That's your opinion," said the bulldog, and then he returned his full attention to the road.
*****
Chapter 39
The ride to the gate took a total of fifteen minutes. It felt like three hours to my ass, though. As focused as the bulldog was on his driving, I would've expected him to miss a few bumps along the way...but no such luck.
As we got closer, the border of the property became visible through the thinning trees—a line of giant gray panels, more like a wall than a fence. Each panel had to be at least twenty feet tall and thirty feet across. I guessed it was fabricated from some kind of heavy vinyl, though it was tough to judge from inside the cart.
Up ahead, the dirt road ended at what looked like a blank panel, the same as all the rest. The cart didn't slow down a bit as we approached it.
I knew there had to be a way in, but my heart still pounded. It sure looked like we were about to run headfirst into a solid slab of wall.
"So where's the gate?" Mahoney sounded worried. "There used to be a gate right here."
The bulldog didn't answer. Didn't slow down, either.
"I can't watch." Laurel closed her eyes and ducked her head.
I held my breath as we continued to hurtle forward. At any second, I expected a hidden door in the wall to spring open...or maybe, the door was a hologram, a trick of the light, and we would sail right through it.
But what happened wasn't what I'd expected. The cart didn't sail through a holographic doorway. A gate in the wall didn't shoot open at the last second.
Instead, the ground below the wall suddenly fell away. The cart raced down a ramp under the wall and zipped up an incline on the other side.
"Whoa!" said Mahoney. "Ho
w cool was that?"
Looking back, I saw the ground close up behind us, sealing the gap that had opened under the wall. My first thought was that we'd come to the right place. From what I saw, a machine hadn't opened the passage; it had looked to me like the result of earth-moving powers in action.
"You can open your eyes now." I elbowed Laurel. "We're through."
Laurel looked up. "Yes, dear Gaia." Her smile held a trace of sadness. "I do believe we've reached the end of the road."
The bulldog drove onward through a lush maze of a garden, brimming over with blooming flowers and fruit-laden bushes and trees. Birds and bees darted past us, racing through shafts of sunlight, swooping between vines. A riot of floral perfumes swirled around us—rose and magnolia and lily and lilac and more all mixing together. Statues and fountains nestled among the greenery, carved from marble and granite...even some of kind of crystal, I thought. We were moving so fast, it was hard to tell.
I wished the bulldog would slow down so I could get a better look. He raced along like a nut, careening right and left and left and right, charging through an endless series of turns on the cobblestone paths. I was totally lost, and he was in total control...which, of course, was probably just the way they liked it at Parapets.
I had to hand it to them: their security measures had been terrific so far. On the overkill side for sure, way over the top paranoid, but that told me a lot right there. Told me this wasn't a run of the mill compound full of standard issue whack jobs. Something big was happening at Parapets, something important enough to hide and protect.
The overkill security told me something else, too. Told me we might not have an easy time of it here.
The bulldog flashed the cart around a final series of whiplash turns...and then we emerged from the garden. And my mind was blown.
At first, I wasn't sure what I was looking at. It sprawled along the opposite side of a clearing, and it was vast. Stretched as far as I could see in both directions, following the line of a steep ridge. And it never stopped changing.
Its form shifted as I watched, flowing from straight lines and sharp angles to curves and twists. Changing colors from white and green to black and red...from black and red to gleaming gold and silver. Rising to twice its original height, then receding, then rising again. Flattening out into walls and doors and rooftops, becoming a building...then sprouting eyes and claws and scales like a living thing, like a dragon reclining on a cliff. Every time I blinked, it looked different.
"My God." Mahoney sounded dazed. "What is it?"
The bulldog charged across the clearing, unaffected by the sight. "Welcome to Parapets," he said. "Please enjoy your stay."
*****
As we raced toward whatever it was on the ridge, I saw two people emerge from the middle of it, a man and a woman. He was tall and silver-haired and wore a black tuxedo and sunglasses. She was dark-haired, close to the same height, and wore a sparkling red evening gown. The two of them stood directly ahead and watched us approach.
"Who's that?" I said, but the bulldog didn't answer. Just kept flying toward the couple like he was going to run them over.
I held my breath again, but it turned out I didn't need to. The cart stopped short of the couple...less than three feet short, I judged, but no one was hurt. The man and woman looked as calm as ever.
And now that we were close to them, I got a better look at them both. The man was tan and slender, with wavy hair slicked straight back and a deep cleft in his chin. Maybe it was the tuxedo and sunglasses, but he put me in mind of a rich producer strolling around Cannes during a film festival. The woman, I thought, could have been his starlet. She was beautiful, with long, raven-black tresses and creamy skin that shimmered in the sun. She looked like she was in her mid-to-late thirties, maybe barely in her forties; there wasn't a wrinkle anywhere on her lively oval face. She did have two dark moles, though—one at the corner of her left eye, one at the right corner of her mouth.
As I looked the couple over, I also noticed they were each carrying something. Each of them had a blue plastic clipboard and a pen at the ready.
"Mahalo!" The man's Southern accent was smooth as a mint julep. "We've been expecting you!" He had what might have been the deepest voice I'd ever heard.
"Glad you could make it." The woman smiled warmly and extended her arms. "Especially you, dear friend." She was looking in Mahoney's direction when she said it...but I quickly realized she was talking to the person sitting behind him.
"Oh my God." Laurel's mouth fell open. She stared at the woman as if she were an alien from outer space.
"Hello, Laurel," said the woman. "Words cannot express how good it is to see you again."
"C-Cassandra?" Laurel turned her head to stare at the man. "Solomon?"
"Nice to know you haven't forgotten me." Solomon chuckled. "How long has it been, do you think?"
"Fifty years?" said Laurel. "Seventy?"
"It's hard to keep track, isn't it?" said Solomon. "Well, I can honestly say you look just as lovely as the last time I saw you."
The faintest blush crept into Laurel's cheek; you had to be up close to see it. "I didn't know you two were involved with Parapets."
"Involved?" Cassandra gave her long, black hair a dramatic toss. "That's putting it mildly."
"There are lots of surprises in store for you, Laurel," said Solomon. "I can't wait to show you around. But first, we need to take care of some business."
Cassandra walked to the passenger's side of the car. Make that glided. Handed her blue clipboard and a pen to Mahoney. "Please read and sign this release," she said. "For insurance purposes."
"There's another form under that one." Solomon walked over and handed his clipboard and pen to me. "It's a non-disclosure agreement. By signing it, you recognize that everything you experience here is proprietary and protected by law, not to be disseminated in any form beyond the walls of Parapets."
"Sign by the arrows, please," said Cassandra.
I skimmed the first page. "What if we don't sign these at all?"
Solomon reached for the clipboard. "No harm, no foul...no visit."
"That's what I thought." I kept the clipboard and signed the top form, then flipped to the second. More legalese gobbledygook; I could've been signing over all my earthly possessions and not known it.
"The final form," said Solomon, "is an agreement to serve our alien masters as they see fit for the duration of your visit." He looked dead serious...but only for a moment. "Just kidding, guys." He laughed and grinned, lighting up a mouthful of teeth so bright and white they could have been an angel's. "Lighten up! Life's too short!"
I finished signing my forms, and Solomon took the clipboard. When Mahoney finished signing his forms, Cassandra flipped to a second set underneath the first and handed that clipboard to Laurel.
"I still can't believe we're all here together." Laurel signed without reading a word on any of the forms. "I can't get over it."
"They say everything happens for a reason." Cassandra smiled warmly as she took back her clipboard. "I'll bet this reunion will lead to something amazing."
"Speaking of amazing," said Solomon, "it's time we got this tour rolling, don't you think?"
*****
Chapter 40
Laurel, Mahoney, and I got out of the cart and fell in step behind Solomon and Cassandra. As they led us forward, I heard the cart buzzing off into the distance, speeding away at the hand of the bulldog.
Solomon turned to face us. "The Great Hall is the center of life at Parapets. I think you'll agree it's also our most impressive building."
The vast, unidentifiable sprawl along the rim of the cliff continued to change as we drew up to it. Straight white walls became waterfalls, waterfalls became feathers, and the feathers shifted from green to pink to purple to black to blue. It was in constant motion, never holding one single shape or color or texture for more than thirty seconds as I watched.
Solomon spread his arms wide as he backed toward t
he Great Hall. "This is our finest example of the new science of building design which we developed inside these very walls. We call it kaleidotecture."
"Like a kaleidoscope?" said Mahoney. "Changing every time you shake it?"
"Something like that," said Cassandra.
I felt a little light-headed as I watched the flow of change up close. Felt almost dizzy. "Is it some kind of holographic effect? Some kind of light manipulation?"
"More like reality manipulation," said Solomon, "powered by geomantic energy. Every version you see of the structure is perfectly valid at the quantum level. It's like we're dialing from one possible reality to another, flipping between structures that exist in different ways in parallel realities."
"This is remarkable." Laurel gazed raptly at the shifting kaleidostructure. "And you say you invented it here?"
"It's what we're all about at Parapets," said Solomon. "Making the world a more breathtaking place. Research and development in the hyper-scientific realm."
"In all realms," said Cassandra.
"This way, please." Solomon turned and entered the face of the Great Hall, which at that moment resembled a wall of blue flame.
Mahoney hesitated to follow him. Stood in the doorway and looked around nervously at the flames. "This place sure has changed a lot since the last time I was here."
"It's called progress," said Solomon. "A lot can happen in two years, Mr. Wells."
"Right, sure." Mahoney shrugged and walked through. Still looked jumpy, though. "Progress is good."
As we walked inside, the chaos of the exterior gave way to steadier surroundings. We stood in a vast, circular foyer that must have been at least three stories high. The floor was laid in a rainbow of crystal cobblestones, and the distant ceiling shimmered like the surface of a lake. The opposite wall was all windows, opening onto a scenic view of blue sky and green-robed mountains.
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