The Keeper

by George C. Chesbro

  “Jade? Come on, now. Take a couple of deep breaths.”

  “Fuck you if you don’t believe me. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yes, you do,” Roy said, and then slapped her face.

  Jade collapsed as if she’d been hit in the heart by a bullet, sitting down hard on the sand. Then she began to tremble, and she couldn’t stop. The trembling became a violent shaking of all her limbs, as if she were having a seizure. Her mouth opened and closed as she stared with wide, glazed eyes at a nightmare vision of her home going up in flames with her children trapped inside. She heard herself making mewling, animal sounds in her throat, the closest she could come to screaming, and she couldn’t silence them.

  Roy knelt on the sand beside her and took her in his powerful arms, pressing her head against his chest. Finally the sobs locked inside her broke loose. Jade unzipped Roy’s jacket and tore his shirt open, then pressed her mouth against his bare flesh to stifle her screams. Roy continued to hold her tightly, occasionally stroking her hair, until finally the blind panic, terror, shock and rage inside Jade subsided. She heaved a great sigh, then gently pushed Roy away. She fell back on the sand, thrust her arms and legs out to her sides and took a series of deep, measured breaths as she stared up at the bright moon and stars.

  “I really am all right now,” Jade whispered. “Thank you for understanding.”

  “That must have been some show you put on. I wish I’d been here to see it.”

  Jade laughed—an easy, natural sound, and not the hysterical, shrill bray that had threatened to overwhelm her only a short time before. “You wish you’d been here? I wish you’d been here. Where are my kids?”

  “Back up at the house, with a police guard. There’s a cop at the front, and one at the back. Your son and daughter are a little bewildered because they have no idea what’s going on, but they’re all right. I told them I needed to talk to you. Was it Bolo?”

  Jade dug her fingers into the sand. “Yes.”

  “Did you tell Jeff?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “You know why not. I can’t tell part of the story without telling all of it, and that would open a very large can of worms.”

  “Jeff’s no fool. He knows you’re hiding something, Jade. I saw his face when he walked away, and he looked mighty pissed.”

  “I don’t blame him for being pissed, but I still can’t identify Henry Bolo. The worms in that can could nibble me off at the knees. I can’t talk about Bolo without violating the terms of an agreement I have with the Navy.”

  “Are you talking about classified information?”

  “It’s more than that. There are a number of people, and not all of them in the Navy, who’d love to see me hammered if I broke that agreement, even under extenuating circumstances. I could lose everything.”

  “You damn near lost your life.”

  “I could still lose my life. Identifying Bolo would only complicate things for me. It would limit my options. You’re not going to catch him. After what happened tonight he’ll go to ground to heal and wait for another chance at me. He’s protected by powerful people. I have to find the son-of-a-bitch myself, in my own way, and then I have to kill him before he kills me. I shot him in the leg, so that should slow him down for a while.”

  “And just how do you plan to find him?”

  “By finding out who he works for, and then somehow finding a way to pressure the F.B.I. and military counterintelligence to move on them. I like my life here in Cairn, Roy—at least I did before Jack netted that damn Jolly Roger. I’d like to be able to return to my life when this is over. To do that, I have to be free to make my own moves. The alternative is to uproot my children, run away someplace to hide, and then try to start all over. I won’t do that. This is my home, and I won’t let Henry Bolo, or anyone else, chase me away from it.”

  “You may be running out of wiggle room, Jade. The F.B.I. has officially taken over the investigation of both the explosion and the jailbreak, and they’re not sharing information with us. They’re trying to cut us out of the loop, and they’re driving Jeff crazy. They’re definitely going to be keeping an eye on you, and you should not consider them friendlies.”

  “I never did. They suspect me of being involved somehow, don’t they?”

  Roy, who had been squatting next to Jade, straightened up, and then shrugged his broad shoulders. “Let’s just say I get the impression that they haven’t ruled out the possibility that you’re fronting for some band of wild-eyed Palestinian terrorists. They think you could have been using your job as riverkeeper to gather information on targets vulnerable to sabotage. They’re particularly concerned that you patrol up around West Point. That much they’ve let slip—no doubt on purpose.”

  “Jesus Christ. How do they explain the attack on me out on the river?”

  Roy shrugged again. “A diversionary tactic to draw suspicion away from you? An internal dispute between group factions? Or maybe the incident on the river didn’t go down the way you said it did. I never said their thinking made sense. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of this F.B.I. bullshit wasn’t designed to drive a wedge between you and the Cairn police, and your stonewalling Jeff tonight didn’t help matters. Now Jeff may be a little more sympathetic to some of their more bizarre suggestions. You’re becoming very isolated, Jade.”

  “I was isolated before this ever began. Does the F.B.I. think this mythical band of Palestinian terrorists is interested in blowing up fishing boats or taking over Cairn?”

  “I think they’re more concerned about the Tappan Zee Bridge, Lamont Observatory, or a possible rocket attack on West Point.”

  “What a bunch of horseshit.”

  “They don’t trust you. When the F.B.I. doesn’t trust you, you’d better be careful who you talk to and where you go. So much for making your own moves.”

  Jade was silent for some time, thinking as she stared up at the sky. Finally she said, “There’s another explanation. For years, J. Edgar Hoover denied that such a thing as the mafia even existed.”

  “And how does that translate in dog years?”

  “It means that the F.B.I. often has its own agenda that takes precedence over proper law enforcement. Certain F.B.I. higher-ups in charge of this investigation may know, or suspect, who these people are, and they don’t want anything to do with them.”

  “Would the F.B.I. go so far as to protect them?”

  “Not actively pursuing them is protecting them. They prefer to try to divert suspicion to me, which undermines my credibility. They want a tight rein kept on this thing, and they think of me as a loose cannon.”

  “You are a loose cannon.”

  Jade smiled thinly. “We’ll see how much firepower I can muster.”

  “I’ll step up my search for Bolo.”

  “Don’t bother. I’ve told you he’s gone to ground somewhere. He won’t be using his real name, and he’ll be protected by his employers.”

  “He has to come up for air sometime. When he does, I’ll be waiting for him.”

  “By the time he heals and comes up for air, it may be too late. I have to find him myself.”

  “You may not be in a position to do that. The feds have been making noises about taking you into protective custody.”

  “Protective custody, my ass,” Jade said, getting to her feet and brushing sand off her clothes. “They want to take me out of circulation and hope that this all blows over. It means I’d better get a move on. Thanks for the information, Roy.”

  “What are you going to do, Jade?”

  Jade looked out over the water, replied in a distant tone, “I’m going to Washington.”

  “Shit. You’re going to talk to the guy on the telephone, aren’t you?”

  Jade looked back at Roy, shook her head. “You don’t want to know. And nobody must know where I am.”

  “What about your kids?”

  Jade frowned slightly. “I’m not going to leave them in
the house, not even with a police guard.”

  “So what are you going to do with them?”

  Jade turned away again, but not before Roy had seen the same bitterness in her eyes that he now heard in her voice. “I know a place where Fatima will be safe.”

  “What about Max Jr.?”

  “I have to think on that. My parents live in Brooklyn, but I’m not sure they’re ready for Max Jr. He looks too much like his father. And I don’t think Max Jr. is ready for them. They live in a whole different world.”

  Roy reached out and touched Jade’s arm. “Let him stay with me.”

  Jade met his gaze, smiled tentatively. “You?”

  “Yeah. I promise you he’ll be safe. I don’t underestimate these people you’re after. Nobody will get to him.”

  “Roy, I appreciate the offer, but-”

  “Then accept it. Leave your son with me.”

  Jade thought about it, and then said, “I’ll have to see if it’s all right with Max Jr.”

  “It will be. He likes me.”

  Jade nodded her assent. “Thank you, Roy. That will be a big worry off my mind.”

  “How long is this little errand of yours going to take you?”

  “No more than twenty-four hours, I hope. Forty-eight at the most. If, for some reason, it looks like it’s going to take longer, I’ll let you know.”

  “And if I don’t hear from you in forty-eight hours? How can I get in touch with you?”

  Jade laughed, then headed back up the beach toward her house. “Not to worry, Roy,” she called over her shoulder. “If I screw this up, everybody in the country will know where I am. All you’ll have to do is pick up a newspaper or turn on the television.”

  ii

  “You did good, Mom,” Fatima said. “I heard the police talking about what you did, shooting that firebomb thing out of the sky. They said you saved people’s lives. I’m glad you’re all right.”

  Jade smiled and nodded to Fatima, then looked at Max Jr., who was sitting beside his sister on the sofa in their small television room. “And what do you think of your mother, my big gallon of grilled gorilla guts? Did your Mom do good?”

  Max Jr. grinned. “You did real good, my little … pen of poisoned petunias.” The boy paused, and his smile faded as his eyes grew wider. “Mom, why was that guy coming after us? And where did you get those guns?”

  Jade sighed as she sat back in her leather recliner and crossed her legs. “Maxie, Fatima … when I was in the Navy, I wasn’t always on ships or flying helicopters on sea rescue missions, like I told you. There were certain things your father and I didn’t want you to know because we didn’t want you to worry. Much of the time when I was away from home I was in foreign countries gathering information that could help our country defend itself. I made enemies while I did that work, and the man who came here tonight was one of those enemies. I kept the guns to protect us just in case someone like that did ever show up.”

  “Wow,” Max Jr. said, his brown eyes growing wide. “You did like spy stuff?”

  Jade smiled at her son. “Yeah. It was like spy stuff.”

  “Oh, come on, Maxie,” Fatima said with a trace of impatience in her voice as she punched her brother on the shoulder. “We always knew that.”

  “Yeah, but we could never be sure, like now with Mom saying it.”

  Jade frowned and shook her head. “What are you talking about, Fatima? Just what is it you think you always knew?”

  The girl with the olive skin like her mother’s shrugged and laughed. “You know, Mom, kids would make the best spies, because adults talk around them about all sorts of things and think the kids aren’t listening, or they act like the kids aren’t even there. Lots of times Maxie and I heard parents of the other kids, some of them officers, bragging to each other about how the Navy was supposed to have the best Middle East spy in the business. They said there was a rumor that this spy was a woman. Sometimes we’d hear men arguing about whether this woman spy even existed, because they didn’t think any woman could be as smart, tough, and good with all sorts of weapons as this one was supposed to be. Her code name was rumored to be Gemstone. Maxie and I always took it for granted that you were Gemstone, Mom. We were real proud of you, but we never said anything because nobody was supposed to know your secret.”

  Jade continued to shake her head in consternation, and then burst out laughing. “So much for Navy security! My God, I love it!”

  “What’s going to happen now, Mom?” Max Jr. asked.

  Jade rose, stepped across the room and sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of the sofa, resting a hand on a knee of each of her children. “That bad guy is still running loose out there somewhere, Maxie, and there may be more like him. Mom’s got things to do. I have to make certain that what happened tonight never happens again. That means I have to find these people and see that they’re put away where they can’t threaten us.”

  “The police are supposed to do that, Mom,” Fatima said, a note of tension in her voice. “That’s their job.”

  “Babe, the police are going to be doing their job, but there are certain things I can do that the police can’t. I have to talk to people that the police can’t know about.”

  “Why, Mom?” Fatima persisted in the same tense tone.

  “I can’t explain, babe. You just have to trust that it’s so. Until we get this business behind us, it’s not safe for the two of you to stay in the house. I have to go away for a day or two, and I’m hoping I’ll be able to solve the problem in that time. But I’m not going to leave you here by yourselves.”

  “Aw, Mom,” Max Jr. said in a slightly petulant tone. “The police are guarding us.”

  “Maxie, I’d just feel better if you were someplace else. Roy asked if you could stay with him. He likes you very much, and I know you’ll be safe with him. I’ll tell him you have my permission, and maybe he’ll take you to the police firing range and let you shoot his gun. How does that sound to you, my big liter of loose-lipped lizards?”

  Max Jr. frowned and looked away. “I wish you didn’t have to go away, Mom. I’m worried about you.”

  “But I do have to go, Maxie. You don’t have to worry about me. Will you stay with Roy so that I don’t have to worry about you?”

  “Okay,” the boy mumbled.

  Jade turned to Fatima. “Would you still like to live in Hebron Nablus?”

  The girl’s dark eyes glistened. Her finely chiseled features mirrored confusion, and she seemed on the verge of tears. “What you’re going to do is dangerous, isn’t it?”

  “No. I just have to get information from somebody, and I’m the only person in a position to do that. When I find out what I need to know, I’ll pass it on to Roy, and he’ll see that the information is put to good use.”

  “Why can’t Roy get the information himself, Mom? He’s a cop.”

  “But he doesn’t have jurisdiction outside Cairn, and I need to go someplace else. I appreciate your concern very much, babe, but you don’t have to worry about me either. What I need is the peace of mind I’ll get from knowing both of you are safe while I’m away. Now, please just answer my question. Would you still like to live with your friends and teachers in Hebron Nablus?”

  Now tears filled Fatima’s eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “Yes, Mom,” she said in a voice just above a whisper as she put her hands on Jade’s shoulders. “It’s not that I-”

  “You don’t have to explain, babe,” Jade interrupted, squeezing her daughter’s hands. “Right now I’m glad that’s what you want to do, because that’s where I want you to be. I believe you’ll be safe there, so it’s best that you go.”

  “What about … after you come back?”

  “I think it’s best that you stay there until your heart tells you that it’s time to come home again.”

  “Thank you, Mom. I love you and Maxie, but that’s where I feel I belong and where God wants me to be.”

  “Are you certain they’ll take you in?”
/>
  “Yes. They ask me about it every day when I go to school. I’ll live with a couple who have a lot of teenagers.”

  “How soon can this family take you?”

  “Right away—as soon as you give permission. They love me too.”

  “Good,” Jade said, getting to her feet and smiling reassuringly at both Max Jr. and Fatima. “Then it’s settled. Now, why don’t the two of you go back to bed?”

  She turned and walked quickly from the room so as to hide the tears that suddenly filled her own eyes.

  Chapter Ten

  i

  She spent the morning making arrangements for her children; Roy would pick up Max Jr. at the high school and bring him to his home, and she went with Fatima to Hebron Nablus to confirm with Rabbi Yunis Dockowicz that her daughter would be welcomed into the community immediately.

  Jade found that she did not like the rabbi, a tall man with big hands and feet and muddy gray eyes that wouldn’t quite meet hers, but she attributed her aversion to the fact that this was a man who was not only allowing, if not encouraging, others to entertain the absurd notion that he was some kind of Messiah but with whom she was competing for her daughter’s love and loyalty. She reminded herself that the choice was Fatima’s, not hers, and she tried to mask her feelings behind expressions of gratitude for his concern for Fatima. She hoped her smile didn’t look too forced.

  She was invited into the home of the couple with whom her daughter would be living to help Fatima unpack her suitcases. All the while she was transferring clothes to dresser drawers she kept up a forced, friendly banter that Fatima, who now seemed withdrawn, did not respond to. When the time came to say goodbye, Jade did so and quickly left. She did not cry, for she did not feel sad. In fact, she did not feel much of anything at all, for her warrior had awakened and was rising in her.

  She caught the noon shuttle out of LaGuardia Airport, and by 3:45 was cruising in a rented car on the expressway circling the Pentagon, where she had spent ten months as an instructor.

  She did not know where Vice Admiral Hubert Roberts lived, and his home phone number was unlisted. However, she did know the location of his office, and thus the parking area to which he would be assigned. If the Chief of Naval Intelligence had not changed his private office number in the more than two years since she had left the service, Jade thought it reasonable to assume that he had not changed parking lots either. Jade was counting on it.