The Keeper

by George C. Chesbro

  The scar-faced man slammed through the exit door. Jade, only a few steps behind him, burst through the door and found herself in another narrow corridor similar to the one at the front of the building. She looked to her right and saw nothing, then ran to her left when she heard a door in that direction slam open. She reached the second door, banged it open with her shoulder, stepped out and found herself on the apron of a small faculty parking lot. The running man was fifty feet away. Jade started after him, then stopped, knowing she could not hope to catch him in her bare feet and wearing a skirt. She watched as the man vaulted over a low steel guardrail, sprinted up a hillside and disappeared into a copse of fir trees.

  Jade pounded her fist on the hood of a car parked in front of her. She had been handed an astounding piece of good luck, she thought, and she had blown it. She took no comfort in the fact that the man would probably be arrested within the hour, for she doubted he would have any more to say to the police now than he had the first time he’d been locked up. He would certainly be identified, which could be some help, but the attendant publicity would only make her job more difficult, rendering it virtually impossible for her to operate under any veil of secrecy, and no doubt making her enemies in the conspiracy determine to revert back to their original plan of sending out a team of assassins to track her down and kill her.

  Jade, grim-faced, headed back toward the gym to retrieve her purse and shoes, after which she would call the local police and Roy.

  ii

  Jade sat in Roy’s office sipping a mug of coffee and listening to Roy’s end of the conversation with the New York State Police, who were handling the matter. Troopers had come to the Bolton School in response to her call, and she had done the best she could to explain the situation. The trooper who had interrogated her had called Jeffrey Bond to verify that the West Point martial arts instructor Jade had chased was indeed wanted for attempted murder and jailbreak. The trooper had taken Jade’s name, address and phone number, and then told her the state police would be in touch if they had any more questions. She had immediately returned to Cairn and gone to see Roy, who was now trying to follow up to see what was being done.

  Roy hung up the phone, turned to Jade and pointed to her legs. “You planning on trying to mend those?”

  Jade looked down and saw that she was still wearing the pantyhose she had shredded. She took off the ruined garment, dropped it into the wastebasket beside Roy’s desk.

  “This is the first time I’ve seen you in a skirt,” Roy continued. “On you, it almost looks kinky. I like it.”

  “I’m so pleased. What are the state police doing?”

  “I’ve got nothing but good news. They made an easy ID. The name of the guy you chased out of the gym is Conrad Linit, and he’s got a background similar to Bolo’s. He’s forty-six years old, a retired Army gunnery sergeant who’s been a martial arts and small arms instructor at West Point for the past seven years. Talk about hubris and arrogance. The guy tries to kill you and gets broken out of jail, and he thinks he can just go back to business as usual.”

  “He probably didn’t think he had a choice. He hadn’t been identified, and altering his routine would have raised too many questions.”

  “Well, Linit can now kiss his ass goodbye. He lives in Army housing up there at the Point. Not surprisingly, he hasn’t arrived home yet, but MPs will be waiting for him if and when he does show up. How long can he stay hidden wearing a kung fu costume? They’ll catch him soon.”

  “Don’t be so sure, Roy.”

  The detective ran a hand back through his thick, iron-gray hair. “Well, let’s see what we’ve got going for us here. As of this moment, not only are the cops, state police and F.B.I. on the case, but also the U.S. Army. According to the trooper I just talked to, the Army is launching a full scale investigation into just whatever it is Linit’s involved in. When Linit gets caught this time, he’ll stay caught. The Feds will take him into custody.”

  “We’ll see. The state police have been asking a lot of questions about me, haven’t they?”

  Roy smiled. “This guy wanted to know what he had to do to get you to chase after him.”

  “Roy, I need to know who’s looking at me, and how hard.”

  “You heard the answers I gave him. Naturally, they find it difficult to believe that you’d have no idea why Linit and two of his friends would try to kill you, but with an attempted murderer and jailbreaker to catch, they’re not going to hassle the only witness to the attack that landed him in the can in the first place. I wouldn’t worry about it. Your secrets seem to be safe—at least for now. That could change when they catch this guy, but I don’t see how the Navy can get away with punishing you if you’re forced to testify about your past and how it figures in all this.”

  “That’s no longer my primary concern. What I worry about now is being free to make moves without a lot of people looking over my shoulder. Are you sure Max Jr. is safe?”

  “Yes, I’m sure Max Jr. is safe. He’s at home watching television with all the doors and windows locked, and he’s not answering the phone or the door. Nobody knows he’s staying with me. You can start to relax a little now, Jade. It’s as good as finished. It’s only a matter of time before Linit gets picked up. Facing a stiff prosecution and seeing his life going down the toilet, he’ll cut a deal and blow open the whole operation.”

  “That’s a nice scenario, except that he hasn’t been caught yet.”

  “He will be. Hey, he’s alone and on foot, padding around in his pajamas. His wallet was in his gym bag with his street clothes, so he doesn’t even have a quarter to make a phone call.”

  “He doesn’t need a quarter to make a phone call. It’s not finished, Roy. I don’t give a damn about the operation, except for the fact that the people running it once again give a very big damn about me. I’m the only witness who can testify to certain things that happened, and I’m the only person in a position to give expert testimony walking the cat back to the dead Jolly Roger Jack netted. It will never be finished for me until Henry Bolo, not Conrad Linit, is in prison, or preferably dead. The big boys are going to be on my case again, and the next team of assassins they send after me are sure to be better trained than those first three musketeers.”

  “I agree that you’re going to have to lie low until they catch Linit.”

  “Roy, you still don’t get it. Right now Gunnery Sergeant Linit is in some safe house guzzling beer with his buddies and laughing his ass off at all of us. Within a week he’ll be living in a comfortable villa, probably somewhere in South America, with new identity papers. I’m not about to count on the Army, or anybody else, getting to the bottom of this thing in my lifetime—which could be very short if I don’t keep moving. This isn’t some New York street gang you’re dealing with; it’s a highly organized group of professional military people who obviously have vast resources at their disposal, along with powerful friends and sympathizers in high places to funnel them information or lend a helping hand when they need it. You’ll never see Conrad Linit again.”

  Roy sat looking at Jade for some time while he considered her words. Finally he sighed and leaned back in his chair. “You’re probably right,” he said in a slightly distant tone. “He should have been caught by now.”

  Jade smiled thinly as she reached out and touched Roy’s hand. “Dear me. You look downright glum. Do I need to cheer you up?”

  Roy grunted, said, “Nah. I’ve just got to get used to thinking like spy people instead of cop people.”

  “Roy, I’m being followed.”

  The detective looked up sharply. “Are you sure?”

  “Not a hundred percent, but I’ve developed a pretty good sense for these things.”

  “I can believe that,” Roy said as he frowned, then got up from his chair and went to the window. He stood there for almost a minute, scanning the street outside, but saw nothing unusual. Finally he turned back to Jade and asked, “Who do you think is following you?”

 
; “Haven’t a clue, but that’s why I want to keep track of the questions the various authorities are asking about me. Whoever it may be is good; I haven’t made him or her, and I have a whole set of drills for flushing tails. I have to assume that if he or she intended to kill me, an attempt would already have been made; all they’d need would be a sniper’s rifle, or they could have tried to take me out on a drive-by on the road. So right now I’m not pressing the matter. But I do feel that presence; it’s like a tingling on the back of my neck.”

  Roy shook his head. “I don’t like this at all, lady. If you feel somebody’s following you, then you’re probably right. How long?”

  “Maybe a few days. I didn’t feel it strongly until today, after I’d gone to Bolton and bumped into Sergeant Linit. It changes things.”

  Roy went closer to Jade, stared into her emerald eyes. For a moment he felt lost, overwhelmed by desire, anxiety and frustration. “Jesus,” he said softly. “I’m a fucking cop. I happen to be the particular cop under whose nose these guys blew away a family. I’m the one who’s supposed to be catching the bad guys, but you’re the one chasing one of them into the woods. I feel like all I’m doing is sitting here in Cairn with my thumb up my ass.”

  Jade touched Roy’s cheek, and then kissed him lightly on the lips. “You know that isn’t true. There’s only so much you can do, and right now you’re more valuable to me as a friend and confidant than as a cop. What little information you get from the other authorities is still more than I’d get if I asked. You’ve run computer checks on Bolo, and you’re keeping an eye on Max Jr. for me.”

  “Around the time I found out Bolo has a mail drop in Florida he shows up here gunning for you. Big help. There isn’t a lot of information flowing into this pipeline, and keeping company with Max Jr. is a pleasure. We get on.”

  “I’ve noticed.”

  Roy shrugged, smiled thinly. “Having Max Jr. around gives me a chance to play Dad. I didn’t think I’d ever get the opportunity. I feel like the two of you are doing me a favor.”

  “Well, you can keep on playing Dad for a little while longer if it pleases you. I’ve got some other business to take care of. Putting Max Jr. in Bolton is out of the question now, and I don’t have time to look around for another school.”

  Roy nodded. “He’ll be safe with me. What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to Israel for a few days.”

  Roy raised his eyebrows slightly. “Israel? What kind of help do you think you can get in Israel?”

  “I’m not sure I can get any. It’s a very long shot, but at this point I don’t have anything to lose by trying. It’s a bit sensitive, Roy, so I don’t want to talk about it. If I get what I need, you’ll be the first to know.”

  “How long will you be gone?”

  “Two days, maybe three at the most. I’ll know pretty quickly if this is going to work.”

  “Jade, I’d like you to do something for me.”

  “What?”

  “Let me send Max Jr. back to Cairn High School”

  “No,” Jade replied curtly. “I’m feeling very vulnerable, Roy. After what happened with Linit, these people could go to any lengths to keep me from digging more, or from being a witness. They don’t know where to find Fatima, but Max Jr. would be an easy target if he started attending classes again. If he’s kidnapped, I’m finished. Missing a few more days of school won’t hurt him.”

  “I guarantee his safety.”

  “What are you going to do, send a cop with him to school every day?”

  “Not a cop; bodyguards. Very professional bodyguards. They’ll be discreet. They’ll be there at the official request of the Cairn Police Department, and I’ll make arrangements with the principal for them to be close to Max Jr. at all times. You’ve been in the news a lot lately, so people will understand that your son needs a little extra protection. Nobody, but nobody, is going to get past these people. I think Max Jr. should be back in school.”

  “What people? What the hell are you talking about, Roy?”

  “There are some tough folks out on Long Island and in New Jersey who still owe me a few favors from the years when I was with the NYPD; in exchange for information they gave me concerning certain cases I was handling, I cut them some slack when a couple of their kids got in trouble. They’ll be relieved to be able to pay off the debt.”

  “Gangsters. You’re suggesting I send my son to school surrounded by a bunch of gangsters.”

  Roy smiled. “It’s a bit sensitive, so I’d rather not talk about it. Max Jr. will be safe.”

  “I don’t know, Roy,” Jade said, shaking her head.

  “You don’t know what? You just told me yourself that you can’t risk putting him in some private school where he could be snatched.”

  “I’ll look for another school when I get back.”

  “He needs a measure of continuity, Jade, especially now in the chaos that your lives have become. Continuing to go to classes will give him that. He needs to go to school—his school. Don’t let him miss any more time from his classwork. At the rate things are going you seem to offer the best chance I have of nailing these bastards, so you go ahead with your business in Israel, but let me send Max Jr. back to school.”

  “There’s still the problem of the way he’s treated there. Maybe it’s best if he just takes a break from all that.”

  “He doesn’t need a break, he needs a breakthrough. Has it ever occurred to you that you may be afraid to let him grow up and learn to take care of his own business because then he might not be so dependent on you? Maybe you’re asking him to pay for your sins of the past in neglecting him.”

  “I don’t need that, Roy,” Jade replied stiffly. “I’d like nothing better than for him to learn to take care of his own business. I’m not an enabler, and you’re not his father.”

  “I’m not trying to be his father,” Roy said evenly. “I’m just trying to be his friend, and yours.”

  Jade sighed, looked away. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly.

  “For what?”

  “Insulting you.”

  “Hey, I insulted you, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t insult me. I’m just asking you to think through why it is you’re so resistant to the idea of having Max Jr. go back to his school. You can’t wrap him up and put him on a shelf while you resolve all this other business. Nobody’s going to bother him with those bodyguards around, and that includes the other kids. When you say goodbye, why don’t you ask him what he wants? His answer might surprise you. Ask him if he’d like to go back to his classes, or if he’d rather sit in the house all day playing couch potato while you sort out your life. You never even asked him if he wanted to go to a special school. Ask him now. That answer might surprise you too.”

  Suddenly Jade felt troubled for reasons she could not identify. “I don’t think I’m going over to see Max Jr. before I leave, Roy,” she said quietly. “Lately, it seems I’m always saying goodbye to him, telling him his Mom’s got things to do. I’ll be leaving in the morning. Just tell him that I’ll be gone a couple of days, and that I love him.”

  “Okay.”

  “In the meantime, you’re in charge of the care of Max Jr. You do what you think is best.”

  “Okay. Is this trip dangerous?”

  “No. I’ll be a lot safer there than I am here.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.”

  Jade stared at Roy, who stared back at her, his face impassive. Suddenly she felt that the man’s gray eyes could not only see to the bottom of her but that they also saw more than she did. It made her feel vulnerable and confused. She wanted to be held and reassured; she wanted to reach out to this man and tell him what she was feeling, but she could not for she was not sure herself.

  “I guess I’ll say goodbye now,” Jade said in a small voice. “I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

  “Good luck, lady. Max Jr. and I will be waiting for you when you get back.”

  Jade nodded, and then
, suddenly feeling isolated and lonely, she rose from her chair and walked out of the office.

  iii

  Jade felt unsettled and anxious, and the fact that she did not fully understand why only troubled her more.

  As she drove home she replayed in her mind the conversation with Roy, which had turned sour when the subject had turned to Max Jr. It seemed she could discuss torture or murder or her own dangerous situations with equanimity, but she did not seem able to talk about her son without becoming defensive or angry. Roy’s words had hurt. As Max Jr.’s mother it was her responsibility to look out after his best interest, but Roy had implied that she was not, that she and Max Jr. had teamed up to limit his independence. She had felt something dark stir in her during the conversation, and she feared that it could be jealousy and a resentment of Max Jr.’s growing relationship with Roy.

  She decided she was going to have to think long and hard about this matter. She had been extensively trained to read and exploit other people’s emotional weaknesses. Now she was going to have to turn that same laser inner eye on her own heart and learn the truth, even if that truth was that she was unconsciously encouraging her son to remain a child so that she could keep him to herself, or even somehow give him back the childhood she felt had been so emotionally deprived. Her son was not the enemy, she thought, and she must not exploit his emotional weaknesses to fill the cracks in her own life.

  She was still thinking about the relationships between Max Jr., Roy, her dead husband and herself when she arrived home and parked her car in the driveway. She went into the house and was startled to find her daughter waiting for her in the brightly lighted kitchen.

  “Fatima!” Jade cried, hurrying to the girl, taking her in her arms and kissing her cheeks.

  “Hi, Mom,” the raven-haired, green-eyed girl said as she hugged her mother back. “It’s good to see you.”