She did not want that for herself or for Lee and she decided on her own to have an abortion. She did not tell him about the pregnancy because she did not want him to be involved in the decision. It was hers alone. She convinced herself she was doing the right thing for both of them. She would take care of the problem and things would go back to the way they were but it did not work out that way. When the time came to have the abortion she could not go through with it, she ran from the clinic in tears. It was the loneliest time of her life. She felt like she was stuck, she could not go back to Lee and she could not go through with the abortion so she did the only thing she could think of, she ran away.
She traveled to Montreal to have the baby and after he was born she held onto the fantasy that Lee would come and find her and they would make a life together. It was a silly childish fantasy. Lee had no idea where she was or even why she left him. After a while that fantasy faded when she realized it would never happen. She became reckless and dispirited drinking too much and bedding anyone who came along in an attempt to ease her pain and fill the emptiness she felt.
She bounced from one toxic relationship to another until the day she woke up in the ICU at Montreal General Hospital with a concussion. When she regained consciousness and did not know where she was. She could not see, her eyes would not focus, and that experience frightened her, but much worse than that, when her vision cleared, there was a hard-eyed social worker from the Child Protection Agency waiting to talk to her. The teenage babysitter she left Tyler with for a few hours called the Ministry when she had not returned after three days.
The social worker took him into custody and he was living in a foster home. He was not yet two years old and the Ministry woman was threatening to make application to the court to take him away from her permanently. There were papers laid out on the hospital rolling table ready for her to sign to give him up. She screamed at the woman and pushed the table violently away. She lied and told the doctor that she was assaulted which she probably was though she had no memory of it.
After telling the lie she told the social worker she was calling her lawyer and threatened to go to the media with her story if the ministry did not back off. Three days later the same woman returned Tyler to her with a warning she would be watching the situation. As soon as she could arrange it she and Tyler got on a bus and left Montreal for good. It had been a turning point in her life.
The possibility of losing him scared her and she worked hard to clean herself up and get her life back on track. She landed in Winnipeg for a week and stayed with her aunt and while she was there she decided to move to British Columbia. They traveled west in an old campervan and toured around the province looking for a home but it was not until they took the ferry to Vancouver Island that she felt safe. Vancouver Island was as far away from her troubles as she could be and still live in Canada. The Island was a place where no one knew her and she was unlikely to ever run into anyone from her past. She had long ago given up looking for a mate.
Fatherhood
He was still standing at the threshold of her bedroom looking in when she began to speak. He had not seen her room before but he would have recognized it, she had a way of turning a room into an extension of her self. He saw the bits and pieces of history strewn about like landmarks of a life constantly lived and oft renewed. His eyes came to rest upon a photograph in a silver frame on her dresser and he recognized it immediately.
He felt the air in his lungs thicken as he was awash in feelings. It was a picture of them taken at Niagara Falls and even from across the room he could see the happy smiles on their faces. He recalled how Andi had asked a teenage girl to take their picture while they kissed. They kissed dramatically and passionately and the girl was enthralled and forgot to take the picture.
They were deeply in love and laughed and posed for her again while smiling and holding hands. They laughed when the girl’s mother dragged her away giving them a nervous look and a wide berth for the rest of the weekend. It was a wonderful memory rich with remembered feelings. Looking at the photo sent him all the way back to that time when he could experience joy and had the expectation of a happy life. It made him sad to consider how little happiness he experienced in the years since that photo.
Andi watched him through her tears as he gazed at the picture. She kept it all these years and sometimes felt foolish, ashamed, and angry for being such a sentimental fool. Ten years ago in a fit of anger she threw it into the garbage but fished it out again when she was overcome with emptiness and loss. She looked at his sad down-turned face and saw tears form in his eyes and it surprised her. She convinced herself long ago that he did not feel anything for her because he never tried to find her.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
He sat on the bed beside her and sadness welled up within him for all that had gone by. Regret remained his most faithful servant attending to the pain and loss, sidestepping the possibility of the present. No wound or scar or deep regret came to his heart as painfully as the love he had known and lost for this woman. That is what he regretted most and his arms ached to hold her and undo the hurt. He wondered why she rejected him as father to their child. When the word “father” appeared in his mind he broke down and wept covering his face with his hands.
She watched his shoulders slump and felt his deep sadness. She pulled his hands away from his face to look into his eyes and only then did she realize what she’d done to him, to both of them.
”I am so sorry Lee, I didn’t know,” she said.
They sat side by side and grieved for the lives they could have had but for fear and pride.
“I thought you met someone,” he said.
She shook her head sadly and her eyes bore the look of someone gazing inward. She tried to give him that impression at the time but now she could not remember why. It was more of her dismal thinking she realized. When she found out she was pregnant it affected her mind in odd ways and the worst was her unreliable judgment and a tendency to make disastrous snap decisions.
“I missed you for so many years after,” he said. “I was deeply in love with you.”
She heard the emotion in his voice and knew the words he spoke were true and this knowledge broke her. Her shoulders trembled as she sobbed and he put his arm around her and held her with great tenderness.
In her youth, though she knew by most standards she was attractive, she had a hard time believing anyone could love the person she was inside. This belief grew in her mind until she assumed anyone who said they loved her was suspect in motive or simply blind to her true ugliness. She created an impenetrable loop of self-defeating logic which kept her from being hurt but also kept her from accepting love. It worked well until she met Lee and it only took a month for her to fall deeply in love with him. The depth of her love for him scared her but she hid her insecurities from him and risked it all on his heart.
What Lab?
7:50 PM
The house was dark when Zen knocked on the front door and she was startled when a man opened it. She had never seen him before and fear made her back away. She thought he was connected with the police and the white van. She took another step backwards and was about to turn and run when she saw Andi. It was a relief to see her until she realized Andi had been crying and this scared her even more because Andi never cried.
What’s wrong, Zen?” Andi said. She was alarmed by the appearance of the girl. She could see she had been crying. Her eyes and face were red and puffy and there were wet smudges on her cheeks. She was balanced on one foot on the bottom step of the porch ready to bolt.
“Where’s Tyler?” Zen blurted.
“I don’t know, down in his room. Why? Is there something wrong, Zen?” she said.
The pitch of Andi’s voice was climbing higher with worry, matching Zen’s pitch.
“I need to talk to him,” she said.
“What’s wrong? Why do you need to talk to him?” she said.
“Nothing,” she said and she turn
ed to leave. “It’s nothing.”
“Zen, wait,” she said.
She ran out into the yard and grabbed the girl by the arm.
“Do you know something? Has something happened? You have to tell me!” she yelled.
He watched the exchange between them. At first the girl cowered under Andi’s verbal assault but then she stiffened and it looked to him like she might deck Andi if she did not let go of her arm.
“It’s nothing,” she said. “I need to see him. That’s all,” Zen said. He could see the girl was barely holding it together and she would not look at either of them.
“Zen, please come inside for a few minutes?” Andi said.
Though she let go of the girl’s arm it was clear from her voice she would not take no for an answer. Zen thought about it for a full minute and then reluctantly laid her bike back down on the lawn and followed them into the house. She was young enough to still feel the need to defer to the authority of an adult.
He got the impression the girl did not like Andi and it was something that existed before this particular situation.
“Zen, this is Dr. Mann,” Andi said.
The girl did not lift her eyes from the floor to look at him; she mumbled something he took to be a greeting.
“Dr. Mann is here to help me and Tyler, especially Tyler,” she said.
They waited for the girl to respond but she remained silent hovering close to the safety of the front door. It was obvious she did not know who to trust and he decided he better say something to break the ice.
“I know what Tyler has been doing, Zen, and you aren’t ratting him out by talking to us. He might be in serious trouble,” he said.
He let that sink in and the girl shifted her position uncomfortably but she said nothing.
“Tyler is in trouble,” Andi said, “and the only way we can help him is if we all tell what we know. Okay?”
“I promised. I gave him my word,” Zen said.
Her voice was tiny and uncertain her resolve was wavering under their gaze.
“Before I go downstairs and get him please tell me why you are upset and looking for him,” she said.
“There were police at his lab and they were taking his stuff,” she said
“What lab?” they said in unison.
Chapter 11
You Should Run Now
6:21 PM
Hunter placed the call to Western and he answered on the second ring. She did not sugarcoat it.
“We followed the kid to an abandoned factory and we found a body inside,” she said.
“Who is it?” he said.
“I don’t know but it looks like it’s been there a while,” she said.
“Did you check it for ID?” he said.
“We never went in the room. I saw it on closed circuit video. It is in a room and the door is sealed with duct tape,” she said.
She outlined what she discovered and then waited patiently while Western thought this news over.
“Where is the kid now?”
“He left with his girlfriend an hour ago,” she said.
“Girlfriend, Jesus how many kids are in on this thing?” he said.
“I don’t know. The kid and the girl were the only ones we saw,” she said.
The line went quiet for a few more moments while he thought things over.
“This is what I want you to do. You and your partner… what’s his name?” he said.
“Nichol,” she answered.
“Okay, I want you and Nichol to go back in and remove the corpse and anything else that might implicate the boy. Clean his traces in and out of the building whatever and where ever and make sure you get all his lab equipment out.
I will arrange for a secure space in Building Six at Nadon, Nichol will know where that is. Don’t bring the dead guy there. Wait until dark and dump him in the woods somewhere. Head towards Sooke there are lots of likely places. When you’re done send Nichol with the lab stuff and you stay on top of the kid got all that?” he said.
“I don’t have biological warfare training and neither does Nichol. The lab with the corpse is sealed for a reason. We will need some kind of biohazard technician for this job,” she said.
“No, this thing needs to stay in house. I’ll arrange some protective gear for working with hazardous materials for you and Nichol. You’re a smart girl. You’ll figure it out,” he said.
“Okay. Got it,” she said.
She was not sure she did get it. There was obviously something more going on here and the self-preservation voice inside her head was saying “Whoa! Wait a minute!”
“One more thing,” he said. “Can Nichol keep his yap shut? Is he solid?”
“He’s your guy Colonel. I only met him a few hours ago but I guess he’s okay. I’ll talk to him,” she said.
“Good. I don’t know him. He was a name on a list. You can hint at some stripes if you need to. Call me as soon as it’s done and remember to leave the kid alone and do not let him catch you in his lab. I’m hoping he will show up find his stuff gone and behave himself until I can figure out what his role is in all this.
My guy has plugged all the kid’s details into the system give me the street address of this lab and we can monitor local police communications and give you a heads up if we get a hit. In the meantime if you get any indication the local police are looking for him I want you to grab him and get him out of town. This kid is potentially very important. How big is he? Can you handle him?” he asked.
“He is solidly built but Nichol is huge, it shouldn’t be a problem,” she said.
“Make sure he doesn’t hurt the kid. The lab stuff and the body are important but the kid is our priority. Does the kid have a computer?” he said.
“Yes,” she said.
“Make sure you grab it and bring it directly to me. The kid and computer are top priority,” he said.
“Got it,” she said.
She waited for Western to hang up before she turned off the digital recorder she was holding next to the ear piece of her cell phone. She stuffed her phone and the recorder it into her pocket and went back to the car. She worked for Western and liked him well enough but something was way out of whack on this thing. He was colouring way outside the lines. Kidnapping an underage civilian was not only beyond his authority but it could earn them all ten years in prison and he knew it. She would definitely enjoy the assignment more now there was some potential for action but she recorded their conversation because it was clear she and Nichol needed some extra insurance if the shit hit. She was grinning broadly when she got back in the car.
“New orders Dan boy,” she said. “It looks like this babysitting gig might be fun after all. Got any germ phobias I should know about?” She laughed at the look on his face and added “Relax. This is going to be fun. We’re going to need a van and some other stuff.”
Nichol started up the car and drove them to the motor pool at Naden where he parked his car and signed out a white unmarked panel van. He did not know how long they would need it. It ran on dual fuel and he topped up both the propane and gasoline tanks to be safe while Hunter picked up two biohazard suits with masks and re-breathers.
She tried a few on deciding on a small for her and simply asked for the largest one for Nichol. Their next stop was the Canadian Tire store in View Royal where she paid cash to buy three boxes of extreme duty garbage bags, two heavy-duty flashlights, a bunch of packs of pre-dampened disinfectant wipes, a dozen rolls of paper towels, three one gallon jugs of bleach, two gallons of household grade ammonia, and a roll of clear plastic and tape to wrap the corpse. She sent Nichol to the garden centre for two heavy-duty industrial wand sprayers, the type used for applying pesticides.
7:50 PM
Sergeant Nichol backed out through the fire door of the factory with Tyler’s old style IBM desktop computer in his arms. The air had cooled after the sun went down but it was still like a sauna inside his bio-suit. The plastic visor of the mask fogged every time he cam
e outside and he needed to continually remove it to clear the condensation. By the time he turned the corner of the building heading for the van the visor was fogged again and he was almost at the van before he noticed someone standing behind it.
He knew Hunter was still inside the building. He stopped and removed the mask to see who it was. The kid they were following was standing behind the van watching him. He appeared to be waiting to talk to him because he was pointing a finger at the rear door of the van.
When he came closer the boy said “How long has the fridge been unplugged?” Nichol moved cautiously, first putting the computer down gently in the weeds at his feet then he smiled and slowly approached him.
As he walked towards him he was thinking it was unusual the kid did not try to run away which is what he was expecting. The kid did not seem to be afraid of him at all. By most standards he was a big man and most kids would have bolted at his approach. This fact made him pause and wonder if he was armed. He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans but it’s not difficult to conceal a small knife. “What’s your name, son?” he said.
Tyler did not answer. He remained quiet standing perfectly at ease looking at the back of the van. He was slowly shifting his gaze back and forth between the van door and Nichol. Nichol’s police training took over and he was thinking about the possibility of incriminating testimony.
“Is it your refrigerator?” he said.
The boy ignored the question.
“How long has the fridge been unplugged?” Tyler said.
The kid’s voice was odd and way too calm, almost indifferent, and he did not act threatening towards him or seem worried he would grab him. He was finding his behaviour oddly unnerving and he wondered if the kid was high on something and that was why he was unafraid of him. He was trying to sort this out. He did not want to do the wrong thing and screw up the operation not that he had any inkling of what was going on here or why they were following this kid. He glanced at his wristwatch.
The Zen Gene Page 11