by Doug Welch
“I be a-gettin’ to that.”
He seemed to gather his courage and his idiomatic speech changed. “After I left the service, I became employed with a number of good restaurants in LA. The trouble was I couldn’t seem to keep any of the jobs because the shadow people hounded me. I saw them out of the corner of my eye, but when I turned to look they were gone. Do you know what I mean?”
“Only too well Cecil, I see them too.”
“You do? I thought I was the only one that they were after. Most folks think I’m crazy. Are you just humoring me? Or do you really see them?”
“No one can see them, Cecil. They disappear from sight.”
“Wait a minute! The newspaper said that you were a doctor lady. Why would a doctor know about the shadow people?”
“The Shadows are real, Cecil. You’re not crazy.”
Elizabeth watched him struggle to accept her statement. “I left LA thinking I could get rid of them in Las Vegas. I haven’t seen many of them here, but I know they’re around. That’s why I live in the tunnels.”
Compassion for his torment moved her to soothe his fear. “My husband knows all about the Shadows. He can help you.”
He looked skeptical. “You just humoring me. No need to do that, Elizabeth. I plans to help you regardless.”
“No, Cecil, I’m serious. My husband is a –a big man with the Shadows. He can make them stop bothering you.”
“You’re husband ain’t no shadow people is he?”
She didn’t know how to answer him without lying. She thought about her reply, casting several options aside. “My husband is not invisible. He’s just like you and me. Does that sound like a Shadow? But he can and will stop them from harming you. I guarantee it.”
He still didn’t look convinced. “We got to wait here because all the men out lookin’ for you now. They got all the exits from this part of the tunnels blocked and no one can leave without they’s knowin' it. I got to sneak out when they’s backs turned. But how I gonna get a-holt of your husband?”
“I don’t know, Cecil. But what you need to say to whomever you talk to is that my husband and I met where the deer went. Can you remember that?”
“You and your husband met where the deer went. Sorta funny. What’s your husband’s name?”
“Paris Fox. Paris like the casino, and Fox like crazy as a fox. He’s staying in a suite at the Elysium Resort. Don’t tell the police. Find my husband and tell him.”
Cecil appeared to think for a moment. “I need to get out when it’s dark outside and you need to stay here. They’s a big slab of concrete blocking this place off and it ain’t easy to find. You be safe here.”
“Are you sure, Cecil? I wouldn’t want you to get hurt on my account. We could think of something else.”
“Missy, I’m an old tunnel rat. Ain’t a tunnel built that I cain’t sneak around. I aims to try tonight, but if I ain’t back in a while, you got to promise me you won’t leave, ‘cause if you get lost we cain’t find you.
“Oh, and one more thing. If you see water rising in the tunnel, get up into my hidey-hole real quick like.”
Chapter 18
Tyler’s Mansion
Paris entered the hallway of Tyler’s mansion along with the rest of his group. They’d been met at the door by a butler who seemed to be a Normal.
Paris winced at the thought. He felt like he’d become more like the Shadows the longer he associated with them.
Normals! Don’t think like that!
The butler exited and soon Tyler emerged from a set of double doors at the end of the hallway.
“Paris, welcome to my home! Please introduce me to your friends.”
Paris felt Ty’s senses slide across his mind. He assumed he scanned the others in his party, but he ignored it.
“Tyler Bronson, meet Police Detective Dan Simmons, his colleague, Officer Roxanne Porter and my half-sister Kitty Trudeau.”
Tyler’s gaze sharpened when he looked at Kitty. “Where are Alex and Caesar?”
Paris knew Kitty wasn’t happy to be in Bronson’s house, but she was under his protection and he didn’t think Tyler would violate protocols.
“They flew back to Kentucky to be with my father-in-law. He’s waiting for heart surgery.”
Tyler still looked suspicious but dropped the subject. “Please come in and have a drink. Dinner will be served in a little while.”
They followed him through the doors and entered a huge living room. Several people clustered around the bar while others with drinks in their hands chatted in groups scattered throughout the room. The room swallowed the murmur of conversation like a sponge soaking up water.
Tyler stopped and they waited for him to introduce his guests. “I’d introduce everyone, but as you can see it’s more than a few people. So why don’t you just mingle. Most of the people here are Normals.”
He held up his hands to quell the noise. “Attention everyone this is my guest Paris Fox and his Family. You all know about the abduction of his wife, so I brought him here to cheer him up. Let’s make him welcome.”
Paris stood with Dan and Tyler watching, as Kitty and Roxanne walked to the bar and quickly became the center of attention from several young men.
“Ty, I’ve another motive for visiting you. I need the use of a phone. I can’t call from my cell or the suite. I need to contact the Council and my home.”
Tyler caught Paris’ arm and led him away from the party. “The secure phone’s in my study. Let me escort you.”
He led Paris through the house and finally arrived at a smaller room decorated with leather and wood.
He pointed to the desk. “There’s the phone. I’ll leave you alone for some privacy. Just hit the summons button and someone will escort you back.”
Paris waited until Tyler left and then dialed home. Alex answered on the second ring. “Rowan residence, Alex speaking.”
He mentally chuckled at her response. Didn’t take long, did it Sis?
“Oh, I must have the wrong number. I called the Fox residence.”
“Wiseass, I’m a Rowan and proud of it. Any word about Elizabeth?”
“A little, is Caesar there?”
He could hear Alex pause and draw a breath. “I’m glad you called, Paris. We’ve got a problem. Caesar’s at the hospital. Edward had another heart attack and they’re doing an emergency transplant as we speak.”
Damn! “Did he tell Caesar anything?”
“No and that’s the thing. When Caesar mentioned the name ‘Shadoe’, that’s when he had the heart attack.
“But there’s more. –Tom’s been busy. He called in some of his hacker buddies. They think the farm’s bugged. They won’t know for sure until they get some equipment, but he said the listening devices are planted everywhere and they’re really sophisticated. Something like NSA would use. He set up some temporary equipment to block them. Otherwise I wouldn’t be having this conversation over the phone.”
Paris felt relieved that Edward might not have betrayed them, but he still wondered why the kidnapper had mentioned him. “Looks like Edward’s not a traitor. That’s a plus.”
Alex hesitated. “I’m not so sure. Something’s going on there. He looked guilty as hell when we cornered him about it. I suppose we’ll have to pray he makes it, or we’ll never know.”
“Did you check the ransom?” Paris referred to the hidden material from his father’s research. After the episode with Luca, they’d moved it to a new location.
“Yes, intact and undisturbed.”
“We may need it.”
“I understand.”
“Tell Caesar I’ll call him. I think both of you need new cell phones. Get Tom to set you up, and have him courier one to me. Deliver it to Tyler Bronson’s house. I’ll tell him to expect it. Put your new numbers in the cell’s phone book.”
“Got it. Anything else?”
“Yeah. Take care of yourself. Stick close to Caesar and tell him to take one of the guns from the gun
safe. You carry yours too.”
Again she hesitated. “Okay, I’ve got to join Caesar at the hospital right after I take care of a few things. We’ll call you back on the new cells.”
“Bye, Sis.” He disconnected and then dialed Tony’s number.
Tony answered on the first ring.
“Tyler, I’m pleased you called. Has Elizabeth been found? Have you spoken to Paris?”
“This isn’t Tyler, Tony, it’s Paris.” The connection went silent for a moment.
“Paris...I don’t know what to say. – I imagine you’re frantic with worry. Have the authorities found her? Have they apprehended the kidnappers?”
“Is your phone secure, Tony?”
“Secure? Yes. Why do you ask?”
“I have information of a sensitive nature to impart.”
Paris could hear Tony chuckle on the phone.
“We’re on a secure line, but it likely doesn’t matter. I’m sure Tyler’s recording the conversation. I would. Besides he knows most of it. What information are you referring to?”
“Remember those spies we talked about in Athens? I think I’ve found them. Or rather, they’ve found me and abducted Elizabeth.”
The line went silent again.
“Tony, are you still there?”
“I was thinking. This is bad, Paris. I’m flying to Vegas on the next available flight.”
“That’s not a good idea, Tony. I’m sure they would love to abduct a Council member. These fuckers are organized. They’ve managed to elude the FBI and the Vegas Police so far.”
Once again the line went silent. Paris waited.
“There are a lot of questions to answer here, Paris. Like how did they know about you? How were they able to find you? It takes planning and organization to do what they accomplished. They had to have known in advance you were traveling to Las Vegas.”
Paris gathered his thoughts. He sorted and picked out the least dangerous ones.
“We just found out our home was bugged. I’m sure you understand the implications of that. Somehow they learned about our involvement with the People. We were in the newspapers, you know, and Luca wasn’t very careful when he manipulated the authorities. How is not as important as why, and I think I have an answer to that.”
“I’m listening.”
“They want ransom, Tony, but they don’t want money. They want my father’s papers, his research.”
Paris heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone line.
“You can’t give them that, Paris.”
Paris’ voice sounded brittle and bitter to his ears. “You’ve made sure of that, Tony. Even if I had the papers, I wouldn’t be able to do it. You imprinted me.”
Tony’s voice became softer. “I’m sorry, Paris. I need to think. You must have a reason for calling me. Do you have any ideas?”
“Yes, but you’ll have to give me permission. I think if I have a sample of the research to use as a lure I can draw the kidnappers out and then I can deal with them. Also, I’ve implemented another plan in case that doesn’t work, but it involves another House.”
“Which house?”
“The Borgia.”
Tony didn’t reply for a moment. “I think this may be a long conversation. But I’m not sure that I can convince the Council to release the papers.”
Paris became angry. “Why not? It’s my wife for Christ’s sake! I only want to deliver a sample to convince them I’m serious.”
“It might be different if she were one of the People.”
Paris could barely contain his rage. “I’m quite tired of the Council’s arrogant, provincial fucking attitude toward Normals. You need to remind the Council I have Grieg Pearson’s phone number and I’m sure that he would be willing to do a great deal for us if I negotiated to join his Association.”
“Calm down, Paris. I didn’t say I wouldn’t help. Have you forgotten what I told you in Athens? It’s just that it would be difficult. Why don’t you fill me in on your plans, in detail?”
Paris drew a deep breath. “Okay, here’s what I have in mind…”
* * *
Paris watched the butler depart. He examined the group at the long dining room table, caught Tyler’s gaze and nodded. Tyler gestured to the vacant seat next to him, so he sat.
“You missed the soup Paris, lobster bisque, one of my chef’s best creations.”
“The conversation took a lot longer than I anticipated, Ty. I called Anthony.”
Tyler’s eyebrows rose. “The Council?”
“Yes, I need their help.”
Tyler didn’t reply immediately. “Anything my House can do?”
Paris chuckled. “I imagine you’ll know all about it once we leave. I’ll let you know. If we can flush these bastards out, your People can deal with them as you please. I’d check with the Council first though, they may want a few of them with functioning brains.”
Tyler resumed his interrupted meal and Paris joined him. While they waited for the next course, Tyler resumed the conversation.
“Your Miss Trudeau is a very interesting woman. I didn’t know you had a half-sister.”
Paris thought about his reply. “We suspected she existed, but it came as a total surprise to find her here in Las Vegas. The Borgia woman who gave birth to us was apparently quite promiscuous, and Kitty’s not the only sibling. I can’t imagine how the Borgia House managed it. It’s almost like she had a twin sister engaged in the same activities.”
Tyler frowned. “You may have a point there. After all, you and your sister are twins. It would make sense that twins would beget twins.”
“We thought of that, but Beth,” a stab of pain choked him momentarily, “–Elizabeth said that twinning isn’t hereditary and it wouldn’t matter if they were twins. Borgias aren’t very forthcoming with hard information. We may never know. Frankly, I don’t care. I have no desire to meet my birth mother.”
Tyler toyed for a moment with his salad, apparently deep in thought. “But you and Alexandra look near identical. Have you never wondered why?”
“I can’t say I have Ty, I just accepted the fact and never questioned it. It irritates Beth because she says it’s impossible, that we can’t be identical twins.” He shrugged. “But here we are alive and breathing.”
The second course arrived and they resumed eating. About midway through the dinner Tyler spoke again.
“I admit I’m not a doctor or scientist, Paris. I’m more a ‘where there’s smoke...’ kind of guy, but did you know the Borgias own several biotech companies? Your half-sister would look almost identical to Alexandra if she had brown hair. She doesn’t dye it, does she?”
Paris stopped eating and shook his head. “Kitty maintains she’s a natural blond. What’re you implying?”
Tyler frowned and shrugged. “Nothing, but I think you should keep what I said in mind. The Borgias blindsided all of us. We knew nothing of their plans until the incident in Kentucky. It worries me.”
Paris filed the new information away. “Thanks, Ty. I’ll look into it.”
“That little problem we asked you to help us with. Can I assume it’s been solved?”
Paris nodded. “Completely. You can be sure that nothing will arise from that source again. You have my word on it.”
Tyler looked relieved. “Thank you. I’m grateful.” He frowned. “There is one more thing. Miss Trudeau mentioned that your wife is trapped in the flood control tunnels. I don’t mean to alarm you, but we must work quickly to rescue her. The weather forecasts are predicting cooler weather and rain for the valley and the mountains. Those tunnels become very dangerous when it rains.”
Chapter 19
The Raid
Agent Sanders laid his bombshell on Paris without any preliminaries. “We don’t think the kidnappers are going to call, because we suspect they’ve lost your wife. We’re assembling a team and we plan to raid the tunnels in the vicinity of where we think the group’s hiding. We’re going to block all the
exits and go in from each section. If we can capture one of them alive he may be able to lead us to your wife.”
Dan grimaced. “What genius came up with that plan? We don’t know where she is. If you start a fire-fight she might be caught in a cross-fire.”
Sanders shrugged. “It isn’t mine. I’m being pressured from higher up the food chain and the Vegas PD is eager to end this. If Elizabeth is hidden as well as we think she is, she may be safe enough for the operation.”
Paris looked at him incredulously. ‘Maybe? – You think? – Harvey, you’re smarter than that. We need intelligence to pin-point Beth’s location before we try to go in.”
Sanders ran his fingers through his hair. “Don’t you think I know that, Paris? But we’re running out of time. The rains may start any day now and then the task will be impossible. The kidnappers have been able to elude the police patrols so far, but we think we know where they’re concentrated and Elizabeth must be in the same area. It may be risky, but we’ve got to try.”
Paris’ eyes narrowed and his features hardened. “I’m going with you.”
Sanders knew he had to be firm. Paris would be hard to convince, but there was no way he would allow it. “You’re not coming, Paris. This is a police operation. Civilians are not included, period. Forget it.”
An uncertain look clouded his face, but Paris didn’t protest.
Sanders relaxed. “I’ll make it my personal responsibility to restrain the police. I promise you. And I’ll do every thing in my power to find your wife.”
Paris still didn’t reply. Harvey felt uneasy but decided to let it pass.
“The operation is scheduled for early tomorrow morning before sunrise. We’re hoping it won’t rain overnight. We should have the perps in custody before noon, and then we’ll search for Elizabeth.”
He didn’t dare mention his fear that they might find Elizabeth dead.
# # #
After the FBI agents departed, Paris and Dan sat for a while lost in thought. Finally Dan stirred.
“What do those morons use for brains? Elizabeth should be their priority. Fuck the kidnappers, let them go.”