At our headquarters, Vincent carried Leanna and Ron Alena. I rushed ahead to the basement door. I keyed the sequence on the pad and pressed my palm on the plate, to be greeted by a loud click.
When we got inside, they laid the women on lower bunks and covered them.
“Ron, get Dr. Newton.”
He rushed out the door.
Vincent and I put StopIt on each woman’s wounds. Then we handed them morphine pills and bottles of water.
“Thanks, Dad,” said Alena. “I knew you’d come.”
I nodded with my head and looked up to Vincent.
“Get some sleep. The doctor is coming.”
I turned toward Vincent.
“Let’s leave them alone on their bunks.”
We moved to the planning room. There, Zetto sat upright in his hospital bed.
I wanted a drink but I needed to remain sober until the doctor arrived.
Nobody said anything. I felt enormous relief that we had rescued Alena and Leanna. They would need medical care but help was on the way.
We had lost Coocher. All in all, it was a successful op.
Then why did I feel so lousy?
Maybe it was the way Alena and Leanna looked, naked, burned, and bruised.
A half hour later, I heard the buzzer at the dorm door. On the monitor I saw Ron and Dr. Newton. She had on a black blindfold that covered the top of her head while wearing blue slacks and a white blouse. Her straight brown hair was visible on the edges of the blindfold.
When they entered, Vincent and I walked into the dorm. Ron removed her blindfold and she looked around, dazed. Then she spotted the two women on the lower bunks. She set her medicine bag on the floor, kneeled, and pulled the cover off Leanna. She turned her head to one side and I saw her wince. It was not a pretty sight.
“Who put the StopIt on her wounds?” the doctor asked.
Vincent replied, “We both did.”
“You did a good job. You may have saved her life,” replied Dr. Newton. She got out an injector and loaded a vial in the bottom. She pressed the injector on Leanna’s hip. In seconds, compressed air hissed as the medicine rushed into her body. Newton reloaded from a vial and pressed the injector to Leanna’s hip a second time.
“What are you using?” I asked.
“A combination of pain killer, cortisone, and electrolytes,” said the doctor. “Ron told me their condition when you found them. I figured they were malnourished and would need cortisone to cut the inflammation.”
Next she pulled the covers back up over the now sleeping Leanna and turned to Alena on the opposite bunk. She loaded her injector again and with one hand, pulled the covers back until she had exposed Alena’s chest. She pressed the injector above her right breast and reloaded for the second injection.
Alena opened her eyes wide, probably in fear of more torture. When she saw me, she relaxed and smiled.
When Newton finished and Alena closed her eyes, the doctor pulled the covers back up and stood.
“Got any coffee?” she asked me.
I led the way into the kitchen. “Vincent, block the other room.”
Vincent stood by the door to the planning room. She didn’t need to see our plans on the walls.
When the AutoCook finished, I poured her a cup of coffee while she sat at the table.
“I appreciate your help, Dr. Newton.”
“They’re in a mess. Must have suffered a lot of pain. Frickin’ bastards!”
“I know.”
I could see her hands shaking while she drank the rest.
“Want something stronger?”
She shook her head.
“No, I have to get back to my patients. In my work, I’ve seen a lot of wounds caused by humans on others. But this is the worst.”
When she finished her coffee, her hands no longer shook.
I said, “Ready to go back?”
She nodded and Ron led her to the dorm.
Through the open door to the kitchen I saw him place the blindfold on her head. He grabbed the doctor’s arm and put her black bag in her hand.
After they left, I studied my two sleeping women.
I wish I had gotten to them earlier.
I went into the kitchen, closed the door, and sat at the dining table. Vincent looked at me with one hand on a cup of coffee.
“At least we got them,” he said. His eyes were red and his face was wet.
I nodded, then shook my head. “Bastards.”
A half hour later, Ron came in the kitchen and touched my arm. “Shall I pour you something stronger than coffee?”
I still had adrenaline rushing in my blood but that would go away. I bobbed my head.
In less than a minute, Ron set a tray on the table. The tray held a bottle of Yarley’s and four glasses, each three-quarters full of a light brown liquid. He placed a glass in front of me.
“Zetto?” he asked.
“Let’s adjourn to Zetto’s new bedroom.”
I carried the bottle and the tray of glasses into the planning room. Ron handed Zetto his glass.
I led the way by raising mine.
“To our gals!”
Three glasses clicked with mine and Vincent clicked his with Zetto’s.
Images of Leanna’s and Alena’s bare chests, riddled with burn marks, flooded my mind. I gazed at my glass and drained it in one gulp.
Chapter 27
I tagged Dr. Newton. I suspected she would keep her mouth shut but the look on her face after seeing Lee and Alena told me she might let something out. Or somebody might press her for more information once they saw her face.
“What you saw today may be hard to keep under wraps. But many lives depend on your doing just that.”
“I understand. I’m so sorry they had to go through all that.”
“Yeah, we’re all sorry.”
She added, “I hope you catch the bastards who did that.”
“I will. That’s a promise.”
We disconnected and I took another sip of my drink of Burbock.
After every major op, I went through a period of winding down. I thought over what we had. We had Leanna and Alena back, Duran was dead, and Coocher was wounded. We had won more than they did.
But we still had to find Hoskins.
Granted Vincent still walked with a limp, and Alena, Leanna, and Zetto would take a long time to recover. But we were all alive. Sometimes that’s the best a spy can hope for.
I sat at my computer and sent an encrypted message to my Mom, Maurine. At first, I wanted to send an “open” message but since YSA might get copies of all courier messages, especially right after our rescue, I encrypted it.
Mom would be worried sick about her granddaughter. I thought of including a photo of Alena and Leanna, but their conditions would only cause Mom to worry more. So I included a photo of Ron, Vincent, and me, all smiling. Naturally, I included a clock in the photo so I could embed a message to Acorn.
In that message to my spy boss, I told him details of our rescue and Coocher’s wounds. As an afterthought, I included Zetto’s rescue.
The news stations were alive with the damage at Coocher’s house. Eight guards had died and Coocher took a bullet. Vids showed the damage to the guard gate and a dozen rent-a-guards standing behind walls in front of the house. We saw photos of the men who had died and two others who had been shot.
Vincent shook his head.
“No mention at all about the basement or who was in it.”
Channel Four had a vid of Coocher in a hospital bed.
“We didn’t get a look at who did it but they were big, I can tell you. Probably Bingers. I’ll bet the mercons and hybrids were behind them, too. This took planning, especially with them drones.”
Who else were they to blame?
Unfortunately, the polls showed sympathy for Coocher and the fallen men.
I thought of the risk of poisoning the water but figured that as long as Coocher was in Gerges Hospital, he wouldn’t risk adding a
nything to the water supply. He didn’t want to die himself. No. I figured he’d wait until he could run back to his home town of Chester on the western edge of York.
#
Everything was quiet. The espionage business can be like that. Weeks of boredom or healing. Then a mad rush to deal with yet another crisis.
The next day, Alena sat across from me at the breakfast table, wearing a pink top and blue jeans. Her face was puffed up.
“Now can I join BIS?”
That was the last thing I expected out of her mouth.
“I think you’ll find your research to be more compelling. It’s what you are good at. So go with that. Being a spy is a full-time commitment. We go into dangerous places and risk our lives and torture. I think you’d be much happier as a researcher.”
Leanna limped into the kitchen wearing a white blouse and blue slacks. Her face looked bloated too.
I hoped the swelling on both women would go down soon. They didn’t look like themselves.
My daughter asked, “Then why do you do it?”
I was grateful for the distraction. Two parents against one would be better. Besides, I didn’t want to answer her question.
“Your father’s right,” said my ex with a blurred voice. “Think of what we went through. It could’ve gotten worse.”
“How?” asked Alena.
“We could be dead,” answered her mom.
Alena turned to me.
“Dad, I want to help. My research means nothing compared to fighting the bigotry we Bingers face.”
“I understand your feelings. But it helps us a lot more if you focus on research and gain traction in the scientific world. If what you have found out so far bears up under scrutiny, it will have a greater effect on increasing the understanding between humans, Bingers, mercons, and even napes─than anything you could do as a spy.”
Alena was quiet.
I knew she was thinking it over.
“Would you like to meet the mercon ambassador?”
Her eyes lit up on that one. “Can you arrange that?”
“Let me work on it,” I said. “Would you be interested?”
“Yeah. That would be great!”
“Are you willing to focus on your research and give up becoming a spy?”
Alena looked down, lost in thought for a long time. “Is that a condition?”
I nodded. “’Fraid so.”
#
Guy Coocher wasn’t too groggy to utter “No amputations!” over and over again.
Dr. Roger Steiner, dressed in a white lab coat with a DetectIt hanging from his neck, patted him on the right arm.
“I assure you, we won’t take off any part of your body. We know full well how you feel about that. But—I’m going to have to operate—to get that bullet out. X-rays show it is lodged close to your spine. If we don’t remove it, it might migrate and cut off the nerves in your spine. That means you wouldn’t be able to move your legs.”
Dr. Steiner placed an etablet on Coocher’s lap. “But before that, I need you to authorize the surgery.”
Coocher glared at the doctor. “No amputations!”
“I understand that. I won’t amputate anything, I assure you. But I do need you to sign this form.”
Coocher looked down at the etablet and raised it so he could read it.
“Can I have a moment with my assistant?”
“I understand,” said Dr. Steiner. The doctor turned and walked out the door.
Coocher motioned with his finger for his assistant to come closer.
Coocher whispered in the man’s ear, “I want you to go in the hallway and call this hospital. Be persistent. Find out if they use fifty nanometer filters on their water. Then come back and tell me. And don’t tell anyone I told you.”
The assistant nodded. “Right away, sir.”
After the man left his bedside, Coocher raised the etablet and read the form. It showed a standard disclaimer that if anything should go wrong, neither the hospital nor the doctor would be responsible. He waited to sign it.
Two minutes later, the assistant came back in with Dr. Steiner. The assistant nodded his head.
Coocher raised the etablet and signed the form.
#
I watched the six o’clock news on all four stations report that Guy Coocher would undergo surgery to remove the bullet next to his spine and would recover in Gerges Hospital. Eight bodyguards would stay either in his room or outside it. He’d be in the hospital for at least a week.
That means he won’t be going to his estate in Chester anytime soon.
I got another message from Acorn.
“Glad to hear your rescues worked. Can you talk with G about Bs visiting Ensam?”
Chapter 28
Alena took a tag. Her head went up and down in a nod.
I shook my head.
Callers can’t see a nod.
When she disconnected, she turned to me.
“Can I get a ride to Dr. Albert’s place?”
“Is he back?”
“He got home this morning. He said he got a tag from a cop and took the first flight back to York.”
“Why did he tag you? He must be busy with funeral arrangements for his wife.”
“He said the house seems hollow without her. He wants me to move back in with him. Says he thought it over and wants to be my advisor. Thinks I might become famous after all. He invited me to move back into my old room.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why?” she asked with wide open eyes and a dropped jaw.
That was too much. I shouted, “Because it would be too damned easy for someone to recapture you if they knew where you slept every night, that’s why! You want to go through all that again? The next time, they’ll be more cautious and we may not be able to rescue you. You could be tortured until you give up all the information you know and beg them to kill you.”
She fixed her gaze on her hands for a long time. “I can’t stay forever, you know. Besides, I miss going to class and my research.”
At least she didn’t say she missed being a spy.
“Let’s talk it over with the team.”
She turned her eyes up at me. “I thought you made all the decisions.”
“Only the little ones.”
Not true, but she’d find out soon enough.
We assembled the team in the planning room. “Alena, you want to tell them what Dr. Albert said?”
She repeated what she had told me. Then she said, “And I’m going to live in his house.”
“Oh, no, you’re not!” exclaimed her mother. “I’m not going to have you taken again and it would be damned easy if you lived there.”
“I agree with your mother,” I said. “It’s too dangerous.”
Alena slumped in her chair.
Like a little girl.
Ron spoke next, “I think they’re both right. It’s too dangerous.”
“You could be my bodyguard,” Alena said as she regarded him.
Ron shook his head. “I have to work.”
“Dad?” Alena asked.
“And I have some PI business to take care of.”
She turned to Vincent.
“Not me,” he said. “I have a business to run.”
She looked at Zetto. By now he had recovered enough that he could walk with crutches.
“You gotta be kidding.”
She scrunched together her eyebrows and looked at me with that look of pleading that most girls use with their fathers.
“I think you’d better stay here a little longer,” I said. “At least until we can find a safe place.”
“I need to go to class,” Alena said with a whimper, just like a kid. “And I’m going nuts in this place. There’s nothing to do! I need my lab work.”
I answered, “As long as Hoskins is loose and Coocher is on the warpath, I think you better stay here.”
With that, I walked into the empty dorm room and shut the door.
>
There must be something I can do.
Like magic, it occurred to me.
I sat on a lower bunk and tagged Gliituk. Zetto had arranged a secure line from his server to the mercon embassy, via servers at the university.
“Yes, Jake?” said that voice from my past.
“Do you want to meet the author of that paper on humans and mercons having a common ancestor?”
“Yes. That would be interesting. She your daughter? I noticed she has same last name.”
“Yep. When could we come?”
We set a time and disconnected.
I returned to the planning room. Everyone was quiet, so I guessed I hadn’t missed much. After turning to Alena, I said, “I made arrangements to go to the mercon embassy. Care to come along?”
She jumped out of her chair, her face lit up.
“When?”
“Now would be a good time.”
She rushed up and put her arms around me. Being an inch taller than me made that easy. I embraced her and kissed her cheek. I had not hugged her since she arrived at the airport.
“Ron?” I asked.
He got up and followed Alena and me out. We took the BIS van with Ron behind the wheel.
The steering wheel remained recessed in the dash and we pulled out of the basement parking lot.
On the way, Alena and I held hands in the back seat. Every minute, she squeezed my hand as if to reassure herself that I was there.
“What do I say?”
I chuckled. “He’s a decent guy. Don’t worry about what to say. Follow my example if you get stuck.”
“You’ve talked to him?”
That one I decided not to answer.
“You do get around,” she added.
When we got to the parking lot of the hotel, we three walked to the basement and entered room 43. I pulled the rug aside and opened the hidden door, using the same code I had used before.
I went into the small room and the walls glowed, driving away the darkness. When Ron followed Alena in, he closed the rug and door behind him.
“We’re here,” I said to the empty room. “We don’t want to be drugged this time.”
Nothing happened. I walked around the room, pushing in spots to check for hidden doors.
“Be patient,” said a voice with a mercon accent from the ceiling.
It took two more minutes before I heard a rumbling noise. Part of the wall opposite the rug slid aside to reveal three small railroad cars.
Humans Only: A Jake Dani Novel (Jake Dani/Mike Shapeck Book 2) Page 16