The most difficult part of the plan was making the phone call. She was confident that the masked man was the same guy who picked the call on Garret’s number. She wondered what would be the worst consequences of calling him. There was a slight chance that he would have powered off the phone to avoid getting traced. There was also chance of getting shot or kidnapped like what happened previously, but this time she was the one making a move. She took a deep breath, relaxed her posture and dialed the number.
“Hello!” She said when the call was attended on the other side. She listened to the same heavy breathing she had heard first time.
“This is Alicia,” she said slowly waiting for him to respond, but he stayed silent. “I know what you are looking for and I know where it is.”
She waited again for a reply, but the man on the side was now become completely silent. She bit her lips and said, “I can take you there.”
Finally, he spoke in a thick rasping voice; the same voice she had heard before.
“What do you think I want?”
Alicia looked at the gradually darkening sky from her window. I am sorry Ken.
“Legatum Literarum.” She felt slightly guilty.
No voice came out of the speaker for few minutes. Alicia had to check once whether the call was dropped, but then he spoke.
“How do you know about it?”
“I have seen it, and I know where it is kept. I will take you to it but on a condition. You have to release Kripke today before sunset. My offer is solely dependent on his return. If you accept it, then come to the central park at eight o’clock.”
“What if you call the police?” The man on the other side was no fool either.
“I promise you I will keep my part of the deal, otherwise you know where I live.”
The call was disconnected from the other end. Alicia wondered whether she was being brave or just batty.
————
She planned to get ready and put the mini spy camera, which she bought from the store in the morning, on her shirt. It was as small as a button and nearly invisible on the black shirt. The camera came with a P2P network and mobile app where the live stream could be seen and recorded. She had installed the app in Sam’s mobile who would be accompanying her in this rendezvous from his home. She also put on a hoodie to hide the microphone in her ears so she could talk to Sam all the time.
She sneaked into Flora’s room to get the keys of her fiat. Just in case, she would need to run from the killer, chances of getting escaped were higher on wheels. She quickly jumped on the driving seat and adjusted the mirror. She always wanted to have her own car as long as she remembered. She could easily go to Thetford Forest Park or The Wash Natural Nature Reserve which were both just an hour drive away. She never had a traveling opportunity in life. Cady had once scolded her to come with her other friends to their visit to Luxemburg, but she had refused.
It was difficult to make a normal person understand what happened inside the mind of a person living with a dysfunctional family. At times, there were extreme surges of energy which made her do reckless things, like the one she was going to do tonight. But, at the same time, there was a secret deposit of hopelessness hanging in her brain like a bat, yelling at her from time to time, no matter where you go, what you do, I will always be with you like a shadow, pulling you down.
“What do you think you are doing?” A voice nearby broke her chain of thoughts. Flora was staring at her from the side window.
“What are you doing here?”
Flora opened the side door and made herself comfortable on the front seat. “I saw you taking my keys.”
“I was just going to the bookstore. Ken asked me to come over.”
“Great, I also want to buy books.”
Alicia started to get impatient; the time was running out.
“Tell me the truth.” Flora had become even more protective about her since the day of kidnap.
“I am going to meet the kidnapper.” She avoided using the word killer which could intimidate Flora more. Alicia waited for a response but it did not come instantly. Finally, Flora opened her mouth looking bewildered.
“How do you communicate with him? And why didn’t you tell this to Harry?”
“I can’t. I have got this number by hacking into police database. They would ask me how did I get this number and if I tell them the truth then me and Sam both will be spending time in jail.”
Flora shook her head in anger and took out her mobile from her pocket. “I am calling Harry.”
Desperate times, desperate measures.
Alicia snatched mobile from her fingers and switched it off. “No, you don’t.”
“I will call him from the landline then.” Flora tried to threaten her.
“Go ahead. You don’t know where I am going to meet him. By the time you come back, I will be long gone.” Alicia was dead serious.
“Fine, then I am going with you.” Flora’s face was getting deep crimson with the amount of anger she was feeling for Alicia.
“Come out.” Alicia switched off the engine and hopped out. Flora followed her out slamming the door behind.
“You think I cannot handle this? I am a child?” Alicia’s frustration was mounting.
“You will always be a child if you keep doing childish things. Going to meet your kidnapper as if he is your old friend?” Flora yelled at her across the bonnet.
“I am a lawyer for god’s sake. I am going to deal with criminals whether you like it or not.” Alicia also screamed in desperation. “I don’t know who is worse, Flora, my parents who torment me in the name of parenting or you, who care so much about me that you are not letting me grow up. I am twenty-six years old. Women start a family at this age. You ran away from your home at this age, but you want to cage me. Isn’t it hypocrisy?”
After finishing what was in her mind, Alicia realized that Flora had tears in her eyes. “What do you want?”
“I am going to handle this alone, without any ‘adult supervision’. I have faced so many things in last two months. I got kidnapped for the first time in my life, but still I managed to escape. Sam got shot and he is still ready to go down that path again. How many people you know can be so passionate about catching a killer? You think Harry would be able to help Kripke? What he has done so far? It was his job to catch the killer, but he was stuck with the idea that Ken is the killer and he, and Kripke, both didn’t bother to see the facts. Do you still think Harry is more capable than me? I am going Flora whether you have faith in me or not. If I fail, then you can also join my parents in saying that IT WAS HER FAULT.”
————
The entrance to the central park of Georgestown was illuminated by lights. She parked the car a block away from the park to keep a check on the visitors. There was still thirty minutes left in eight. She turned on the camera on her collar and connected to Sam.
“You are ready?”
“Yes boss.” Sam’s voice made her feel less alone.
“Battery check.”
“Affirmative. Anyways, I have connected it to my pc as well so battery will not be a problem.”
“Police on speed dial?”
“Affirmative.”
“Where will you send police to?”
“To the museum…”
“Good.”
“But why the museum?” Sam only knew what to do. He had no idea about what the killer wanted. The plan was to make the killer confess his crimes which would be recorded without his knowledge on the spy camera glued to Alicia’s collar.
“Argh. Leave it to me.”
She thought about how to handle the killer? Was there a class in law college on criminal psychology? Sadly, there was none. A lawyer’s only responsibility was to be well-informed about the law and to make the best use of his understanding to serve his client. Criminal psychology was not even a topic in his books. She realized how less she knew about life. What if he sees through me? What if I blow it up? What if they all blamed me for
losing the killer? She jerked her head to get rid of the thoughts.
“Alicia!” Someone opened the side door and got in.
He was covered in dust and sweat from head to toe and it took Alicia a moment to recognize him.
“Kripke.”
“You need to move. We cannot stay here.” He looked around in fear. He was breathing hardly as if he had come across a hill.
Alicia quickly turned the key in ignition and reversed the car taking it out of the parking spot. The fiat got mixed in the traffic soon after.
“Where have you been? Everyone was so worried about you?” Keeping her eyes on the traffic, Alicia looked at Kripke who was checking the back view mirror.
“I will tell you as soon as we reach somewhere safe.”
“But which place is safe? The killer is not even scared of police officers.” She turned a corner.
“Wait, wait. Get in here.” Kripke showed her a small parking space which was not visible from the street. It was empty except for few trash cans. She turned the car in and pulled the hand brake.
“He was giving me drugs.” Kripke whispered in low voice.
“You saw him?”
“He was wearing a mask. I have been dozing on and off since the day I was kidnapped which made me think there must be something in food. I stopped eating after that.”
“You want something to eat?” She asked in sympathy.
“No, we don’t have time. I heard talking to him today. He knows where the scripture is. Remember, I told you it’s about some ancient scripture and now he knows, where it is. But, we cannot tell this to police. They will never trust me. You have to help me, Alicia.” He shook her arm with unnecessary force.
“Yes, I will.” Alicia reassured him wincing slightly. “But, how can we stop him?”
“He said he was going to take the scripture tonight. We must catch him red-handed.”
“He was coming to meet me tonight, Kripke. I had no other option except bluffing him to release you.”
“But what would you tell him if he arrived?” He was puzzled.
“More bluffing, what else.” Alicia avoided contacting his eyes.
“Look, I am telling you. I was in his captivity and he had no plans to come to the park. He must have come to know about it somehow.” Kripke insisted.
“What do you think we should do?”
“We should reach there before him and catch him in the act. This is the only way to make sure that we have caught the right person.”
“I think you are right.” Alicia said thoughtfully.
“So?” Kripke looked at her hopefully.
Alicia sighed. “It is in the museum.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The Rabbit Hole
It took them almost half an hour to reach the museum which was wrapped in silence at that time. With the only lit building in the completely stranded area, it gave a strange vibe to an onlooker. The security guards, on duty, were gathered around relaxing as the visitor’s timings were over.
Alicia turned the fiat into the rough terrain and parked it in complete darkness away from the museum. There was no way they could enter the museum without climbing the stairs and ditching the guards, who were positioned atop near the entrance gate.
“How are we going to bypass security?” Alicia asked Kripke.
“I hope they would let the Chief of Police in.” Kripke tried to flatten his disheveled appearance.
“If guards are here then perhaps he is not here.”
“There could be another entry point. We have to make sure.” Kripke walked briskly towards the museum, tidying himself as much as he could, on the way.
Guards exchanged looks with each other when they were climbing stairs side by side in full view, but they didn’t ask anything. One of them opened the door for Kripke who stepped in with Alicia.
“Now where?” Kripke looked at him questioningly when the door closed behind them.
“Botanical section.” She showed him the way.
The curator was trimming a plant, when they reached there.
“Can I help you?” He gave them a curious glance. He knew Alicia well, all thanks to Flora, who came here often. He was used to of them coming to the museum in day time. Now he had Alicia with Chief of Police wearing rags at the ungodly hour.
“Err, nothing. Kripke had never been into this side of the museum so I brought him here.”
She smiled and turned around. Kripke also busied himself in looking after plants. She checked Sam on headphone in low voice.
“Sam! Sam!” But there was no response.
She took out her mobile phone only to see no signals on the screen.
Damn.
This never happened before her. She wondered why mobile signals were not working here. No she could only hope that her spy cam’s P2P network would be working fine, otherwise she was doomed.
The curator took more than twenty minutes to move out of his section. As soon as he went out, Kripke bolted the door from inside.
“No more interruptions.” He turned towards her. “Where is it?”
She pointed to the red maple bonsai in the center of the bonsai collection. She searched for the lock with her finger and put the key in it. She was having a bad feeling about all of this. Somewhere she knew Ken would never forgive her for betraying his trust. She took a deep breath and turned the key.
A wide space opened in the side wall revealing the lift behind it, just like the one she saw in Ken’s bedroom. Kripke rubbed his hands in anticipation. Finally, he was going to see the scripture he was talking for so long.
“Are you sure?” She asked him getting inside the lift.
He nodded without saying a word. She pushed the same large button she had picked previously causing the lift door to close with a hiss. In less than a minute, they had reached their destination when the lift doors opened into complete darkness. It was the same sight like the one she saw before. They climbed down the narrow stair case in the dim light coming from the lift.
“Take a step forward.” Alicia told Kripke.
“Like this.” He moved his leg out and the floor lit up again like a navigation map, but this time it was red. Alicia wondered what could that mean. Perhaps it changed color every time, that was the only explanation she could come up with.
Kripke was overwhelmed looking around. Getting into the Archive was an experience not for faint-hearted. The absence of any kind of light except the one on floor and roof mounting bookshelves were enough to intimidate anyone. He touched one of the bookshelves which showed a small screen on the front glass. The screen displayed lots of numbers which could be the log numbers of the records shelved inside it.
When Alicia found Kripke getting busy with the bookshelf, she moved forward to get ahead. She turned back and watched Kripke again who was still engaged in trying to open the bookshelf like a child. Looking at him, she stepped a little forward more without getting noticed. When she made sure that the distance was now enough, she turned and ran.
————
“You really think; you can hide?” She heard his voice getting closer. She didn’t know what to do. Her whole plan was based on the fact that Sam would be there backing her on phone, but now she was on her own, and there was no way she was leaving him alone in the Archive. She tried to think what to do. The dim neon light of arrows was just making the environment creepy for her.
“Alicia, we need to talk.” He said again in a sing song voice from a column ahead of her. She wondered what he wanted to talk about; a little pre-murder motivational speech?
She came to know it was Kripke when she saw his picture in Poland police database. Kripke told her and Flora many times that he was in Warsaw on a family vacation, but she saw his picture in a police uniform. The idea came to her mind that what if Kripke was the killer? He suspiciously knew about the Legacy which nobody knew. She still remembered Garret’s surprise when she told him that she knew it. But, that was impossible, was the first thing came out of hi
s mouth. So, if knowing about the brotherhood was nearly impossible, how came Kripke get to know about it?
Second thing, he got vanished the next day, she and Garret escaped from his captivity. He told everyone that he was going to London to talk to Feds, but when he realized that the prisoners were escaped, he had to get into hiding which meant only one thing. He was afraid that Garret would recognize him as the Polish police officer. Last night, she had messaged his picture to Garret who had confirmed that he was the same police officer who handled the murder at the bookstore in Warsaw.
She wondered whether it was a wise move to come here alone or not. She had complete faith in Sam that he would be doing something to help her. All she needed was more time for Sam and the only way to do it was by facing the danger. She wiped sweat from her face and got back on her feet. She felt uneasy with the idea of presence behind her back. She turned with her heart beating louder and found Kripke standing behind her.
“I was waiting for you to get back on your feet.” He said in affection. “You have to be strong, very strong Alicia.”
She slowly stepped back. It felt like a good idea to just let him speak for the while.
He rubbed his upper lips and snickered, “you really think I am going to hurt you?”
“Well, your track record said so.” She tried to look brave.
Kripke didn’t pay attention to her reply. He touched the bookshelf on his right again, it also lit up like the previous one.
“I am feeling like a child again. You know what I owe you big time. If it was not for you, I would have never seen my masterpiece. It was me who designed it.” When he saw shock on her face, he amended. “Not literally, but I had prepared the blueprint of the idea that a high tech vault should be used as the Archive. You see the floor? It was a brilliant move to put navigational map on the floor based on motion sensor. Now look at the ceiling. See anything?”
For the first time ever, Alicia raised her head to take a look at the ceiling. She saw nothing. It was pitch dark.
The Killing Scripture (Alicia Stone Series Book 1) Page 17