The receptionist was a blonde, well past thirty and trying really hard to hide it. She was pretty in a cheap sort of way that probably cost more than you would think to maintain. When Decker walked in the door, she looked up with a bored expression that said she had not had her coffee yet and what the hell do you want.
Terry saw her eyes widen a little as she took in all of Decker’s enormous frame. Whether she was impressed or afraid was hard to tell, because to her credit, she didn’t let anything more escape her face. Her smile may have been insincere, but it was brilliant as she asked sweetly. “Hello, sir. And how can I help you?”
Decker returned her smile as he leaned forward, saying, “Yes, my name is Decker. I represent Talbot and Finch out of Trenton, New Jersey. I have a little matter of an inheritance for one of your employees. A Mr. Carter, I believe?”
At the mention of the name, her mouth dropped open. Terry stood back so as not to confuse the issue. In his leather jacket and jeans, he didn’t look the part of a lawyer or a courier. He could pass for a bodyguard, although it was more than strange that Decker would need one.
The receptionist, though, hadn’t even noticed Terry as she repeated the name, this time her voice reflecting an east-coast accent. “Do you mean Sam Carter?”
Decker let his smile widen to the point where it had to hurt, saying excitedly, “That’s him! Sorry to be a little pushy, but this is the third lead I’ve had. It was starting to get expensive to find this guy.”
Finishing with a laugh, the receptionist joined in. “Well, I hate to be the one to give you the bad news, but you are going to have to wait a little longer. He didn’t show up last night, and if his supervisor has anything to say about it,” she looked around conspirator style, “he won’t be back, except to pick up his last check.”
Decker let confusion flare on his face to keep the woman talking.
Terry realized this was not his first rodeo when it came to manipulation.
The woman fell in line quickly.
“I don’t know what this inheritance you are talking about is, but I hope it’s big enough for him to retire. Or at least enough to get him started again someplace else. This place really hasn’t worked for him.”
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that. To tell the truth, I couldn’t tell you any of the details about whatever he has coming. They don’t give me that kind of access. All I know is he’s the one that they wanted me to find.”
“Well, you should have been here last week. He was here about three days then. Which was pretty much a record for him.”
“He has a lot of trouble with attendance, huh?” Decker was trying to keep the mood light.
The woman had no problem playing along. “Are you kidding? He’s missed so much time, if it weren’t for that doctor giving him a recommendation that got him the job in the first place, he’s have been gone a long time ago. But even with that, he just pushed his luck too far this time. The head honcho just tells everybody to deal with him because he wants to stay on her good side, but the floor manager says Carter has got to go. This time, it looks like he’s gonna get his wish.”
Decker decided to push his luck at that point. “Well, can you tell me if this is his address at least? There was nobody home when I went by there.”
The receptionist hesitated. So far, all she had done was tell what everyone knew. Or would know as soon as the guy showed up again. But to give out the guy’s personal info was another thing. Something that could get her fired if the wrong person found out about it.
“Look, I’d like to help but...you know...”
Decker raised his hands as if in surrender. “Hey, I understand. I just want to know if it’s the right one. I kinda need to wrap this up. I got three more on the route before I head back to Jersey.”
Again, the conspirator’s look and then a quick motion of her head, telling Decker to move closer, while she leaned in herself. “Let me see the address.”
Decker wrote the address down on a piece of paper and handed it to her. A quick perusal of the computer and she handed it back. “That’s the right address all right. Can’t argue if you already have it.” She smiled sweetly up at Decker who smiled back in earnest.
“Well, thank you for your time, ma’am. If he happens to show up, would you please tell him to call me at this number?” He pulled a card out of his wallet. “If he misses me, the service will get a hold of me as fast as possible. I know it’s a little old fashioned, but they offer the service and I do spend a lot of time off the grid, so to speak.”
A quick wink gave her the impression Decker wanted to give without another word and with a final wave, he turned to leave, saying, “Thank you for your time. Hope I run across more people like you. Have a nice day.”
“My pleasure.” She beamed back then added softly, almost off handed, “Maybe if he gets a hold of some money, he’ll spend some of it on something to kill the smell.”
Curious enough for the both of them, Decker asked, “Not too good in the hygiene department, huh?”
She flushed as she realized she’d been overheard. Then deciding she really didn’t care, she added, “Yeah. Sometimes, he disappears for a couple of days and comes back reeking of horses and pig slop. And those are the best smells he comes back here with.”
Terry could see Decker try not to show his surprise, but even the big man had limits. For a moment, something showed on his face, but he hid it quickly. Terry nodded a goodbye and followed Decker out the door. On the way back to the Mustang though, he figured it was time to open the proverbial can of worms.
“Okay, we both heard the reference to your friend Dr. Broche. She was the one that got him this job. But there was something else when you heard her say that shit about the way he smelled. What the hell did it mean to you?”
Decker looked at Terry, his eyes showing that whatever was going on was not at all to his liking.
“Yeah, I think it was Dr. Broche that got him the job and probably was more than a little instrumental in him keeping it, even with his bad attendance. The thing that got me thinking was when she mentioned the smell of horses and whatnot. I think I know where to find this guy. And when we do, it pretty much guarantees she’s in this somehow.”
Sliding into the car, Terry continued his questioning. “What are you talking about?”
Decker slipped the car into gear and pulled out into the street. His face still looked as though he had a bad taste in his mouth.
“About fifteen years ago, Dr. B had a program to introduce inner-city youth to ranch life. Some rich cat gave her some land out toward Joliet. She turned it into a haven of sorts for the kids. Even got the mayor at the time to help by giving out passes for the kids to ride the buses out for free. Everything went great until one kid fell off a horse and broke his arm. His crack-head momma, who probably couldn’t have picked the kid out of a line up, sued the city and got a settlement. It broke the back of the whole thing and made Mayor Linder back off of his support. Between that and the lawsuit, it pretty much ended the operation. Dr. B kept the property, in my opinion, hoping that someday she could find backers to open it up again. I think she is having this guy working out there. But for what, I can’t figure.”
Terry took it all in then added, “She hasn’t been seen for a year. If this place is that far out, it would make the ideal place to hide out while she did whatever it was she wanted to.”
“It’s not that far out. We can be there in twenty, twenty-five minutes.”
Terry looked at Decker sympathetically. “You still don’t think she had anything to do with this, do you?”
Decker set his jaw. “I know it looks bad, but I still think there has to be something more going on. This isn’t like her. It’s not what she’s been about for all these years, no matter how bad it got.”
Terry looked at the man behind the wheel. He was clearly torn by what he knew of the woman and what he was learning. It was clearly difficult for him to reconcile the two.
“I know what I s
ee. And what I see says that the lady is involved in this, somehow. I still think it’s not as much as you think, but I’ll give you that much. If she’s helping this clown, then yeah, maybe she has flipped out. But that still doesn’t negate all the good she did. At least, it doesn’t to me.”
Terry had to admire the man’s loyalty. It was almost inspiring. But there had to be a limit.
“What if she’s the leader of this? I mean the real leader?”
Even in the dim light of the car, Terry could see the man’s jaw clench. “Then, we stop this and take her in.” The words had all the conviction of a verdict. And the same finality.
Chapter Thirty-Three
They rode in silence out to the Ranch, as it had been known in its heyday. Decker had given him a link, and Terry had looked it up on his phone. It had been impressive. Two hundred acres of combination pastures and woods. Pictures of the Ranch showed a lush environment filled with wildlife and trees. A truly beautiful place at one time. He could see how Decker could find it hard to believe she could do anything like this after having done all she had for this city.
Terry didn’t fault him for it, but he did think he was being a bit naïve. No one fought that hard without losing their share of battles. Maybe she had just had enough of them and lost it.
In any case, she was involved. Like Decker, though, Terry began to have doubts as to the depth of that involvement.
True to his word, Decker made the trip in under half an hour. Normally, it would have taken far longer but Decker had the Mustang as far open as he dared every chance he got.
The entryway was a simple lane with a sign that had long ago fallen to time. Without Decker, Terry realized he would probably never have known where to turn. The lane was ill kept and unmaintained, but it was still there. From the road, though, you would be hard pressed to see it just driving by.
One thing Terry did notice as they entered the lane was that the power pole that had the transformer on it had fallen. It lay on the ground just around the first bend in the road. Apparently, even the power company had deserted this place.
Decker explained. “About five years ago, we had a bad snowstorm. Lots of places lost power for a lot of reasons. This place was abandoned, and since there was no pressing need for it to be repaired, no one bothered. Then, when things got tight, Dr. Broche told the city council to leave it alone rather than use money that would better serve the community somewhere else. She was just that way. Now, do you see why I got trouble figuring out why she would do this?”
“Never said I didn’t. All I said was the facts point to her. And they still do. Look.”
As they rounded the last bend, they were inundated with light from a dozen sources. Poles held massive lights thirty feet up, casting sharp shadows that were cut off by their neighboring lights from other directions. It was clear nothing would cross this area unseen.
Terry sighed, shaking his head. This was not good.
“Whoever is running this wants to know when anybody comes calling.” Inside his mind, he told Charlie, “Can you boost my senses enough to see—”
Charlie cut him off. “The cameras are not hidden. Whoever is behind this is not interested in keeping their interest in their visitors secret. They are almost conspicuous. There are units under each of the lights and three on the barn that I can see. I would surmise that there are others behind that as well as that main building over there. The question is who is watching?”
“Yeah that would be the part that we need to figure out. Can you do anything about them?”
Charlie could normally use his abilities to trace the signal down to find out where the computer was. It was a simple matter of following the impulses, since he didn’t have to read anything. The only trouble was that he couldn’t get a line on the source.
Finally, Charlie said, “Terry, for some reason, I cannot find the location those cameras go to. And I should be able to. There is something very wrong here.”
Terry stepped out of the car as soon as Decker stopped. One, to let Charlie have a better view, even though it wasn’t necessary. And two, to try to see if there was anything he could see on his own.
Decker, meanwhile, killed the engine and looked around himself. Then, with a shrug, he reached into the glove box. A second later, he stepped out and handed Terry a 9mm.
Terry looked at the gun and smiled. He hadn’t bothered to bring any of his with him, because he hadn’t figured on needing it. Now, he accepted the weapon gratefully. He could also feel there was something wrong here, but he had no idea what.
As he slid the gun into his belt, he noticed he had brought his modified Taser. It had just been a reflex. He hadn’t even noticed it was there in the special holster all this time. He shrugged again, thinking, if nothing else, it would also work on humans without a problem.
Decker slid his into his belt as well and tossed Terry an extra clip. He still didn’t know what was going on, but he was sure that there was nothing there that he couldn’t handle.
At least, he did until the voice exploded in his mind.
“Welcome, Mr. Bridger. We have been expecting you.”
* * * *
Terry heard the voice as well. Unlike Decker, though, he recognized it for what it was. The hard part was believing what it was.
The voice in his head was a Chrliti.
Inside his mind, he asked in a calm panic. “Charlie, what the hell is that?”
“I am as lost as you, Terry! You and I have the only example of this kind of connection in my memory. Whatever is going on is unprecedented.”
All Terry could say was, “Apparently not.”
Almost at once, the disembodied voice answered. “Oh no, Mr. Bridger. The type of connection you and Tanoak have is quite unique. The one we are using is, for lack of a better word, a mechanical one. We are using frequencies of energy to duplicate the wavelengths of the human mind. As such, we can communicate with humans on a personal and complete level, rather than being relegated to merely being able to make suggestions that may or may not be ignored.”
Suddenly, another voice shouted. Through the concentration Terry was exerting to hear every detail of the conversation that he was having, he barely recognized Decker, his voice hoarse with confusion. Terry realized, to his horror, that Decker had heard every word from their new... friend, foe...ally? What?
“Who the hell is this? And how the hell are you talking? I hear you but not with my ears. Bridger, what the hell is going on?”
Terry was frozen in place. He had never even considered this. Even with Traci, he hadn’t considered how this would play out if it came down to it. It got worse a second later as Decker added, “And how come they know you?”
Terry stared hard at the big man for a few seconds, then, already sure of the result, mentally said, “Charlie, call Decker! Now!”
Charlie simply said, “Decker!” in a tone that signaled a challenge. He knew what Terry wanted, and he was curious himself. Both watched as Decker spun around, gun drawn, eyes wide and every muscle tensed and ready for action. Clearly, whatever had happened, Decker could hear not only the voice of this new party, but Charlie as well.
Decker again fixed his eyes on Terry. In them, Terry could see terror, mistrust and anger burn in equal parts. He definitely didn’t like whatever it was that was going on.
In his mind, Terry asked Charlie, “Can you hit him with a data burst?”
“I believe I can, but I can’t be sure of his susceptibility. He hears because of this new factor, so I could just be a side effect of that, and as such, he may not be able to absorb the information that quickly.”
Decker heard the entire conversation and was frankly unsure of how to react. In the time he had known him, he had learned to trust Terry. This new development was eroding that trust quickly.
Charlie quickly sent a compressed set of thoughts directly to Decker’s mind. Like a zip file, it unfolded once there in a readable form that literally read itself to him in a microsecond.
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In that time, Decker learned not only of Terry’s and Charlie’s unique connection, but of the work they had done, the others of Charlie’s race they had faced and the story of the arrival of the Chrliti. It was almost too much for the big man, who seemed to waver for a few seconds. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Terry in a whole new light, fearfully contemplating what the things now in his mind meant.
He lowered the gun, still staring at Terry. Whatever else there was happening, he knew that they, at least, were on the same side. And that meant that this Charlie was as well. That said, none of them knew whom the other entity was that they heard. Or what they wanted. And to both of them, it seemed that that was their enemy.
“Come in, gentlemen. As we said, we have been waiting for you for some time. Especially you, Mr. Bridger.”
Terry was more than a little astonished. He was even angrier than that.
“Who the hell are you?” he settled on finally as a retort. The answer did nothing to improve the mood of the moment.
The voice oozed a syrupy tone that made both Terry and Decker want to retch as it said, “Given your particularly unique and close relationship to Tanoak, I suspect you know what we are if not who we are individually. I will correct the later now. My name is—”
Charlie suddenly came alive with the memory of their host. And it was not a good one.
“Your name is Abshrd, murderer extraordinaire! How many of our people did you kill in the name of what you and those demented followers of yours called a New Order of Adjudication?”
The voice seemed to draw back as it fought with itself to maintain control. Clearly, Charlie hit a nerve. But when it began, it allowed no trace of it to show through, even though Terry could feel the tension between the pair of them.
“We made some mistakes in our quest to repair the damage done by the...” the creature lapsed into its own language for a second to imply his hatred of the ones in question, but the feeling Terry got inundated with was morons or fools, “of the government. Our people were dying by decree, and too many, like you, wanted to do nothing but shout platitudes and hope for the best. We at least did something. Mistakes were made and many died as a result, but at least, they died for something rather than from something like they had been.”
The Primal Connection Page 22