“Besides that, she’s Moriarty’s lover, which gives her even more clout.”
“Yes, and Tenor, uh, Art Kerry, is at the very least a willing thug of the worst kind.” Jason made a decision and took several minutes to outline what he and Nancy Evans had seen at the Smithfield Academy. “From what I went through with him and his partner last winter and saw the other day at Smithfield, Mary Sue, he—and Green Liberation—are into something up to their eyeballs.”
“You also saw one of your bigwigs from the IRS at Smithfield?”
Jason grimaced. “Yeah. Makes it tough to bring any of this to the attention of my superiors. Worse, we’ve got an unknown element of involvement with the Italian Mafia. This thing is spinning out of control.”
“Anyone else in law enforcement you can speak with?”
“I’ll have to think about it.”
“So, what now?” Lizzy asked.
“Let’s see if either of our friends leads us anywhere interesting.”
***
They didn’t have long to wait. A steely-eyed Art Kerry soon made an appearance, zooming past them in a silver BMW.
“Good living these environmentalists make for people opposed to capitalism,” Jason muttered. He let two cars go by, then extracted the Blazer from its wet and leafy cover to follow the BMW.
Kerry led them through a series of small towns, took a shortcut through a residential district, and wound his way partway up one of the lesser summits facing Honey Mountain. By this time Jason was hanging far behind so as not to alert Kerry that he was being followed.
Several minutes later Jason slowed. “Eh, I lost him. He must have turned off.”
“There’s a gravel road half a mile back,” Lizzy said. “It was pretty much covered over with branches, and I just saw a trace of it, but he might have turned there.”
Two minutes later from the way they had come, Lizzy pointed, “There!”
Jason stood on the brakes and rumbled onto the rough narrow road, whose ruts overflowed from the continuing rain. Despite a difference in weather, the feel of the ride brought back unpleasant memories from the night of his winter abduction.
Although he was coming to trust Lizzy’s conversion, Jason still wondered how much she knew. He mentioned his sense that this road led to where he’d been brought by Kerry and Hugo.
She only said, “I wish I knew then what I know now.”
He had to take it easy. His wheels slid in and out of the tire tracks and made for treacherous going. He wondered how Kerry’s vehicle had maneuvered it. On one side was a steep drop-off, while the other hugged the mountain so tightly that at times his side mirror swiped pieces of granite sticking out like the twisted knuckles of a boxer’s battered hand.
When they rounded yet one more curve, a closed steel gate loomed out of nowhere. It was topped with barbed wire, as was the fence that extended up and down the adjoining hillsides. Another virtual prison, or a simple desire to keep intruders out? Jason bounded out of the SUV into the rain with a sinking feeling that quickly lifted when he saw that Kerry hadn’t properly fastened the lock in his haste. He threw the lock to the ground and opened the gate.
“Let’s keep the car out here,” Lizzy said.
Jason was going to argue, but shrugged as the rain lessened to a fine mist. They left the Blazer hidden outside the fence. Who knows? he thought. Woman’s intuition?
Several minutes later as they approached on foot, Jason blinked, doing a double take when he saw the compound open up in front of him. “I don’t believe this. It’s eerie, but this place is almost identical to Smithfield Academy.”
“Where you saw the children playing with mock explosives.”
“Yes.”
The large central guard tower rising out of the main building, like at Smithfield, had a three-hundred-sixty-degree expanse of windows at the top. Surrounding it were a number of rustic log cabins. Only missing from the picture was the buzz of activity evident at the complex in Illinois, including any sign of guard dogs.
There were two mud-splattered cars in view, one of which was Kerry’s BMW. The other, a high-end Tesla, had a nasty dent in the driver’s side door. No one was visible through the misty gloom.
Jason made a snap decision. “I’m taking down Kerry and whoever he’s with.”
Lizzy was horrified. “Taking down? You mean like kill them?”
“Maybe not that drastic,” Jason said, “but it could come to that. If Marcy’s in there, it may be the only way to her. And I’m not leaving without her.” He patted his Ruger, letting Lizzy see its wood-handle grip. “What say we find ourselves a couple of scumbag child abusers?”
Her dismay was evident, but she followed him, nonetheless, on a dead run to the entrance of the tall building.
***
Jason pushed the door open. It swung on silent hinges, and they entered a foyer illuminated by a row of wall sconces. A long hallway extended directly before them. To their right was a well-appointed room with several overstuffed chairs, two couches, and a wall-to-ceiling bookshelf. To their left was an ascending staircase.
Lizzy held up one finger: listen. He did.
Floating down the staircase from the upper reaches of the building was the sound of chanting. High-pitched, children’s voices that struck achingly tender notes. Jason couldn’t make out the words, although he wasn’t sure he wanted to. He knew in his gut the purpose was evil.
They deliberated a moment and decided to search out the children. As much as Jason wanted Kerry’s scalp, Marcy came first. If they got lucky and Kerry was present—or Hugo, if Jason really won the lottery—then all the better. Jason drew his Ruger, and they made their way up the stairs.
The doors were open to the first two rooms they passed. They were unlighted and empty. At the third room the door was closed, but it didn’t entirely block the sound of at least two people talking, their voices rising and falling, angry and reasoned by turns. The subject of their argument was unclear, but they were busy, so he let them be, although both muffled voices sounded familiar.
Further down the hall, the children continued their chanting. Its tone was creepy, the words more so, raising the hackles on Jason’s neck.
Mother, dear Gaia, your love is great,
Mother, dear Gaia, our hands are small;
Mother, dear Gaia, man’s deeds destroy,
Mother, dear Gaia, we’ll kill them all.
He didn’t want to frighten the kids but there was no way around it. He turned the knob and entered, pistol raised, Lizzy at his heels.
A woman stood with her back to the door conducting the chant with raised arms. Before her stood a group of twelve children ranging in age from ten to sixteen following every move the woman made with her baton, their faces uplifted as they sang the mantra.
The eyes of one widened as he saw the strangers enter. Others noticed, and the chant faltered. The woman directing the chorus turned with a frown. She was younger than he’d first thought, late teens, although a woman, nonetheless.
Jason hadn’t known her from behind but there was no mistaking her now. That tilt of her head, the evident strength behind the soft curves of her body. He noticed her slender, elegant fingers once again. The breath rushed from him, and he lowered the pistol. One word escaped his lips.
“Marcy.”
***
Jason’s daughter looked at him uncomprehendingly. He said, “Marcy, it’s me. Your dad.”
The tension behind the frown increased. She was beautiful despite the downturn of her lips and the disquieted wrinkling of her forehead.
“Who…? What…?” There was no spark of recognition. Her face turned grim. Then, as though transformed by the internal flick of a switch, she lighted up.
Jason thought, Yes, she knows me!
The emotional high of Marcy’s recognition lowered his sense of caution. Too late, he sensed someone else behind them.
Marcy said, “Sue-Mom!”
Lizzy jumped and gasped. Jason turned and
grunted as the barrel of a gun jabbed him in the kidney.
A voice he knew well commanded, “Drop it, Jason.”
He let the Ruger fall to the floor.
A male voice said, “Wise move. Your timing was always bad, Jason, but at least you do what you’re told. And Lizzy, I’m so disappointed in you. You’re keeping such dreadful company these days.”
Jason sighed, “Hello, Mary Sue. Hi, Rick.”
***
“Aren’t we all one big happy family!” his ex-wife exclaimed.
“Well, I’ll be.” Malice tinged the gleeful voice of his brother Rick. “This is better’n Christmas morning. I’ve been looking forward to this moment, little brother, since you spilled that drink on me.”
He poked Jason again and massaged the ever-present marbles in his pocket in his nervous energy, causing them to click as always. “Keep facing away.”
Jason wished he could control his tongue where his brother was concerned. He didn’t. “Don’t hold grudges long, do you? Like the neighbor’s puppy you set on fire a week after it piddled on you because it deserved to be taught a lesson. You’re pathetic.”
Jason imagined Rick behind him with ears turning crimson. He knew his brother’s reaction without seeing it. Rick stepped closer to Jason’s back. Seething anger in his voice, he said, “I’ll only hold the grudge long enough to kill you.” The gun ground into Jason like the bit of a power drill.
Mary Sue restrained him. “We can do better than that.” Rick eased off but only after one final jab that left Jason gasping. “Turn around and slowly sit on the floor.”
They did so reluctantly and sat cross-legged before the children, the object of their curiosity and the confusion of Jason’s daughter. Rick pulled out a set of plastic restraints and secured Jason’s hands behind his back. Their vulnerability was glaring.
To Lizzy, in an almost sorrowful tone, Mary Sue said, “You were so promising. How did Jason corrupt you?” Mary’s Sue flicked her eyes from Lizzy to Jason and back to the woman whose man she’d stolen. Before Lizzy could respond, Mary Sue’s face lit up. “Of course! How silly of me. Is this your way of retaliating, Lizzy?” Slyly: “What have you two got going?”
Jason still saw in Mary Sue the sexy cheerleader he had married. She’d made his heart flip in high school, and despite himself, her looks gave him pause now. The gorgeous young girl had been transformed over the years into a sophisticated beauty—still very young looking—who’d retained the outdoor health and vibrancy she’d acquired in her days of searching for identity. But what she’d done to him and to Marcy was unforgivable. She was a goddess with a heart of stone. If he wasn’t such a gentleman, he’d consider knocking some sense in her.
“Perhaps you should answer the questions, Mary Sue,” Lizzy said. “You have a lot to answer for concerning this place.” She swept her hand generally to encompass the children and their surroundings. “What are you doing to them?”
“Sue-Mom?” It was Marcy, frightened and child-like. “These people interrupted our practice.”
“Yes, dear,” Mary Sue said. “We’ll take care of them very soon.”
Jason’s unease increased. He’d been wrong. His daughter didn’t recognize him. Worse, her mental state was suspect. “Marcy? Look at me. Don’t you know who I am?”
She wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Mary Sue,” he said, “what is going on with her?”
“No more questions,” Rick said. If anything, he’d grown fatter over the months since Christmas, but the strength and power carrying his bulk were evident. Rick’s hands were large for his short stature, and they clenched and unclenched in the way Jason remembered when he wanted to do violence.
“I think,” Mary Sue said, “that it’s time for a little test. Marcy, you’ve done a wonderful job teaching the children. I think we should put their knowledge to work. But I need you to run an errand for me. Can you do that?”
Marcy reacted like that eager puppy Rick had tortured as a child. “Okay, Sue-Mom.” She handed the conductor’s baton to Mary Sue.
“Go see Uncle Art and tell him we’re going to leave shortly, and that he should get ready.”
“Am I going, too?”
“Of course, honey,” Mary Sue said. “Go on now.”
Marcy scampered from the room without another glance at the children she left behind, or at Jason.
“You’ve brainwashed her,” Jason said.
Lizzy added softly, “These children, too.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rick said. “They’re obedient, that’s all.” He took a step toward Jason and kicked the side of his head.
Jason fell backward. Through an effort of will, he fought to bring clarity back. Something ran down his cheek. Disoriented, he saw a drop of blood spatter on the floor. “You always were a bully, Rick.”
His brother drew his foot back to strike Jason again, but Mary Sue’s commanding voice said, “No.”
Jason had been ready to thwart the kick as best he could. He saw Rick’s simmering hatred and wondered how Mary Sue could control such passions.
“We have a better way.” Mary Sue snapped her fingers at the band of children, gaining their attention. “All right, kids, do you remember your lessons?”
A dozen heads nodded. “This man and woman on the floor are very bad. They hurt Mother Earth by dumping toxic chemicals in the rivers. They kill the beautiful fish and the lovely flowers that grow on the banks of the river.”
Horror began overtaking the faces of the children.
“They make the water turn brown and stagnant because they hate Gaia and all she has created. They pollute the streams and lakes with their careless ways and destructive poisons. Because of these two people sitting right here before you, Mother Gaia weeps. Do you know how that feels, children?”
A dozen mouths uttered, “Yes.”
“Can you weep with Gaia, children? Can you feel her pain and her need for revenge? Can you act upon Her need and make it yours? Can you, children?”
With gaining crescendo, a shouted, “Yes!” broke forth.
“Will you take Gaia’s suffering and suffer with her? Will you let that feeling turn to righteous anger? Will you make that anger personal and avenge our aggrieved Mother? Will you, children?”
“Yes!” thundered from every lip.
“Then do it,” came Mary Sue’s calm command.
As one the children surged forward onto the sitting forms of Jason and Lizzy. Tiny fists rained upon their heads like the sting of a thousand bees. Small feet clad in leather shoes showered them with forceful kicks.
Jason struggled to rise, to push them off. He could do nothing with his arms to ward off blows. He felt Lizzy at his side thrusting outward in defense. He lost track of her.
Mites from hell, the children descended on their victims, pummeling, thrashing, destroying.
This time blackness came and stayed.
Chapter 34
It was difficult to know whether the intent had been to leave them dead, or if the fact that they continued to draw breath had been the result of sloppy execution. In any case, Jason and Lizzy found themselves badly beaten from the unexpected, and wholly violent, assault by the chanting children, but with functioning hearts and unbroken limbs, despite soreness and extensive bruising.
Lizzy gained consciousness first and later told Jason that she feared from the way he looked that he was dead. To her surprise, she felt a weak pulse at his neck and revived him. He’d gotten the worst of it; perhaps their attackers thought that as the male he needed greater attention. She found scissors to work at and finally cut his plastic restraints. After that, she located a bathroom and brought him water, first cleansing his face, then as he struggled to awareness, letting him sip the tepid liquid.
Jason’s eyes slowly regained focus. “What? Where are we? Why is there blood on your face?”
She swiped at it but missed, and told him what she recalled. “They seem to have gone. When I got the water, no one was ar
ound.”
He winced, his head a mass of shooting pains that burrowed deep into his skull. “You all right?” he managed.
“Under the circumstances.”
“We should search the place; try to learn more.” Jason pushed himself to his knees, his arms trembling as he strove to support himself on all fours.
He almost collapsed, but Lizzy was quick enough to prop him up. “Take it slow. Maybe I should call a doctor and get you to a hospital.”
With a bitter laugh, he said, “Then we’d have to fill out police reports. Where would that get us? Right back to my job where I can’t trust anyone. Uh-uh. Unless you need medical attention, we can’t do that. We need to lie low and think about what’s going on. Until then, we’re on our own.”
He found his pistol—magazine gone—in their search. They verified that indeed the compound was deserted; no cars, dogs, kids, or adults. The inhabitants of the place had left in a hurry, yet they’d cleared out the offices of all paperwork. Maybe they’d already planned such an exit, which would account for the absence of guard dogs. When Lizzy exclaimed that she’d found a room containing several computers, Jason hobbled to join her, hopeful that they’d learn something.
Lizzy went from PC to PC pressing the on buttons, while Jason eagerly waited for them to boot. The machines hummed but nothing happened. He inspected them more closely. “What the…?”
Lizzy saw what he did. “They took out the hard drives.”
It deflated him. “We need something, some break.”
“They had high speed connections.” She held up one of the cables she’d unplugged from the back of a PC.
“I see that.” It made him wonder. He remembered the person who had claimed to be an abducted babysitter. Female. He had no proof, but felt the person contacting him was female. She would have had the means to read his blog, although her time might have been limited if they monitored her. She could have done it from right here. “Let’s keep looking.”
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