by R. T. Wolfe
Voices carried through the van door as Gloria opened it. Gloria's son and Duncan's uncle were due in that evening, but neither were the voice he heard. Checking his local cell phone, there were no new messages. For the first time in his eidetic life, his memory played tricks on him.
He turned off the engine and locked up the van as Gloria and Andy made their way inside. Leftovers would be plenty. The boy named Rico sat on the front step. Duncan squatted in front of him and reached to tap his nose with the end of his finger, but the boy reached out and wrapped his arms around Duncan's neck. He wriggled his legs around Duncan's waist and linked his fingers near his shoulder.
The boy's legs clung so tightly to him, he may have been able to release him without the boy falling. With one arm, he hung on to the child and stood. As he stepped inside, he heard it again. The voice. A distinct mixture of euphoria, confusion and frustration painted over him. Sliding Rico from his hip, he shooed him along.
Andy's voice came from the classroom in the back of the house that Duncan considered their meeting room. "Child Rescue has a needed presence here. And by here, I mean this country."
"Yes," Jess said. "We've earned the trust of many."
"And deservedly so. Forgive us if we, therefore, talk in a code of sorts."
Neither Jess nor Andy was who he came to see. Duncan didn't understand exactly why his feet were reluctant to step into the room, but he made them do so regardless.
It was just as Duncan's eidetic memory had told him. She sat with her back to the door. Her hair up in a rare ponytail, she nodded as Andy finished.
Andy took a breath and sat back, then caught Duncan's glance. His brother's eyes darted from Duncan to her, then to the table at his folded hands.
Her shoulders stiffened. It was slight enough that no one else would notice, but no one else was her husband. Yet, he seemed to be the only one unaware of which continent she occupied.
Jess took a breath. "Our rehabilitation, orphanage and work study facilities will be here for you when you return."
"If we return," Nickie said.
Two sets of walking feet came from behind him. He recognized both and should have been overjoyed with at least one of them. "Duncan," his uncle said and embraced him with a bear hug. Pulling back, Nathan set an outstretched hand on Duncan's shoulder. "Look at you. A beard. The gray works."
Gil stepped around him, smacking him on the back of the shoulder as he did. "Good to see you, man."
Greetings to Nathan and Gil went around the table.
He was at a loss. Should he walk away? Step in and add his opinions? Take her by the shoulders and make her look at him?
He chose the second option, or possibly his feet chose for him. He passed her. She didn't waver. He passed Gloria. He passed Andy. He passed Jess, then he sat. Gil, Nathan and Dr. Byrd sat on the other side of her.
She didn't make contact with him. "Explain to me the plan, please," she said.
Dr. Byrd cleared his throat. "May I?" he said but didn't wait for an answer and, instead, scraped his chair on the concrete flooring as he scooted out. He bounced to the maps and charts that hung from the wall.
Nickie's gaze followed him. As her face turned in the light, he saw the color of her skin. Gray. Not the brilliant steel gray color of her eyes, but the kind that went with the dark rings that hung beneath her eyes. He hadn't seen her in several days, but swore she looked like she'd lost fifteen pounds.
No longer did he care about her motives. A tsunami of worry blew through his very fiber. Dr. Byrd spoke in excruciating detail. Duncan didn't want to listen, but his eidetic memory never allowed that.
"Thanks to our nationally renowned artist—"
Fuck you, Byrd. Hurry up.
"—we have this beautiful sketch of the compound. You'll see here," he said and pointed to the largest building near the north side, "is the largest structure."
"Yes," Duncan snapped. "Everyone can see that the building is the largest. Can you hurry along?"
His words only caused Byrd to stutter and stammer through the next few sentences. "We've been by a dozen times and have only seen a few children. We began, you see, to wonder if possibly the children were kept in a different location altogether. That was, of course, until our amazing Gloria arranged for the fake purchase of nine children from the site. So, we think they are kept in the largest building and simply not let out unless by truck."
He tapped a finger to the sketch of the white box truck.
Should Duncan stand and stop the meeting? He and Nickie were becoming the elephant in the room. The only one who didn't sense it was the doctor.
"Andy and I come in from the south. He cuts east toward the cable box. I cut west to start running wire." He drew a pencil line over their map as if it was a kindergarten dot-to-dot ditto. "Gloria and Gil come right through the front door, so to speak, here from the far west. We think they are going to meet about... here," he said, tapping a point midway to the compound. "Duncan and Nathan come from the north and set their..." Pausing, he moved his glance to Jess, then corrected. "Dis-trac-tion," he said as if Jess might not hear. Then, he spoke quickly. "I must say I am mighty impressed with the boy's abilities."
Duncan stared at him with a death glare. Byrd winked in return.
"Gloria gets the girls. Duncan takes care of the distractions. Andy downloads the rest of the data from the compound drop box." Words bounced off his tongue as if it was a full proof plan. "I ignite my creation. We get the rest of the children, bring them here to the safe house and provide an anonymous phone call to the local authorities."
Nickie said, "I'm going in with Gloria."
That was it. Nickie had lost her mind. "I believe your own mother might recognize you," he said as the first words they'd exchanged.
"No, she won't. I'll make sure of it. I didn't come down here for nothing."
"And why exactly did you come down here?" he asked.
"I'm tired. I'm going to bed." Nickie rose from the table. Duncan followed her into the hall and circled her arm with his fingers. Cold and tight, the connection was still tangible.
For the first time in their relationship, she physically pulled away from him. "Girls room is that way," she said.
"Nickie," he said, desperation in his voice.
"I'm really tired. Jet lag and all that." She didn't hurry. Didn't storm down the hall. She simply turned and left him standing alone.
* * *
She'd used Broadway cover-up to make her skin several shades darker. The black hair dye didn't take over her blonde hair. It was a dark rusty brown. Good enough. After several attempts, she maneuvered a dark brown contact in one eye. Blinking, she judged her hair.
Duncan was right. She looked too much like her.
Duncan. She squeezed her eyes hard enough that she popped out the contact.
After punching the concrete wall three times, she ignored the blood that came across her knuckles and took out a pair of scissors from the top shelf behind the mirror over the sink.
Taking a clump of hair, she cut it just below her ear. She kept going until she'd cut it all the way around into a short, dark brown bob. Placing the contact in the palm of her hand, she forced it back in, stepped back and threw her chin up.
One more to go and she would be someone else.
She checked the dressings the ER nurse had given her. The bleeding was almost done. Over. Finished. She zipped her pair of black jeans. Staring in the mirror, she disappeared altogether.
One of the toddlers cried and ran away as Nickie stepped into the hallway. She found the group in front of the building, emptying boxes from the conversion van to the rental sedan. No one noticed her at first.
Not even him.
He rubbed the top of a small boy's head before he loaded one of several spools of wire.
"Test your audios," she announced to the team as she approached. Gloria and Gil were exempt since Nickie's mother would, without a doubt, search them for wires.
Everyone stopped a
nd stared. Her foster mother wore a floral wraparound skirt and scarf over her head. She put a hand over her mouth. Andy's eyes grew large and he rubbed the back of his neck. Nathan took hold of Duncan's forearm and grasped.
The little boy Duncan had touched walked slowly to her. He wrapped his thin arms around her thigh and squeezed. She looked down at him and felt something stir in her heart, so she stepped away and repeated, "Test your audios. We leave in thirty."
"The one underside the dash of the van is working, little sister. I checked," Gil said.
Byrd lifted a finger. "May I? This is so very important. I cannot emphasize this enough. You must remove the batteries of anything you don't want annihilated. That includes cell phones, watches all the way to car batteries." He rubbed his hands together. "And wrap the device in cardboard. I know," he said, turned his chin away and held up a hand. "It's strange. But if you ever want to use your equipment again, you'll follow these rules."
No one considered not following them.
"Sync your watches with the times on your phones," Nickie interrupted. "You'll want a backup in case one or the other fries. We keep on schedule."
Byrd inhaled and opened his mouth.
"Almost time," she said. "Finish loading up."
Chapter 29
The conversion van pulled away. It was like watching a firstborn son leave for active duty. Nickie drove. She was nearly unrecognizable. Her hair. Duncan couldn't care less about the color or the length, but nearly unrecognizable left a hole in his heart.
He leaned toward his uncle. "Is this what you and Brie felt when I left for the Middle East?"
"Some, yes, only you were buzzed rather than dyed."
"I don't know, man," Andy added. "I got no words for that."
Duncan turned to his brother. "You talked to Rose."
Andy nodded. "Yeah. A lot of cryptic girl shit. Something happened. Has Nick done this before?"
Duncan didn't know if his question was in reference to the hair and makeup or the portcullis she'd dropped between them. Nonetheless, he said, "Not like this."
"We've got ten," Andy said. "Let's lament about women in the air conditioning."
Their heads turned to the rental sedan. The trunk was loaded with the dozen small explosive devices Duncan had created and the EMP bomb. Dr. Byrd waited in the passenger seat.
Duncan paused and took this in. Three Reed men, standing in a line. "Come on." Duncan shoulder-checked Andy as he passed. "It's time."
Duncan drove. The clouds were thick enough to cause mid-day seem like dusk. It was unseasonably warm. Fortunately, the wind he'd hoped for blew in angry wisps of warning. It whipped small bits of trash around in small tunnels as he drove.
His mind fought with his heart, and he ground his teeth together and held tight as he took the corner with exaggerated control. Would they succeed today? What happened to drive his Nickie into such an abyss? So many people he loved would put their lives in danger this day. He turned onto the gravel road Samuel had advised. Regardless of the unanswered questions or risks involved, one fact remained a constant. Today had to work. Failure was not an option.
Small groups of children who should be in school laughed as they ran through the wind tunnels. Stray dogs seemed to sense the coming storm, ducking their tails between their legs as they ran with bits of food down the alleys.
"Thank you," Duncan said, breaking the thick silence that filled the inside of the vehicle.
"To who, brother?"
"The three of you."
"It's been the highlight of my life," Byrd said. "My eyes have been opened and my heart filled. Whatever happens today, this has been the best week of my life."
The terrain changed as brush hit the bumper of the rental, reminding Duncan of the driveway next to the home in Henderson. A thick forest of oncoming saplings forced him to stop altogether. He shifted into park. "This is it, men."
"I live for this shit," Andy said.
"I hate it when you say that," Duncan answered. He exited the vehicle and walked around to the trunk. Nathan popped it, and the four of them stared at the contents. The EMP was in a box with two protruding handles. As Duncan stood guard, Andy wrapped his fingers around one side, the doctor the other. "You have your laptop?" Duncan asked Andy as he judged the size of the backpack he wore.
"And a tablet as backup. I have flash drives and the camera in my phone in case all of it goes to hell. I'll get the names and dates, brother. Count on me."
And he did. Reaching out, Nathan grabbed Andy around the shoulders. Not a one-armed hug as they were accustomed to but a full three-second hug that meant something.
"It's so beautiful," Byrd said and grabbed Duncan in for a hug, then Nathan.
"Remember to remove the battery and put it in this box," Byrd said, wiping tears from his face. He handed him a cardboard box with a lid. "Then, cover the vehicle with this." He pointed to a complicated array of cardboard that was folded like a box. "You can replace the battery thirty seconds after I ignite the pulse."
"At 12:45 p.m.? How will I know if you're running late?"
Byrd's smile was one to cause a healthy concern. "You'll know," he said.
Duncan watched the only brother he had walk away, carrying one side of a disabling device. Checking his watch, he swore under his breath and got back in the car. He needed to back out at least hundred yards before he could turn around and make his way with Nathan to the other side of the compound.
Although several more in number, his materials were much smaller. "We may be without guns, but we have plenty of firepower," he said to Nathan.
"Let's just not get caught. I have a feeling what we're packing might be worse than guns in the eyes of the authorities."
Duncan thought of the children in the safe house. The twelve-year-old child who carried a child in her womb. He thought of Rico. Of his Nickie. "Dad, I worry for her."
"I know. Give her some room. She has a lot riding on this day."
That was true. Somehow, that gave him a possible needed reason for her distance and change in appearance.
"She tends to close off in a crunch," Nathan continued. "She always turns around in the end."
Duncan's lungs filled. "I was quite angry at your insistence to join in this."
"I know that too," Nathan said and smiled.
"I, now, find myself overwhelmingly relieved."
"Me, too. You are a son to me and Nickie my daughter. Reeds stick together."
The spot Samuel told him to park in was far enough away from the compound, it was likely out of range of the electromagnetic pulse, but Duncan pulled the lever to pop the hood anyway. In the humid air, he put on the hip-length trench coat with the many pockets full of the explosives he needed.
The Hill towered over him like a watchful mother. Or possibly a mob ready to pounce. He removed the car battery and put it in the empty cardboard box in the trunk. Then, he covered it with the blanket of cardboard the doctor had given him. He didn't bother to lock up. If the car was found, it would be stripped regardless.
He shut the door and placed the keys in the inside chest pocket of the coat and walked around to stand in front of the car. He checked the surroundings. The country was truly beautiful.
Today, he would do his part to make this country safer for children and families. Buttoning the three buttons on the jacket, he and Nathan took off in a jog to set his small explosives, ready to ignite at precisely 12:30 p.m. Fifteen minutes prior to Byrd's EMP. Too much rode on timing.
* * *
Nickie's wrist hung over the steering wheel. "It's not too late to back out," she said to her foster mother. "This is crazy shit, you know. It's not safe."
"Language," Gloria scolded and gestured two fingers forward, urging Nickie on.
"Come on, Ma. Nickie's right. You don't have to do this."
Rotating in her seat, she let out a tirade in Spanish to Gil, then turned forward again. Nickie guessed she wasn't changing her mind.
A mile or so from town,
cars became fewer. The roads became thinner with more potholes and divots. The mountain stood next to them like a prison wall void of windows. Single-room homes with the rusted metal roofs that were common in the city slum areas butted up to each other, reaching high into the clouds.
The compound came into view. Few lights were on and little movement came from between buildings. The road was nothing more than a worn line of soil that led from the highway, over the plain to the tiny village of buildings that sat in the center of barren area.
"Entering the compound grounds," she said into the audio bug under the dash.
The heart she had so carefully turned off sank. Places to keep cover were few and far between. Men with rifles hanging from their shoulders, however, were plenty.
Duncan, Nathan, Andy and Dr. Byrd. How could they do this?
Nickie didn't veer from the road and considered how she would turn around since each side of the road was dotted with rocks and holes.
A guard stood in the middle of the path. It seemed like he didn't see the van, but she knew this wasn't the case. This was business as usual. Another day in abusing and selling children. Her fingers wrapped around the steering wheel and squeezed.
There were almost a dozen vehicles parked randomly throughout the compound. Most wouldn't be drivable, but some would. More may be stored in the larger structures.
She looked up at the dark clouds that threatened to open, and she imagined the storms could be fierce enough in this expansive area to warrant shelter for the more important vehicles. Her mother's Mercedes.
Large warehouse structure to the north. Smaller sheds to the south. She stopped twenty feet from the man. He turned and looked at her, then pulled out a radio from around his neck and spoke into it.
"Don't get out," Nickie said to Gloria and Gil.
Gripping his rifle in both hands, the man leaned his head from one side of the van to the other as he walked around it. He would think the driver was of little consequence and stopped only when he got to the passenger door.
