“I promise you there will be no more of this,” Burke said. “They will see and realize its futility, but you must understand as well that we cannot turn away and forget what happened here. Lives were lost and they will expect an account.”
“Then you will risk your own life,” Aline said firmly. “I don’t ask anything from you, Mr. Burke, except to be left alone.”
“I understand,” he answered, “but we can’t do that. They now know what you’re capable of at levels much higher than mine, and some would rather destroy you than allow you and Mr. Morgan to go on as if nothing had happened.”
He moved slowly toward us and said, “There is still a chance for a better conclusion!”
“What are you offering?” I asked warily, but I saw the relief in Burke’s expression as he stopped only feet from us.
“As I said earlier,” he began, “our facility is hidden from the public at a very secure RAF base. We alone maintain it, and no one will threaten you again.”
“What the hell would make us trust you now?” I demanded.
“We want only to understand, Mr. Morgan; to speak with her in a private and controlled setting where no one can interfere.”
“Hurd’s assholes have already interfered!” I shouted, but he held up a passive hand.
“Gregory felt her power for himself, and he has turned his fear into anger and a justification for this heavy-handed intrusion. However, I can keep him at a distance if they know Aline will cooperate.”
“You call this ‘keeping a distance,’ Alan?”
“Our Minister will intercede if need be to prevent more of this, but without her influence, Gregory will not hesitate to send assassins and end it. The violence will continue until they finally kill her, and they will kill her sooner or later! Please understand, this doesn’t have to end in further bloodshed.”
“After all this, I wouldn’t trust you with a bag of dog shit!”
I could hear my voice rising, and still Burke stood steady. Today, I admire his calm in so hostile and terrifying a position, and I have to say, it must’ve helped him achieve those things necessary to win and hold so much authority.
“I implore you both to think about this rationally and understand there is no other way I can offer.”
I wanted to argue with him, to shout and scream away the fear and frustration, but Aline intercepted a tirade before it began.
“And if I agree,” she said suddenly, “what then?”
“We want simply to speak with you and that is all; once our interviews and a handful of harmless tests are complete, I will ensure there is no repeat of this disaster.”
Aline listened to Burke through it all, and she moved close so he would hear her clearly.
“I’ll consider it,” she replied, “but leave me to do it in my own time. I will call you, but do not allow others to come here again or any hope of an understanding between us will die with them.”
It was chilling to hear her describe what anyone else would regard as deliberate premeditated murder so coolly and without emotion, but Burke nodded his agreement and said, “You have my word.”
He turned and walked briskly to the waiting helicopter, and we watched as its engines and rotors whined to life before lifting clear of the hillside and swinging neatly around toward the south. A few minutes later our valley was silent once more, but I could only stand in numb confusion until she took my arm. I went along beside her on our customary path as we had so many times up the long field where her house waited in the first rays of sunlight. I pretended not to notice the patches of tall grass matted down where Hurd’s soldiers lay only minutes before or the obvious “crop circles” made by downblast from the helicopter’s powerful rotors.
Inside once more, I waited in silence, suddenly wary of everything I thought I knew. I wished in my solitary misery there were others who might have seen and experienced the event simply to reassure myself I wasn’t alone or driven horribly insane. I expected the police to arrive at any moment, but they never did and we later learned Burke’s people explained away the gunfire and a helicopter at treetop level as an unannounced “training exercise.” Aline sat beside me to dab away sweat from my face I hadn’t noticed was there.
“I’m sorry you had to see all that,” she said softly, and the image her expression made was not the frightening visage barely half an hour earlier. “I know you have a lot of questions, but please understand, they were going to kill us and it left me with little choice.”
I looked at her for a moment. She was back to the old Aline—the gentle girl I fell in love with—and it seemed absurd to think of her doing those things. Still, the terrible events moved us to another place and a new reality. She was calm but the worry in her eyes was obvious.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“I’m fine,” she said, and it was clear her concern was for me. “I never wanted you to go through this, Evan; I am so very sorry…”
“It’s okay,” I said, but she reached for my hands.
“None of this is okay,” she replied, “but I won’t let them hurt you—I promise.”
She climbed suddenly onto my lap, facing me with her arms around my neck, and yet the pained expression on her face betrayed a concern I knew was mirrored in mine. I did have questions, more than I ever thought she could answer, but I simply didn’t know where to begin. I thought my adjustment to her power and the gift of an ability I couldn’t understand had been a shining success, all things considered, but there was more and I spoke at a whisper.
“Those two men…they were dead, Aline.”
“I know,” she replied softly. “I wanted to frighten them and make them stop where they were, but when they aimed and fired their guns…”
“Some of those guys were probably SAS commandos.”
“I suppose they were.”
I remembered the horror that surged through me when the gunfire erupted.
“They were only a few yards away,” I said.
“Yes, I know,” she replied, and it was clear she understood what I meant.
“Both times, they shot at you and missed completely.”
“I was there, Evan; I remember.”
“These bastards are some of the deadliest marksmen on the planet, Aline. They missed with machine guns from that range? SAS guys don’t miss!”
“I know how it must seem,” she began, but the answer was always there, waiting and evidence of what I once regarded as impossible.
“You pushed them from inside? Their hands did what your mind told them to do.”
She nodded, and I sat for a while as the images tore through my thoughts like a slide show running out of control.
“Was it like that with Claude Dumont?”
“No, not really,” she answered.
“How was it different?”
“I was young and afraid for my life—acting on instinct alone.”
“And this time?”
“Just anger, I suppose,” she replied simply. “I could hear their thoughts, and I knew they were going to kill us.”
With each answer Aline showed little remorse or regret, and her words described the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen the way others would recount changing a tire. Her tone had become matter-of-fact and dispassionate because, in the quiet aftermath, that is precisely what it was to her.
THREE DAYS PASSED without incident, and I began to worry if Burke could keep his end of the bargain. Maybe his masters in London learned about those furious, deadly minutes and the next battle with Aline was being planned. Hour after hour we watched and waited, but no one showed. It seemed surreal as I examined the present and held it up against the past when I was new to the valley and Aline was a mysterious, aloof neighbor with an odd reputation. A year and a half later, a lot of things had changed, but the drama was hardly over.
Early on Wednesday we sat in Aline’s kitchen ignoring Good Morning Britain on the muted television. Aline said it was fun to watch their mouths move and not have t
o hear it, and I smiled knowing the program’s on-air talent was no less irritating than our version in the States. She was comfortable at last with her decision to go along with Burke’s scheme, and after hours of thorough and pained discussion to make sure we were both in agreement, it was time. She waited with her phone once again in speaker mode until Burke answered, and when he did, Aline went straight to it.
“All right, Mr. Burke,” she began, “what do you want us to do?”
“Thank you for calling, Aline,” he replied. “I very much hope we can find a mutually agreeable solution to this mess without a repeat of the earlier unfortunate events.”
“We didn’t ask those men to come here,” she said.
“I understand, but let’s focus on next steps instead, shall we? As I promised, there will be no more invasions and gunfire, but I must be assured you are willing to cooperate with us; can we agree on that simple condition?”
She looked at me and I nodded in silence.
“We agree,” she answered, “but you haven’t told us exactly how you envision these conversations will be conducted.”
“We have an idea or two that might be agreeable, but I would prefer we discussed them in person, hmm?”
“Sorry, Alan,” I replied at once, “but that sounds like ‘the check’s in the mail’ to me. We need to know what you have in mind as an endgame, or this conversation will end very quickly.”
“There is no purpose in playing tricks or making promises we can’t keep,” Burke continued. “After the disastrous encounter a few days ago, there are conditions for us to retain our organizational independence, but I can assure you the result must meet with your approval.”
We knew at once what he meant by “independence” and the implied threat his words carried.
“If you’re talking about Mr. Hurd,” Aline said quickly, “that problem is yours alone; I have already told you what will happen if he sends his soldiers here again.”
“I understand,” Burke replied, “but perhaps we could meet briefly at a neutral site so that I can provide details to consider. Gregory’s Minister is worried you may take revenge against us for the ill-advised incident, and she needs to see and understand we have moved on from any further violence.”
“I defended myself and Evan,” Aline replied evenly.
“Yes, but none of them in London saw the event and how it transpired; they know only the confrontation resulted in the deaths of two extremely skilled commandos and that you are responsible for it; their concern is understandable, surely.”
“Go on,” she said.
“If we could settle on a place away from your home to exchange ideas and agree to a process, it will help us establish mutual understanding and trust. Is that acceptable?”
“Acceptable,” I answered, “but it has to be a public place and during the day; no lonely roads in the middle of the night.”
“Your caution is misplaced and perhaps a tiny bit dramatic, Mr. Morgan, but I agree,” he said. “May I suggest the airport in Liverpool? There’s a facility for private aircraft on the east side of the field; we’ve landed there once or twice, and they’re quite good at leaving us alone.”
I waited as Aline searched through her laptop, pointing at last to a general aviation fixed base operator at Lennon Airport. She told him we would be there at noon the following day before disconnecting abruptly, and I sat out an awkward silence until she looked at me with a stern, purposeful expression.
“If Hurd sends them again and Burke can’t stop it…”
“We’ll deal with it,” I replied, but my words were automatic, and I missed her intent. I thought she was only voicing concern but it was something else and the stark, emotionless expression was back.
“I won’t go with them, Evan; if this is some stupid trap, more of them are going to die.”
Bravado and big talk in the face of fear and danger is one thing, but her simple statement gave me a chill, knowing she would inflict horrors if the meeting proved a setup.
“Let’s take it one step at a time, okay?” I offered, and she nodded quietly.
OUR ride up to Liverpool passed in relative silence, and I wondered about her thoughts with a bit of jealousy because Aline could always hear mine. The rain was light and easily pushed on a steady breeze when she found Hale Road and a turn-in where the FBO waited on our right. It was an old and familiar sight: light piston twins and shining turboprops across the wet ramp with a fuel truck’s amber lights blinking out its position beside a snow-white Hawker XP business jet. Most of my excursions to examine a crash site had begun and ended in places very much the same, and suddenly I thought of Tony and my old gang at the NTSB. What would they make of my condition, I wondered silently, and the insane circumstances that had brought us to a stop along a narrow parking strip across the street?
Burke had cautioned us to use his alter ego “Marsden” when approaching the receptionist inside, and when we did, she pointed us toward a Beechcraft King Air where it waited alone. We went slowly until Burke appeared, and with him was another man in a suit too small for his muscular frame. I looked closer and saw Stuart Halliwell positioned beside the airplane’s nose. Burke held up a hand immediately and we stopped, unsure of his intent. He moved forward, calling for me to join him, and it was obvious they worried Aline might do something horrible with two RAF pilots in full view.
“Let me try it first,” I whispered. “They know what happened in your field.”
Aline stood beside my car and kept her hands inside coat pockets, but I think she did so only because they were cold and not for any deliberate symbol of patience.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Morgan,” Burke began with that half-smirk I’ve since come to realize is simply the man’s normal expression and not one of overt familiarity.
“Alan,” I replied with a bland, indifferent tone.
“I hope she won’t be offended, but we hoped you might agree to discuss preliminaries with us alone; the Air Force gentlemen aren’t a part of this, and the colonel would rather they stay that way.”
“I don’t blame him.”
He looked away for a moment, squinting against the drizzle.
“I apologize for the surroundings and this dreadful weather,” he began, “but we can address matters here without others listening in.”
“I would think you’re one of the few people who never has to worry about something like that.”
“Oh, the eyes and ears belong to many,” he replied, “and not all of them are sympathetic to our work.”
“Let’s get on with it,” I said impatiently, but Burke smiled suddenly and looked down at the concrete tarmac as he spoke.
“Can she hear us from this distance?”
“Farther,” I answered, and Burke just nodded. Some would see a sign of resignation, but I think he simply admired what she was and felt comfortable enough in his position to look beyond the adversarial divide objectively.
“I believe we can offer a solution that will satisfy both our positions with a minimum of fuss and bother.”
“I’m listening.”
“As I said, we are only concerned with knowledge and understanding, but to meet our goals it is essential that we have time with her in a private and controlled setting.”
“How much time?”
“Three or four days, I should think. This sort of thing can’t be accomplished overnight, and I’m sure you can see the intricacies of her unique nature demand thorough examination.”
I heard the voice of a faceless government system with process requirements that can’t be avoided.
“What kind of examination are we talking about, exactly?” I demanded.
“Interaction will be confined to discussions and conversations only, followed by one or two physiological tests conducted in a strictly controlled environment.”
“By ‘controlled,’ you mean locking us inside.”
“It is more precise to say we are locking others outside.”
“You mentio
ned tests before.”
“It would be helpful if she could provide a small sample of blood and certain tissues, but retrieving both would take only a moment or two to obtain. Beyond that, an ordinary physical examination and perhaps a demonstration of her abilities for video analysis after you’ve gone.”
“I don’t know if the blood and tissue thing is going to fly, Alan, but presuming she agrees, what then?”
“It was easy to explain away the gunfire and helicopters your neighbors heard as a military exercise—a training mission—but there are one or two concerns that may cause difficulty in the short-term.”
I looked at him and wished Aline could tell me what he meant, but I was on my own for the moment.
“Which concerns, specifically?”
“Ministerial sensitivities will subside over time, but not if Aline remains in full view. Our proposal necessarily included assurances, and part of that agreement calls for a diminution of exposure; we simply need her to move out of sight until interest in London dies down.”
When I’d translated the officious language and understanding dawned, I smiled at Burke’s dilemma, knowing at last what it meant.
“You need her to go away because you can’t explain any of this; what she did to those soldiers is an embarrassment Whitehall can’t afford, and the only way to contain it is to deny and point to an empty house.”
His smirk was suddenly gone. It was clear I’d hit a nerve, but Burke recovered quickly, just as he always does.
“Your characterization is unfortunately accurate, but…”
“Let’s cut away the bullshit,” I added quickly. “Somebody has to tell their families how and why those men died in a ‘training exercise,’ but you can’t do that, can you?”
“That is not your concern,” he replied evenly.
“Maybe not, but pressure from London is yours. What did they say, Alan? I’m guessing this goes deeper; the suits who keep your paychecks coming in heard about Renard from the Belgians, and now they want answers.”
The Seventh Life of Aline Lloyd Page 33
