by Thomas Locke
Reese leaned back, satisfied. “We start in eight hours, once my team is rested up. Trace, your men go first. Prince, your team follows ninety minutes later.”
As Trace and the old guy got busy on their phones, Reese leaned back and closed her eyes. It was vital that the two of them bought into the plan and started moving immediately, losing themselves in the details of attack before either had time to scope out the flaw in her plan. Because there was one. A gaping maw that threatened to swallow them all.
43
Charlie began the next day the same way he had ended the last, walking the perimeter with Irma and Benny. He had given the kid the night off, knowing Benny would be a better guard dog asleep than Julio ever could be awake. Beyond that, he wanted his meager force to be as close to optimum performance as possible. He did not need an ascent to know another attack was imminent.
Irma took up station at the gatehouse. Benny retreated to his private aerie. Charlie woke up Julio, then went upstairs to find Gabriella and Dor Jen seated in the kitchen. Charlie poured himself a coffee and pulled out the seat next to Gabriella. He could feel the house stirring and sensed the quiet thread of anxiety that coursed through the day.
Gabriella announced, “Byron just emailed me. He is across the Swiss border in Lugano. A half hour from Como. He wants to meet.”
“Not a chance.”
“He says he wants to give me my share from the divorce settlement.”
“He might. Then again, he might be working for them.”
Gabriella showed no surprise. “Did he always, Charlie? Work for them, I mean.”
“That’s not the issue right now. We can debate that when the threat is behind us.”
He expected her to come back with more of the same. After all, they were discussing the same guy who continued to crease her features with regret. Instead, Gabriella said, “It was good of you to speak with Brett. He is staying. Because of you.”
“He had already made his mind up before I got there.”
“Perhaps. Perhaps he had decided.” She sipped from her mug. “Brett told me you were able to ascend.”
“Sort of.”
Dor Jen interrupted them. Her voice was scarcely louder than the rain tapping against the window. “Are we safe, Charlie?”
The question caught Elizabeth and Massimo just as they entered the kitchen. Their faces both bore the creases of sleep. It was a bad time to be struck by fear.
Gabriella did not need volume to sharpen the edge to her words. “Charlie will do his job. We need to focus on ours.”
Charlie exchanged surprised glances with the others as Gabriella demanded of her scientists, “Have you outlined your objectives for our phase two?”
Elizabeth replied, “We’re working on that.”
“Work harder.” She caught Charlie’s look and said, “Is something the matter?”
“Not a thing.”
“Will you tell me what happened when you ascended?”
“Sure thing.”
From the outset, there had been a different flavor to the ascent. Charlie had sensed it as soon as he settled the headphones into place, perhaps before. Hearing Brett’s voice begin the cadence—what until then he had only heard from Gabriella—heightened the shift. He realized then that the ascent wasn’t just his experience, but both people. Both people interacting.
Brett’s voice directed him to move out and determine the next risk. Only he couldn’t. Instead, Charlie found himself hovering. Where, he could not say. He had moved from one state to another. He knew he was fully out of his body. But he could not see where he was.
He remained in that place, wherever he was, for a time beyond time. Hovering in a state he could neither name nor see, until Brett instructed him to return.
By the time Charlie finished relating the experience, the kitchen had filled. No one, however, joined them at the table. Gabriella’s intensity created an invisible boundary that none of the others wished to penetrate. They settled on perches around the perimeter, prepared breakfasts and more coffee, all with little whispers of sound. Even Brett when he entered seemed instantly aware of the shift. The lingering vestiges of sleep were erased long before he knew what precisely was going on.
When Charlie finished, Gabriella asked, “Do you have any idea why the ascent happened as it did?”
“I’m still working on that.”
“But you have an idea.” Gabriella was dressed in a flannel robe over a pale grey nightdress with a matching ribbon holding her hair. But none of that mattered. She was in full scientist mode. The leader. “Will you tell me?”
“That morning after my first ascent, you described your protocol as a set of boundaries that are necessary for any successful experiment.”
“It is true. Without clearly defined parameters, you cannot have verifiable data.”
“But they are something more. They are goals. You tell me where to go, what to search out, what to watch for, when to return.” He started to lift his mug, then realized it was empty. Silently Dor Jen rose from her chair, took the mug, and walked over to the coffeemaker. Charlie continued, “Remember when we were in Milan, I realized the housekeeper had vanished. I should have noticed that immediately. Instead, it was hours later, after we had left the house. I was paying too much attention to what I was finding during the ascents. I had missed factors I would otherwise have noticed. So this time I ascended but didn’t go anywhere. I was blind. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Brett was the one who said, “Absolutely.”
“My goal is to keep you safe. It’s not just a purpose for these ascents. It’s my one defining issue. And this restriction when I ascend might mean that to do my job, I need to focus on the here and now. At least, that’s what I think.”
The kitchen was silent save for a quiet murmur as Massimo translated for the students who did not speak English.
Gabriella said, “What you describe is the ultimate risk of every experiment.”
Charlie nodded his thanks as Dor Jen replaced his mug. “Sorry, I don’t follow.”
Elizabeth said, “Shaping parameters that limit instead of define.”
“Precisely,” Gabriella said. “Last night as I worked with the students on their joint ascent, I found myself totally dissatisfied with the goals I had set for the phase two trials. They were all too limiting.”
Brett asked, “How did it go with the students, by the way?”
“There was no real progress,” Milo answered. “We tried it three times. The ascents were blocked. They remained trapped.”
Charlie said, “Explain what you mean by ‘limiting.’ ”
“Think of what you just said. I, too, am restricted from ascending. But defining danger is not my primary task. My purpose is to create documented evidence. But evidence of what? What would happen if I took aim at something else? What if that is why I am no longer ascending? That my aim is not correct? That I am dominated by fear? That I am terrified of the prospect of aiming at something else?” The intensity of her words caused her entire body to shiver slightly. “So what happens but a group of students go where my parameters keep me from going.”
“You don’t know that,” Elizabeth said. “There could be any number of reasons why you weren’t at the forefront on this.”
“My protocol should be freeing. Phase two should be designed around discovering limits, not setting them.”
Jorge set his mug down on the kitchen cabinet and started applauding.
From her place across the table from Charlie, Dor Jen said softly, “You are not the only one who is terrified.” Her eyes were black opals set in a slightly flattened face. “Would you lead me through the process, Charlie?”
Gabriella said quietly, “Not everybody ascends.”
“The only time I tried, I could have risen and did not. It called to me and I refused. But I think maybe if you are with me, Charlie, I will feel protected enough to fly.”
Elizabeth muttered, “Fly.”
�
��No problem, but it will need to wait awhile.” Charlie decided there was no better time to ask about what he had cooked up during the night. He said to Dor Jen, “I need your help with something first. Can you write me a prescription?”
“Of course. I am licensed to practice medicine in Italy. Are you ill?”
“No.” Charlie outlined what he had in mind, then waited.
When he was finished, the kitchen remained utterly silent until Milo breathed, “Man, that is totally wicked.”
Dor Jen nodded slowly. “I am very glad you are not my enemy, Charlie Hazard.”
Until that morning, shopping would never have made the list of Julio’s top ten activities.
As far as he was concerned, a mall was just another place to hang. Talk trash with the ladies. Skateboard down ramps hidden from the security joes. Waste a few hours in the food court.
Julio had always hated how the shop windows were filled with things he could never buy. And how the corridors were filled with happy-sappy people wearing easy smiles and clothes that hadn’t been washed about a billion times in his aunt’s old machine.
Today, though, was so totally different, Julio needed a new word to describe it.
For one thing, he had a pocket filled with money. And his job was to spend it.
Oh really. Like this was another chore he had to sweat over.
Not to mention the other person along on this gig.
Elizabeth was a mystery lady. Totally off the charts in the looks department, but able to freeze a guy up solid from fifty paces. Julio saw it happen while he was buying the funicular tickets and this old dude slipped in next to Elizabeth and offered his best line. She gave him two seconds of the ice glare, and the guy backpedaled so fast he almost fell over the family standing behind him.
Julio knew Elizabeth was expecting some lip from him. Ready to put him down, clear the air, and make sure he stayed well and truly tamed. But the day was too cool for hassles. So Julio played it easier than he ever had with a lady this sweet. As he stood at the window of the funicular, he did not say a word until they broke through the clouds and there before him sprawled a view of rain-swept perfection—slate-grey lake, forested slopes, lakeside villages in miniature, toy boats chugging about, the Alps capped by their shroud.
Julio told Elizabeth, “Heads up, we got Italy on display.”
Up to that point, she had been totally focused on the writing pad in her lap. Sketching out what looked like words and mathematical symbols both. So intent over her work he added, “Sorry to pull you away.”
“No, no, you’re right, this is an amazing view.”
“I meant, sorry to pull you from your work. Coming down to shop.”
“Hey, I’ve got cabin fever too. I didn’t get the chance to go to Milan, remember?”
He motioned to her writing pad. “How’s your work coming?”
Elizabeth’s head dropped down. “Early stages yet.”
“It’s got to be big, you carrying it into town.”
“Gabriella gave us a real challenge. Figure out what would be my ideal situation. Develop a thesis that could be woven in with everyone else’s new goals. Define our next set of parameters.”
“She is one smart lady.” Julio lowered himself into the seat next to her. “Get everybody looking beyond the threat, remind people why you’re here at all.”
“It’s a lot more difficult than I thought.”
“Does taking things to the next level include me?”
He regretted saying it almost before it was out of his mouth. But she just gave him a light elbow to the ribs and, “Get real, ese.”
“Think maybe you could put your goals into words a surf dog might understand?”
To his genuine pleasure, Elizabeth stowed her pad and pen back in her purse. “A small group of scientists have begun work on what they term coalescing field theory. They propose that human beings, at their most elemental, are a pulsating energy charge. This has created some serious heat in my field. Pharmacology is based upon the concept that human beings are essentially a series of carbon-based chemical actions and reactions. When the chemical process is interrupted, human life ends. The coalescing field theorists say this is totally incorrect. All that happens is the physical shell ceases to interact with the larger physical universe. The core human entity simply changes from one state of awareness to another. You with me?”
On any other woman, Elizabeth’s white-blonde hair, pale complexion, and faint dusting of freckles would have been enough for some serious heat. Julio was totally into just having a reason to look at her full on. “Oh yeah.”
“What came next was the real declaration of war. Coalescing field theorists suggested these pulsating energy fields—what they hypothesize are the essential human structure—are also not isolated. Instead, these theorists applied a development in quantum theory known as nonlocality.”
For the first time, Elizabeth started showing some real animation. Her hands went into a little dance all their own, her eyes lighting up enough to defy the grey day beyond the funicular’s window. “In essence, nonlocality states that at the quantum or subatomic level, the entire universe is interconnected. Any quantum entity, such as a single electron, can influence another entity, regardless of space and time. The effects are instantaneous and can theoretically occur over any distance. At the quantum level, the speed of light is meaningless. In fact, it is theoretically possible for the effect to result before the event actually takes place. Coalescing field theorists use this concept of nonlocality as the basis to insist that all human entities are interconnected.”
“Yeah, that’d sure get me reaching for the guns.”
She might have smiled. A tiny one. There and gone in a flash. “So what got you to sign on to this gig?”
“You mean, other than the weather?” Julio turned to the window. “I got to tell you, I could learn to love this place. If only we could have a little sun. I’m a Florida boy. I haven’t been this long without sunshine since . . .”
“Since when?”
Julio wished he hadn’t started down that road. “Juvie.”
“You mean, juvenile detention? You were in jail?”
“Reform school. Jail is for adults. Like prison.”
Hard as it was to talk about that stuff, it was still kind of nice to find them arriving at the Como station, walk out to the lakefront, and have Elizabeth keep talking to him like they were two normal people. “That’s right. I heard Charlie telling Gabriella a little about you. Your father is in prison, isn’t that right?”
“Raiford.”
“I’m sorry, Julio.”
“It’s cool.”
They walked on for a while, Elizabeth tracking them on a city map where Gabriella had highlighted the shopping areas. “My family is a mess too.”
“But rich, right?”
“You wouldn’t believe me.”
“Try.”
“My old man is worth half a billion dollars.”
“Get out.”
“For real.”
“Girl, where is your limo?”
“My old man disowned me.”
“For what?”
“He owns a big portion of America’s largest pharmaceutical empire. When I said war, ese, that’s exactly what I meant.”
“I believe I know that tune.” Julio nodded with his entire body. “You can hide a whole world of hurt in a few little words.”
“Tell me about it.”
That about did it for their personal history session. But the ice lady walked easy with him as they entered the pedestrian zone. And when it started to rain she even shared his umbrella. Every pair of male eyeballs scoped the two of them out.
Just digging it.
44
Alessandro and Edoardo stepped through the glass doors and entered the largest bank in northern Italy. The main lobby held a palace’s grandeur. Alessandro paused for a moment’s admiration. “Look at the floor. Polished Carrara marble. Enough to cover a football field.
You could comb your hair in the reflection. That is, if you had enough hair left to comb.”
Edoardo sniffed. “This is supposed to impress me?”
“And the ceiling. Those beams are covered in real gold leaf. That chandelier must weigh twenty tons.”
“This place just reminds me of all the crooks who got away. I want my bank to take my money and go out and make more money. Not spend it on building a bordello.”
“Your money. Ha.”
Edoardo said to the two uniformed officers who had followed them inside, “Plant yourselves by the door. Await my signal.” He turned back to Alessandro and said, “Remind me what we’re doing in this hovel.”
“We are about to frighten a very rich gentleman half to death. A man, I might add, who deserves to be frightened.”
“Oh, good.” Edoardo produced a rare smile. “This trip might be worthwhile after all.”
Alessandro had telephoned his friend the instant he had finished speaking with Charlie that morning. The prospect of what lay ahead was too exquisite not to share. “As I always say, a man should find pleasure in his work. Ah, this must be the bank’s director now.”
The man approaching them wore an expression that was appropriate for having two strangers enter his bank flanked by uniformed policemen. “What is going on here?”
Alessandro and Edoardo produced their badges. Alessandro gave the man a moment to sweat over what he and his clients might have been caught doing, then said, “Our reason for visiting your very fine establishment is not based upon you or your staff.”
Edoardo growled, “Not today, anyway.”
“Edoardo, please. This gentleman is going out of his way to be of service. Is that not so, good sir?”
The director said stiffly, “If my bank is not under suspicion, why are those policemen guarding my front door?”
Alessandro met the man’s glare with a very warm smile. “We have need of a conference room.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“For a few moments only. A matter has arisen regarding a gentleman here on the premises.”
“I thought you just said—”
