Smith's Monthly #27

by Smith, Dean Wesley

  “Any idea where the institute gets its money?”

  “Not a clue,” she said. “One of the many things I’ve been meaning to ask but just never have.”

  “They clearly have a lot of it,” Wade said. “And they don’t check anything you are doing?”

  “Nothing,” Sophie said. “I asked for help a few times finding stuff in the institute library, and they were glad to help.”

  “The library in that mansion?” Wade asked.

  She laughed as they continued to walk along the path toward his condo. “No, the library is the size of a major warehouse building and is about four floors, at least. I haven’t managed to get to it all yet. You will have an office in there if you want. I would suggest it.”

  “They give us offices?”

  “They give us everything we want,” she said.

  Now that she said that, she wondered why she hadn’t questioned that before now. Strange place, this institute.

  At that point they reached his door. It had the label 10-19 beside it.

  “Take either one of your white cards out and just hold it in front of the door handle,” she said.

  He quickly dug into his back pocket and pulled out the two white cards. He moved one toward the door and the latch clicked and the door opened slightly.

  He shook his head and pushed open the door.

  “Welcome, Dr. Wade,” a female voice said. “And Professor Silverman.”

  “Thank you, Goldie,” Sophie said, smiling at Wade’s shocked expression.

  “The condo complex is called the Gold Rush Village, so everyone just calls the computer that takes care of everything in our places Goldie.”

  “Monitored?”

  Sophie remembered being worried about that as well. “No, just security at the doors and windows and audio response inside when asked. Some tech guys from the institute showed me how it worked. You might want to have them show you as well.”

  “Well, nice meeting you, Goldie,” Wade said as Sophie closed the door and Wade dropped his bag nearby.

  “It is good to have you here, Dr. Wade,” Goldie said. “If you have any questions, feel free to just ask by using my name.”

  “Thank you,” Wade said, shaking his head.

  Sophie laughed. It had taken her a month or so to get used to Goldie as well, but now she wasn’t sure how she would survive without her at times. She had far too many traits similar to an absent-minded professor than she wanted to admit and Goldie tended to keep track of things for her, including what time of the day or night it was.

  She led him to the huge living room and told him to go explore as she sat down on one of the large chairs.

  The ceiling in here was high, with wide windows looking out over the river beyond. And the temperature in here was set perfectly.

  There were three large overstuffed chairs, a love-seat, and a couch in the living room, with a river-stone fireplace dominating one side of the room. Everything, including the soft carpet and drapes were done in various brown tones that seemed to complement the wood trim and the dark wood deck beyond the window.

  She loved how comfortable the place felt. It really did feel like a home to her.

  After a few minutes, Wade joined her, coming back down the open wood staircase and going through the living room and to the state-of-the-art kitchen on the other side of the living room.

  She didn’t say a word.

  Sophie doubted there was much she could say.

  The kitchen had a counter with bar stools. The counter was open and looked out over the living room. A polished wood dining table with four chairs was tucked to one side of the kitchen in an alcove with windows that also looked out at the river.

  The granite counters seemed to match the stone of the fireplace and the cabinets were also a light brown.

  This place was almost identical to her place, just flipped so that her kitchen was on the other side.

  Finally Wade came down the two steps into the sunken living room and dropped into a chair beside her facing the river. She just stared at his handsome face and messed-up hair and trim body as he looked out over the river.

  Damn he was handsome. She just wanted to go over there and kiss him, but she kept her spot, watching him instead.

  She let the silence just last, since more than likely he needed time to gather his thoughts.

  Finally, he looked away from the view and turned in his chair to face her directly. “You are saying this place is mine to use while I am doing my research?”

  “It is,” she said, doing her best to not get lost in his wonderful green eyes. “I’ve added some personal details to my place and some pictures of old mining towns and friends from college, but otherwise this is exactly the same as my place.”

  “Rent free?” he asked.

  “Rent free,” she said, laughing. “Thankfully. I couldn’t afford a nice place like this.”

  In fact, her condo was the nicest place she had ever lived in her life, but she didn’t say that. There would be time for the two of them to get to know each other.

  Or at least she hoped there would be time.

  SEVEN

  August 3rd, 2018

  Boise, Idaho

  AFTER HE TOOK his bag up to his room and checked with Goldie about sheets and blankets and towels and soap and other things. All provided and Goldie told him where it was all stored. He could see why Sophie liked Goldie, but he would have a tech person from the institute at some point explain the limitations of Goldie just to be sure.

  Then he and Sophie headed off to find some lunch.

  He hadn’t realized just how hungry he was until she said something. He had only had a snack at the airport while waiting for his bags and nothing since. Breakfast in his condo in LA was a very long time ago.

  In fact, his condo now seemed like years ago, even though he had slept there last night.

  They ended up two blocks from the condos in what looked to be a sports bar near a football stadium. The place had dozens of large-screen televisions, all turned to different events.

  They found a spot in a back corner booth that was quiet enough that they could talk.

  It seemed that from what Sophie understood, college football here in Boise was like a religion in the fall. She warned Wade to stay either in the institute or in his condo or on foot on Saturday nights of home games. It seemed that Boise State University was a pretty good party school when it came to football and something called Smurf Turf.

  They both had the bar’s equivalent of a French Dip sandwich and iced tea and large glasses of water. Sophie downed half her water when it arrived and laughed when she saw him watching her.

  “East Coast humidity girl doesn’t do well with western dryness.”

  That he understood. He didn’t do well in the thick, humid air of the East Coast either.

  Over lunch they talked about their backgrounds. He was surprised that she had been teaching at U-Mass and she seemed just as surprised about his teaching at UCLA.

  She planned on taking a year’s leave this coming year, and he did as well if he got the research position. Telling the school was going to be something he needed to do fairly soon. He might ask for help from Director Parks with a letter to make sure he didn’t jeopardize his position at the school.

  Neither of them had family they were close to and both of them considered themselves loners. Both had no interest in organized religion at all and both enjoyed exercise when they could. She said she really enjoyed walking and hoped to build up to running since the path along the river was such a good runners’ path.

  What had really surprised him was when Sophie mentioned snow skiing. But she had actually no idea about it other than she understood it was very popular here and many of the staff and researchers at the institute skied and were looking forward to the winter already.

  So when a guy about twenty with sandy hair and a neck that looked like he had played football returned carrying their meals, Wade asked him.

  “I
’m new in town and I hear there is good skiing nearby in the winter.”

  The guy laughed and pointed in a direction over Wade’s shoulder. “Nineteen miles beyond the city limits, a resort called Bogus Basin. Four mountains, two mountains for night skiing. Some of the best skiing in the country.”

  “Thanks,” Wade said, shaking his head.

  “You a skier?” Sophie asked as the guy left.

  “Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado,” he said, laughing. “I think I was skiing before I could walk. How about you?”

  “Born and raised in a very small town in the rolling hills along the upper Delaware River in eastern New Jersey,” she said, smiling. “Snow was something you put up with.”

  “Ever wanted to learn how to ski?” he asked.

  She looked puzzled, then said, “Honestly, until you asked, I had never given it a thought.”

  He laughed at that and the rest of the lunch was fun as they slowly got to know each other better.

  And the more he learned about her, the more time he wanted to spend with her. She just kept stunning him with her sharp mind and piercing dark eyes and bright smile.

  He had been really happy to hear she had no boyfriend and she seemed very pleased when he told her in return that he was very single. Clearly she was attracted to him as much as he was to her.

  And he had no idea if there were any rules about two researchers having a relationship or not. More than likely he would learn that this afternoon. But Sophie sure didn’t seem to be concerned about the attraction, so until he learned otherwise, he wouldn’t be concerned either.

  So after lunch they headed back to the river trail and up the river toward the institute. The rafters were still going by in a steady stream.

  The weather was warm, but not too warm.

  And Sophie was the best company he could ever imagine having on a beautiful summer walk. He had only known her for a few hours and it felt as if she had always been a part of his life.

  He just hoped she was feeling the same way. Otherwise, he was going to be in for a really hard fall.

  But she was worth the risk, of that he had no doubt.

  EIGHT

  August 3rd, 2018

  Boise, Idaho

  SOPHIE KNEW THAT the paperwork Wade had to do was pretty minor. The institute wanted nothing in return for their financial support but nondisclosure. So all the paperwork was basically making sure all of Wade’s rights and work remained completely with him.

  All the paperwork was done at the front desk in the large room and Director Parks was the only one there to do it. He had been the only one with her as well, so it seemed the director took clear personal interest in each new researcher.

  When Wade had said something about the fact that the agreements protected only him and not the institute, Director Parks had laughed and said that was the only reason for the paperwork. The institute needed and wanted nothing in return but the knowledge they were helping in the research.

  The nondisclosure to the institute was the only important document.

  Wade had had the courage to ask about where all the money came from and again Director Parks had laughed. “We have a board of obscenely rich people who believe in the institute. All this may look like a lot of money from the outside, but to our board, it is just pocket change.”

  Sophie had nodded to that. She had heard of people that rich. Never met one, but they were not uncommon back east.

  Wade had asked one more question that Sophie had not thought to ask. “So I am free to come and go as I want?”

  Parks nodded. “Once accepted you are in. If you feel like you need to teach for a semester or a year, your place here will be waiting for you when you come back. And if you need to travel for your research, the institute hopes you will ask for funds to help with the travel. Again, money is no object when it comes to helping you with your work.”

  Sophie just shook her head at that one. So far she had had no desire to go anywhere but here, but it was great to know that was an option.

  So when all the paperwork was done, Sophie and Wade wandered down the river path once again to the institute library to get Wade an office there. Then to a nearby grocery store to order supplies for Wade and have them delivered.

  The manager of the grocery store had told Wade they would be waiting on his counter and in his fridge when he got back to his condo.

  Sophie had had to explain to him how the grocery delivery was part of the service and Goldie only let authorized delivery people into the condo and tracked them.

  By the time that was all done, it had been four hours since lunch.

  “I’m betting you are getting tired,” Sophie said to Wade as they left the grocery store and stood in the shade on a large tree. The river was a few blocks away and beside them traffic moved past in an orderly fashion. It wasn’t yet five o’clock. “I sort of remember my first day here and how crazy it all seemed.”

  “I think I’m more numb than tired,” Wade said. “This is a lot to take in.”

  “An understatement,” she said. “How about an early dinner and then you can head back to your condo to get settled in.”

  He nodded to that.

  “If you don’t mind a little walk,” she said, “I know a wonderful place.”

  “A walk would feel good,” he said. “Might clear my mind.”

  “You like Italian food,” she asked, hoping he said yes, because what she had in mind was her favorite restaurant.

  “Love everything about it,” he said, smiling at her.

  Damn, she could look at that smile for a very, very long time.

  She pointed down the sidewalk and together they turned and started off.

  Twenty minutes later he sat across a wooden table from her in the moderately crowded Brooks Garden Restaurant. Most of the crowd was in the bar for happy hour, which gave them a lot of open seating in the restaurant.

  Around them plants and wooden barriers gave each table a sense of privacy even when the place was full of people. At lunch this place was full of people taking breaks from all the tall office buildings in this downtown area.

  The restaurant’s high ceilings and the wooden planter barriers and enough plants and small trees to start a greenhouse kept the noise down. Without a lot of people, it felt to Sophie as if just she and Wade were the only two people in the world.

  She had instantly loved the place the first time she wandered in here. The smell of garlic and fresh baking bread seemed to just drift between the trees and plants and always made her mouth water.

  “I really am hungry,” Wade said, “More than I had thought.”

  “It’s the smell of garlic bread that can do that to you,” Sophie said, smiling.

  “This place seems great,” Wade said, looking around. “I like all the old western pictures on the walls and the private booths.”

  “One of my favorites,” Sophie said. “Glad you like it. The food is as good as the smell, I promise.”

  “Then I’m in heaven,” he said, smiling at her.

  Once again she just let herself stare into those wonderful green eyes and his handsome face.

  And he didn’t drop his gaze either.

  Finally a waiter with a red apron and a deep voice broke their moment by dropping a basket of hot-buttered breadsticks on the table. They both ordered iced teas and also placed their food order, since they were both suddenly hungry. He went with a deep-dish pasta with thick red sauce and she went with lasagna, her favorite.

  Finally, as both of them were chewing on the soft and warm garlic bread stick, he asked, “So ever heard of a mining town by the name of Grapevine Springs?”

  She actually laughed. “North-central Idaho,” she said. “Above the River of No Return.”

  “Now a major ski resort,” he said nodding.

  “Why?” she asked. “I’ve been gathering some data on it at times.”

  He shrugged. “I was thinking that town was isolated enough that the medical records, whatever I c
ould find of them, would be a good study for part of my research.”

  She nodded, thinking back to what she knew about that old mining town. “It really would be, actually. One of the most isolated mining towns in the west with its location.”

  “Interested in sharing information we find about the place, Professor Silverman?” he asked, smiling at her.

  “I would be honored, Dr. Wade,” she said, returning his smile.

  And once again their connection was broken with the waiter appearing between the plants with their drinks.

  She liked Wade’s offer more than she wanted to admit, actually. Anything that would give her a reason to be near Wade was a good thing in her mind.

  Two hours later she said goodnight to a very tired Dr. Olsen Wade on the path where it split to her condo and his.

  “Mind showing me around for another day or so?” he asked.

  “I would love to,” she said. “Can you find your way back to the same restaurant we just left?”

  “That wonderful smell will lead me there I’m sure,” he said.

  “We’ll meet for late breakfast there at 10:30. How does that sound? They do fantastic omelets and coffee.”

  “That sounds perfect,” he said.

  She wanted to just move forward and pull his head down to her height and kiss him, but instead just said, “It’s wonderful having you at the institute.”

  “I think I’m going to enjoy it,” he said, smiling a very tired smile at her.

  “Get some sleep and see you in the morning,” she said.

  With that, she turned and started away.

  “Professor,” Wade said behind her.

  She stopped and looked back.

  “Thank you.”

  “Trust me,” she said. “It was my pleasure.”

  He chuckled at that and they both turned away, even though she didn’t want to.

  And she had a hunch he didn’t want to either.

  PART TWO

  The Mystery Deepens

  NINE

  July 2nd, 1909