Shadows in the House With Twelve Rooms

by J. Price Higgins

  He nodded, his face tight and unreadable.

  "Good. I knew you'd understand." Bianca opened the door and ushered him through. "Did you bring the vaccine?" she said to the large man waiting in the corridor.

  "Yes, Doctor." He shoved forward a small case.

  Bianca flipped the lid open, examined the three vials nestled there. Clear wrapped syringes were tucked alongside. She closed the case. "Gentlemen, the Pelican awaits."

  The cabin cruiser undulated on gentle waves. Her motors purred with a soft hum as the six of them boarded. Bianca was the last to enter the cabin. The warning horn blasted, the hum rose in pitch, and the hull began to bounce against the waves as the boat picked up speed.

  "I tend to get seasick in the cabin," Dane said. "I'm going up on deck."

  She said not a word and made no move to stop him as she chatted with the large man who sat beside her on the couch. Dane clambered up the steps and onto the deck. In the distance, the masts and hulls of the blockade stretched around the island. He strode toward the bridge.

  "Ahhh, Mr. Wyland. Up for some fresh air, are you?"

  Dane stared at the thin face with hollow cheeks. "Captain Clark! I didn't expect to see you on the Pelican."

  "People come, people go, Mr. Wyland," Clark said. "Captain Harmon went." Clark's pale brown eyes slid past Dane's shoulder. "Morning, Doctor Raborman."

  From behind him, Bianca said, "Captain Harmon and his three sons were in a terrible accident last night. They died en route to Saint Joseph's. The news media has been kind enough to keep the tragedy quiet until we can locate his sister. With the staff meeting and all, I guess I forgot to tell you." She brushed past him and patted the captain's arm. "It's time to raise the flag," she said. Clark nodded.

  The Aristocrat colors unfolded. The blockade would never stop them from going through; this was Captain Harmon's boat and Captain Harmon's flag.

  Bianca hummed to herself until the limousine glided to a stop in front of a rambling white beach house. She glanced at her watch.

  "Seven thirty right on the dot," she said. "At Ellery's age, we may be lucky and catch her in bed. Let's go."

  Her door swung wide and she stepped into the morning light. Without a sound, the others followed suit, quietly closing the car doors behind them.

  "Dane." Bianca's voice quivered with expectancy, her pointing arm trembled.

  He balked, his head jerked back and forth. "You're making a mistake, Bianca."

  "We'll see if I'm mistaken or not. If I'm not, the last person in the world Ellery Jensen will expect to see standing beside me is you, a trusted friend. How bitter the taste in her mouth." She chuckled, soft and low. "My intentions aren't to kill them. Only vaccinate. However, if you try to call out, try to warn them, their departure from this life will be slow and no doubt painful."

  "I'm having no part of this."

  "Did you forget Sefura?" she whispered.

  His face paled. He glanced at unlit windows, then walked up the steps and pressed the doorbell.

  Chapter 66

  Ellery

  Ellery led the way through her study into the stark sterility of her small lab.

  Dani stopped midway into the room, her mouth agape. "This looks like a hospital, Grandma."

  "Almost, child," she said, walking to the refrigerator. Bending over, she retrieved a small vial from inside and handed it to her daughter. "Sooner or later they'll come, Vickie. You know that and I do, too." She pulled an injection tube from a drawer, peeled back the sterile wrapper, and reached out her hand for the vial.

  "What's that, Grandma?"

  Ellery paused, her gaze followed Dani's pointing finger. "Grandma's microscope," she said. "Do you want to look through it?"

  The little girl's eyes glowed.

  "Well, go hop in the chair." She drew half of the vial's fluid up into the barrel of the syringe. From the corner of her eye, she saw Dani's brilliant blue gaze fixed on the needle. Ellery set the small container back into the refrigerator and turned toward the child. She had always practiced honesty with Matthew, John, and Vickie. She would practice that same honesty with her granddaughter.

  "Dani, I have to give you and your mother a special shot. It will hurt, but it's important."

  "I'm not sick, Grandma." Blue eyes never wavered from the needle.

  "I know. This is to keep your Chi safe."

  "Oh." A sidelong glance to her mother.

  Vickie nodded.

  "Well—okay. May I look in your microscope while you give me my shot? I think it will make me feel better."

  "Absolutely."

  The child bent her head, her eyes pressed tight to the view cups. Ellery adjusted the image. Dani gasped with surprise and Ellery smiled. She brushed Dani's hair to the side, kissed the small neck, then placed the point of the needle in the hollow at the base of the skull. At the sudden ring of the doorbell, her hand jerked back.

  Vickie's face paled. "Are you expecting anyone?"

  "No one."

  The bell rang again, loud and insistent.

  "It could be Bianca. Quickly, prepare the other—oh my God! The study door. I didn't close it."

  From below, the sound of cracking wood resounded.

  "I'll get it," Vickie was gone before Ellery could open her mouth.

  Footsteps pounded.

  "Maamaa." The scream, filled with fear, echoed into the room.

  Terrified, Ellery slapped the syringe onto the counter top next to the pale base of the microscope. "Don't move, Dani, and don't touch." She whirled and raced from the lab into the study. Through the open door, she could see Vickie being dragged down the stairs.

  Heart thumping wildly, Ellery leaped across the study and into the hall.

  Again, her daughter cried out.

  Ellery stumbled as a tinny sound rang in her ears. Leaning against the balustrade, she looked below. Bianca's gleeful leer stared back at her. Two men held captive her struggling daughter. Dane Wyland stood to the side, his face white with anger, his arm firmly grasped by the man beside him. A fourth man started up the stairs.

  For Ellery, time froze. The man on the stairs looked up, his foot arrested in mid step, his fingers slowly curling around the smooth stair railing like time-lapse photography. The muted, fuzzy scene cleared and the man took steps two at a time. Hide Dani, she thought. Hide Dani.

  Spinning around, she grabbed a bronze bust sitting on a marble pedestal and threw it with all her might. The only thing she heard as she flashed back through the study door was an explosive grunt. She stopped long enough to turn the bolt, then raced into the laboratory and locked that door behind her also.

  "Don't move until I call you, Dani, then run as fast as you can into a little room I'm going to show you—and don't make a sound."

  Ellery pressed her thumb against the small nail head in the wall.

  "Print, please," said a mechanical voice. Behind her, she heard the study door crash open. Fists began beating against the laboratory door.

  "Dakota. Ellery." She counted to five.

  "Print, please."

  "Ellery Jensen. Doctor. Open, damn you," she yelled. Behind her, the sound of wood splintering. She had reached the count of four when the laboratory door gave way. She spun around, her eyes blazing with fury.

  "It has been a long time, Doctor Jensen," Bianca said.

  Ellery heard the paneled wall sigh open behind her.

  "If I'm not mistaken, this is your daughter Victoria." One of the men shoved Vickie forward. "That one over there must be your Dakotan granddaughter." Dakotan sounded like sewage in her mouth. Bianca turned slightly and pointed to the handsome young man behind her. "I think you know who this is." Dane was pushed to the front, his left arm still tightly grasped by his captor.

  "It's Dane Wyland, Mrs. Jensen. I used to live next door," Dane thrust his hand forward. "It's nice to see you again, after all these years."

  "Well, so it is. I almost didn't recognize you, son." Ellery felt Bianca's gaze on her face.


  "Enough of this charade. If you think for one minute I believe you two haven't seen each other in years, just think again."

  Ah-hah, Ellery thought as she heard the faint tremor in Bianca's voice. You aren't certain, are you Bianca? For whatever reason, you needed confirmation, I think. Perhaps we can make that work for us. "What brings you crashing into my home, Bianca?"

  "When you speak to me, the name is Doctor Raborman, Ellery Jensen." A scowl drew deep furrows into her forehead. Her fingers snapped twice; a small case was slipped into her hands. With a flourish, she flipped open the lid and displayed the contents.

  "Ahhh. Your famous vaccine against the deadly Dakotan disease I presume—Bianca." Ellery moved forward.

  "No closer," Bianca warned. She glanced at the burly man beside her. "Keep your eyes on her while I fill the tube."

  Ellery stopped, her gaze watchful. If I can get to Dani, she thought, maybe I can inject the antidote while they're off guard. She took a step sideways. Aware that Dane was watching her every move, she lowered her gaze to the microscope and back to his. He glanced down. His eyes met hers and his head tipped almost imperceptibly.

  Bianca shoved an injection tube filled with fluid into Dane's hand. She took a second set and handed the open case to the man beside her. "Mr. Wyland doesn't know it yet, but he's going to help with the inoculations. If he objects," she shrugged her shoulders, "Well, let's just say I have an insurance policy waiting at the Foundation that assures his compliance and let it go at that." Bianca jerked her head toward Dani's wide-eyed gaze. "That one's yours, Dane."

  He stared at the needle, his face filled with horror.

  "Noooo," Vickie screamed. She bit hard at the arm of the man holding her captive, almost tore loose from his grasp as he howled with pain.

  "You bitch!"

  Ellery winced as he backhanded Vickie's face. A red haze curled around the corners of her mind. She fought to keep the fury at bay. Control. She had to keep control, give Dane the chance he needed. From the side of her eye, she saw the young man try to twist his arm free of his captor's vice-like grip.

  "On second thought, I'm going to let you take care of this one. I'll do the brat," Bianca said. Her eyes narrowed to black slits.

  "Whatever you say, Doctor Raborman. It doesn't make any difference to me. You've waited enough years for this moment, you have the right to choose whichever one you want."

  Although his voice remained soft, and without rancor, Ellery knew he had taken a dangerous step. If Bianca forced him to inoculate Vickie, all was lost. She closed her eyes at the thought. Her hand fluttered against her breast.

  "Open your eyes, Ellery Jensen," Bianca's anger commanded. "I have waited for this moment, and you're going to watch it." She glanced to the man holding Vickie. "Bring her over here."

  Vickie kicked her feet outward and dropped like a lead weight. As she slipped downward, his arm jerked tight and her head snapped back. She moaned; her eyes rolled closed.

  At the sound of the snap, faces turned momentarily to Vickie's struggle. Ellery saw Dane step toward Dani only to be jerked to a standstill by the man at his side. Her hopes shattered like crystal dropped to concrete. Nothing mattered now. Not pride. Not fear. Not anything. Bianca's grinning face swam into view.

  Teeth bared, Ellery leaped forward, barely conscious of the blow slamming against her jaw or the blood trickling from her mouth. Her hands closed around Bianca's throat and squeezed. A fist caught her ear, throwing her off balance. As fast as a striking cobra, another rammed into her chest. She doubled over. Gasping for air, she felt her arms pinned high against her back. Shaking her head to clear the haze, she realized her daughter had not moved.

  "Victoria Danielle!"

  The girl's eyes jerked open, tried to focus on her mother.

  "You are Dakotan, Vickie," Ellery said quietly.

  Victoria blinked. She took a deep, gasping breath and tried to nod her head. The man released his arm from around her neck and yanked her to her feet. Slowly the color returned to her face. Submissive, she turned her back to Bianca and raised her hair with both hands, thus baring the nape of her neck.

  "Do what you will," she whispered.

  Bianca plunged the needle deep then yanked it free. Vickie dropped her hair and turned to look at her mother. Tears welled deep inside her clear eyes. Ellery tipped her head, then swiveled her face toward Dani, sitting so still and quiet in a chair much too large for her tiny frame.

  "Turn him loose," Bianca said to Dane's jailer, shaking her head with irritation. "I don't want to be here all day. Get on with it, Wyland," she added when the big man stepped backwards.

  Hands trembling, Dane clutched the syringe tight to his chest. His eyes begged Ellery's forgiveness as he moved with leaden steps.

  Ellery stood frozen. Stop it, her mind screamed. Think of something. You know how her mind works. You know her twisted views. It came in a flash.

  She doesn't want them dead.

  Of course! She doesn't want them dead. Or they would be.

  "Wait!" She could hear the panic in her voice. "For God's sake, Bia—Doctor Raborman. Wait. He's not a physician. If he inserts incorrectly, he could kill her."

  Bianca's face beaded with moisture and her eyes glittered. "Kill her?" She paused as if the words forming tasted sweet on her tongue. Powerful. She began to tip back and forth, back and forth. "That will never do. Never do at all. I don't want her dead."

  Ellery turned to Dane. Voice still trembling, she said, "Give it to me. I'll do it myself."

  Bianca's eyes widened, her lips drew back. "Why didn't I think of that? How apropos it is, how fitting. His Holiness will be most pleased when I tell him."

  "That will take some doing, won’t it? Considering he’s buried under a ton of sand somewhere in the Sahara." Dane’s voice skimmed along the edge of ridicule, but Bianca didn’t seem to hear.

  Her laughter pealed across the room as she jerked her gaze to Dane. "You know nothing about life and death, Dane Wyland. Nothing at all." Laughter chopped to silence. She gestured toward the syringe clutched in his hand. "Give it to Doctor Jensen. A Dakotan created the gene, a Dakotan will destroy it."

  Dane thrust his arm forward.

  Ellery yanked the syringe from his hand and moved to Dani's side. Eyes filled with fear, the child shrank back. "Will it hurt, Grandma?"

  "Yes. Do you want to look in my microscope while I do it?"

  Dani nodded and bent forward. Ellery reached to the far side of the scope. Laying down the syringe, she adjusted the image knobs. "Can you see what's there?"

  "Uh-huh. Little wiggly things."

  "What the hell are you doing, Jensen?" Bianca took a step forward.

  Jaw tight, Ellery whirled to face her. "She's a child and she's frightened. I need the hollow properly exposed. I'll inject your vaccine, Bianca, but I'll be damned if I'll cripple her while I'm doing it. Or worse—kill her." Before Bianca could react, she whipped back around and reached for the vaccine. Her fingers slid across Bianca's syringe and found the one nestled against the bed of the microscope.

  Under Bianca's watchful gaze, she placed the tip of the needle into the hollow at the base of the child's skull. Slowly, she injected the fluid with its precious molecular instructions—the patch that would send the BH gene into hiding. She prayed silently: it is the day of Truth, let the patch work. Carefully, she removed the needle from Dani's neck. She slammed the syringe to the floor and crushed it with her heel. "Damn you, damn you, damn you," she cried, gazing up at her tormentor's face. "I hope you're satisfied. I truly hope you're satisfied."

  "Oh, I am. Every day, for the rest of your life, Ellery Jensen, you will know they are nothing. I have left you nothing to fight with—or for. Every day it is my face you will see and my name you will hear when you look at them. I am finished with you and with them. The streets can have what's left." Her fingers snapped twice. The case was thrust in front of her and she prepared the final syringe.

  "Come on, Bianca. Enough is
enough," Dane protested. "Ellery Jensen is hardly a candidate for producing more Dakotans." He reached out as if to grab her arm.

  "It's all right. She has to do this. How else will she prove to herself she is indeed the winner," Ellery taunted. "You'll never be sure you've destroyed all of us, Bianca. You'll carry that fear to your grave."

  "What's left of your breed is a minuscule problem now. Any who do pop up will be easy to identify and easy to destroy. This inoculation will be required from now on. In time, the BH gene will be relegated to the ranks of diphtheria, TB, or smallpox—a disease to be protected from even when no one remembers why or what. I have won, Ellery. I have destroyed what the great Victor Dakota created. I have destroyed you. I have won." She whirled toward Dane, filled needle in hand. "This one was never meant for Ellery Jensen, Dane. It was always meant for you."

  In startled surprise he stood transfixed and she plunged the tube dry. His face paled, his eyes glazed, and he dropped like a stone.

  "No, no, no," Vickie wailed. Sobbing, she flung herself across his body.

  Bianca watched the young woman's grief with cold eyes, then, mouth twisting, she turned to the two thugs behind her. "Get him out of here."

  A great pain began somewhere deep in Ellery's being,

  She gritted her teeth and grabbed for Dani's chair as Dane's body was lugged from the room.

  "Best friends come and best friends go, Ellery," Bianca gloated. Her glance flicked first to Victoria then to Dani. "Your lucky day, I guess. It could have been them. Too bad you didn’t go into the vaults when you had the chance. All this could have been avoided or at least delayed until His Holiness—" Shaking her head, she clamped her mouth shut. A giggle of delight escaped, was quickly suppressed.

  raced along nerve pathways,

  Ellery lifted her gaze to Bianca's triumphant stare. Behind the madness dancing there, she glimpsed truth hiding. Her jaw dropped. A pulse in her temple began to throb.

  A sandstorm hadn’t taken Munoz, he had done what she didn’t think he would ever do. He’d gone into the vaults. Matthew was right after all. In a rock room at the bottom of a shaft, Munoz had found his assurance and embraced it without fear. While I focused on Bianca, he focused on all eternity.