But in nine months on the surface of the institute in this time, he had not met or seen any of the others. So this was going to get interesting very quickly.
And he was going to have to be very careful.
After just a minute of standing near the front door, a white Cadillac SUV pulled up and a passenger side window rolled down and the woman behind the wheel motioned for them to jump in.
Zane was fairly convinced this was not an institute car, since in the large parking garage behind the institute building, he had never seen a Cadillac.
“Shotgun,” Belle said as they headed across the sidewalk toward the car.
“Damn, you’re fast,” he said, laughing, and she climbed into the front seat and he climbed into the back, searching for the seat belt.
Belle extended her hand to the driver. “I’m Belle Russell.”
“Just call me Dawn for now,” the driver said, shaking Belle’s hand and staring into Belle’s eyes. “You would not believe how happy I am to meet you, Belle.”
Belle said nothing, but Zane could tell she was rattled a little.
“I’m Zane,” Zane said as he clicked in his seatbelt, managing to control his excitement and keep it out of his voice. “But I suppose you know that from what Director Parks told me.”
The driver was a woman about his and Belle’s age and had long brown hair pulled back and tied. She seemed trim and was wearing tennis shoes, jeans, and a t-shirt with some writing on the front that Zane couldn’t read.
If this really was a founding member as the director had said, then their driver was Dawn Rogers Madison.
She was Belle’s lost great, great grandmother, the very person Belle had come to research.
Zane was almost shaking from excitement.
Dawn Roger’s first trip back in time was legendary in the institute and used as a story to illustrate how dying in a past timeline did not actually kill you.
Dawn got the big SUV back out into traffic and headed through town, turning west at one point.
“Nice meeting you finally, Zane,” Dawn said. “So what did Jesse say about me, anyway,” the woman asked, smiling over her shoulder at Zane.
“Just that you were one of the founding members of the institute,” Zane said. “Nothing more.”
Zane didn’t dare say anything more or show any reaction if this really was Dawn Rogers.
“Well, with that he’s right,” she said, laughing.
Belle glanced around at Zane with a puzzled look on her face.
He was so excited about meeting Dawn, he hoped his expression didn’t seem wrong in the conversation. He was doing his best to contain his excitement.
“I was under the impression the institute was founded in 1880,” Belle said.
“It was,” Dawn said, smiling as she turned up Americana Boulevard and headed west out of the downtown area.
“Jesse and I will explain to both of you the structure of the institute after we’re back on Warm Springs,” Dawn said.
“That would be very helpful,” Belle said. “So far, after only being here one morning, this seems far too good to be true, and you know what they say about things like that.”
“I sure do,” Dawn said. “And trust me, if I was in your spot, I would be questioning all the damn time. But I assure you, we have a lot of secrets, but not of the type that make this dangerous or sinister or anything else. And we’re hoping to show you very quickly all those secrets.”
“That would be nice,” Zane said, laughing, pretending to go along. Somehow, he was controlling his excitement and just not blurting out something that would freak out Dawn and blow his cover.
But this was hard, really hard.
Dawn glanced back, smiling.
Then she turned to Belle. “I didn’t say you were going to believe the secrets, however.”
Belle glanced at Zane and then turned back to face forward and watch where they were headed.
Zane sat in the back seat as they climbed up and hill to what is called the First Bench, and Dawn made a left where the road split at the top of the hill.
Directly in front of them was a massive old cemetery shaded by huge old oak and pine and maple trees.
Again Belle glanced back at Zane with a puzzled look. Belle had not told Dawn where they were headed and Zane knew this wasn’t the only old cemetery in the area.
Zane shook his head at Belle to tell her that he had not said anything. He honestly didn’t know where they were heading either since Belle had not told him the name of the cemetery where her great, great grandfather was buried.
But, of course, Dawn would know where she buried her husband. Zane just hoped the slip of not asking which cemetery was purposeful.
Dawn turned into the first entrance to the cemetery, driving slowly between open wrought iron gates. A low rock wall ran along the road, dividing the cemetery from the busy street.
This cemetery, in its time, clearly must have been something, sitting up high overlooking the city below. Now the city had grown out and around it, so that the cemetery seemed to be almost in the downtown area.
Dawn drove carefully along what seemed like nothing more than a paved path through massive numbers of old tombstones and small monuments. They were clearly in the old section of the cemetery, and there were some large family name plots around.
Up ahead, Zane could see another big white Cadillac SUV parked off the small path of a road on the freshly mowed grass. As they approached, four others got out.
The only one Zane recognized was Director Parks.
“Seems we have company for our little excursion,” Dawn said, laughing. “More founding members of the institute, if you will.”
“You folks sure hold your age well,” Zane said, trying to make a joke through being so stunned at what he was seeing.
Dawn laughed. “We do, don’t we.”
Dawn stopped behind the other SUV and shut off the car.
Zane had no idea at all what was happening. But he had no doubt that Belle was never going to believe what these five people were going to tell her.
Honestly, he didn’t believe he was going to get a chance to meet these people, since one man, standing there in the cowboy hat, long duster coat, and cowboy boots was the famous Duster Kendal himself.
CHAPTER NINE
June 9th, 2020
Boise, Idaho
BELLE CRAWLED OUT and moved with Zane around the car to where the others were. She hadn’t told anyone about where her great, great grandfather had been buried, but more than likely the fact that he was buried here had something to do with her special treatment.
She forced herself to take a deep breath of the slowly warming afternoon air that smelled of fresh-mowed grass. The huge old oak and pine trees in this section of the cemetery didn’t let much of the sunlight through, so it felt cooler than she knew it actually was.
Everyone seemed to be about her age or just slightly older in looks, but there was something about the group that bothered Belle. She could not put her finger on it, but she felt she recognized a number of them.
One man wore a long dark duster even though the day was getting warmer by the minute, a dress shirt under the duster, jeans, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat. He was the tallest.
He looked like he was right out of 1880.
The man beside him wore jeans, a light dress shirt, and tennis shoes. He was almost as tall as the other man and had short, dark hair. Belle thought he looked very, very familiar.
A woman stood beside the man in the coat. She was as tall as Zane and wore a silk blouse, dress jeans, and had her long hair pulled back as well. She smiled and seemed to radiate confidence with the smile.
“Belle, Zane,” Director Parks said, “I would like you to meet Duster Kendal, Bonnie Kendal, and Madison.”
Both Belle and Zane shook their hands as all three basically welcomed them.
Zane seemed almost shaking with nervousness, which surprised Belle. He didn’t seem to be the type to have that so
rt of reaction. The guy could handle dangerous and emergency situations underground. Why was this making him nervous?
Duster was the man in the duster coat. Bonnie, the tall woman, was clearly his wife.
“We are very glad you decided to take us up on listening to an offer,” Dawn said, turning to Belle. “We are glad you are here for a number of reasons, the most important being your genetics and genealogy research, of course.”
Belle watched as all four of the others, including Director Parks, nodded in agreement.
“So Zane told Parks you came to see your great, great grandfather’s grave,” Dawn said. “So we figured we would take this time to start explaining some things that are difficult to believe about the institute to you.”
Belle nodded, but said nothing. At this point, she figured it was just better to stay as calm and silent as possible to find out what was really happening.
“Let me show the grave to you,” Dawn said, turning and leading the way off the road through the old tombstones across the freshly mowed grass. “It’s been a while since I have been here, but I think I can find it.”
Belle glanced at Zane who shook his head and just walked beside her. It felt good to have him there, even though he seemed in the dark as much as she was.
And he seemed to have recovered from his reaction meeting everyone. She would have to ask him about that later.
After about forty steps, with Belle and Zane following along followed by the other four, Dawn stopped and pointed to an old tombstone.
Belle watched her face as she suddenly seemed pained for a moment, then stepped back so that Belle and Zane and the others could see.
The stone was a double stone for a man and a woman, but the woman’s side only had a name on it and nothing else.
On the man’s side, it did not have a birth date on it. It simply read:
Madison Rogers
Died July 2nd, 1930
A great father. A great man.
The wife’s name was Dawn Edwards Rogers. Nothing was filled out there.
Belle stared at it for a moment. She could feel the anger rising in her body, threatening to overwhelm her.
She turned to Dawn. “Is this some sort of game you are playing?”
Dawn shook her head. “No, this is just one of the secrets you promised to never reveal.”
“And what secret exactly might that be?” Belle said, her voice low and cold and biting.
Damn she was mad. She just realized she had wasted a lot of money getting up here for this scam, whatever it was. And she was fairly certain she would never see that money repaid.
“My name is Dawn Edwards Rogers,” Dawn said.
“I am supposed to be buried in that grave,” Madison said, stepping forward. “But if you dug up that old casket, you would find it empty.”
“So what kind of stupid vampire live-forever joke is going on here?” Belle asked.
The only two who didn’t laugh at that were Belle and Zane. She didn’t find it funny at all, but the other five sure did.
The laughing slowly died off among the tombstones and large ancient trees.
Belle was about to just walk off, get away from these nut cases who were claiming to be her great, great, grandparents, when Dawn pointed to Belle’s tablet case.
“You connected with that?”
Belle nodded.
“Do a Google search on Dawn Edwards,” Dawn said.
“That makes sense,” Zane said.
Belle glanced at him as she pulled out her tablet, humoring the nut cases standing around her.
Zane stared at Dawn Edwards for a moment, then glanced at Madison Rogers for a moment before shaking his head. Belle had no idea what he had just realized.
Everyone stood, waiting, as Belle fired up her tablet and quickly typed in Dawn Edwards’ name.
What came up first were the credentials for Dr. Dawn Edwards. And the instant she saw the name in that context, she remembered the books.
She was standing with Dawn Edwards, the bestselling historical author of a dozen books about the life and people in the Old West.
She glanced at Dawn, who just shrugged.
“Do a search on Madison Rogers,” Director Parks said.
Belle quickly did, her hands shaking, because she knew exactly what she would find. He also was a bestselling author of over a dozen historical books, mostly about the mining wars and union fights in the Old West before 1900.
Belle had read all of their books and admired the intense reality of the details they brought to their work. But never once had it occurred to her to put their names with her great, great, grandparent’s names.
Why would she?
After a moment of silence as they all stood among the tombstones, she looked up at Dawn again.
To one side, Zane’s face was slightly pale as he must have realized without a search who was standing with them.
Dawn nodded and smiled, then stuck out her hand for the tablet. “May I show you a picture?”
Belle nodded and gave Dawn the tablet. Her anger was still there, but damned if it wasn’t draining away slowly. She had found herself standing with two of the top researchers and bestsellers in her field in a cemetery. Anger didn’t seem appropriate. She must have misunderstood what they were trying to say to her about the tombstone.
Dawn nodded and then motioned for Zane to look at the photo as well as she handed the tablet back to Belle.
Belle felt Zane move in beside her and look over her shoulder as she looked at a picture of four people taken on a rough board sidewalk of an old mining town.
“I wrote a number of my books about the lost mining town of Roosevelt, Idaho,” Dawn said.
Belle nodded, noting the date hand-written on the old photo. “That’s some great Photoshop work,” Belle said.
“It’s a real, documented picture, Dawn said. “taken on the date shown on the picture by Anderson James, the great western photographer. It has never been doctored.”
“You showing them the picture that got me into this craziness,” Parks asked.
Dawn laughed. “I figured it would be as good a one as any.”
“Now I know how they are feeling,” Director Parks said. “The woman in that picture is Dr. Kelli Rae. First time she recognized me in a picture like that, I was damn angry, let me tell you.”
Belle was stunned as she looked at the picture of Duster Kendal, Madison Rogers, Parks, and yet another bestselling historical researcher, Dr. Kelli Rae in an impossible picture.
“I’m not sure what I’m feeling,” Belle said. “Disappointment, mostly, because I was hoping to work here for the summer on my research.”
“I must admit,” Zane said, “you five sound like a bunch of nut cases.”
Belle was stunned that all five just laughed.
“We don’t blame you at all for feeling that way,” Dawn said after a moment. “In fact, we always expect it of a new researcher. But can we ask you one favor? Just come back to the institute with us and let us show you exactly what is happening. And how that picture can exist in history.”
Belle looked at Zane, who now seemed to be under control.
After a moment, he took a deep breath and glanced at her and nodded.
“If Zane goes along, I’ll go,” she said.
“Thank you,” Dawn said.
At that, all five of the others turned back toward the cars.
“I’m sorry,” Zane whispered to Belle.
“Let’s hear them out and then figure out what to do,” Belle said.
“I agree,” Zane said, nodding.
She glanced down at the gravestone, then up at the people walking back toward the cars. Two of the most popular and best historical writers of all time were in the group. Of that, there was no doubt.
But why would those two writers want her to believe she was their great, great, granddaughter? What point would doing that win?
Belle pointed to the old gravestone, clearly weathered, then looked at Zane. “
Want to explain to me why they pulled that scam?”
“Not a clue,” he said, shaking his head. “Not one damn clue. You want to turn and head the other direction?”
“A large part of me says we should,” Belle said, glancing at Zane. “But let’s hear them out. If we don’t, we will always ask ourselves what this was all about.”
“Good point,” Zane said, nodding. “We stick together.”
“I like the sound of that,” Belle said, trying to smile at him.
But honestly, at the moment, she didn’t feel much like smiling.
CHAPTER TEN
June 9th, 2020
Boise, Idaho
ZANE WAS GLAD that the first Cadillac had already left by the time he and Belle wound back through the old tombstones to the SUV. It was everything he could do to try to keep his cover, but all along it was clear the founding members were not talking to him. Their focus was on Belle completely. So more than likely, his cover was blown with them.
So the best thing he could do was just go along and help Belle through the shock of what was about to come.
He just hoped he had reacted as she had expected. If he blew his cover too fast with her, they would all lose her, and he didn’t want to do that. He wanted to get to know her a lot, lot more.
“Sorry to shock you like this,” Dawn said as she opened the doors and then moved around to the driver’s side. “We have learned over the years this is the best way.”
“We thought about heading in the other direction,” Belle said as they all three climbed into the big SUV and Dawn got the car started and the air-conditioning going. The afternoon was slowly growing warm and promised to be even warmer before the cool night air took over again.
“I would not have blamed you in the slightest,” Dawn said. “But after we show you some things and you hear us out, I think you’ll be glad you stayed. But at any point you have the option of leaving. You just have to abide by the nondisclosure agreement is all we ask.”
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