I tucked the envelope back into my pocket and hefted myself out of the chair. Whatever it meant was irrelevant. Hazel Brown was my only lead, and it was with her I would start my investigation. I slid the screen door open, and followed the scent of breakfast.
Sam was intently watching a news clip glowing from the paint on the living room wall. I looked for the source of the projection, but found none. Rebecca was sitting on the couch with a book.
Whatcha readin’?”
“Davata Notrals.” She looked up with a bright smile. “There was a copy in the dresser.”
“Are they still putting those things in hotel drawers?”
“They sure are.” Her smile got even wider.
“I made you one sunny side up if that's okay,” Annie called.
“Yes, sounds great.” I stepped into the kitchen. “It smells wonderful in here,” I said, scanning the room.
“What are you looking for?”
“The phone. I want to call Stephen.”
She laughed. “You're wearing it.”
I padded myself down.
Her eyebrows rose. “On your wrist,” she said, pointing.
“What?” I brought up my hand. “The watch?”
“Wow. I haven’t heard it called that in awhile.” She gave a crooked smile and started buttering toast.
I studied it closely; leather band, face trimmed in silver. But there were no buttons. The obsidian material inside the trimming had a life of its own. Faint numbers faded in and out in a cryptic pattern. I let out a sigh.
“Come here.” Annie put down the toast and came around the counter. “I'll show you.” She lifted my hand and touched the face. “Dial Stephen Andrews.” The watch came to life. Annie gave me a wink, and returned to her work.
“Hello?” said the watch.
“Hi, Stephen, this is Thomas!” I spoke loudly into the watch.
“Thomas! It’s great to hear your voice! Why are you yelling?”
“Oh, sorry.” I pulled my hand away and lowered my voice. “Is this better?”
“Much. Hey, Annie said you were awake! How are you, man?”
“Not bad considering the circumstances.”
“I can’t imagine.”
“Yeah, well, I need you to do something for me.”
“Sure thing. What can I do for you?”
“Find a number for a woman named Hazel Brown. Her address is 128 Pinrow Street, Marathon, Florida.”
Annie shot me a look of curiosity.
“You could just...” He stopped. “You know what-- no problem. Hold on a sec.”
Sam looked over his shoulder. You can just ask the terminal to snatch the data.”
I squinted at him. “Oh. --I’ll do that next time. I’m just used to calling the office to have someone search for information.”
Sam smiled. “We don’t search for information anymore. We have digital servants for that.”
“Thomas?” The watch spoke up.
“Yes, Stephen.”
“Do you, ah, have a pen?”
Sam masked another smile. Apparently he was amused at Steven’s attempt to shield me from future shock.
“No. Just give it to me. I’m good with numbers, remember?”
Steven chuckled. “Yes. I remember. I’ve never known anyone who could crunch numbers like you. Here it is, 818-555-3234.”
“Thanks, man. Listen, I’m sorry to cut this short, but I have to let you go.”
“Hey, just one thing. Some gentlemen came by a little while ago looking for you. I was going to call you.”
My heart constricted. “Who-what did they want?”
“They were from the FBI, really strange looking guys, they wanted to know if I’d heard from you.
My heart skipped a beat. “You didn’t tell them anything. And what do you mean strange?”
“It was like-- like they were straight out of a men’s catalog or something, every hair in place, perfect clothes, perfect skin, a little too perfect. It was weird.”
I looked at Annie, her eyes were wide.
“But I didn’t tell them anything. Annie told me what happened at the center, so I told them you were in a coma last I knew.”
“When was this?”
“A half hour ago.”
“Okay, Steven. Thanks, man. Let me know if anything else happens, okay?”
“Sure. And hey, when all this blows over, we need to get together. Last time I checked, you still own this company.”
“Yeah,” I said, distracted. “Thanks again. Give my regards to Amy.”
There was a pause. “Sure, no problem, man. Take care.”
I shot Annie another look. She was wincing. “I should have told you. --Amy died in a skiing accident a few years back.”
“Oh,” I said, lowering my arm. “I'll have to be more careful.”
She set a plate back on the counter. “Those men sound like the one I saw at the center.”
“I know.”
“What do you think we should do?” she said, wringing her hands.
“I don’t know.” I studied her expression. “What do you think?”
“Well, we can’t stay here.” She glanced out the window. “They’re probably on their way by now.”
“You’re really scared aren’t you?”
She gave a quick nod.
“You and the kids need to disappear, just go somewhere and don’t tell anyone.”
“Thomas. We’re staying with you.”
“But you’re not safe with me.”
Sam got off the couch and walked toward us. “You’re not in any condition to go anywhere by yourself. We need to stay with you.”
Annie’s eyes were pleading. “Sam’s right, Thomas. We just got you back, I don’t want to take a chance of losing you again.”
I looked at Annie, then back at Sam. “Well, I need to find out what’s going on, and that’s going to draw attention to me...”
Sam gripped my shoulder. “We’re in this together. This is our problem.”
I studied them again, then let out a sigh. “Well if there’s no changing your minds, at least meet me half way.”
The satisfaction on Annie’s face was obvious. “What is it you want us to do?” she asked gently.
“While they track me here, I’m going to scatter my trail and try to find Hazel Brown.”
Again, Annie gave me a curious look.
“She’s the only lead I have.” I pulled the envelope from my pocket and held it out. “Solomon told me to give this to her.” Annie slid it from my grasp and opened it. “I know it doesn’t make any sense,” I said, “but it must be important somehow.”
“This is it?” She held up the tiny piece of paper.
Sam came around and looked over her shoulder.
“Yeah, that’s what doesn’t make sense. Why would he ask me to deliver a packet, with just my name?”
“Are you supposed to mail it?” Sam asked.
“I don’t know. Everything happened so fast, I don’t remember exactly what Solomon said. But I’m guessing this Hazel Brown knows something, and I want to know what she knows.”
They both nodded.
“Which means, I need to go to Florida to find her. And if those men tracking me are the same ones who want me dead, I don’t want to put my family in danger.”
“But you just agreed to let us...”
I put my hand up. “Annie, we can all go to Florida, but when we get to Marathon, you and Rebecca need to stay behind for a bit-- just until we know it’s safe. Okay?” I looked over at Rebecca, quietly sitting on the couch.
She read my expression, then slowly nodded. “I trust you, Dad.”
My whole face became a warm smile.
She returned the warmth.
“Andy lives in Homestead,” Annie said abruptly. “We could stay at his place. Plus, we’ll have access to the Florida branch if we need it.”
“We have a branch in Florida?”
“You always talked about how much y
ou loved it there.” She smiled and shrugged.
I gave her a warm look. “You are a faithful woman, Annie Tardin.”
Her eyes sparkled. “I have my moments.”
CHAPTER 26
THE FALLEN
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The trip from Haiti to Miami was surprisingly uneventful. Several times I tried to call Hazel Brown, but she was unavailable. I was, however, welcome to leave a message.
In Miami we had a company car brought to the airport under strictest secrecy. Sam and I dropped Annie and Rebecca off at Andy’s in Homestead, then continued on down the Florida Keys to Marathon.
“Pinrow!” I said with a point.
“Blinker-on,” said the synthetic voice of the car. “Turning- left- onto- Pinrow-Street.” The digital voice was annoyingly perfect.
“Can we turn that thing off?” I said, searching the dashboard. “It’s getting on my nerves.”
“GPS voice off,” said Sam, giving me a big grin.
I gave him a big smirk. “I could have done that.”
Slowly we rolled down Pinrow Street to a one story white stucco home. “There it is,” I said, pointing. “128.”
Sam drove past it, turned around in a driveway a few houses down, then pulled to the side of the road. “Now what?” he asked.
“Well, it looks like there’s no one home, but...” As I spoke a tiny compact electric car pulled into the driveway. An overweight, short, black woman in an bright orange dress stepped out. She reached into the car and came out clutching a stack of papers and a briefcase. Awkwardly, she scurried up the front steps and disappeared inside the house.
“That must be our lady,” I said.
“She is going to help us?” Sam looked at me with eyebrows raised.
“That's the plan,” I said, checking out the back window. “I’ll go talk to her. You stay here, and call me if you see anything suspicious.”
“O-kay.” He nodded. “How long will you be?”
“If I haven't contacted you in fifteen minutes, come looking for me,” I said, stepping out of the car. Slowly I walked toward the house, casually scanning the area. As I reached the front steps, I took another scan of the neighborhood, then gave the doorbell a poke.
There were footsteps, then the sound of a deadlock. The door creaked open slowly. A face appeared in the crack. “Are you him?”
“I have an envelope for you.”
“Come in quickly,” she said, pulling on my arm.
Inside, the shades were drawn, causing the otherwise normal interior to look dark and foreboding. I followed her into an office where she sat down at a computer. She tapped a button on the desk then reached her hand toward me. “The envelope please.”
“Don't you even want to know who I...”
“I know who you are.” She reemphasized her outstretched hand. I handed her the envelope and she opened it quickly. A smile crossed her face. “How appropriate,” she said, tapping the button again. “Load file twelve. Enter letter sequence, cap T, lower h,o,m, bold a, unbold, s, space, t,a,r,d, bold i, unbold, n.”
I shook my head. Of course it was a code. How could I have missed it?
The screen responded to her commands and the face of Doctor Solomon appeared. “Hello, Miss Brown. I'm sorry we can no longer talk directly, but I do need more information. I have uploaded the latest data to the site. Please use this new sequence to decrypt the access code. And please tell Thomas I am sorry for our less than auspicious meeting, and that I am grateful for his assistance. I will contact you again by currier at the new address listed in the data. May the true God bless you and protect you.”
The True God? Dr. Solomon was a religious man?
Hazel set the note aside. “Download Vrin encryption with access password.” The screen went crazy, then became dark again. Hazel swiveled around. “We need to go!” She grabbed a transparent cube from an indent in the desk and stood up.
“Dad?” said my watch. “A black van just pulled up in front of the house.”
Hazel’s eyes rounded. “They were quicker this time.”
Quicker? Was she referring to how fast they had gotten to the house after she accessed the information? That wasn’t quick, that was impossible!
She clutched my arm.“This way!” We scurried down the hall and out the back door, down the steps and into a concrete cylinder, which lay sideways along the back of the house.
“Plug your ears, honey! It's gonna be loud!”
My fingers barely reached my ears as the shock wave of the explosion hit. The concrete creaked and shuddered. Loud thumps sounded.
“Move!” she said, scurrying out.
Dust and smoke hit my face as I climbed out on shaky limbs. And saw what was left of the house.
Together we stumbled down the street to where Samuel sat behind the wheel. Terrified. “They walked through the walls!” he screamed, as we climbed into the car.
“Go! Quickly!” Hazel ordered from the back seat.
“WHAT WERE THOSE GUYS!” Sam shrieked. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel.
“Now!”
He turned the key and peeled out onto the road. “I am freaked out, Dad!”
I twisted and looked over the seat at Hazel. “What just happened?” My voice came out in a high pitch.
She had the briefcase on her lap and was frantically typing.
“Hazel, What just HAPPENED?”
“Turn on to Route 1.” Her voice was calm.
I looked at Sam. “Do it!”
“This is nuts! People don’t just walk through walls!”
I looked over the seat. “Hazel, who...”
“Take a turn at the next light. I'll explain in a minute,” she said, still typing.
I nodded at Sam. The wheel spun and the tires screeched as we took off down a canal road. I looked back at Hazel. “It’s a dead end!”
“Stop here,” she said, closing the briefcase.
The car skidded to a stop and Hazel climbed out. “Come on. This way!”
Sam was at my door helping me out.
“Quickly!” yelled Hazel over her shoulder as she scurried between two stucco houses and under a clothesline.
We emerged from the houses to see a dock running parallel to the road, and Hazel, frantically untying a speed boat. Sam helped me across the yard and into the boat, then grabbed the ropes from Hazel. She climbed over the edge and hobbled to the front.
“Ho! Wait a minute!” Sam yelled as the boat began to pull away from the dock. The boat slowed and he jumped aboard.
I made my way up to the vinyl co-pilot's seat. “Hazel! We need some answers!”
“I imagine you do.”
“Who were those guys?”
“Those, my friend, were the fallen ones.”
I stared at her.“ --What? You mean, like, from Davata Notrals?”
“The very same.”
My head reeled. “I find that impossible to believe.”
“You don't have to believe, Thomas. Truth is truth whether you believe it or not.”
“Come on! You're telling me we’re being pursued-- by fallen angels?”
“Yep.”
Again I stared. “O-kay. Let’s just say I believe you, which I don’t, but if I did-- why would fallen angels be interested in me?”
She kicked the boat into high gear as we headed out into the Gulf of Mexico. “Because you know too much about Vrin!” she shouted above the noise of the wind.
“Vrin?” My response was almost a scream.
“All your questions will be answered soon! We need to...” Her words were lost above the roar of the engine.
The boat bounced over the waves and I held on for dear life. My tired body was not appreciating this. At all! Finally the engine slowed and the boat sidled up to a run down excuse for a houseboat.
“Come on,” Hazel said, quickly stepping over the side. Sam jumped out and started securing the boat. “We should be safe here,” Hazel added.
I clambered o
nto the deck; the boards creaked loudly under my feet. “I don't feel very safe,” I said, looking around.
“Quick,” Hazel said, gesturing impatiently from the doorway. Sam slipped his arm through mine and helped me to the door.
Inside was cramped, but tidy. Hazel put her briefcase on the tiny kitchen table, stepped down into the sunken living room, and sat down in a chair next to a very thin old black woman in a recliner. The woman was intent on watching television.
“Hey.” Hazel tapped her on the arm. “These men are here to see you.”
The woman looked up at me with slightly yellowed eyes and a crooked grin.
I looked at Hazel, at the woman, then back at Hazel again. “--I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”
“Please forgive me,” she said. “There was no time to explain. I'm Nan. This is Hazel. She's my mother.”
CHAPTER 27
QUESTIONS
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Nan motioned with her hand. “Come, have a seat, Mom is eager to speak with you.”
I sat down on an orange 70's style kitchen chair in front of Hazel, looked at Nan, and motioned to the TV. “May I?” I asked. She nodded, so I reached out and turned the volume down. I turned to look at Hazel.
She looked to be around seventy, was wearing a flowered print dress, and was fidgeting with a bowl of buttons in her lap. “Full o' questions,” she said in a slow monotone, not making eye contact.
“Yes,” I nodded.
Her lips pursed and twitched. She stared at the arm of her chair. “Want to know-- Vrin.” Her voice was distant.
“Yes,” I said again.
She took my hand gently into hers, dug a button out of the bowl, and slowly placed it in my palm. Carefully she closed my fingers around it.
I looked at Nan.
“My mother has autism. I know it's awkward, but she is very gifted. If you’re patient, she will explain.”
I looked back at Hazel.
“You are-- chased.” She shook her head slightly, still not making eye contact.
“Yes. I am being chased.”
The tone of her voice shifted slightly higher. “No danger. No danger. You safe now.
Vrin: Ten Mortal Gods Page 24
