by Al Cooper
David entered the room as the woman remained prudently out to a distance. He opened the door displaying a toothpaste ad laugh.
- There is a gorgeous looking for you, Hans. I have taken the liberty to accompany her - he said as he winked - then beckoned the woman to come in, then he said her - There he is. Remember, however, that my office is down the hall. It has been an honor.
- Thanks, you've been very friendly - the woman came slowly and smiled to see Hanson, then she went to him - The agent Bell has been an excellent host. - Extended her hand - I'm Kelly, Kelly Adams.
Hanson had left gaping from the first time he had the opportunity to see her up close. He thought that Kelly could have also been a model of success if she had been proposed. She was a woman of about thirty and five years, remarkably beautiful, blonde, tall, with an enviable kind, perfect features, thick and sensual lips and to cap big green eyes that spoke for themselves. All without forgetting that tone of voice that had already captured him from the previous day. A woman so evocative, sensual, wasting an elegance that did not go unnoticed, caused a huge impact on the department, not only in David Bell. Hanson could observe as several colleagues had left the offices adjacent with the only intention of seeing her. So, before greeting her, decided to bring down the slats of the blinds to have a minimum of privacy. Outside a murmur of disappointment could be heard.
Since her High School days Kelly used to cause such impact among men. But behind her beauty and fragile appearance she hid a strong, resolute character. Able to get to where were necessary. She did not need to rely on her physical to open gates, her capacity for sacrifice and intelligence had led her to specialize in Genetics from UC Berkeley with outstanding score and play some positions in research laboratories before accepting this important post at the FBI, but not before some doubts emerged in her head. Theirs was the investigation in its purest form, and instead looked doomed to do police work on their peers. But on the other hand, she was seduced by the challenge involved and the difficulty would mean achieving a balance between science and law, between challenge and ethics.
- Excuse me, Miss Adams. If I'd known you were so beautiful I would have brought the shark repellent - Hanson said, smiling as he shook her hand -
- Do not worry. I'm used to navigate between them - Kelly responded by sticking those big eyes that made him float -
Marvin had been watching the scene. It seemed that both were absorbed, isolated from the world, as if all they cared was less than a meter away. He knew that feeling, had lived it when he met Susan. That thought made him feel even worse.
He decided to come near and introduce himself.
Sorry to interrupt. I am Marvin, Miss Adams, not sure how much we appreciate your presence.
- Excuse me both, please - Hanson responded to then make presentations.
The glances of Kelly and Hanson were still looking each other for space of a few seconds. Then he invited her to sit down and offered a coffee which she refused. Finally, once all three sitting around the table, he asked the question that had been around his head all night.
- Tell me, what attracted your attention from the first report?
- A name. Or more precisely, two. Clerigan and Owen.
- The two missing scientists?
- Yes, at the time that disappearance struck me.
- Did you know them?
Kelly lowered her head, some moments that she preferred not to remember came to her mind. Far as her memories were able to reach she would not have been able to respond if she had fallen in love for Applied Genetics or her teacher, Stephen Clerigan. The truth is that Clerigan had instilled to her his love for Genetics, and this in turn by Clerigan. In fact she wasn't able to understand one without the other. Because she even remembered his classes, his essays and, of course, those months she had been with him preparing her final project. The truth is that one of the attractions of Clerigan was in his way of understanding life and making it to understand others. Never was limited to stick to the script. He often said that life had been writing its own script on the fly, without knowing what the end result would be, which had only to look at the results of the theory of evolution. And scientists had also to learn to adapt to the developmental schemes of life, pursue it to get to master it. Genetics in this sense meant a before and after in the history of science, opening the man the possibility of interpreting to himself.
No one was bored listening to Clerigan. He always ended up finding a connection point between the matter he was talking about and everyday phenomena, between the sublime and the banal. He said that genetics did not measure the results in terms of greatness, but of effectiveness.
Also came to her mind the last times she have met the professor before his strange disappearance. The latter had been at a conference, where she met a happy and beaming man. It was clear that his marriage after a lightning courtship with that beautiful Broadway actress twenty years younger than him, had done him to feel great. Then she learned that she became ill with leukemia and died only a year later. So initially she had associated his disappearance with the death of his wife, just a few months before they submit the second part of the Human Genome Project, which he had been part. But she considered Clerigan a survivor, one of those rare people who are capable of falling and getting up every time it takes, a person with strength and resources out of the ordinary to get out of the more complicated situations in which the life can put to anyone. Yes, definitely Stephen Clerigan was different. Another possibility that had been considered at the time was that of murder, but no motive known and without a body had no sense.
- Yeah ... well, the one who I really knew was Clerigan. He was ... my professor in university and who led my final project. - Said in low tones and stuttering slightly. Then she got composed her again, raised her tone, her voice became stronger and continued -. I admit I was impressed by his disappearance because it made no sense. But if I am here is because I think there is a relationship between your case and that of the disappearances.
Kelly was lying in some way, but she did not consciously, indeed, in the background was lying to herself. While it was true that the case might have some interest, the real reason for having taken it so seriously, as something personal had only one name: Clerigan. Marvin intervened.
- I see that you share our views.
- Completely.
- Although we have not yet been able to prove it?
- Yeah, I believe there are ample and well-founded reasons to follow this line of research. We should find a response in the Amazon.
- But this is a huge and unknown territory for us, on which we have no jurisdiction - Hanson pointed out -
- We are going to have help. I am making efforts to find support and cooperation from the Brazilian authorities, I will keep you informed.
XIX
That evening, Marvin returned to his apartment at the same time he used to do every day. He opened the mailbox and found what had long been waiting for. He didn’t need to open the letter to know its contents as he saw the letterhead of a law firm. He had at heart a hidden hope that letter had not gone before, that Susan would repent and finally gave him another chance, so when he picked up the letter he felt a pain and oppression in the chest that forced him to rely on the wall as he could not avoid to vent his pain as tears.
He looked around, got lucky. No one, no witness of such moment of weakness. He dismissed the idea of riding an elevator, instead barely went upstairs as he often did, but this time those six floors with slow, tired steps became eternal. The reason because he did every day such free extra gymnastics had nothing to do with staying in good physical condition, but indirectly it suited him. The only motive was to delay the arrival of an unconscious way to a house that didn’t consider his own, where he felt so sad and so empty that any excuse to be absent suited him. But he had decided not to take refuge in alcohol and bars
, as they could mean his final destruction, sinking further into his particular abyss.
When he started to open the door of his house, he noticed that something was wrong. The lock was forced. As moved by a spring, he parked his bitterness. His adrenaline level went up enough to be on guard. He pulled out his gun and came in a flash, throwing himself down on the floor because the possibility that someone was still inside. He inspected the house and took a deep breath, found no one. But his apartment was dilapidated, all lying on the floor, someone had been looking for something but not mattering to leave traces.
After the initial shock he did a more detailed inspection. He started by the living room, passing then to the room, then to the bathroom. And it was there where his heart skipped a beat when he noticed a message written on the mirror with red spray, poor handwriting and text rather than explicit: "Do not go forward. Do it for yours." That really made him nervous. Whoever it was, seemed willing to intimidate with the only weakness of any police: his family.
He took the cell phone from his jacket pocket and dialed Susan's house, but jumped the answering machine. He tried again with the same result. He called the cell phone, but it was not operating. There was always the possibility that number had changed, but that did not stop his nervous state was increasing. Then he remembered that, when she had something to do, Susan used to leave Billy with her mother. He searched the phone number of his mother in law. He never had been so glad to hear her voice.
- Dorothy? ... Yes, it's me, Marvin ... I know ... I know ... everything will work out, they are things between her and me ... listen, I urgently need to talk to Susan. Is she there? ... No, no, peaceful, it's just that I can't locate her. What about Billy? ... Oh, great. Look, now I can’t say anything, but please don’t move from there under any circumstances, I will pick up Billy in a while ... No, no, neither Billy nor you.
At least he knew that Billy was OK but his mother in law did not know where Susan was, or perhaps she had not wanted to tell him. He couldn't lose more time, this time did not hesitate. He took the elevator and ran to get his car, going at full speed toward the house of Susan. When he arrived, hit a sudden stop and parked the car badly. He went to the door, called several times to no avail, so he decided to take a walk around the house, discovering a window with shattered glass. He didn’t think twice, hurried in the direction of Susan's room. When he came in he noted signs of violence and struggle, objects and clothes lying around, and something that startled him so much that vented his hatred against the mirror. On the wall, written in red spray and apparently, by the font, by the same person who had entered his apartment, a message that said "Her life only depends on you. Give up. "
At first he was blocked. He felt helpless, unresponsive, then tried to put his confused mind in order. It was clear that it was someone who should be aware of their investigations and the first person that came to his head was Edwards, his boss. If he had switched the report, it was because he was not interested no one knew it. It was not unreasonable to think that he could be involved but had no proof, so the risk of pointing the finger was evident. Also at stake was what he loved most in this life and, at a juncture so, conjectures are meaningless, so he wasn't long in deciding what should be his next step.
He went home of Edwards, knew his address. His wife opened the door to recognize him, but was surprised to observe the tense and haggard face of the agent.
- Marvin, something happens?
- Need to talk to her husband, is urgent.
- It's ten o'clock at night, I guess you can wait until tomorrow, right?
Marvin did not respond. He pushed away the Edwards woman's hand of the door and suddenly broke into the house without a word. He found Edwards dining in the living room.
- What the hell are you doing here? - Were his first words -
Marvin did not response him. Instead he grabbed Edwards by the neck, forcing him to rise. He shook him without giving him time to defend and then put him against the wall, while his woman screamed and picked up the phone at the same time intending to call the police.
- Tell her not to. I'm a desperate man, Edwards, I'm not going stop at anything or anyone. I'm ready for anything, telling everyone what you’ve done with the report, or rather, with the reports.
- Sarah, wait a minute, don't call - he told his wife - then addressed to Marvin - It's your word against mine. You're a lowlife that will only worse his situation.
- I don’t care at all what could happen to me, my only concern is Susan.
- Your wife? What has happened?
- Do not be cynical! She has been kidnapped. If you changed the reports it's because you has something to do with it.
- It is false! And believe me I'm sorry, how was it?
- I've gone home, she has been taken and left a message. And thinking that you - He pressed Edwards's throat so much until the point that he could barely breathe - has always maintained that this case was an absurd nonsense! Tell me, where is Susan?
- No ... I didn't know ... I swear ... by the more you want ... release and talk ... - told between sounds that were more onomatopoeic than human -
Marvin relaxed a little and released him, Edwards put his hand to his throat, then replied.
- Let's be civilized. You could spend years in jail and begging for the rest of your life, you're aware of it, right?
- Totally. But the only thing that matters now to me is to rescue Susan, not the price I have to pay.
- I assure you I don't know anything about it. I realize that maybe ... I precipitated straying you of the case, but that does not justify your attitude.
- So why did you change the report, why? .... What has got this case so you have come so far? What? ...
- You're accusing, Marvin, I advise you not follow that way.
- I wish I had another. For your sake and mine I hope nothing happens to her.
- If, as you insinuate, I had any interest in all this, I would have retired you of the case long before. Remember, I could have to do it.
- It's possible you have underestimated us.
- Listen, I really feel sorry about your wife, so ... let's say I'm going to forgive your rage and forget this incident. It will be between you and me. Regarding Susan, I would wish to know something.
Marvin simply glanced him an expressive look, which were implicit hatred, contempt and pain and left slamming the door without saying a word.
When Marvin told his partner what happened, Hanson, after encourage him, reproached him that he had not called him for helping because he had staked his career threatening Edwards driven by his emotions. None of them understood the modus operandi of their boss. They knew too well the ill will that he had against them since he had taken charge of the department, but changing his report had gone too far, risking his neck. It was also true that he had had the opportunity to withdraw them of the case and had finally decided to give them a try. But it was just as he was expecting to see them slip to disqualify them. But, when they presented the report, could have realized that they had reached in their investigation further than he thought, and decided to remove them and give them a big switch to his superiors. But if he had taken such a risky decision it had to be because someone was behind it, no sense that he would have moved for personal reasons.
They decided not to say anything about his boss to Kelly, who lent Marvin her full support. She said him that she would take care of her mother in law and Billy had protection around the clock, and with a security tone that Marvin itself was surprised, that he doubted not, she was sure that they would find Susan, but both for his own safety and that of his wife, the best option would be he stay out of the case, at least for the time being. Marvin replied that he had been thinking about it, but he could not accept it. If they wanted to find Susan had to discover who was behind. There was no middle point, he could not sit still. Kelly was forc
ed to accept the wish of Marvin.
None of the three had no doubt that the answer lay in the Amazon, a place as inhospitable as unknown. Marvin would have liked to stay in the U.S. to find any evidence to bring him to Susan, but was aware that his site was next to their peers. Kelly said they had stepped up her efforts and the Brazilian police had offered to cooperate in everything that they will require, to the point that had been earmarked for this purpose an officer, Captain of the federal police in Manaus. Kelly had exchanged some emails with him. A person that knew, to the extent possible, the entire Amazon region and that was waiting them. However, they could not leave until within ten days, the minimum time required for it to be effective vaccine against yellow fever.
XX
While she was holding his hand, Carol closed her eyes and began to remember many good moments that she had lived with Harold. Their love also had allowed them to overcome others much difficult, but she preferred to keep in her head sparks of a happiness that threatened to leave forever. Bewildered with all that was happening around her, she was unable to find a solution to the dark tunnel before them. When she looked at Harold, could not identify the man who was bedridden, suffering the pain in absolute silence. Harold had changed absolutely in a suddenly way, and still did not know what the main reason was. If it was true that his illness could explain his physical deterioration and his mood, she thought that it didn't explain enough such change in the character of her husband. She tried to disturb him as little as possible with talks that no longer made sense at that time, but she couldn't avoid to see him as a helpless child, not because of the maternal instinct that all women have within them, but by his way of expressing the few times that opened his eyes and spoke just enough to ask something. Had not even been able to maintain a fairly coherent conversation with her after the shock received at the party convention, let alone to get Harold to explain her what the hell was happening. All she knew was that after the meeting with Feaks, everything had changed. However, she admitted that it would be unfair, if not absurd, to blame Feaks of his disease. Perhaps they just had chained one of those unfortunate spells with which life sometimes shakes us until we lose control.
