Jo-el

Chapter 34 RODANTHE

I missed the meeting with the FBI, what was the point, they had a different agenda. I had Sally send an email to Georgina Lambert detailing the whereabouts of the seven serial killers, with a list of each of their victims. In a second email I listed all the children and women held against their will for sex, with addresses and the names of the perpetrators. That should keep her busy for a while. I repeated the exercise for the British but prefaced the email with a note to the effect that I was disappointed the meeting had been cancelled. For a while I considered similar actions with other countries but I chose to wait and see the reaction in America and the UK.

I was going to keep out of sight for a while, at least from the Superpowers of the world. Work in the background and watch. I scared people and truly I didn’t want that. Maybe my plan could be put back on the rails. I hoped so, because I couldn’t think of a better approach. At least there was time. Seventy year was long time but the task ahead was colossal.

Pippa was another problem, I wanted to see her. She hadn’t been panicked by my abilities and she discounted the notion that I was a weapon of a foreign power. I played with the idea of telling her everything. Having another human to discuss this craziness was appealing and she’d seen enough that she might believe the story. I had Sally, but her perspective was all wrong. She didn’t care about individual lives, she relished action that resulted in death. Two hundred and forty million years observing the development of a planet. Three million years watching the coming and going of one generation after another. Humanity was evil in her eyes. Leaders decimated enormous swaths of society in the name of progress. It was all bullshit. Just in recent times, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, even those we now consider civilized, not so long ago, conquered by eliminating anybody in their way. Ask the native people of colonized countries. Sally watched all this, how could I expect her to view the world any differently. Genocide was a way of life and it continued today. She didn’t feel the warmth of family, the tenderness of love. Someone died, someone was born, just change the face and give them a new name.

It was time to sow the seeds and watch the flowers grow. Same goal different approach and I wanted to share it with someone. Pippa.

Sally told me to check my mail. I found an envelope addressed to a Steven Brace, but with my address. Inside was a cash card issued by Wells Fargo Bank.

“What’s this?”

“The guy died about a week ago, he was hiking in Anza Borrego Park, in Southern California. He fell down a ravine, no one has found him yet, he’ll probably never be found, he was way off the main trail. He left a bunch of money, but he doesn’t have any children and was a bit of a recluse. I changed his address on file to here and had the bank re-issue a new debit card. There’s forty-seven thousand in his checking account.”

“That’s stealing.”

“Oh Joey, give it up. That money will end up with the government eventually, who cares?”

“Don’t I have to call and activate the card from his phone number?”

“Done that.”

I shook my head but secretly I was pleased, the whole episode with the cash in St. Barts was a nightmare.

I rented a cottage on the beach in Rodanthe, the Outer Banks, beginning on Saturday for a week. It was out of season and the house was small and innocuous. The owner was an old lady in her seventies who informed me that she lived in Durham because of her arthritis and didn’t get to the cottage that often, so I’d have to cope with issues alone, which suited my needs. I used Steven Braces’ name and told her that I wanted to pay cash and she wasn’t fazed. Renters in March were hard to come by, I was a blessing. She told me to give the money to a Mrs. Greelitch, who’d meet me at the cottage on Saturday with the keys. The marketing pictures portrayed a home festooned with knickknacks and ornaments that gave it an intimate, cozy atmosphere. The weather projection for the area was unpleasant at best, but I wasn’t going there to sunbath. I’d rent a car to look normal, but my plan was to ask Pippa to join me. I’d bounce her down there and if she needed to be back in Virginia I’d bounce her back, whenever she wanted. My only concern, assuming she agreed to come, was her son, I’d have to figure that out later. I wondered how Sally felt about babysitting?

About half an hour after I was due at the FBI office in DC, Sally picked up an email, purportedly from Pippa’s computer. It was cordial and short, simply asking why I hadn’t appeared at the meeting. I ignored it.

The sun had agreed to bless the Bay area that morning and the temperature had risen to the mid-sixties, Fahrenheit. I pulled on my helmet and went for a ride. First I stopped at my bank and went inside to withdraw one thousand in cash. I couldn’t use Steven Braces’ money, the card had a three-hundred-dollar limit and I didn’t have any ID for the guy.

I retraced the route down Highway twenty-five to the spot where I’d picked up the container that had radically altered my life, just eight days ago. The road was empty and I soon became lost in the twisty turns and striking vistas. I stopped at the point where I’d parked my motorcycle to find the container and stared up at the hill wondering what would have happened if I hadn’t come here that day. Maybe I was just one of many potential saviors and Ka-el would have moved on to the next in line. Maybe there were others before me. I didn’t ask Sally; I guess I didn’t want to find out that there wasn’t anything particularly special about Dave Murphy. I stopped for lunch in Paso Robles and walked around the square. Maggie and Adam were coming over that evening so I restricted my meal to a couple of Carnitas Tacos at one of the great Mexican restaurants in that wonderful little town.

I took route 46 over to Pacific Coast Highway and headed north marveling at the coastal scenery, wondering if the new planet would furnish mankind with such splendor. At Castroville I crossed over to the 101 to speed up my return. I was home before three, having picked up all the ingredients for chili, one of Maggie’s favorites and something I could cook with my eyes closed.

I showered and made tea. I had two hours before Maggie and Adam arrived so I asked Sally to join me and update what was happening on the other side of the country.

“Pippa’s pissed,” she said. “I think she expected you to go and see her.”

“Tomorrow, she’ll get over it.” Why did Sally bring up Pippa first? Women, she definitely had a few of their traits.

“Alberton sent three more emails from Pippa’s computer. Each one a little more subservient. He wants you to meet him again and the last one was almost a begging letter.”

“Yea, well, screw him!”

“Would you like me to tell him that?”

“No! Ignore him for now. What’s the FBI doing with all that stuff I sent them?”

“They are stunned. Lambert is piecemealing the work out all over country. They are just starting to pull in the perps. The enslaved children are the priority and a few have already been found. The press doesn’t know which way to turn, it’s headline news on every channel. Oh, Maggie sent a text, she’s had to cancel because of the work load, so your fault.”

“Oh, crap!” I didn’t know what to think. “I’ve got two pounds of mince.”

“Maybe the girlfriend can come?”

I beamed at Sally, any chance she gets.

Sally send Maggie a text, ‘no problem, I saw the news, what’s happening?’

I retreated to the kitchen and cut the mincemeat into two pieces. Half I left out, the rest I stuffed into a zip-lock bag and put it in freezer. I planned to make chili anyway.

I ignored Sally and turned on CNN. The picture showed a police officer leading a man in handcuffs into a police station. The voice over said it was Syracuse, New York and the man ‘s name was Leonard Keifer. He was being arrested on child kidnapping, rape in the third degree and a list of other offenses, which the reporter said he’d already admitted to. The picture went back to four people in the studio. An attorney was saying that so far twenty-three children had been found across the country, most of them were on a missing child list. It was the largest sting by law enforcement of this kind. The head reporter then butted in to add that there had been no information from the FBI, who had initiated the sting, about numbers or how they had gathered so much information.

I turned the volume down and asked Sally. “How are the FBI planning to explain this?”

“Lambert met with the Director and he asked her the same question. All she’s come up with is to lie. You know, months of painstaking work, hundreds of agents, bla bla bla.”

“What did he say?”

“He didn’t say yes or no, just said they needed to find you.”

“It won’t fly. If they know a child has been kidnapped for sexual abuse, they wouldn’t wait. There’s almost certainly no connection from one case to another.”

“He said that, also.”

“Should be interesting. Did those guys in Virginia Beach make the news?”

“That was earlier, they’ve moved on to the child abuse cases.”

“More public interest,” I said, “what about the serial killers?”

“Too busy with the children and kidnappings. Lambert has informed the teams working the cases for the five she was aware of, they are planning arrests in the next few days, when they have the back-up. The other two cases need a lot of work.”

“Did the Brits respond?”

“Nothing. They’re taking their time. The Home Secretary brought in the Chief Commissioner, he’s dealing with the list. They only have seven children kidnaped and held for sex abuse. They’re gathering data on the perps and most should be picked up tomorrow. The Home Secretary was blatantly honest with the Commissioner, told him the intel was from the man with wings, who calls himself Jo-el. He asked how you knew and she just said, she hadn’t got a clue. They were skeptical at first, the Commissioner had just one case reviewed initially, which took most of the day. Of course your allegations turned out to be accurate, so they’re working the other cases during the night and expect to arrest the men tomorrow. The Home Secretary is being briefed in the morning, it’s night in London right now. The British media hasn’t got word of that first case yet, they’re covering the US situation.”

“Should be a big day over there tomorrow.”

“What’s your next plan?”

“I need to see how this pans out, both with the police and the media. Maybe I’ll pick another couple of countries.”

It all seemed to be heading in the right direction. Maybe the direct approach, meeting with the FBI and CIA wasn’t a good idea. The media reaction would be fascinating, but that would take a few days.

I headed to the kitchen and spent the next thirty odd minutes preparing chili from a packet, with a few extra ingredients like tabasco and extra cumin. I opened a good bottle of Merlot, which was soon half empty. I’d had a restful and successful day.

Saturday morning was raining again, with brighter weather forecast late in the day. A text from Jimmy inquired if I was riding on Sunday. I replied that I was going to be out of town for a month, he said, ‘have fun’.

Sally informed me that Pippa had taken Billy to a small park to play on the apparatus and swings, she was still being watched. I planned to go and see her later. Check-in time at the cottage in Rodanthe was three, I’d told the local contact I would be there around five and that lady said she’d meet me at the cottage with the keys, so I had a few hours. I packed a case with food stuff and booze. My plan was to bounce to a car rental place at Norfolk airport and then drive down to Rodanthe, which I thought would take about two hours.

About an hour before I was planning to leave Sally said that Pippa was back at her condo making lunch for Billy. She also told me that the FBI had drilled holes into Pippa’s condo on both sides while she was out and could now see inside and hear everything said.

“Shit! What can you do about that?” I asked Sally.

“Simple. I can destroy the equipment, or I could place something over the camera and play some loud music. Whatever.”

“What are they planning?”

“If you turn up they’re going to raid the place.”

“Is there a team ready?”

“Yep, they commandeered the condo next door.”

“Damn, if I bounce her out of there, they’ll know it was me. Does she know what they’ve done?”

“She knows she’s being watched, but she doesn’t know about the camera and listening device. Also, she’s unaware they’ve got a team right next door.”

“How do the team expect to capture me?”

Sally grinned, “They have tear gas and a drug dart that they hope will work.”

“Will it?”

“No! Your shield will protect you from the dart. I’d have to get you out of there if they use gas.”

“I can’t breathe independently of gas?”

“No, you need oxygen, where are you going to get that from?”

“I could go with a hologram like I did in the Hangar?”

“Yep, that would work, but no kissy, kissy with the girlfriend.”

I ignored Sally’s snide comment but could see the problem. “Okay, here’s what I want to do. I’ll go in for five minutes and explain to Pippa what’s happening. Let’s go with blocking the camera now and see if that causes a stir?”

Sally blocked the camera feed and showed me on my heads-up what was happening. The two guys started to panic but didn’t activate the team. They began fiddling with wires and equipment.

“Right, add the music.” I said, which she did. Pippa was confused.

“Okay, bounce me in.”

“Wait!” Sally was alarmed.

“What is it?”

“The team’s been called.”

“Where?”

She put it on my display. Four, heavily armed men were running down the corridor to Pippa’s condo.

“Shit!” I watched as they used a key to open the front door, at least they didn’t break it down. Pippa must be scared to death.

They entered the foyer, two had the drug darts and two had canisters, no doubt the tear gas, but they didn’t use them. Pippa ran to Billy and was smothering him, she was screaming at the men, who ignored her. I watched with anger rising inside me, I felt helpless. They searched each room then returned to the main living area where Pippa held Billy tight to her body.

“Do you want me to knock them out?” Sally asked.

“No, let’s see what they do? Kill the music.”

One of the men was speaking on a radio attached to his shoulder. Then three left, leaving just the one man. He removed his helmet and addressed Pippa.

“I’m sorry if we frightened you or your son. I’m under orders to arrest the man, Jo-el.”

“Get out of my house!” Pippa screamed. “You have no right to come in here. Get out, get out.” She sniveled and pulled Billy away to the kitchen. Billy was crying. Pippa was shaking but you could see she was trying to keep herself calm.

All four men had retreated to the condo next door. The two watching and listening were still fiddling with their equipment.

“How can I get a message to Pippa? I’m sure they’re monitoring her cell phone. I don’t want to knock them out and go in now, I’ve got nowhere to take her and Billy.”

“Why don’t you go in as a service man?”

“They’re not going to trust anyone who meets with her, anywhere. I just need to get her a message.”

“Write it out, then bounce there and leave it away from the camera. They can’t see inside the bathroom or bedroom.”

I thought about that for a while and couldn’t see any reason not to try it. I typed out a note to Pippa on my laptop, as follows.

“No lovey-dovey stuff?” Sally remarked.

“Leave it alone, Sally. Okay where is she?”

“The kitchen.”

“Bring the video back on, that will distract them.”

We watched the two engineers light up when their monitor came to life. For a while they watched Pippa, who was making coffee in the kitchen. She was probably trying to figure out what to do.

“Okay, bounce me to the bedroom, straight in and out, I’ll leave the note on the pillow.”

“Touching.” Sally smiled, I grimaced at her.

For five seconds I was just a few feet from Pippa. I so wanted to walk through to the kitchen and hold her in my arms, but I resisted and returned home.

We watched for a while longer. The head of the team reported back to his base of the false alarm. The two engineers were laughing and chatting again. Pippa sat in the living room, drinking her coffee and watching Billy who was playing with a tablet computer. I could see tears in her eyes.

I bounced to the airport in Norfolk, Virginia and used my new debit card to rent a car at Hertz. No problem, they took a one-thousand-dollar charge and would refund the balance when I returned the car. For good measure I added all the insurances. The East coast weather was cold but cooperating. The March storms and driving rain held off even as the clouds darkened ominously on the horizon. It would be almost dark by the time I reached Rodanthe. The drive was uneventful and I met Mrs. Greelitch at the cottage at a little after five. I’d stopped for groceries on the way and picked up a coloring book with markers for Billy. I was excited at the prospect of seeing Pippa. Mrs. Greelitch had turned up the heating in the cottage and explained where everything could be found. I made coffee and settled comfortably on the sofa. The cottage was exactly per the pictures, two bedrooms, a small kitchen with yellow tiles and a living room equipped with a decent size flat screen TV. I turned on the ice-maker and sorted out the groceries.

During the drive Sally informed me that Pippa had found the note. She’d read it six times, I think Sally exaggerated, and had then torn it into small pieces and flushed it down the toilet. A small bag was sitting on the bed. She was ready.

A little before six I reviewed what was happening at Pippa’s condo. No change with the six guys, they were sitting around looking bored. Inside, Pippa was watching TV with Billy on the sofa. I watched while keeping an eye on the clock over the mantelpiece. Nothing untoward.

At two minutes to six Pippa took Billy into the bedroom, one of the engineers made a note of the time when they’d lost visual.

I wasted no time and bounced to the bedroom. Pippa was startled but made no sound. Billy, on the other hand screamed. Shit!

“You ready?”

“Yes,” she nodded.

“Jo-el, they’ve sensed a change in the condo,” Sally warned me.

I had no time to discuss why.

“Hold Billy in your arms,” I picked up the bag and grabbed Pippa’s right hand.

We bounced to the cottage. Billy screamed again. I put my arms around Pippa and held her tight, she began to cry.

“Ahhh!” Sally.

“You okay?”

“Yes, sorry, it’s been horrible. I feel violated. They’ve no right.”

I squeezed her to me once more and kissed her lightly on the cheek. Billy started to cry, she put him down and calmed him. I fetched the coloring book, which distracted him.

“Where are we?” asked Pippa.

“Rodanthe, the Outer Banks.”

“Is this where you live?” She said, beginning to take in the small cottage with all the knickknacks.

“No, I rented it for a week, starting today.”

She looked anxious. “Why didn’t you take me to your home?”

“Safety,” I replied.

“Oh, right!” she smiled at me and kissed me on the lips.