Jo-el

Chapter 41 STAND-OFF

It was the last week of March; the miserable weather of winter was receding, giving way to the joy of spring and the dream of summer. The sun was electric, bright, unencumbered by clouds, the forecast was glorious weather all day. I awoke with a rush of fear. Fear for my children, now grown up but caught in a tangle of my making.

Sally had allowed me to sleep until my natural clock chimed. It was gone seven on the west coast of America, already mid-morning in Virginia. I ordered room service and told registration I’d be staying for two more nights. Sally was curled up on the sofa like a contented kitten waiting my instructions.

“Where is Sean and Maggie?”

“Underground at Langley.”

That was as I expected. “Messages?”

“From Alberton about an hour ago. He said, I’ll read it out to you, ‘Mr. Murphy, we have your children as I’m sure you are aware. We mean them no harm; we will release them as soon as you give yourself up and join me here at Langley.’”

“Is he underground?”

“No, he’s in his office.”

“He thinks he’s got the upper hand.” Dumb ass. “Does he have any children?”

Sally eyes widened, she immediately understood where I was going. A moment passed. “One, Becky, twenty years old, she’s at George Mason University, a Junior. She’s there now, just back from spring break.”

“Who else is on the team searching for me?”

“Pippa, General Kale and Georgina Lambert, plus some others.”

“Pippa has Billy,” I waited for Sally to continue.

“The General has two boys, both presently in Afghanistan, Lambert has three grown children, two boys and a girl, all are married, she also has two grandkids.”

“Find a deserted house, maybe a vacation home, better if it is owned by a crook. No cell service and no internet and miles from the nearest town.”

I could sense the excitement oozing from the sofa. “How about a cabin in Alaska?”

“It needs to have facilities. Heating, water, electric.”

“Okay.”

I waited as Sally did her thing. I didn’t particularly like what I was planning to do but I had had enough of the bullshit and it was time to fight fire with fire. Hopefully this whole episode would be finished by the end of the day.

“Perfect, five bedrooms, everything in place. The owners were there over Easter. They plan to be back in a month so they left a bunch of tinned food and there’s plenty of wood.”

“Show me.”

Sally placed the disc monitor in the air. The lakefront cabin was spectacular. Alone on a small peninsular that jutted out onto the frozen lake. She showed me inside. Wood frame everywhere, mahogany beams, elegant fittings and tasteful art depicting wooded vistas, wild animals and distant scenery. “Let’s go check it out.” I bounced to the cabin and spent five minutes investigating. Wonderful what money can buy. I turned up the heating and checked the fridge, it was empty, I’d have to fix that.

“A cleaner comes in every two weeks, she’s not due back for thirteen days.” Sally said.

“Who does it belong to?”

“Gerald Bale, financier, from New York.”

“He’s a crook?”

“The worst, his hedge fund collapsed in the recession, he managed to hide more than two hundred million.”

“Good, well, you know what I mean. Okay, let’s round up the tenants. Becky Alberton first. What’s she up to?”

“She just showered and dressed, she has a class at eleven. She’s alone in her dorm room.”

“Perfect, anybody in the corridor?”

“Yes, couple of girls heading for the stairs.”

“Bounce me in as soon as it’s empty.” I changed back to Jo-el and waited. Next moment I was in an ill-lit corridor, pastel, lime-green walls, room two-zero-seven was right ahead, a Becks bear label stuck under the number, very apt. I knocked and tried the handle, it was open, I went inside. Becky Alberton was stuffing books into a backpack, she looked up, surprised but unconcerned, continuing her task. I’m not sure if she recognized me, it didn’t matter. There were two beds, she had a room-mate, both unmade, quilts strewn haphazard, sheets creased. Becky was slim, flat chested, her hair short, she wore glasses with thick brown rims. Her jeans were frayed with slits at the knee and she wore a George Mason Sweatshirt. Typical college student attire, she reminded me of Maggie, when she was at Cal Poly.

“Who are you?” she asked, calmly.

“My name is Jo-el.” That got an immediate response, she jerked upwards and stared at me.

“The birdman?” She was excited. I nodded. She waited for me to explain why I was in her dorm room. The initial excitement turned quickly to trepidation as she tried to figure out what was happening.

I’d done it again. I hadn’t thought through what on earth I was going to say.

“I’m going to take you to a cabin.”

“Like fuck, you are,” she spat out, blood rushed to her face.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

Then she screamed. The loudest scream I’d ever heard. Oh crap! I grabbed her left arm with both of my hands. “Bounce me, Sally.”

Moments later we were standing in the living room of the lakefront cabin. Becky recognized she wasn’t in her dorm room and fainted. I managed to catch her, she was a wisp of a girl, I carried her over to the large sofa, adorned with bear rugs and laid her down carefully. I felt awful. I wanted to tell her I was sorry. I stood watching her for a couple of minutes, she was breathing slowly. Sally appeared.

“Is she okay?”

“Sure, she’ll be fine.”

“Did anybody hear that scream?”

“Certainly did, two girls are in Becky’s room now wondering where she is. Not much you can do, Alberton will find out sooner or later, that’s the plan, right?”

“Seemed like a good idea, but I feel dirty.”

“They took your kids, Jo-el.” I’m not sure if that fact made me feel any better.

“Let’s get Billy.”

“He’s at Pippa’s fathers’ place with a babysitter. He’s watching TV and she’s in the kitchen right now.”

I bounced to the house and picked up Billy, he seemed to remember me and didn’t fight. I returned to the cabin, Becky was still on the sofa, out cold. Damn, I needed her to watch Billy.

“You’ll have to keep an eye in him, Sally until Miss Alberton wakes up.” I switched on the TV and found some cartoons, Billy became engrossed quickly, totally unaware of his change in location.

“That will do, I think. Kale’s boys are in a worse place; they might like the cabin as a respite. Lambert’s children have partners who had nothing to do with this, why cause them grief?”

“Your room service just arrived.”

I bounced back to the Hyatt and devoured the eggs benedict, which were surprisingly good. I slurped down the coffee. Then I picked up a few groceries and was back in the cabin less than ten minutes from when I left.

“Are you going to tell them anything?” Sally asked as soon as I was back.

“I’m sure they’ll know pretty soon; the babysitter is probably freaking out.”

“She already talked to Pippa.”

“Okay, where is Pippa?”

“She’s in Alberton’s office, he’s on the phone with George Mason.”

Becky Alberton stirred on the sofa. We watched as she focused on her surroundings. She was still laying on her back. She saw me and then Sally and slowly pushed herself into a seating position. She began to shake, visibly, I waited for the scream. It came, loud and long, she bent over, her face almost at her knees, she was crying, her hands supporting her head. Eventually the screaming stopped, that was a blessing, she wiped the tears from her eyes and began to take stock of her situation. She saw Billy, who had ignored the outburst and was still engrossed in the TV. Her head darted from side to side, she was planning an escape.

“Becky,” I said, calmly, “we are in Alaska, twelve miles from the nearest town, it’s twenty degrees outside.”

She looked at me and glared, I saw hate in her eyes, that upset me more than she could realize. There was too much for her to deal with, it didn’t compute in her brain. That much was as clear as day on her face. She ran. Straight to the front door, which wasn’t locked. I heard it open and felt the gush of freezing cold air fill the cabin. She left it open, so I went and closed it.

“Tell me if she gets into difficulty,” I told Sally. Snow at least a foot deep covered the path from the house. The sneakers on her feet were thin, I didn’t think she’d be gone long. In less than two minutes the draft of cold air hit me once more and Becky was back. She was crying, she sat on a chair in the hallway away from us, she’d closed the front door, she was learning.

“I don’t think she’ll be much of a babysitter for a while,” I said, “so monitor Billy, I think it’s time to visit his mum and her father. Are they alone?”

“Yes, he’s still on the phone.”

I bounced into Alberton’s office. It was neat, no papers lying around, two chairs in front of a custom desk, pictures of Alberton with various important people on the walls. A plastic plant in the corner by the window, which looked out to a green area and a parking lot.

He put the phone down, he knew immediately where his daughter was, or at least, he knew what had happened. Pippa jumped out of her chair and was about to run to me, but she hesitated. She stood still, I could see she’d been crying.

Alberton spoke first. “Is she alright?”

I nodded. “Disorientated, she fainted initially, but she’s awake now, she tried to run but realized it was pointless.”

“Where?” he asked.

“Alaska.”

Both Alberton and Pippa gulped.

“Billy’s fine, he’s watching TV,” I said.

Pippa sniveled and pulled out a tissue to blow her nose.

“Swop,” I said. Alberton knew.

He examined me carefully, up and down. When I’d entered the room, he was fraught, a distressed father. I understood perfectly how he felt. Now he was gathering himself, breathing evenly, almost thankful. The unknown had become known.

“They don’t know, do they?”

I shook my head. “Are they oaky?”

“Scared, bewildered, but we haven’t harmed them.”

I nodded, a sign of gratefulness.

“You’ve changed their lives. They can’t go back; they are my children and must accept that. What you did was wrong, very wrong. I came to you, I told you who I was, I showed you what I can do and I used the technology to help you and you stabbed me in the back. How am I supposed to proceed now?”

He didn’t say anything. He just stared at me, fear still shone in his eyes. Pippa was the same. But she knew I wouldn’t hurt Billy, she’d seen me with him, we’d been together, we’d slept in the same bed. She radiated sadness, regret, mistakes, it was as if she wanted to fling her arms around my neck and kiss me again, but she realized that would never happen.

Alberton hadn’t agreed yet and I wrestled with an alternative from his view and I didn’t like anything I came up with.

“What are you waiting for?” I asked.

He didn’t reply immediately he pushed his chair back from his desk, stood up and turned to look out of the window. His back was to me.

“This is my last day,” he said, the tone was mournful. “I was wrong.” He didn’t look around. “The Europeans are besieging us; with your intelligence, they’ve rounded up more than a hundred people. They have so much evidence they don’t know which way to turn. They are calling you a God. They are desperate to meet you.” He turned back, his voice became quieter. “They are frightened, also. I think when they hear what you’ve told us, they will be even more so. It will take a long time to accept you, maybe we never will, I don’t know. I’m sorry. For your children, I understand why you would want to keep this a secret from them. We can try, I’ll request a directive that hides their identity, I’ll say that the raid on your home in San Francisco was unrelated. It might work, I don’t know.”

“What did you tell them?” I asked.

He stood by the desk, his fingertips on his right-hand resting on the surface, his left hand lifted to his forehead and he pinched the side of his temple and frowned. “That you were a fugitive and we were using them to find you.”

“Maggie’s a police office.”

“She knew we were outside the law. She said what we claimed was ridiculous. We used a lie detector test, they don’t know anything. I’m sorry.” He bowed his head. “How do we do this?”

“Did you tell them I was, Jo-el, or the Birdman?”

He shook his head, “No.”

“Take them home,” I said.

He nodded.

“What about our children?” It was Pippa.

I wanted to tell them that when my children were home I’d release Becky and Billy, but why wait? If they lied to me I’d just grab them again, they knew that.

“I can bring Billy here, now, if you’d like.” Pippa’s face brightened, her eyes lifted, she was a mother again. “What should I do with Becky?” I looked at Alberton.

“Take me to her,” he said without hesitation. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Okay.”

I bounced to the cabin and picked up Billy, he was still the contented little boy I’d left in front of the TV. Pippa had a great kid. I wondered what she would do next. I was back in Alberton’s office in less than a minute. Pippa cried and held her son close in her arms. I apologized again to her but she didn’t listen. As far as Billy was concerned I don’t think he would suffer any trauma from the events of the morning.

Alberton came over to me and I held him under the arm and bounced back to the cabin. Becky was sitting on the sofa, where she’d fainted. There was a glazed look across her face, this episode in her life would take time to dissipate, I hoped she would be okay. Alberton hugged his daughter, there was an obvious bond between them, it was truly encouraging to see.

“I’m sorry, Becky,” I said. She stared at me like I was a ghost or a daemon in a horror movie. She didn’t understand what had happened, I wondered how Alberton would explain it. I think in time she would look back and see it as an adventure, or that’s what I hoped.

He told her to close her eyes and he held her very close, her head in his shoulder. I bounced them to his office. I asked Sally where Maggie and Sean were.

“Above ground, in a car, heading for the airport.”

I left the two of them and went back to the hotel room in San Francisco. The maid at the cabin would be surprised, she’d left the TV on and the heating turned up and there were groceries in the kitchen.

“Let’s get some coffee,” I said to the wall. Sally appeared, grinning widely; she took my arm.