The Adamas Blueprint

CHAPTER 22

Luckily, Murray Hamilton had still been out in the parking lot when Erica ran out, ready to chase down the road after him if she had to. He was sitting in the driver’s seat, talking on a cellular phone.

The truck was a huge red two-door Chevy double-wide, pervasive in Texas. Erica had seen the pickup, with its distinctive rear fenders covering pairs of wheels on each side, only a few times before coming to the state. Now it seemed like she saw them everywhere.

The cargo bed liner was empty, but the dings and scratches in the paint testified to hard use in the construction business. A large toolbox straddled the bed directly behind the cab, which was extra long and probably had jump seats to carry two extra people on short trips.

When she walked toward the dualie, she could overhear a heated conversation through the open driver’s side window. She began to make out Murray’s gruff voice clearly as she got closer.

“No, goddammit, you tell him that if he doesn’t have the concrete on site by 8:00 tomorrow morning, I’ll have to go with another supplier. This is Dorman’s last chance. I’ve had it up to my ears with that guy.”

Just then he caught Erica in his peripheral vision and waved for her to approach the truck. Papers were strewn across the front seat, and a Palm Pilot was on his lap.

“You got that, Charlie? No excuses. Listen, I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Mr. Hamilton?” Erica said.

“Please, call me Murray,” he said, stepping out of the cab.

“Murray,” she said, looking in Kevin’s direction. He was behind her about twenty feet, studying the traffic going by, obviously trying to ignore her and his father. She lowered her voice slightly. “We really need the ride. It’s very important that we get to a place on the North side of Dallas called LuminOptics by 7:00. With the weather looking the way it is”-she looked up at the darkening sky-”I’m not sure we can make it anyway.”

“We can make it,” Murray said confidently, even though Erica hadn’t told him where LuminOptics was.

She stole another glance at Kevin. “I’ve convinced Kevin to let you help us, but he probably isn’t going to be very talkative.”

Murray considered it for a moment, then said, “I guess there’s not much I can do about that. He’s probably not going to listen to me either, so you’d better tell him to get in. I’ll just clean the seat off for y’all.”

As he stowed the cellular phone and portable computer under the seat, Erica walked back to Kevin.

“He said he’ll take us there.

“Happy happy, joy joy,” Kevin said with no trace of humor.

“It’ll take an hour to get there. I think you can handle it.”

“All right, but he can leave as soon as we’re there. We’ll call a cab and find another motel until we can get your car.”

“Don’t you think it might be better if we stay at his…”

“No.”

There didn’t seem to be a point in arguing, so Erica walked around the Chevy and climbed in, knowing that Kevin would want to sit as far away from Murray as possible. She had figured that the truck would reek of smoke, but the cab smelled surprisingly fresh, with just a hint of masculine sweat.

Murray began to pull a map from the door pocket. “So let’s see where we’re going.”

“You don’t need that,” Kevin said. “I know where it is.”

“I see you haven’t lost your sense of direction,” Murray said. Murray was referring to Kevin’s ability to look at a map once and never refer to it again, even on long trips, a gift of photographic memory that Erica envied.

“But,” Murray continued, “do you know the best way to get there in rush hour traffic? You haven’t driven in Dallas for years.”

“Fine,” Kevin said. “It’s just off I-635 at Abrams Rd. Taking I-45 to highway 75 should be the quickest way, but you probably know better.”

“Until we get to downtown it is, but the North Dallas Toll Road will be faster from that point on. I think I can swing a few dollars for such a special occasion.”

As Murray began driving toward the interstate, an awkward silence pervaded the cab. It was a couple of minutes before the silence was broken.

Like Erica, Kevin must have noticed the fresh aroma in the pickup. “What’d you do? Quit smoking?”

“As a matter of fact, it’ll be four years this October.” He lowered his voice slightly, indicating that he was speaking to Erica. “I was a two pack a day smoker since I was a teenager. Except for losing Nick’s mother, it was the hardest thing I ever went through.”

Erica cringed, waiting for Kevin to correct his name, but he was quiet.

“So Nick,” Murray said, “what are your hobbies now? I know you don’t shoot anymore.”

Erica glanced at Kevin, puzzled.

“Not since high school,” Kevin said.

“Shooting?” Erica said. “As in guns.”

“Nick didn’t tell you?”

“Dad! She isn’t interested.”

But Murray went on. “I used to take Nick hunting. He was a good shot, so I got him to compete. He did damn well until he dropped it, even won a few trophies. I still have them at home if you ever want them, Nick, but I do get a kick out of showing them to people.”

“What kind of guns?” Erica asked.

“Pistol mostly. Rifle and shotgun, too, but all his trophies were for pistol. If he’d practiced like I wanted him to, he would’ve been even better. It was about the only thing he was good at when he was a teenager, that and those damn video games. And thank God he was, because he sure as hell wasn’t going to win awards in any other sports.”

Kevin let an exasperated sigh, but said nothing.

Erica kept quiet, not wanting to push it, but Murray didn’t seem to need encouragement.

“I mean, if he’d started lifting weights like I told him to, he’d have made one hell of a linebacker. But he was never interested, didn’t mind staying an overweight wimp. That’s why I was so surprised when I saw him today. First time he’s looked normal in his whole life.”

It seemed like the conversation was taking a turn that would upset Kevin, so Erica tried to change the subject.

“So, Murray, do you live on this side of town?”

Outbound traffic on the other side of the freeway was jammed, but luckily the direction they were headed moved along smoothly.

“No, we live out on the east side actually. Or I should say I do. Nick’s mother died about five years ago.”

“I’m sorry,” Erica said.

“Five years may seem like a long time to you since you’re so young. But to me I remember her like it was almost yesterday.”

At that, Kevin let out a dismissive cluck.

“What was that for?” said Murray.

“You could barely remember your name at the time. How could you possibly remember mom?”

“You mean the drinking? I gave that up when I found out your mother had pancreatic cancer.” Erica winced internally, knowing how vicious pancreatic cancer was. Kevin’s mother probably didn’t live long after the diagnosis. “I didn’t have time after that to sit around drinking beer.”

“Yeah, I know how busy you were,” Kevin said. “You didn’t even have time to call me and tell me she was sick. You knew for two months, and you didn’t have the decency to tell me. I wouldn’t have known except for that fluke call from the hospital.”

“I know your mother explained to you why I didn’t tell you.”

“What? That she didn’t want to disrupt my studies? Bullshit! She said that to cover your ass.”

“Nick, I tried to come clean at the funeral, but you wouldn’t listen. Jesus, why would I want to keep something like that from you? I begged her to let me tell you, but she never would have forgiven me. She thought your education was too important to screw up.”

“You thought it wasn’t serious, and you thought I’d overreact when I found out. She told me she didn’t even get chemotherapy, for God’s sake.”

“And I thought you knew your mother better than that. She read up on pancreatic cancer. She didn’t want to go through all that chemotherapy crap just to live another month. It wasn’t her way.”

“Whatever you want to believe,” Kevin said.

“Boy, you must be in big trouble to let me help you.”

“To tell the truth,” Erica said, “we are. Someone should probably know in case…something happens.”

“Well, it can’t be trouble with the police, seeing as how they just let you go. Do you kids owe money to someone?”

Kevin looked out the side window, brooding. Erica knew that the issues between him and Murray weren’t going to be worked out on this short trip, so she let Kevin sulk.

“No, it’s not that simple. Some men are after us. We think we know why, but we still don’t know who. They want something that we have. The place you’re taking us has equipment that will help us get out of this.”

“Okay,” said Murray. He seemed reluctant to go into any more depth on the subject, and Erica didn’t push it.

Up ahead, a sign showed the exit for the North Dallas Toll Road.

“How long until we get there,” Erica said. Her watch read 6:22. Rain was just starting to spatter against the windshield.

“About 30 minutes if we don’t hit any traffic. I’d go faster, but the toll road always has plenty of cops during rush hour. We’d never make it if we got stopped.”

Erica smiled. “I think I’ve had enough of the police for one afternoon.”

Thirty minutes later, they were still ten minutes from LuminOptics. A wreck on the toll road had slowed traffic, but it could have been worse. Erica had been stuck in traffic for an hour several times while she had been in Houston, and she’d heard Dallas was no better.

At 7:03 they pulled into the almost deserted LuminOptics parking lot. The facility was located in the middle of Greenmont, a long, dead-end street off Abrams Rd. Similar squat warehouse-type buildings lined the street. Like LuminOptics, most of the parking lots allowed open access to the street, but a ten-foot-high chain-link fence separated the rear delivery lot from the front, as well as the LuminOptics lot from the one next to it.

Only one car remained in the lot, and Erica prayed that it was the sales rep’s. Activity at the other buildings along the street was nonexistent.

Murray stopped the pickup in front of the building. It was pouring now. Kevin hopped out, scurried through the rain to the front alcove, and knocked on the door. A man in his early fifties opened it. Erica cracked the window.

“You Kevin Hamilton?” the man said.

Erica was relieved; it was the same wavering voice she’d spoken with this afternoon.

“Yes, and that’s Erica Jensen,” he said, pointing toward the truck.

“I was about to give up on you two,” the sales rep said. “I was just locking up the place when you knocked. Come on in.”

Kevin ran back to the truck and picked up his backpack.

“All right,” he said to Murray. “We can take it from here. Have a good life.” Kevin began to turn and walk away.

“Will you call me sometime…Kevin?” Murray asked.

Kevin turned back and stared at him. “I don’t know,” Kevin said, surprising Erica because it wasn’t a flat refusal. Then he walked into LuminOptics.

“What are you going to do now?” Murray said.

“We can call a cab. We’ll be all right now. Thanks for getting us here in time.”

“I was glad to do it. And I’d like to ask you to do something to return the favor.”

“Sure, anything.”

“I didn’t want to tell Nick this to shame him into calling me, but I have cancer. Lung cancer. I guess I didn’t give up cigarettes soon enough.”

“What’s the prognosis?”

“Oh, I’ve probably got a year left at least. But you have to promise not to tell him. I don’t want his pity. Just try and get him to call me. I have my friends and the business, but he’s my only family.”

Erica saw sincerity in his wide hazel eyes.

“I’ll do my best.”

“I knew you would. You seem like a fine match for Nick. Don’t let him lose you.”

“We’re just friends.”

“No you aren’t. I can tell. It’s in the way you take care of him. If you’re not together now, it’s just a matter of time.” He winked.

“Goodbye, Murray.”

Erica shook his hand and climbed out of the truck. She smiled and waved to him as he drove back toward the freeway. Then she went to look for Kevin.

Like most Texas buildings during the summer, the LuminOptics offices were chilly from the air conditioning. A receptionist’s desk stood in the first room. Through the doorway, she could see a hall with open offices on either side. She headed to the only one that still had its light on.

When she entered the office, the sales rep nodded and then returned his attention to Kevin, who was examining a piece of equipment. It looked like a telescope, about three feet long and six inches in diameter, cradled in a receptacle.

“Is he gone?” Kevin said without looking up.

“Yes. Is this what we need?”

The sales rep chimed in. “I believe so. The model XXP-2400 blue light laser. The most reliable in the industry.”

“Yeah, it looks okay,” Kevin said. “Do you have the check?”

Erica pulled the cashier’s check out of her purse and handed it to the sales rep, who examined it as closely as Kevin had studied the laser.

“I’ll just need to make a call and verify this.”

After the sales rep left the room, Kevin began boxing up the laser.

“Why’d you have to be so hard on him?”

“What are you talking about?”

“He seemed like he was trying to make amends with you.”

“Oh, you mean my dad.”

“Who else would I mean?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ve been bottling up everything for so long, it had to come out somehow.”

“Then you don’t hate him?”

“I never hated him,” Kevin said.

“You could’ve fooled me.”

“Well, maybe I did. Now, I just try not to think about him. But seeing him brings up all these memories. It’s more painful than anything else.”

“Then you’ll call him?”

“I don’t know. We’ll see. Right now, we’ve got to call a cab.”

While Kevin finished repacking the laser tightly in its box, Erica used the yellow pages and telephone on the desk. She gave the address to the cab company and hung up.

“They said it’ll be twenty to thirty minutes,” she said as the sales rep returned with a large smile on his face.

“The check cleared with no problem,” he said. “Is everything to your satisfaction?”

“Yes, thanks.”

The sales rep put on his coat and escorted them to the front door, helping Kevin carry the laser. They placed it gently on the cement outside the building under the awning to protect the laser from the rain, which was now coming down in sheets. The sales rep locked the door.

“I’m sorry I can’t let you wait inside,” he said.

“That’s all right,” Erica said. “You’ve done enough already. Our cab will be here soon.”

The sales rep looked curious and then shrugged. The circumstances were rather strange, Erica thought. But the money seemed to quiet him, and he climbed into his car.

A minute after the sales rep drove away, a Taurus turned onto Greenmont. Erica didn’t pay much attention to it; it was probably an employee returning from dinner for some late night work at one of the other offices on the block. She was about to ask Kevin where they were going to go when the Taurus suddenly veered into the LuminOptics parking lot.

“Oh shit!” Kevin said almost under his breath. The next word was shouted. “Run!”

Erica’s stomach dropped when she realized Kevin’s terror. Kevin grabbed her hand and sprinted toward the far end of the parking lot, the downpour drenching them almost immediately. The Taurus drove straight at them as if it were going to run them down. Kevin and Erica tried angling away from the chain link fence separating them from the parking lot next door, but the Taurus skidded to a stop ten feet in front of them, blocking the only way out of the enclosed lot.

A smiling man with perfectly coiffed black hair lowered the passenger window. In the driver’s seat sat a beefy younger man with a crewcut. Her focus left the black-haired man’s grinning face when he lifted a pistol above the window sill.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Hamilton,” he said. “You can’t know how happy I am to see you.”