Runaway Heart

THIRTY-SIX

Jack and Susan were halfway to Malibu in the stolen XKE when Herman's cell phone rang. Susan dug it out of her purse and answered.

"It's me." Herman's tired voice seemed to come from far away. "We gotta meet, but I'm pretty sure these calls are being intercepted."

"Hang on a minute, Dad," she said and turned to Jack. "He wants to meet."

"Pick some place you both know, but don't mention the name."

"Dad, without saying it, remember where you took me for my birthday?"

"Yeah."

"Meet us there. It'll take us less than an hour."

"Right." Herman hung up.

The separate structures that made up the Malibu Beach Inn clung to the rocky crevices like brightly painted barnacles. Some units were wedged into the hillside, others perched on granite pads high above the ocean, with views that looked down on spectacular rock formations. The entire ocean side of the inn was wrapped by a meandering patio that contained six tables for the tiny gourmet restaurant.

Susan and Jack walked into the lobby and stopped at the front desk. Herman had registered, taking two rooms under his own name.

Great, Herm… why don't you just take out an ad? Jack thought.

Herman had left a note for Susan that read: We're on the veranda.

They made their way out onto the rambling, narrow cliff-side patio and found Herman and Sandy seated at a table overlooking the ocean. The crashing waves spewed foam that glistened in half a dozen powerful Xenon spotlights.

Herman was in his lawyer mode, half-glasses perched on the end of his nose and yellow pad open, scribbling hieroglyphic notes as they approached.

When Susan hugged her father he felt her damp clothing. "You're wet," he said, looking at her with concern.

"So are you," Susan said. Jack turned to the Asian woman seated with him. "You must be Sandy."

Herman introduced them. After Jack and Susan were seated, it took about fifteen minutes for them to bring each other up to date.

Herman listened to the account of Jack's speargunning of the DARPA commando on Lido Island and their close escape. His basset jowls were pulled tight, and he frowned when Jack told him about the stolen Jaguar. "Where's the car now?"

"In the parking lot, but I switched the plate with another car parked there." Jack smiled. "That oughta keep the ride cool for a few hours."

"Maybe you should ditch it and get a rental."

"Except the Wirta Agency is ever vigilant as it watches over your expense sheet." If Jack was expecting some kind of praise for his courage and frugality, he was disappointed. What he got were strained looks all around. It seemed the spear gun caper and car theft had turned his karma brown.

Sandy and Herman recounted their ordeal with the chimera in Streisand's guesthouse. Jack thought it was by far the better story.

"You actually saw one?" Susan asked, amazed.

"Honey, not only did I see it, but it wanted us to help it."

Susan frowned. "I thought you said it tried to kill you."

"The more I think back… I'm not sure. Sandy doesn't agree, but I think it was reaching out to us, with a pleading look all over its face… in its eyes."

Sandy looked over at Jack. "Herm wants to believe it was pleading for help, but I can tell you, the only way we got away was by jumping into the pool. They can't swim." They all sat awkwardly at the small table searching for something to say. Finally it was Herman who continued. "We grabbed my things, then went out through the side gate and escaped up the beach. We had to leave the cars. Since the chimera killed the deputy, there're enough cops standing around at Barbra's to open a donut franchise. We walked the two miles to get here." Then Herman announced his legal strategy. He was going to file a TRO against DARPA on behalf of "Charles Chimera, a being." He was going to use this case to change the rules on standing. Then, as they sat in stunned slence, he detailed the rest of his plan.

"I hope it works," Sandy said softly. "If it doesn't, you'll be on CNN, eating crow."

Herman and Sandy ordered food while Jack and Susan had coffee. Sandy Toshiabi started sketching on her paper place mat while waiting for the food to arrive. By the time they had finished dinner she had completed the drawing. She turned it around for all of them to see. It was a remarkably good sketch of the thing that had chased them into the pool.

"It really looks like that?" Jack asked, thinking it resembled a prehistoric man, but with a more intelligent face.

"That's exactly what it looks like," Herman confirmed.

After paying the bill they walked back to the lobby. Herman said he and Jack could share one room, Susan and Sandy the other. At Jack's suggestion, they stopped at the front desk to change the registration into Sandy 's name.

Jack said, "I wanna check on this address in Bel Air that Shane gave me. See who lives at 264 Chalon Road. I'll be back in two or three hours."

"I'm coming with you," Susan said. Jack started to refuse, but, the truth was, he was really enjoying her company, so he ended up agreeing.

They left Sandy and Herman plotting the lawsuit and got back into the Jag and drove south on PCH, then followed Sunset toward Beverly Hills.

What they were about to find wasn't as strange as Herman's chimera, but it sure as hell would change the events that followed.