I looked at Jack. He was observing Mariam Avery with focused attention, and a hint of anger. I wondered what was going through his mind.
After a moment he said, “We are in this story from head to toes, don’t you think we deserve to know all the details of what is happening?”
“Not if the details are just suspicions I have and they involve the life of someone else”, Avery replied calmly
Jack sighted
“I am sorry…I am so strained though, it is just impossible to live like this, on the edge at every moment”, he said, running a hand on his forehead and on his hair.
I felt a pungent sense of guilt for having dragged him in the mess I had caused. When he raised his head his eyes met my frown.
“It will be fine though”, he said smiling, and I smiled back, sadly.
“You know that your neighbour John Wheeler left the police and is now moving to a different state. I don’t know what job he will be starting, but his abrupt move seems strange to me”, Avery said, interrupting our diversion
“Oh please, don’t tell me John is involved, please don’t”, I said, shaking my head.
A part of me thought all along he was, but I didn’t want to hear Avery confirm my suspicions
“My daughter had a baby-sitter, she was about 22, a young girl”, she begun
I nodded
“Yes, you know already. One day she mentioned she couldn’t come at the usual time because she had a doctor’s appointment. Our conversation had been vague, but she told me she had a mild allergy to some flower that grows around here. Essentially she was healthy. Later on I asked her about her allergy, and she told me they gave her a medicine. She told me it was new, “experimental” she said, but that it was supposed to work better than the other ones out there. I had objected that experimental meant that it was not tested thoroughly. She told me there were no risks associated with it, or so said the doctor. One night she was supposed to come for my daughter but didn’t. She was punctual, and when I phoned and got no answer I knew something had happened. John and I looked around her for her for the whole night, and found her floating on the lake in the morning. Dead. John took on the investigation, they said I was too involved to take the lead on it. He found some pills at her place, they were not commercial. He went around the hospitals to trace down her medical records, and found the doctor who was in charge”.
Avery paused and sighted.
“Was it Sandeep? Wilhelm?”, I asked, and thought, was it me and my polymer?
“No, they are not doctors”, she replied
“So?”
“But John found that the doctor who was taking care of her was in contact with Sandeep”, she said
“And Sandeep passed on experimental pharmaceuticals to this doctor for him to test them on his patients”, Jack concluded
“That is a possibility. John thought so. He was investigating about this to find out, but one day he walked in the office and told us, I’m quitting. No explanation, nothing. He remained in charge of the investigation for a while longer, but I could tell he wasn’t really working on it anymore”
“And who is investigating on this now?”, Jack asked
“I am”, Avery said
“You think Sandeep menaced John?”, I asked
“I am sure he did”, Avery replied without hesitation
“Do you think my polymer has something to do with this?”, I said abruptly
“Nobody knows what they gave the girl”
“But did you try to talk to John about it? If he was menaced maybe he knew more than he should have…maybe he discovered what they gave the girl…”, I insisted
“Of course I tried to speak to John, but he won’t talk”
“He was elusive with me too…”, I remembered
“When was he elusive?”, Avery frowned
“I’ve told you everything already…he was acting odd when I had gone over to dine at the Wheelers place and when I had met him after getting out of the hospital”
“Nothing else?”, Avery insisted with a suspicious tone
“Well, he was driving with a woman during work hours…”, I said shyly
“With a woman?”, Avery asked, her eyebrows arching
“Well, I assumed she was his lover so I never told you…”, I begun wishing I hadn’t
“Did you see them together only once?”
“Yes”
“And why do you say she was her lover?”
“I don’t know…she was leaning very close to him as he drove, and it seemed like she was crying although I cannot say for sure, I didn’t have the time to look that well”
“What was she like?”
“Blond, pretty, with large breasts, and she was wearing a flowery dress…”
Avery bugged her eyes
“Ok, let me know if you remember anything else”, she said, with a half reproachful note in her tone
“Will do”, I said, annoyed now by her tone
After all she is keeping things from us too, right?, I thought
“Can we go home now?”, Jack asked
“Let me speak to my colleague to tell him what to do with Gill and I will drive you back”, said Avery
“I should phone Brad and understand what is happening at FoodTech labs, perhaps go there now. Also…”, I started, remembering all of a sudden
“Yes?”, said Avery
“What happened to Mike? I know for sure he never got to FoodTech labs…”, I said
“We have been looking for him with no success”, Avery said
“But he cannot just have dissolved…”
“No, and we will keep looking for him”, Avery told me
“Sure…I need to know…”, I said, almost talking to myself, my head dropping and my thoughts lingering around flecks of images, of moments together at FoodTech labs. I still couldn’t believe Mike was capable of making profit in shady ways, although so far everything pointed in this direction.
“Anyways, if you could figure out the dynamics at FoodTech labs that would help”, Avery continued
“Help?”, I asked, wondering what exactly she expected of me
“Well, we need to know how things are evolving. I have people sitting outside the FoodTech to monitor any movement there”
“You do?”, I asked surprised
“Of course. And if I could have an insider it would be even better”
“But don’t you think Iris needs a break?”, Jack said, with an edge in his tone
“I want to do this”, I said, taking his hand
He shrugged, surrendering at my insistence
“Ok, but call me”, he told me.
Then, addressing Avery, “Will you drive her back?”
“Either I or someone else will go pick her up”
“Ok”, Jack replied dryly
“And what will you be doing?”, I asked Jack
“Get my shop started again, I suppose”
“Ok guys, give me a moment and then I’ll drive you where you need to go. All right?”, Avery said, and got up without waiting for our answer.
Chapter 82
We drove with a minimal exchange of words to Jack’s house. I had the whole back seat to myself, and I let the landscape and the motion of the car lull me. When we reached our destination and the car came to a stop I wished we could drive on for a while longer, and that I could prolong this suspended moment of non-action till I knew what to do and where to go with my life. But no, it was time to get on my feet again.
Before getting out of the car Jack turned towards me and said, “There’s no need for you to stay at work for too long today. Call me when you are there and get a ride here from the detective on your way back”.
I smiled a faint sleepy smile and nodded.
“Not from a colleague, from the detective”, he iterated, looking at me and at Avery in turn.
“We’ll make sure nothing happens”, Avery reassured him, accompanying her words with a conclusive nod that meant, you ca
n leave the car now.
But Jack was anxious and he before climbing up the stairs to his apartment he turned around again, and I waved a vague farewell sign with my hand, whispering, “don’t worry”, although Jack couldn’t hear me.
“Let’s go”, said Avery, pressing the accelerator
She drove in silence and I gradually slept back into the peaceful semi-conscious state I had experienced earlier, till we entered the highway. Then I sliced my eyes open and saw cars rolling fast on the 4 lane street and it all flashed back in my mind, FoodTech labs, the accident, McMurrich before her death. It didn’t seem true that I could get through my day without running into her and worrying about what she might ask.
“I haven’t called Brad…”, I said, more to myself than to Avery
Avery looked at me from the rear mirror, but didn’t answer
“Perhaps I should call him…”, I continued
“I spoke to him yesterday, there’s a new manager in charge now”, Avery told me
“Really? You should have told me before…”, I started, but it didn’t really matter after all
“I suppose I’ll have to meet him”, I continued carelessly
“Keep me informed about what you see, what the new manager decides to do with the polymer”, Avery reminded me
“But shouldn’t the authorities impose to stop all the research on the polymer?”, I said
It occurred to me only then that this was the most obvious and simple solution
“We cannot. FoodTech is a huge corporation, and we can’t just tell them to hold back a product that holds the promise of making you guys earn big bucks. Not unless we have definitive evidence. And even then it might not be so easy…”, she explained
“Why do you say, you guys?”, I snapped, offended
“Don’t you work there?”
“Yes, but I am not “them””, I objected
Avery shrugged
“Anyways, what do you mean you cannot stop them even if you have evidence?”, I continued, with an unintended bitter edge in my voice
“It means exactly this. It means that when a corporation is huge it can dictate the law, or, accommodate it if you will”
“So what’s the point of finding out what’s happening?”
“The point is that my daughter’s babysitter died and my colleague’s career got screwed and now I want to see clear through this. And perhaps pin these bastards down. You’ve got to keep trying, or else you lose from the start”, Avery said, and there was anger in her voice
“I will change life”, I said, suddenly realizing I really would
“One step at a time”, she replied, her tone calm again
“No I am really…”, I began
“Wait”, Avery said sharply and I froze
“What?”
“The car we just passed. The guy who followed us at the airport is driving it”
“Did he see us?”, I asked
“I don’t know. We’ll find out soon. And I am sorry, but you’ll be late for work”, Avery said, shifting lane and slowing down while other cars passed between our car and Ronny’s.
Then Avery moved to his lane, keeping behind him while leaving a couple of cars between our car and his.
She grabbed her radio.
“Detective Avery speaking. I am on highway 102, heading west. I am following a suspect, send reinforcements”
“Received. We will send another car”
“Ok”, Avery said and put down the radio
“If the guy doesn’t see us we might learn a lot from this ride”, she said, her eyes fixed on the road.
We drove for about half an hour along the highway, during which Avery did her best to make our presence unnoticeable. It was hard to tell if we were succeeding or if Ronny had seen us but had decided not to change speed anyways. I had drove along this part of the highway before, but never stopped to see what was around, and there didn’t seem to be much anyways. But then I saw an exit. Ronny took it and we followed. It was just our car and his on the road.
“Lay on the backseat. We can hope the guy didn’t get a full look at my face, but he certainly knows yours very well”, Avery told me
And so I lay on the backseat, looking at the clouds passing us by, wondering what we would do when we figured where Ronny was going, but not daring to ask and distract Avery. I felt like I did as a kid when there was an emergency, and my parents told me, “Stay here and don’t move”. I was tense, but then I couldn’t do much about what was happening and I sat there faithfully waiting for them to fix it
Avery picked up the radio again. “I took exit 109, I am following the car”
Some fuzz and a voice. “Your colleagues are 12 miles from your current location”
“Ok”, Avery said and cut the communication
She took a turn and continued driving more slowly than she had before. The asphalt became uneven. I had the feeling that we had moved onto a small street, and from what I could tell from my position there was nothing around.
“Where is this bastard going?”, Avery hissed, and took the radio again
“The man is going somewhere in the fields, he turned just now in an unpaved road. If I follow him there he’ll notice for sure, if he hasn’t already”
Fuzz and a voice on the other side of the line. “Your colleague is 0.5 miles from you now”
“Ok”, Avery said.
“I’ll get him on the line”
“Mariam, this is Sam”
“I see you now”, said Avery and pulled over few meters past the entrance of the road Ronny had taken
“I see you too, wait”
“Ok”, said Avery, and placed the radio on its holder.
She produced a binocular from the storage compartment.
“There a rundown house there, a sort of old farm, and there’s other two cars parked outside”, she told me. “We’ll drive there is a few moments, then I and my colleague will get out the car. You don’t move, don’t get out of the car and keep lying where you are now. Clear?”
“Yes”, I replied
“Good”, she said.
She sounded calm and in control, but was she?
I heard a noise of tires along dusty asphalt, and saw a car pulling over in front of us.
“Let’s wait a few moments before we go”, Avery said through the radio
“Ronny must know you were following him”, replied a male voice. Sam’s.
“Then why would he come here?”, Avery objected
“A trap?”
“Come in my car”, Avery replied, and after a moment Sam was sitting on the passenger side, and caught a glance of me lying on the back
“What?!”, he exclaimed
“I was driving her to work when we spotted Ronny”
“She shouldn’t be here”, Sam objected
“But she is”, Avery said, matter of fact
“There are three cars and at least three people in the house, and if we drive there they’ll see us coming for sure. The street gives on the front entrance”, she continued
“Let me see”, Sam said, taking Avery’s binocular
“They are walking away from the house”, said Avery
“To the area where trees are”, he added
“What are they doing?”, Avery said
“Let’s wait and see”, he replied, his eyes glued on the binocular
I saw the watch. 11.01 a.m. Everything became still in the car, Avery and Sam stopped speaking.
11.05.
“They are in the woods now”, Sam said
“Can you still track them?”, asked Avery.
“Sort of. They are digging something out of the ground. What the hell are they doing? Ok, move, now!”, Sam urged
“Luke, let’s go!”, he yelled into the radio
Our engine started, the wheels screeched, another car started, its noise following ours. So there was another policeman, Luke.
Avery reversed the car abruptly, and we raced across the
field, the car jerking, bouncing me on the back seat.
“Don’t move girl!”, Sam almost yelled at me, turning briefly towards the back, before going back to the binocular
“I won’t”, I said, my voice shaking as I bounced
The car kept rolling fast, impossible not to notice us in the stillness of the burnt summer air.
“They are running back to the cars, bastards! They want to get away!”, Sam yelled, dropping the binocular on the floor and pulling out his gun.
Avery stopped abruptly, pulled out her gun, she and Sam opened the doors almost simultaneously
“Police. Stop!”, Avery yelled
The men kept running, I couldn’t see much from my position but I heard gunfire, it came from the men, then another shot, from Sam, a shout of pain, another shot and a second shout. A shot back at us, Avery and Sam bending behind the doors.
“Stop!”, another voice yelled from the car behind us. That was Luke
“Stop!”, again and then a shot, from Luke, a shot back, and another a shot from Avery.
“Ah!”, I heard, loud, painful, brutal, and a thump resonating in the Californian golden land.
I peeked from the back seat, disobeying, and saw Avery and Sam walk with determined anger, fear maybe, and then I saw Luke follow.
“Don’t move girl!”, they told me, but I could not help it and so I sat up, and saw three bodies sprawled on the yellowed grass.
Time dilated in an infinite present.
Ronnie, face down, his arm reaching out for a gun. It had fallen too far for him to grab it, but still he was trying, and although I knew it was us or him, it pained me to see him this way. He had told me he did not want to kill me, and a part of me still wanted to believe this was true.
The cleaning lady. She didn’t move, she was crouching in the fetal position, her face distorted in a grimace of pain and her jaw dropping. Nothing but a dead body now.
Sandeep. Sandeep tried to reach in his pocket.
“Put your hands up!”, Avery yelled but he wouldn’t listen.
“Hands up!”, she yelled again, but he kept moving his hands to his pocket.
And when they were finally in his pocket Sam hit his fist
“Ah!”, Sandeep shouted, his cry inhumane, loud, resonating from this well-educated man I had met in mint-clean labs, a top notch scientist in top notch facilities. The blood spread around him.
Sam walked back to the car, took the radio.
“We need an ambulance”, he said.
I was numb. I could not stich events, I just saw fragments of time, and motion and space.
Avery crouched on the body of the cleaning lady, turned her face upwards, touches her neck to felt the veins, shook her head.