Blood Money (11 page)

Kelton nodded and rang the doorbell.

“I thought you were just making something up
to placate me,” Jessica said.

“Why would I do that?”

“Because that’s what most people do. They
lie about stuff they don’t want to talk about.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not like
most people,” Kelton said.

Jessica opened her mouth but before anything
came out, a loud, bellowing voice on the other side of the door
said, “Who the hell is it?”

“An old friend,” Kelton said.

“I don’t have any friends,” the voice
replied. “Go away.”

“Open the door you old bastard, it’s me.
Your best and favorite student.”

A deep laugh came from behind the door and
then it opened.

Standing in the entryway was a tall, portly,
balding man dressed in a gray jumpsuit. He had heavily bloodshot
eyes, a nose that had broken and re-set multiple times, and a pale
face mottled with bright red capillary bursts. “Ho-ly shit. My old
pal Kelton, in the flesh.”

“Howdy, Earl.”

Earl’s eyes darted towards Jessica and he
broke out in a toothy smile. “And who do we have here?”

“This is my friend, Jessica.”

“Howdy Miss Jessica,” Earl said. “Pleased to
make your acquaintance.”

Jessica bowed her head slightly. “The
pleasure is all mine.”

“Oh, I doubt that,” Earl said. “But it’s
mighty kind of you to say so anyway.” He pulled the door open wide
and stood aside. “Well, come on in.”

They entered the house, waited as Earl
closed the door behind them, then followed the old man into the
living room. Jessica and Kelton sat next to each other on an old
but well-maintained couch and Earl sat in a recliner to their
right.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” Earl
said.

“Would you believe I just stopped by to
visit?”

“Not for a second.”

Kelton smiled, dropped his head slightly.
“You know me too well, my friend.”

“And I damn well should, considering how
much time we spent together. What’s going on?”

“We had a little mix-up with the law.”

“What kind? Feds or Local?”

“Both,” Kelton said. “Each for different
reasons.”

Earl laughed. “Still getting yourself into
trouble, I see.”

“As always.”

“Care to talk about it?”

“It would probably be better for everyone
involved if we kept that to ourselves for now,” Kelton said.

“It’s that big, huh?”

“Yes it is.”

Earl leaned forward in his chair, his eyes
dancing. “Well, now you
have
to tell me.”

Kelton looked at Jessica.

“What do you think?” he said.

“You tell me,” she said.

“It’s entirely up to you.”

Jessica shrugged, then shifted her head in
the old man’s direction and said, “I created an AIDS vaccine.”

Earl’s brows shot up. “No shit. Really?”

Jessica nodded.

“Everything I’ve seen said we were at least
five years away from anything like that, if it was even possible at
all,” Earl said.

“It sounds like you’ve read up on the
subject.”

“I’ve done a little research.”

“Earl’s an information hound,” Kelton said.
“He cruises the internet all day long, researching whatever he can
get his hands on. He’s especially keen on conspiracy theories.”

“Seriously? You don’t seem the type.”

“There’s not much else for me to do these
days,” Earl said. “But calling me a conspiracy theorist is a bit
misleading. I’m really just a seeker of truth. I find the loonies
spouting off regarding crap they don’t have the slightest clue
about and tell them the truth, regardless of what side of the fence
they fall on.”

“That’s pretty cool.”

“It keeps me busy,” Earl said. “But enough
about me. I’m just a boring old man. I want to hear more about your
vaccine.”

“Well,” Jessica said. “What I created isn’t
a true vaccine, like the one for Polio, or Smallpox. It’s what we
call a treatment vaccine. It’s designed for people that have
already been diagnosed with HIV. Without getting too technical, it
emboldens the affected cells, allowing them to maintain their
integrity and keep the CD4+ T cell count from decreasing,
permanently preventing HIV from becoming full-blown AIDS.”

“I thought there were already drugs that did
that,” Earl said.

“There are,” Jessica said. “But they’re all
drug cocktails, consisting of two doses a day, every day, and they
costs upwards of fifteen thousand dollars a month. The most common
drugs used to treat it weren’t even created specifically for AIDS,
but for cancer, which means they aren’t uniformly effective, and
there are nasty side effects. Plus, they don’t actually prevent HIV
from becoming AIDS, they simply prolong the process. What I created
is a one-time injection, specifically tailored for the AIDS virus,
and it’s permanent. Most importantly, it’s easy to produce, super
cheap, and has no real side effects. Plus it works across the
board, all blood types, no matter what your heritage or
background.”

“So why are you running?”

“Because my handlers in the
government-funded group I worked for told me it didn’t work.”

“But it does,” Earl said. It wasn’t a
question.

Jessica nodded.

“And when you tried to get it out in the
open, they panicked and tried to keep it in the dark.”

“Right again,” Jessica said. “It sounds like
you’ve been down this road before.”

“A time or two, perhaps.”

“I’ll bet you have.”

“Well, thanks for satisfying an old man’s
curiosity,” Earl said. He turned his attention back to Kelton. “I
assume you came for your stuff?”

Kelton nodded.

“What about a place to crash for the
night?”

“I think we’re going to stay on the road for
another couple of hours.”

“Are you sure?” Earl said. “I’ve got plenty
of room.”

“I appreciate the offer,” Kelton said. “But
I want to put as much space as possible between us and San Diego
before calling it a night.”

“I understand.”

Kelton stifled a yawn, started to stand.
“Now, if you don’t mind, we really ought to get going.”

“What?” Earl said. “You’re not going to stay
for a bit, catch up on old times?” He looked at Jessica, gave her a
wink. “I’m sure your friend here would love to hear some old war
stories.”

“Would I ever,” Jessica said.

Kelton knew there was no stopping Earl once
he started talking; it was pointless to even try. His only hope was
to get them out of there before the old man’s engine got revved up.
“We really should get going,” he said. “We’ve still got a long
night ahead of us.”

“Oh, come on,” Jessica said. “Don’t tell me
we can’t spare a few minutes before we hit the road again.” Her
tone was mocking in its complete and utter innocence. “I mean, how
long has it been since you’ve seen your friend here?”

“Too long,” Earl said. “Six months?”

“About that,” Kelton said.

“Well, we can’t just stop by, take what we
need, and run,” Jessica said. “That wouldn’t be very nice.”

“She’s right,” Earl said.

“Besides,” she said. “I could use a little
break from the road, and I’m sure you could too.”

Kelton sighed. Now that Jessica thought she
could get something out of Earl, leaving before she had a chance to
probe him for information was going to be impossible.

“Oh, what the hell,” Kelton said, figuring
he was screwed no matter what. There was no reason to fight the
inevitable.

“Great,” Earl said. “If you guys are hungry,
I could whip up something to eat.”

“I would love some food,” Jessica said. She
offered Kelton a sweet smile. “How about you?”

“I could use something to eat,” Kelton said.
“But I’m sure as hell not going to let Earl whip anything up. His
idea of gourmet food is Spam and crackers.”

“Then get your ass in the kitchen and make
us something, Chef,” Jessica said, waving him away. She slid along
the couch towards Earl. “So, Kelton tells me you taught him the
ropes?”

“That’s right,” Walter said. “I ran my own
business down in San Diego for twenty years—”

Kelton shook his head and left the room.
Although he was uneasy with leaving Jessica alone with Earl, he
knew all he could do was make the food as quickly as possible and
hope that Earl stuck to stories that Jessica couldn’t give him
grief about later.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Kelton’s worst fears were realized upon
returning to the living room ten minutes later with a plate-full of
grilled ham and cheese sandwiches.

Jessica was laughing heartily and looked as
though she had been for some time. Her face was bright red and she
was gasping for air and holding her stomach. Across from her, Earl
was smiling profusely. He had always loved playing to an
audience.

“Having a good time?” Kelton said. He set
the sandwiches down on the coffee table in front of the couch.

Jessica nodded her head. Her hysterics had
died down, but apparently she was still unable to speak.

“Oh, you know,” Earl said. “Just sharing a
few stories about you.”

“I’m sure you are,” Kelton said. Then, to
Jessica, “I hope you don’t believe everything he says. Earl is
known to embellish just a hair.”

“Bullshit,” the old man said. “I just tell
the truth. I’m too old to do anything else.”

“Yeah, but whose version of the truth?”

Earl waved him off. “Don’t start up with
your relativity crap, Kelton. The truth is the truth, regardless of
whether or not it actually happened. Besides, I’ve gone easy on
you. I haven’t even told her about the time you got pissed on by
that bum while you were hiding in the bushes outside the Tijuana
whorehouse, trying to get pictures of Senator Whathisname.”

Jessica started laughing again.

“Oops,” Earl said, feigning surprise. “I
guess I just told her. My bad.”

Kelton tried to stifle his smile but was
unsuccessful.

“You have to stop,” Jessica said, nearly
breathless from exertion. “I’m dying over here.”

“All right,” Earl said. He grabbed a
sandwich and took a bite. “Hey, this is pretty good. But then
again, you could always cook.”

“Where did that come from, by the way?”
Jessica said.

“Beats me,” Earl said. “Cooking sure as hell
wasn’t part of my training regimen.”

“Self-taught,” Kelton said. “After college I
got sick of eating out all the time, so I learned how to cook. It’s
not hard.”

“He’s always been a quick learner,” Earl
said. “I remember when I first starting teaching him the ropes, I
was skeptical at first, because unlike 99% of the other people in
the business, he didn’t have any kind of a military or law
enforcement background. But he took to the job like a camel to
sand. Just like everything else I threw in his path. Even when I
deliberately set him up to fail, he’d somehow figure a way out of
the situation. I’ve never been around someone able to assimilate
information and alter a plan as rapidly as he could. He’s quite the
specimen over there.”

Kelton felt his face beginning to flush.
He’d never taken compliments well. “I’ve always been that way,” he
said. “I have no idea where it comes from.”

“What about your parents?” Jessica said.
“What were they like?”

“I don’t really remember,” Kelton said.
“They died when I was nine. Car accident.”

Jessica cringed. “Oh God, I’m sorry, I would
have never—”

“That’s all right,” Kelton said. “You
couldn’t know.”

“Still—”

Kelton put his hand up and she fell silent.
“It’s fine. Just forget you even mentioned it. I already have.” He
took a bite of his sandwich and let his eyes wander over to the
blank television.

The room fell silent as everyone ate their
sandwiches.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Jessica said after
finishing hers. “Earl, do you mind if I use your restroom?”

“Not at all, honey. It’s down the hall,
first door to your right.”

“Thanks.” She stood up and started towards
the hallway.

Kelton caught himself again watching her as
she walked down the hall.

“That is one interesting girl,” Earl said
after she had disappeared into the bathroom.

“You can say that again.”

“Quite a looker, too.”

Kelton raised his eyebrows.

“Come on, Kelton. I may be old, but I ain’t
dead yet. Some things you just can’t peel your eyes from, no matter
what your age.”

“I hear you there,” Kelton said.

“You know, she’s really smitten with
you.”

“Oh, don’t give me that crap.”

“I’m serious,” Earl said. “She couldn’t stop
asking questions about you while you were in the kitchen. She
wanted to know everything about you.”

“What did you tell her?”

“Just the basics.”

“Nothing personal?”

“Come on, Kelton, give me a little bit of
credit. I told her if she really wanted to know that sort of stuff,
she’d have to get it out of you herself.”

“And what did she say to that?”

Earl shrugged. “She said she’d been trying,
but you’d stonewalled her so far. She also said she wasn’t going to
give up.”

“She’s been trying to get inside my head
from the very beginning. She even admitted to me that she’s just
trying to make me feel uncomfortable because she wants to feel like
she has some control over the situation.”

“Yeah, she told me that too,” Earl said.
“About how she regretted saying it, because even though it was true
at the time, things have changed. She was worried that you were
still holding that first couple of hours against her.”

“She actually said that?”

Earl nodded.

“Damn,” Kelton said. “I wonder if she meant
it?”

He didn’t realize he had asked the question
aloud until Earl answered it.

“It seemed sincere enough to me,” the old
man said. “But what do I know about that kind of stuff?”