Diamond Sky (Diamond Sky Trilogy Book 1) (23 page)

‘How do I rewind?’ he asked, eager for a repeat viewing to
make sure his eyes did not deceive him.

The boy knew at once the part of the clip Lucas wished to
see again. He took the footage back a few seconds and returned the device to
the policeman. When Lucas saw the chicken disappear into thin air for the third
time, even he could not write it off as a mere trick of the mind.

‘Who else has seen this?’ he asked.

‘Nobody,’ replied the boy.
‘Except for Mrs
Valerie and the sad lady.’

Lucas rubbed the top of the boy’s head.

‘You’ve done well, but I am going to need to borrow this for
a while. I know a man who just may be able to explain exactly what is happening
in this video.’

Chapter 25

‘You have to leave,’ said the Aboriginal man. ‘The
scientists are very busy and cannot see you today.’

‘I’m not here to see any scientists,’ replied Lucy. ‘I am
waiting for a friend.’

‘You have to go. I’m sorry.’

She was becoming increasingly frustrated with the conversation.
This man came out shortly after
Davo
had gone inside.
He seemed unwilling to engage her in a reasoned conversation and just kept
repeating over and over that she should go. If she were alone, she would gladly
have obliged with the request, but she could not leave without the mechanic.

‘My friend is inside. If you go and speak to your boss, you
will see this. He had an appointment.’

‘The professor is not to be disturbed. The only people
inside are the scientists and the army men. Nobody else can come today.’

She wanted to bang her head against the steering wheel. Why
was he not listening to her?

‘How many times do I have to rep
...’

She stopped mid-sentence when she saw
Davo
running from around the side of the building. It was instantly apparent that her
friend was alarmed and in a quite a hurry to leave. She tried to open her car
door, but the Aboriginal was leaning against it and it would not budge.

‘That is my friend there,’ she told him. ‘He can explain
everything, if you will only let me out.’

The Aboriginal turned, but he did not look at
Davo
for long. Something else, over the far side of the
observatory building caught his eye. Lucy followed his line of sight until she
saw the second man.

The newcomer on the scene was tall, shirtless and had a toned
muscular physique. It took her a moment, but she recognised him from the Sly
Fox. It was the arsehole that tried to pick her up and made her spill her
father’s ashes. What did this creep want? She tried again to open the car door
and that was when she noticed the gun.

‘Look out!’ she screamed, but it was already too late.

She heard the bullet as it exploded out of the end of the
soldier’s pistol and she heard it again as it impacted into the back of David
Armareth
.

The stricken mechanic fell into the arms of the Aboriginal
man.

Lucy was finally able to force open her door and she rushed
out to see what, if any, help she was able to offer.

It was too late. Unlike her father,
Davo
had no last words, no final wish. She looked into his eyes and she knew that he
had already gone. The only sound she could hear was of footsteps approaching
from behind.

‘Put your hands where I can see them.’

The Aboriginal made no attempt to move so she knew that the
killer was addressing her. Very slowly, she raised herself to her feet and
turned around to face him.

‘Who are you?’ the soldier asked.

It was not the question she was expecting.

‘Excuse me?’

‘I said - who are you?’

‘You know who I am.’

He lowered his weapon, but kept it in his hand.

‘What about the man I just shot; does he know you too?’

‘You mean, did he know me before you murdered him?’

‘Just answer the question.’

‘Not until Lucas gets here.’

‘Lucas won’t be coming. I’m in charge. Now tell me what your
relationship was with that scumbag down there.’

‘No.’

She half expected him to reply by putting a bullet in her
head. Before he had the opportunity, the door to the observatory opened and a
second soldier came out. She also remembered this man from the Sly Fox. He too
was carrying a gun and when he saw that his colleague had lowered his weapon,
he did the same. Unlike the first soldier, he actually holstered it too.

‘Was that the killer?’ the second soldier asked, seeing the
body that lay between Lucy and the Aboriginal man.

‘That’s him,’ replied the first soldier. ‘He won’t be doing
any more harm.’

The second soldier appeared shocked.

‘You killed him?’

‘Yes I did, lieutenant. He was a murderer fleeing the scene
and rather than let him get away, I took him out. Do you have a problem with
that?’

‘No, Captain.’

The lieutenant looked at Lucy and flinched. She could see he
was uncomfortable with what had happened. The camaraderie that existed between
the men back at the bar was no longer evident.

‘Where are the scientists?’ the captain asked.

‘Inside,’ replied the lieutenant. ‘They’re both safe. I told
them not to come out until I give them the all clear.’

‘It’s best if they do not see the body. You go back inside
and keep them busy while I deal with things out here.’

After the lieutenant had gone, the captain gave the
Aboriginal man instructions on where to take the body. He too, soon left and
Lucy was alone with the man she had just witnessed gun down her friend in cold
blood.

‘Give me your keys,’ the soldier demanded.

‘They’re in the ignition.’

He leaned in to the vehicle and removed the keys whilst
keeping his eyes on Lucy.

‘Are you going to kill me?’ she asked.

The soldier laughed.

‘Why would I kill you? I’m one of the good guys. All I am
doing is upholding the law.’

‘Isn’t that a job for the Australian Police Department
rather than the US Army?’

‘I’m acting under special orders. This facility is under my
control. As far as your legal system is concerned, it is now part of US soil.’

She did not know whether to believe him. It would only be a
matter of time before
Davo
was noticed as missing and
then Lucas would come anyway. If anybody could sort this mess out it would be
Lucas.

‘So what about me; am I under arrest?’

‘Not unless you have committed a crime. Until that has been
established, I will need you to remain at this facility in order to aid with
our enquiries.’

‘So I
am
under arrest.’

He gestured for her to start walking. Rather than take her
through the main entrance where his comrade had gone, he led her to the door
that he had come out of earlier. Upon closer inspection, she could see that it
was a fire escape. Once inside, she was directed down a long corridor with many
doors leading off of it. He stopped her when she got to the final door.

‘You will not find any cells in this facility. This will be
your quarters for as long as I deem it necessary.’ He briefly closed his eyes
in order to focus completely on his thoughts for a moment, before adding; ‘I
think you will find it more comfortable than the guest room at the Sly Fox.’

***

Bradley stood over the body of the man who murdered the
great Jackson Fox. The personal effects of the deceased gave away little about
the killer’s character. There was a wallet, a packet of chewing gum and a set
of numerous keys that covered more than one property; perhaps a house and a
business of some sort. There was also a crumpled receipt from a bottle shop for
a bottle of whisky dated the previous day although there was no hint of alcohol
on the body itself.

As Bradley opened up the wallet to learn the man’s identity,
he was joined by Mike.

‘What have we got?’ asked the captain.

‘His name was David
Armareth
; aged
forty three, although he looks much older. Perhaps death adds a few years.’

‘Anything else?’

Bradley quickly thumbed through the wallet.

‘Usual stuff: driver’s licence, bank and
MediCare
cards, expired video club membership and a ticket stub for a gig in Alice
Springs. It doesn’t say which band, but the date is twenty years ago. It must
have been one hell of a gig for him to have kept it, although I cannot think
who would actually take the trouble to play at that dustbowl.’

‘What else?’

‘That’s it, no – wait; there is something else tucked in
behind the driver’s license. It’s a photograph, looks a lot like our favourite
lesbian with a PhD’

He glanced up at Mike, who did not look amused.

‘Come on,’ he added. ‘She must be. How else could you
explain why a chick so hot has not been banged in such a long time?’

‘Keep it professional, lieutenant.’

‘Jesus, Mike, what’s up with you today? I know a lot of shit
has gone down, but you’re
gonna
be okay. I’ve got
your back with the shooting. There’s no way they would try and court marshal
you for that.’

Mike ignored Bradley and took the photograph.

‘Whatever you do, I do not want the scientists to hear about
this - do you understand?’

‘You’re the boss.’

***

Lucas had been trying to reach the professor on the phone
for an hour without success. He decided to try
Emmy’s
mobile.

You have reached the voicemail of Dr N. Rayne. I’m sorry that
I cannot take your call right now. If you would like to leave a message, please
do so after the beep.

Lucas replaced the handset without speaking. He was sorely
tempted to take the pick-up and go directly to the observatory to meet with
Professor Fox in person. It would not take him long and he could be back at his
desk within an hour. The problem was that on the day of his first homicide case
an hour away from his desk was more than could justifiably be spared. Instead,
he took another look at the reports he had laid out in front of him.

A murder committed in cold blood and an accidental fire may
appear to share nothing in common on the surface, but the fact that both of
these events might have been pre-empted did provide a common thread; albeit an
extremely thin one. What Lucas needed was concrete evidence of a link. If he
could tie the incidents with the snake and the kangaroo, he could then try and
tie them in with the murders. The only connection he could think of was a
chemical one. If there was something in the water, some kind of poison, which
had affected the animals, it may now have spread to humans. He needed the
toxicology report from the professor’s research on the captured snake. Anything
unusual found in the animal’s bloodstream may also show up in that of Wally.

He tried the professor’s phone one more time; still no
answer. There was nothing else for it; he had to visit with the professor in
person. Everything else would have to wait. He grabbed his hat and headed to
the door.

‘Val, I’m heading up to the observatory. If you get any
urgent calls, I want you to contact me right away.’

‘Can this not wait, Lucas? Once word of the killings gets
out, there is going to be chaos.’

‘This is important. It may be the key to unlocking why Wally
did what he did. It’s just a hunch, but I think that there is a real danger
lurking around the corner. If it’s not dealt with soon,
we
could all be in serious trouble.’

Chapter 26

The shouting was coming from outside. The voices were
dulled by the walls of her room, but the words were still clear. It took her a
while to realise that one of them was Mike. Since the tragedy, he had lost a
lot of his cockiness and started to show more of his aggressive side. The other
voice she recognised straight away, although it too carried much more
aggression than what she was used to hearing.

She did not want to deal with this now. It was too soon. Her
grandfather was the one constant in her life; both personal and professional.
Now he was gone, she did not know what she would do. He left a legacy for her
to follow, but with their research now in the hands of the Americans, she
feared how little of that legacy would survive.

 She used calming techniques similar to those that
aided her in the acceleration chamber to tune out the soldier’s voice. The
other, no matter how much she tried, would not go away.

‘Where is she?’

The voice belonged to Lucas. He had looked up to Pops almost
as much as she. It was natural that he would now look to her for answers. She
had a lot of time for Lucas, but did not possess the strength to face him. Her
door was locked from the inside and if he tried to get her attention, she
decided that she would do her best to ignore him.

‘I am not leaving here without her.’

Why did he have to try and be so valiant? When she felt
ready, she would turn to Lucas, but what she wanted first was for him to forget
about her and just do his job. Although he did not say it directly, it was
obvious from Bradley’s body language that her grandfather’s killer did not make
it off the observatory grounds. In her heart, she also knew who it was that had
taken Pop’s life. She felt no sorrow, no remorse for him and a part of her even
hoped that one day she would face him on one of her astral journeys. If such a
place existed, she would personally escort him to Hell.

‘If she is under suspicion then there is even more reason
why she should be taken into my custody and not yours.’

Under suspicion?
She felt her body
temperature rising. It was no longer possible for her to ignore the
conversation. She staggered towards the door. Whatever Mike was accusing her
of, it was best to face it head on, with Lucas there to back her up and make
sure everything was said on the record. She flicked the bolt and yanked the
door open, interrupting the two men and drawing their attention at the same
time.

‘
Emmy
, I didn’t realise that you
were in there,’ said Lucas. ‘I just heard about your grandfather, I’m so
sorry.’

‘You can save the sympathy for later,’ she told him. ‘If I
am being accused of any wrongdoing, I want to put that to bed right now. I
loved my grandfather and the only person that should be under suspicion is that
bastard who took him away from me.’

Confused, Lucas stepped forward to put his arm around her,
which she shrugged away.

‘
Emmy
, it’s okay. Nobody is
accusing you of anything. You know that I will do everything in my power to
help you get through this. I will handle the case personally, no matter what
anybody else may say; do you understand?’

Mike seethed next to them, with clenched fists.

‘There is no case,’ the American said. ‘The killer has been
dealt with. This facility is under my jurisdiction and nobody is talking to the
witness without my permission. As I have already made it clear, that permission
is denied.’

Emmy
looked to Lucas.

‘What does he mean “under his jurisdiction”?’ she asked.

‘Show her,’ said Lucas.

Mike unfolded a sheet of paper and handed it to
Emmy
. She was too worked up to take the document in, but
she instantly noticed that it was printed on her grandfather’s letterhead and
carried his signature at the bottom. As the contents of the document gradually
began to seep in, she could not bring herself to read further.

‘This is a fake,’ she said. ‘There is no way that Pops would
just give this place away after spending his whole life building it up.’

The soldier would not look her in the eye.

‘Your grandfather was a patriot and he did this to avoid his
research falling into the wrong hands. Imagine if the Chinese got hold of this
technology.’

‘You are forgetting that Pops was Australian, not American.
If he was a patriot, his allegiance was to our flag, not yours.’

‘We share a common goal.’

Frustrated, she turned to Lucas.

‘You can stop this, can’t you? I mean, surely it cannot be
legal. These people bullied Pops into signing the observatory over to them.’

Lucas averted his eyes from her gaze. It seemed that no man
was willing to actually look her in the eyes.

‘Unless you can prove that the professor was not of sound
mind, I am afraid the document is binding. I am sure he had his reasons.’

Emmy
looked back at Mike.

‘If this is true then everything has been a waste of time. I
will no longer help you to destroy everything Pops and I worked so hard to
achieve. As for the equipment and records of the experiments, I will tie them
up in such a legal mess that neither will be seen again in either of our
lifetimes.’

‘What exactly
were
you guys
getting up to here?’ asked Lucas.

‘That is none of your business,’ said Mike.

‘It’s my business,’ said
Emmy
.
‘Maybe I will go to the press and then he can read all about it along with the
rest of the world.’

‘You wouldn’t dare,’ said Mike.

‘Are you willing to take that risk?’

The soldier sighed.

‘What do you want?’

‘Nothing much, just the right to have a
say in my grandfather’s legacy.
And I also want Lucas to perform the
interrogation, not you.’

‘What interrogation?’ asked
Mike.

‘Don’t play dumb. I just heard you both shouting about it in
the corridor. You think I had something to do with that creep who killed Pops.’

‘I think you have made a mistake,’ said Mike. ‘You are the
last person that either of us would wish to drag into this mess. It would be
inconceivable to even consider you as a suspect.’

‘He’s right,’ added Lucas. ‘I don’t know why you thought we
were talking about you.’

She began to doubt her own memory. The words were still
fresh in her mind and she was sure they had referred to her.

‘If not me, then who else is a witness?’

‘Her name is Lucy Skye,’ replied Lucas. ‘She was a tourist from
down south who ran into car problems and had to stay back at the town for a few
days.
Armareth
was fixing her car and your soldier
friend here also knew her, although for different reasons.’

Emmy
detected a hint of bitterness
in the policeman’s voice.

‘That has no relevance here,’ said Mike.

‘He tried to pick her up,’ added Lucas. ‘She knocked him
back...naturally. I would say that counts as being emotionally compromised.
Hence, any interrogation should be done by me.’

‘What the good policeman has failed to mention is that he is
not exactly without a connection to the witness either. She was staying with
him at the station. Lord knows what scandalous deeds the pair of them got up
to.’

Emmy
was struggling both to take
in this news and also trying to figure out what was wrong with Mike’s words.
Everything about him was off somehow. The way he looked, the way he talked, he
almost reminded her of...

She shook the crazy thoughts out of her head. She was
suffering from grief and it was causing her to dwell on all manner of
ridiculous notions. What she needed to focus on was the fact that somebody had
been with
Armareth
when he had come to the
observatory. Maybe this person could explain why he chose this time to turn her
life upside down.

‘Let me speak to her,’ she said, not quite sure what she was
volunteering for.

‘That’s out of the question,’ said Mike.

‘I think she should do it,’ said Lucas.

The other two looked at him, not quite believing what he had
said.

‘Really?’ asked
Emmy
.

‘Why not?’ replied Lucas, to Mike rather than her. ‘She
knows the history of the case, which is more than
you
can say.’

Mike did not reply to the jibe. In fact, he seemed to almost
shrink before
Emmy’s
eyes and no longer even tried to
argue with the policeman. He did not appear to be fully in control of his own
senses. It was as if his body was there, but his mind was somewhere else.

‘Where is this girl of yours then?’
Emmy
asked Lucas.

‘You want to speak to her now?’ he replied, somewhat
bemused.

‘The sooner we get this over with the better.’

She turned to Mike. He was distant, lost in his thoughts.

‘End of the hallway,’ he replied, almost absentmindedly.

‘Do we need to record this?’ she asked.

‘That’s not necessary,’ said Lucas. ‘We will both be with
you.’

‘No,’ she said; with a conviction that surprised even
herself. ‘I am doing this alone. How else will I be able to earn her trust?’

Again, Lucas did not object and the other man had retreated
into himself entirely.
Emmy
knew that something was
definitely wrong with the soldier, but that would have to wait for now. She had
almost forgotten about the complication in his astral journal before they had
all learned of her grandfather’s death. It was clear that he was still
suffering from shifting consciousness so abruptly.

Lucas waited for
Emmy
in the
corridor, whilst Mike made an excuse about having to report back to base and
left. The girl was not surprised when she saw
Emmy
enter the room; she actually looked relieved. She was also just as cute as
Emmy
remembered. Dressed casually in tight jeans and a
white, off the shoulder blouse, she did not look like an accomplice to murder.

‘Do you remember me?’
Emmy
asked.

‘Of course,’ replied the girl. ‘You don’t know how relieved
I am to see a friendly face. Nobody is telling me anything. I do not even know
why I am here. First a man is gunned down right in front of me and then I am
locked up as if I were the one who pulled the trigger. All I did was
give
a grieving old man a lift in my car.’

Emmy
could see the dried stain of
prior tears. It did not occur to her that the girl would be grieving too and
for
Armareth
of all people.

‘How well did you know...the deceased?’

Emmy
found that she could not
bring herself to say HIS name and look this frightened girl in the eye.

‘He was a mechanic and I had a busted car. First I thought
he was just some pathetic, washed up alcoholic, but over the last few days, I
started to bond with him. I could see that he was hurting. I guess you know
more about that than me.’

‘Why would you think that?’

The girl looked back at her, confused.

‘Well?’ added
Emmy
, impatiently
this time.

‘I just thought that...’

‘You thought what?’

‘I thought that you and he were related somehow. I mean, he
had that picture of you and it was clear that his grief had something to do
with why he came here today.’

Emmy’s
eyes widened. All of her
fears that David
Armareth
was deliberately stalking
her were confirmed. The times when he came to the observatory, in cars borrowed
from customers, and sat watching, waiting; it had been for her. Her grandfather
tried to ease her anxiety by claiming that it was he who
Armareth
stalked, but it really was her all along.

‘Where is this picture now?’ she asked.

‘I guess it’s still in the garage where he left it. I wanted
to ask him about it, but it never seemed appropriate.’

‘Describe it to me.’

‘There’s not much to say really. You look just like you do
now, albeit happier. You’re smiling and it’s a sunny day. The man next to you
is smiling too. I assumed you were a couple.’

‘Tell me more about the man. Who is he?’

‘I don’t know. That was the question I never had the courage
to ask. He looked a little like
Davo
. I thought maybe
it was his son. Have you ever been out with his son?’

Emmy
started to feel her anxiety
return. She had many questions, but these were not the answers she envisaged.
The only way she was going to be able to begin to understand the situation was
to see this photograph with her own eyes.

‘He had no son,’ she told the girl. ‘As far as I know, he
had no family of any kind. Men like him are loved by nobody as they are
incapable of love themselves.’

The girl was visibly hurt by
Emmy’s
words. Clear, delicate tears began to retrace the steps of their forebears. It
pained
Emmy
to see the girl suffer in this way and it
was made worse by the fact that she was the cause.

No, she was not the cause; that honour, as always, fell to
David
Armareth
.

‘I’m sorry you have to hear it this way, but believe me when
I tell you that whatever you thought you knew about that man; you were wrong.
He got what he deserved.’

The girl’s grief increased until she was on the brink of
falling apart. She took quick, sharp breaths as if trying to stop herself from
hyperventilating.

‘How can you speak about him in such a way? He was a human
being and he has just been murdered?’

‘No!’
Emmy
shouted back at her.
‘He is the one who committed murder. My grandfather is now dead because of
him.’