F Paul Wilson - Sims 04 (12 page)

 
          
“Excuse
me?”

 
          
They
both jumped and turned at the sound of a woman’s voice. Relief flooded Patrick
as he recognized the figure standing in the doorway.

 
          
“Miss
Fredericks! How did you get in here?” He could have sworn he’d locked the door.

 
          
Alice
Fredericks smiled. “I’m sorry if I startled you, Mr. Sullivan. But I was
walking by and just happened to look up and see the lights, so I thought I’d
stop in and inquire as to why you haven’t called me.”

 
          
Walking
by? Patrick thought.
Probably watching the place with a
telescope.

 
          
He
leaned closer to
Romy
and whispered, “She’s the one I
told you about.”
Romy
gave him a puzzled look, but
before he could elaborate—

 
          
“Oh, no!”
Alice
cried, pointing to Tome who had stepped out
of the filing room. “It’s one of them! One of my long lost great-grandchildren!
Please take him away! The sight of him tears at my heart!”

 
          
“Now
I remember,”
Romy
whispered. “Dramatic, isn’t she.”

 
          
“Just a bit.”

 
          
He
motioned the baffled Tome back into the file room where he’d be out of sight,
then turned to
Alice
. Though he was still rattled by the way she’d strolled in here off the
street, he didn’t want to take it out on her. But it was time to put a stop to
these intrusions.

 
          
“Miss
Fredericks, I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’ll be able to spare the time to take
your case. And even if I did, in the long run it will come down to your word
against
SimGen’s
, and I don’t think—”

 
          
“Even if I have proof?”

 
          
“What
sort of proof can you have?”

 
          
“A
check made out to me from Mercer Sinclair.”

 
          
Yeah,
right, he thought. “How would you happen to have that? Once you cash a check it
goes back to the one who issued it.”

 
          
“But
I didn’t cash it,”
Alice
said, eyes wide. “It was the last payment for letting them use my body
to incubate the alien child. I didn’t know they’d steal him from me. How could
I take money from the man who stole my child?” Her eye filled with tears. “That
would be like…like selling my baby!”

 
          
“So
why didn’t you burn it or tear it up?”

 
          
“I
kept it as a reminder to stay the course, and because I knew someday I’d have a
chance to confront Mercer Sinclair again, and when I did I wanted to be able to
throw it back in his face!”

 
          
“We’d
love to see that check,”
Romy
said. When Patrick gave
her
an are
you-nuts?
look
she
nudged him with her elbow and whispered, “No stone unturned, right?” Then she
raised her voice: “Can you bring it here?”

 
          
“Oh
no,”
Alice
said. “I never take it out of my room. But
if you want to come visit me, I’ll be very happy to show it to you.”

 
          
Patrick
regarded Alice Fredericks. Was she completely bonkers and dreaming all this up?
Just a lonely lady who’d say anything to have company? Or could there be a
kernel of truth at the heart of her crazy story?

 
          
Patrick
sighed. “Leave me your address and I’ll see if I can get over tomorrow.”

 
          
“He
will get over tomorrow,”
Romy
said, giving him a wry
smile.
“Even if I have to drag him.”

 
          
NEWARK
,
NJ

 
          
Meerm
shiver in dark.
Ver
wet and cold.
Ver
scare. And
hurt. Hand bleed, foot bleed, leg bleed. Not bleed lot but still bleed. Blood
wash off in rain but come more blood.

 
          
Meerm
inside
now.
Clothes all wet and drip.
But where?
Meerm
not know.
Meerm
run-run-run from
sim
home.
Slip
in water. Fall down, get up,
fall
down. Many fall.
Meerm
so dizzy
and weak.
No run no more. See old metal door in brick wall.
Pull-pull-pull on handle.
Door open loud and
Meerm
go in. Close door behind.

 
          
Not
warm here.
Ver
dark.
Meerm
feel big metal wire.
Go up-up-up.
Ver
bad oil smell.

 
          
Meerm
shiver more.
Meerm
cry.
So cold-wet.
So lonely.
Sim
friend gone
forever.
Meerm
no go back. Bad mans wait for
Meerm
. Want hurt her.
Poor
Meerm
.
Nev
see
Beece
friend
again.

 
          
What
sound?
Outside.
Some call
Meerm
name.
Meerm
listen hard. Yes. Some call, “
Meerm
!
Meerm
, where you?”
Not man voice. Sound like
sim
.
Sound like
Beece
!

 
          
Beece-Beece-Beece
!
Meerm
so happy to hear
Beece
.
Want see.
Meerm
push door open little.
Ver
ver
little.
Just enough see.

 
          
Yes!
There! There
Beece
!
Meerm
go open wider—

 
          
No-no-no!
Beece
bring mans! Bad mans who hurt!

 
          
Beece
walk down dark alley with other
sim
.
Beece
cold and hungry-tired, not know where is. Too
many turn.
Beece
pretend search
Meerm
but not want find.
Beece
not like these mans.
Ver
mean mans. But meanest is red-hair city man who hurt
Beece
. Other mans call him Grimes.
Grimes
ver
bad man.
All
these mans
bad. Want hurt
Meerm
. Why?
Meerm
not bad.
Meerm
just sick.
Get big-big belly.

 
          
Beece
hear run-steps. Crouch down
fraid
when see red-hair city man run up. But not hit
Beece
.
Stop and talk other man.

 
          
“Hey,
Alessi
!
Somebody called the
cops. Lowery heard it on the scanner.”

 
          
“Shit!”

 
          
“Yeah, well, had to expect it.
Somebody sees a bunch of men
and monkeys poking through their neighborhood, they want to know what’s going
on.”

 
          
“Don’t
suppose we’ve got any suck with these locals.”

 
          
“
Naw
.
Who’d ever figure we’d have
to operate in
Newark
? Anyway,
Portero
doesn’t want anyone to know
why we’re here. That’s why I’m moving the car around to the main drag out
there. I’ll be in the McDonald’s lot. When the boys in blue arrive, we fade.”

 
          
“I’ll
bet he’s royally pissed.”

 
          
“Count
on it.”

 
          
“All right.
See you at McDonald’s. Hey, while you’re there,
get some burgers and fries for the trip home. I missed dinner.”

 
          
“You
got it.”

 
          
Grimes
go. Other
man look
Beece
.
“Keep looking, monkey. We’re not through yet. You go over there.” Point other
sim
. “You come over here with me. Find her, damn it!”

 
          
Beece
go where told. Lots trash here.
Big
puddle.
Shoe all wet.
Beece
lost. See top
Mickey-D sign between
building
.
Golden
arches.
Yum.
Beece
love Mickey-D.
Yes-yes.
Sometime—

 
          
What
sound?
Beece
hear squeak-squeak. Turn see black metal
door in brick wall. Look hard see red letter.

 
          
ELEVATOR
SHAFT

 
          
DANGER!

 
          
AUTHORIZED
PERSONNEL

 
          
ONLY!

 
          
Beece
no read but
Beece
see blood
on door. See eye look out from door crack.

 
          
Meerm
!
Meerm
here!

 
          
Beece
look round quick.
Mans not near.
Man not look
.
Beece
fraid
talk.
Wave
Meerm
to make stay. No
speak,
no
move!
Beece
bend, get water in hand. Wash blood off
door. Get more. Blood all gone now.

 
          
Man yell
, say, “Find anything over there?”

 
          
“No, sir.
Many puddle. No see
Meerm
.”

 
          
“All
right then,
keep
moving! Time’s a-wasting!”

 
          
Beece
bend and whisper to door, “
Beece
not tell. Not tell
no one
.”

 
          
SUFFOLK COUNTY
,
NY

 
          
So…
Meerm
is in
Newark
.

 
          
Zero
couldn’t be absolutely sure, but it was evident that
Portero
believed so. Zero had hired a private detective to keep an eye on him. Often
the man reported back that
Portero
had given him the
shake, but tonight he’d called and said that
Portero
and three others had made a beeline from the
SimGen
campus to a battered neighborhood in
Newark
.

 
          
Zero
had driven his van from the
West Side
garage, through the Holland Tunnel, into
Newark
.
Although only a few
miles, the trip had taken nearly an hour.
But well
worth it.
Arriving, he’d been treated to the spectacle of Luca
Portero
and his men herding dozens of
sims
through the streets, all calling “
Meerm
!
Meerm
!”

 
          
His
heart had sunk. The swine had found her—or damn near. Only a matter of time
before all those men and
sims
tracked
Meerm
down.

 
          
And
then…a reprieve. He’d pounded his steering wheel with glee as he watched
Portero
and company make a slapdash retreat just before the
Newark Police arrived with their lights flashing. They’d left empty-handed, which
meant that
Meerm
—if she were here at all—was still
somewhere in the vicinity. It also meant that
Portero
and his men would be back.

 
          
Zero
had been tempted to wait until the cops were gone and then try to find
Meerm
on his own. But as much as his heart went out to that
poor, frightened creature hiding somewhere in the dark, searching alone seemed
like courting disaster.

 
          
All
this gave Zero much to think about on the long ride back to
Long Island
.

 
          
By
the time he arrived home he had a semblance of a plan, one that had been
inspired by
Portero
himself when he’d conscripted
Meerm’s
fellow
sims
to find her. The murdering bastard was clever, no getting around that.

 
          
But
Zero could play that game too, and play it better.

 
          
He
removed his knit watch cap and tinted lenses, then unwrapped the scarf from his
lower face. The air felt good against his skin.

 
          
His
answering machine carried a message from Patrick saying they still hadn’t
nailed down “surge” but had a lead or two they’d follow up tomorrow.

 
          
Ellis’s
warnings about digging into “surge” still haunted him, especially his comment
that Zero would not come through “unscathed” if he persisted. And his
description of some of the secrets behind
SimGen
as
“unspeakable”…a word he found deeply disturbing.

 
          
But
there was no turning back now. Events were gathering momentum, and he had to
find a way to control them, or at least steer them in the right direction.

 
          
One
thing he knew he must control was
Meerm
. For her own
sake, and the sake of all
sims
,
he had to keep her out of
SimGen’s
hands. And to that
end, Zero knew of a very bright
sim
named Tome who
would be more than willing to help. If he could find a way to sneak Tome into
the
Newark
crib, the
sims
there might trust him enough to let him know
where
Meerm
was hiding.

 
          
If they knew.

 
          
But
assuming they did, Zero and Tome could then seek her out and bring her to
safety.

 
          
Another
if: If she’d come along.

 
          
Meerm
probably had been so terrified by
Portero
and his thugs that she wouldn’t trust any human now.
Another
instance where Tome again might come in handy.

 
          
But
Zero had reservations about the old
sim’s
powers of
persuasion. And that was why Zero had to accompany him.
Because
if Tome couldn’t coax
Meerm
out of hiding, Zero would
have to step in.

 
          
He
moved to the dusty mirror over the sofa and looked at himself. He did that
often. Too often, perhaps, he thought. But that’s what you do when you wished
you looked like someone else, like something else.

 
          
He
looked at his forehead and wished for less of a slope and a less prominent brow
ridge; he wished his nose were longer, and his lips thinner.

 
          
This
was not a face
Romy
could love, but it might be a
face Zero would have to let her see.
Because
Meerm
was that important.
He’d risk anything to keep
her away from
SimGen
, even if it meant revealing what
he was.

 
          
For
when Zero took off his mask,
Meerm
would have to
trust him. Because she would know she was talking to another
sim
.