Killer Dreams (22 page)

She felt sick. “I understand.”

“That’s better. I’ll have one of my men pick you up at Bolivar Square at six tonight and bring you to the island. Be prompt. I don’t want to have to make a phone call that would make you unhappy.” He hung up.

She pressed the disconnect.

She felt frozen in place. She had to move. She had to meet Royd on the side street beside the post office. She’d come to the post office alone in case she was watched, but he had to know about the DVD and the call from Sanborne.

But she couldn’t face him until she had more control of herself. She was too panicky right now. She’d give herself a minute to pull herself together.

If she trusted Royd, why was she as terrified as if she believed that horrible DVD?

Trust him. Trust him. Trust him.

18

T
ry to get him to let you go to the treatment plant tomorrow.” Royd slowed down the car as they approached the center of Caracas. “He may want you to work at a lab in the village, but make an excuse why you need to go to the treatment plant.”

“Very well.”

“I’ll try to set up the operation for three days from now. I’ll get MacDuff and his men down here and we’ll be ready to move by then. We’ll hit the island at sundown. Be sure you’re down at the plant. I’ll go in ahead of MacDuff and Kelly and get you out first. I can’t give you a wire now because you’re almost sure to be searched when you reach the island. Once you’re established there it should be safe. You have to be able to contact us if everything blows up on you.”

Her lips twisted. “If everything blows up on me, I’ll probably be blown up too. I won’t need that wire.”

“That’s not funny,” he said sharply.

“Sorry. How are you going to get this wire to me?”

“I’ll place it close to the front gate of the plant. Very close to the surface so that you can just brush the earth away.”

She frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“I’ll plant a couple of yellow flowers that are native to the island. They’re really weeds but they’re pretty. Pick a couple of flowers and palm the wire. The wire will be no bigger than your thumbnail. Keep it on you at all times. If we see the situation going downhill, I’ll come for you.”

“That would be stupid. You’ll get yourself killed. Wait until I tell you to come.”

“We’ll see how it goes.”

“No, you wait. I’m not risking my neck without being able to call the shots.”

He was silent a moment. “I’ll wait. Until I can’t wait any longer.”

“That’s not much of a concession.”

“It’s a hell of a concession,” he said roughly. “The biggest I’ve ever made to anyone.” He pulled over to the side of the street. “Get out. I can’t go any farther or I might be seen with you. Bolivar Square is two blocks down that street up ahead. You’ll have to go it alone from here.”

Alone. She tried not to show him how those last words shook her. She had been expecting it. She would have fought him if he’d told her he’d changed his mind about sending her. Yet now that she was facing the separation the reality was frightening.

“Right.” She tried to smile as she reached for the door handle. “Well, I guess I’ll be in touch, but not before you get that damn wire to me.” She got out of the car and then hesitated. “Royd, I have something to ask you.”

“Ask it.”

“If anything happens to me, will you take care of my son? Will you make sure he’s safe and happy?”

“Oh, shit.”

“Will you promise me that?”

“Nothing is going to happen to you.”

“Promise me.”

He was silent. “I promise.”

“Thank you.” She closed the door.

“Wait.”

She looked back at him.

He’d rolled down the window and was staring at her with a glittering intensity that held her motionless.

“Do you remember I once told you that I’d kill for you?”

She nodded.

“Well, I’ve been thinking about it. And it’s changed, gotten bigger.” His voice was uneven. “Now I believe I’d die for you.”

Before she could answer he pulled away from the curb and was driving down the street away from her.

Royd watched Sophie in the rearview mirror as she stood looking after him for a moment before turning and hurrying down the side street.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

His hands clenched on the steering wheel until he forced himself to loosen them. All he needed was to have a car wreck right now because he couldn’t control himself.

She had tried to keep him from seeing it but had felt very alone and uncertain in those last moments. Who could blame her? He had deliberately thrown her into the lion’s mouth.

She wouldn’t suffer for it. He would see to it that she’d come out of this safe and sound.

He reached for his phone and dialed Kelly. “I’ve dropped her off. Meet me at the dock.”

“How is she?”

“How do you expect her to be?” he asked harshly. “Gutsy, scared, and wondering if she’ll come out of this alive.” He hung up.

Call MacDuff. Resist the temptation to go and snatch her away before she met with Sanborne’s man. Even assuming she would have come with him now that she was committed to the plan. She hadn’t done this only because he’d persuaded her it was the best way to end it. At least he hoped that wasn’t the only reason. He’d accused her of obsessing with guilt, but the tables were truly turned now.

He dialed MacDuff.

San Torrano

The island looked lazy and tropical and completely normal in this warm early evening, Sophie thought, as the motorboat churned through the sea toward the long pier where Sanborne waited. It was a very long pier and she had a moment of déjà vu that sent a chill through her. It had been on a pier like this that her father and mother had died and the hideous nightmare had begun.

Sanborne was a handsome man in his early fifties, with graying hair and a deep tan that made him look perfectly at home in this setting. If anything, he looked younger and more debonair than when she had worked for him. He was smiling and waved casually at her.

She felt the muscles of her stomach tense. How could he appear this affable? And why hadn’t she realized what a monster he was when she had been working for him? She had never found him unpleasant during those months. Perhaps because she had been so absorbed in the work that he had never really mattered to her.

But he had mattered later. He had twisted her life and destroyed people she loved.

He strolled toward her as the speedboat pulled alongside the pier. “Sophie, my dear, together again at last.” He glanced at the man driving the boat. “Any problems, Monty?”

The man shook his head. “She came alone. We weren’t followed.”

“Well done.” He extended his hand to her. “Let me help you.”

She avoided contact and jumped out of the boat. “I can manage.”

“Always independent.” His smile didn’t waver. “I’m not accustomed to that quality anymore. Thanks to you, most of the people I deal with are meek and very self-effacing.”

“That must please you.”

“Oh, it does. I can’t tell you the rush I get from knowing that I’m the master of all I survey.”

“Why? You have everything. Money, influence. Why do you have to crush down those around you?”

“If you don’t understand, I can’t explain it. Boch thinks it’s money and the ability to move the world. That’s the urge that drives him. With me, others’ subservience gives me a thrill I don’t get anywhere else. Come along.” He started down the pier. “I’ll get you settled. I want you to start work right away.”

“Where am I supposed to work?”

“I have a lab at the house I had built on the island. I brought Gorshank here once and the equipment is still in place.”

“The chance of me being able to continue this Gorshank’s work with any degree of speed isn’t likely. First, I’ll have to study his formulas and then do some experiments to see where the fallacy lies. Or perhaps the formula itself was completely impractical. It might not work no matter what adjustments I make.”

“Oh, it works on a limited basis. Gorshank assured me of that, and I made a few experiments of my own since we got here.”

Her gaze flew to his face. “On the natives?”

“Not yet. The crew of the
Constanza.
” He glanced at the ship lying at anchor. “They needed to be eliminated anyway. We couldn’t chance letting them go free. They might have talked.”

“And were they ‘eliminated’?”

“We lost eight of the crew the first night after they drank the water we took from the vats. It seemed to be a painful demise. We gave the captain and first mate a double dose and they died screaming. The others have been quite mellow and receptive to suggestion. We have them working in the gardens in back of the house under guard until we can judge how long that state lasts. The ideal situation would be a permanent change to the brain patterns but that’s probably too much to hope for. We’ll have to continue giving them doses.”

His tone had been casual and matter-of-fact. He wasn’t feeling anything, she realized with a shudder. “It will take time,” she repeated. “I’m not experimenting on innocent people unless I’m sure that it won’t harm them.”

“Very laudable. But the experiments must be done.” He made a face. “Boch and I disagree on exactly how extreme. I believe Boch’s customers will allow a small percentage of deaths, but they want followers, not corpses. And if they use it in U.S. water supplies, they don’t want any obvious signs that the supply has been contaminated. They’ll want—”

“Brainless zombies for them to pick up and use when needed.”

“Or perhaps for them to continue drinking the water for a year or two until it also affects future progeny.”

“Babies.”

“Slave obedience that starts in the womb. What a concept.”

“Hideous.”

“But you’ll do it.” He smiled at her. “Because you don’t really care for those strangers. You care about your son.”

“I do care about those people.” She swallowed. “But I’ll do as you ask. However, I want my son brought here alive and well before I finish.”

“We’ll discuss it after the first test.”

“I’ll need to analyze the water in the vats. Where are they? The treatment plant?”

“About half of them are there. We allowed the crew to stop unloading after a few hours so that we could start the experiments on them. The other half of the vats are still on the
Constanza.
But you don’t need to go to the plant, you’ll be brought samples at the lab.”

She opened her mouth to protest and then closed it without speaking. Don’t push it. “That may not be what I need, but we’ll try it.”

“How very obliging you are. I may reward you and let you speak to your son on the phone tonight. Would you like that?”

“Yes,” she said through clenched teeth. “You know I would.”

He was studying her expression with a kind of malicious curiosity. “I’ll think about it.” His gaze shifted to a man striding toward them. “Ah, here’s my friend Boch. I’m sure you’re eager to meet him.”

“No.”

Boch was big, well built, with close-cut brown hair and a straight, military bearing. He was brusque, cold, and had none of the false charm that Sanborne exhibited. “You’ve got her? Stop this inane chatting and put her to work. We’re running out of time.”

“You see?” Sanborne said. “Boch is a little tense. He wasn’t pleased with the fatality ratio from the
Constanza
. He knew it would make me more determined to slow down. But I know you can fix the formula.”

“We should give her REM-4,” Boch said curtly. “We could make her work harder.”

“Nothing is going to make her work harder than the ace I have. And if she dies or her thinking is blurred, it would destroy everything.” He nodded at the large, columned white house ahead. “Let’s get you settled in the lab with Gorshank’s notes and after a few hours, we’ll see if you deserve to talk to your son.”

She didn’t come out of the lab until nine that night. Her eyes were stinging from deciphering Gorshank’s closely written hand notes as well as the computer notes and her head was whirling from the horror that had unfolded before her eyes. A guard immediately stepped in front of her.

“I want to see Sanborne.”

“It’s not allowed. Go back.”

“I’m not doing any more work until I talk to Sanborne.”

“My dear Sophie.” Sanborne had come out of an adjoining room. “You have to learn that you’re not to initiate actions. Things aren’t like they were when you were my employee.”

“You said I could talk to my son.”

“If I thought you worthy. What have you accomplished? What great discovery have you made?”

“I’ve discovered that you hired a man with as little conscience as you have. According to those notes he did as many experiments as the Nazis did in their concentration camps.”

“He said it was slow work.”

“Slow work? He killed people. He drove them mad. He was very clinical about documenting their reactions. Sickeningly clinical.”

“They were only tramps and homeless people. But he eventually came up with a formula that was promising.” He met her gaze. “Now can you clean it up without weakening it?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s not what I want to hear.”

“I’ve tried to analyze the sample of water you brought me but it’s not enough. I need to go to the vats and analyze both the water and container to make sure there are no contaminants leaking into the water.”

He stared at her for a moment. “That makes sense.”

“Of course it does. When can I go?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Now may I talk to my son?”

“You’ve not given me anything deserving of a reward.” He smiled. “But you may need an incentive.” He took out his phone and dialed a number. “Franks, she’s being permitted to talk to the boy.” He handed her the phone. “Not long.”

“Hello,” she said into the phone.

“One minute. I get him for you.” The man Sanborne had called Franks had a heavy New York accent.

“Mom?”

“Yes, baby, I just wanted to tell you that I’m doing everything I can to keep you safe.”

“Are you safe?”

“Yes, and soon we’ll be together. Are you okay? No one is hurting you?”

“I’m okay. Don’t worry about me.”

“That’s difficult not to—”

Sanborne had taken the phone from her. “That’s all you get.” He hung up the phone. “And more than you deserve considering your lack of progress. No other contact until you start producing.”

“I understand.” She looked away from him. “Your man Franks has some kind of accent….”

“Brooklyn, to be exact. It’s very distinctive, isn’t it?”

“Very distinctive.” And that hadn’t been Jock on the phone. Even if he’d been faking the accent she would have recognized his voice.

“He was involved with one of the gangs there before I chose him for REM-4. Now get back to the lab.”

“It’s after nine. I have to sleep sometime.”

“You may go to your room at midnight. But I want you up early to keep on working. Boch is a bit crude but he’s right about the time factor. You have to get the job done.”