Project Renovatio (10 page)

Scott and Dayla joined them at the trunk. Levin pulled the paper from the backpack and wrapped it in the shirt. Scott held a bottle of water over Levin’s shoulder and asked, “Will this help?”

Levin wiped the paper with no effect. “It’s worth a shot.” He poured water on the shirt and wiped the paper again. The water smeared the ink but didn’t allow him to see any writing. He slumped, then returned the paper to the backpack. He used the un-inked part of the shirt to clean Rana’s injury.

“Rana, what happened to your arm?” Dayla asked.

“It’s okay. I fell. I would have made it in time if I stayed on my feet.” She stared at the backpack through every word.

“You can’t blame yourself,” Scott said. “The Project did this. They didn’t have to take it this far.”

Levin twisted around and connected with Scott’s eyes. “I hope you’re not planning to continue working for them.”

Scott pursed his lips and looked at Levin without replying.

Rana sighed. “Now what do we do?”

“We go home. We’ll hope for a new lead tomorrow.” Levin couldn’t ignore his developing headache, likely a symptom of staying awake for thirty-six straight hours.

Everyone loaded into the car. Rana and Dayla fell asleep on the way to their mother’s house.

Chapter Fifteen

“Scott, what’s your plan?” Levin drove towards his apartment after leaving the girls with Walt at his mother’s house.

“I’m going back to San Diego in the morning. I can’t do anything here to help you. I can do more there.” Scott scrolled through his phone.

“Like what?”

“Go through files. Talk to people who might know something. I’ll call you if I learn anything useful. I bought a plane ticket on our way to your mother’s house. I’ll take a cab to the airport in the morning. Do you mind if I stay at your apartment tonight?”

“No. As long as you don’t mind sleeping on a couch.”

They rode in silence the rest of the way. As Levin unlocked his door, he received a text. Once inside, he checked it; Maggie’s name lit the screen. He suppressed a grin so Scott wouldn’t get suspicious.

“You can get a blanket from the closet and extra towels from under the sink in the bathroom. Help yourself to whatever you want in the kitchen. Do you need anything else?” Levin stepped towards his room.

“No, thanks. I brought some things with me.”

“Okay. I’m exhausted. I’ll see you in the morning.” Levin retreated to his room. With the door closed behind him, he pulled his phone from his pocket and read her message again.

I miss you.

He smiled.
I miss you, too. Did you get there okay?

I did. It’s hot here. How long do I have to stay?

I don’t know. We had a setback tonight. Hoping to get back on track tomorrow.
He wished he could answer differently. He wasn’t going to let her return until he found his mother, and even then, they’d need to find somewhere else to live.
I wish you were here.

Me too. I love you.

I love you, too.

****

The next morning, Rana woke in her own bed and scanned her room. Dayla slept on the floor, wrapped in a blanket that covered everything but her hair.

Checking her alarm clock, Rana decided it wasn’t too early to get up. Dayla must have sensed movement, because she stirred and sat up.

“Hey, girlie. What are you doing on my floor?”

“I got scared last night. I remembered Mom isn’t here.”

Rana crouched to Dayla’s level and hugged her. “Your dad’s here.”

“I know.” Dayla stretched and moaned. “Do you think we’ll find her today?”

“I hope so. Let’s get breakfast.”

The girls walked downstairs. Walt sat at the table, drinking from a coffee mug. He appeared clean and shaved again.

“Good morning, girls,” he said after taking a sip.

“Hi,” Rana said. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay. I want to get your mother back. I remembered something in the middle of the night and called the police. They’re headed here now.”

“What did you remember?” Rana asked, desperate for any new information.

“You can sit with me when I talk to them. Dayla, I want you to go upstairs when they get here.”

“Okay.” She seemed used to people sending her away.

The girls poured bowls of cereal for themselves as a knock sounded from the front door.

“They’re here.” Walt walked to the door to greet them. Dayla took her cereal upstairs. Rana ate hers at the table and waited.

As they came in, Rana recognized one of the officers from the night her mom disappeared.

“Hi, Rana. I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Officer Wyatt.”

“You gave me the bottle of water.”

“That’s right. How have you been doing?”

Telling them about the clues PR left could make them stop leaving any clues at all, so she answered generically. “I’m better. Do you know anything about my mom?”

“Not much. The information your brother gave us didn’t get us anywhere. The address your mom used to send the letter belongs to an empty building.” He studied Rana for a moment. “Is there anything else you need to tell us about the research organization?”

“I don’t think so.” She shoved another bite of cereal into her mouth.

He pursed his lips. “Okay.” He turned his attention to Walt. “Sir, you said you remembered something last night.”

“Yeah. Liz ripped the hood off the guy who grabbed her.”

Rana nearly spit the cereal across the table. “What? How did you not remember that before?” She glared at Walt as she used the back of her hand to wipe away the milk dribbling down her chin.

“It’s not surprising, miss. The drugs they shot into his neck probably gave him short-term amnesia of the events immediately before the injection. The smaller details return over time,” the other officer said.

Walt turned his attention to the cops. “I remember being surprised because the guy looked like Levin. It was after the short guy drugged me. I thought it was Levin for a second, ‘til he yelled at Liz. His voice was different.”

Rana stared at Walt and blinked a few times. “Are you sure? Maybe you had a dream about what happened.”

“No, I’m certain.”

Rana ran upstairs to grab her phone.

****

Levin called work and told them he wouldn’t be in for a few days.
It could be quite a few days
, he thought. He still held his phone when it rang.

“Hey. How’s your arm?”

“Two cops are here. Walt called them. He said Mom took the hood off the guy who grabbed her, and the guy looked like you.”

“What? That doesn’t make sense.” Would any of his brothers do something like that? And why? Scott wasn’t in Denver until the next day. Jeremy had darker skin, a detail Walt probably would have mentioned. That left Brent and Daniel. But Walt had met Brent. Wouldn’t he recognize Brent after just two weeks? Maybe not, if Brent was in a struggle with their mother and Walt was watching from a distance.

“Rana, ask Walt if the guy said anything.”

“He did. He said he thought the guy was you until he yelled at Mom. His voice was different.”

“He didn’t say anything about a stammer?”

“No. Hold on, I’ll go ask.”

The phone went quiet, and Levin remembered Brent’s friendly yet shy demeanor, one Levin wouldn’t associate with someone harboring a desire to threaten and kidnap people. If Brent planned and executed this, he’d done an impressive job of fooling everyone. 

A second later, Rana came back on the line. “He said he didn’t, but the guy only yelled, like, four words. One of the officers wants to talk to you.”

Before Levin said anything, someone with a deep voice spoke into Rana’s phone. “Sir, this is Officer Wyatt. It sounds like you might know the guy who took your mom. I need you to tell me his name.”

“I don’t know, exactly.” He stood and paced around his room. “I have some half-brothers who look like me. I’ve narrowed it to two possibilities, but I don’t know why either of them would want to kidnap my mother.”

“We’ll worry about that later. Right now, I need their names, addresses, phone numbers, and anything else you can tell me.”

Levin relayed the information he had for Brent and Daniel. He made a mental note to call them himself later.

Rana’s voice came through the phone. “I don’t think it was Brent. We’ve emailed a few times. He doesn’t do anything that interesting.”

“I don’t think it’s him either, but we could be wrong. We haven’t known him that long.”

“But why would he–or the other brother–do this? What do they have to gain?”

He rubbed his neck. “I have no idea.”

Chapter Sixteen

Scott had left by the time Levin emerged from his room. After Levin showered and shaved, he sent a text.

Are you at the airport?

Several minutes passed without a response. Levin grew impatient and went to his car to head to Liz’s house. On the way, he got a call from a number he didn’t recognize.

“Hello?”

“Levin? It’s Daniel. In Oklahoma City.”

“Oh. Hi.” Levin racked his mind for what to say next. “What’s going on?”

“Why don’t you tell me?” He sounded angry. “The cops just called. They said your mother is missing and they wanted to question me.”

Levin winced. “What did they want to know?”

“My whereabouts on Saturday night. That’s about it. What is this?”

Levin told Daniel about the kidnapping and how Walt said one of the guys looked like him. “The cops are just eliminating possible suspects.”

“Are they checking out the other guys too?” His tone sounded more curious than angry now.

“Just you and Brent. Scott flew into Denver the next morning. Jeremy has darker skin, which Walt didn’t notice. I haven’t talked to Brent yet. It could be a coincidence.”

“What could?”

“That the kidnapper looks like us.”

“That would be a hell of a coincidence.”

Levin couldn’t argue with his point.

“There’s something else. It might not matter in your case, but I want you to know about it,” Daniel said.

“Okay.” Levin shifted in his seat.

“My family got a letter from Project Renovatio requesting we go to San Diego for some testing.”

“Really? What kind of testing?”

“Genetic testing. It said they have a concern about a serious problem associated with one of the genes they manipulated. They want to treat us if we have that gene.”

“What kind of problem?” Maybe Rana’s concern about medical issues was a valid one.

“Some kind of blood problem. I don’t know exactly. Anyway, my mom freaked and arranged for me to take Janie and get checked out. We have an appointment on Tuesday. PR paid for the airline tickets.”

Levin couldn’t decide what to make of the new information. “Do you think everyone got the letter?”

“No idea. It might be a gene from our mother and not concern you at all.”

“Yeah. Okay. Thanks for letting me know. Sorry about the police getting in your business.”

“It’s no big deal. I hope you find your mom soon.”

By the time the call ended, Levin had arrived at his mother’s house. He called Brent before going inside.

It rang five times and went to a generic voicemail greeting. He hung up without leaving a message, went inside, and found his sisters watching TV in the family room. He took the opportunity to check his mom’s email again.

****

After the police left, Rana called her store and told her boss about her situation. He gave her the week off. She needed it to find her mom and deal with PR, but part of her wished it hadn’t delayed her car savings plan. That part filled her with guilt. Her mother could be trapped somewhere, bleeding or getting an infection, and here she was worried about a stupid car.

Pain radiated from her arm and ankle. She tried not to think about it, because whenever she did, she found herself examining the ink-covered paper from the backpack. She could barely read one word through the ink.
Alone
. It meant nothing, but she couldn’t stop looking at it.

She folded the paper and returned it to her pocket before heading downstairs, where Dayla sat on the floor, watching a nature show on TV. She sat next to her sister. A few minutes later, Levin came in and did something on the computer.

“What are you doing?” Rana asked.

“Checking Mom’s email, in case there’s another clue.” He closed the browser, revealing a picture of his sisters displayed on his mother’s computer desktop. “Rana, did you say you emailed Brent?”

“Yeah. I haven’t checked my email for a couple days.”

“Why don’t you check it? Maybe Brent sent you something. I can’t reach him.”

“Okay.”

Levin removed himself from the desk chair, and Rana took his place while he stood behind her to see the screen. She opened her email and found two new messages; one showed Brent’s name.

“There.” Levin tapped the screen.

“I know; I can see it.” She opened the message. Brent wrote about his job, and he answered questions about his family she had asked in her last message. One part caught her attention as being out of place. She read it aloud. “We received a letter from PR saying there might be a problem with our genes, like something might have gone wrong when they modified the DNA. I’m worried about my brother, so I’m taking him to San Diego on Monday. They want to do some kind of testing. Did you get a letter like this?”

“Daniel said his family got a letter like that from PR too. He thought the genetic problem came from their mom.” Levin crossed his arms. “But that can’t be, if Brent got the letter. When did he send this message?”

Rana checked the screen. “Saturday morning.”

“And Mom disappeared Saturday night. Brent’s going to San Diego today.” He sat in the chair near the computer desk, and Rana spun the desk chair around to face him. “So let’s pretend Brent abducted Mom. He sent you this message, came here that night with someone else to take her somewhere, and then went back to Seattle to take his brother to San Diego?”

“Maybe he isn’t taking his brother to San Diego. Maybe he sent this to make us think that.”

Levin shook his head. “No. Daniel getting the same letter is too much of a coincidence. I don’t think Brent came here.”

“So, who did?”

“I don’t know. Where’s the mail?”

Rana pulled a stack of unopened envelopes from a caddy on the desk and handed them to Levin.

He flipped through the envelopes and pulled one from the stack. “This one has my name on it and no stamp.” He showed her the envelope and gave her the others to put back in the caddy. He pulled a yellow paper from the envelope and read the message aloud. “You should follow your brothers
.”

Rana huffed. “That’s messed up! Whoever took Mom left that here when they took her, knowing we would find it.”

“I agree. I’ll try calling Scott again.” Levin held his phone against his head for a minute and returned it to his pocket after he didn’t get an answer.

“So, what should we do?” she asked.

“Make plans to go to San Diego, I guess. We’ll leave tonight.”

****

Levin returned to his apartment to take a nap and prepare for the overnight drive. As he dozed, he imagined a hooded kidnapper gingerly placing the envelope among the other pieces of mail. How long had he thought it would take them to find it? What if they hadn’t found it?

A text alert on his phone woke him. Scott’s name lit the screen.

In San Diego. You’ll never guess who’s here.

Levin grinned as he typed his response.

Brent?
He held his grin, waiting for Scott’s reply.

You guessed correctly.

He laughed.
Any other PR kids there?

A few. I guess they’re calling some in for testing.

That’s why Brent’s there. Daniel’s not far behind. We got another clue about Mom.

What was it?

A note saying I should follow my brothers. The girls and I are leaving tonight.

Scott’s next message appeared after a long pause.
Okay. I’ll look for you tomorrow. No new leads here.

Levin wasn’t surprised. For a guy who worked for PR, Scott seemed to know very little. He likely had his job because Dr. Craig raised him.

Levin sat up in bed and sent a text to one more person before packing his things.

How are you doing today?
A gentle nervousness occupied his stomach as he waited for Maggie’s reply.

I’m anxious to go home.

He sighed and wished he could call her. They had both decided to text because they could delete their conversations without anyone recording anything.

I know. I’m taking the girls to San Diego tonight. Mom might be there.

Really? Let me know when you find her.

I will. Then we can figure out where to go next.
Excitement coursed through his body when he recalled Maggie agreeing to move somewhere for him.

I can’t wait. See you soon.

****

“Hurry up, Dayla,” Rana yelled into her sister’s room.

“I am! How long will we be gone?”

“I don’t know. Pack for a week.”

She left Dayla alone and went to the back porch. Walt sat in a lawn chair facing the yard.

“Hey.” She sat in the chair next to him.

“Oh, hey.”

“How’s it going?”

“I was just wondering what your mother’s thinking right now. I hope she knows we have the police looking for her.”

Rana smirked. Walt didn’t realize she and her siblings were also looking for their mother. “Levin’s driving us to San Diego. We leave in half an hour.”

“Oh? What for?”

How should she explain this? “We think there’s something that will help us find Mom.”

He sat up. “Really? What?”

“We don’t know yet.”

He focused on her. “All right. I’m sure you kids know what you’re doing.”

“I hope so.”

They sat in silence for a minute.

“Does Dayla know about the Project?” he asked.

Rana shook her head. “She doesn’t know you’re not her biological father. But she might have to find out soon.”

He nodded, then squeezed his eyes closed.

She stood to go inside, glancing at Walt as she rose from her chair. She leaned over and put her arm around the back of his shoulders, giving him a side hug. He patted her hand. She released him and walked towards the house.

“Rana?”

She turned around. He had turned in his chair to face her. “I’m sorry . . . I’m sorry I wasn’t really there for you kids before. And I’m sorry you had to find what you found the other night.”

She smiled gently at him. “It’s okay. I don’t blame you for what happened.”

His eyes welled with tears, and he turned to face the yard.

****

Levin entered his mother’s house to collect his sisters. They met him at the door holding their duffel bags. The similarity of this moment to the first time they traveled to San Diego struck him.

“Do you have everything?” he asked.

“I think so. I told Walt where we’re going.”

He hadn’t considered telling Walt. “Oh. That’s good. Did he say anything?”

“He knows we want to find Mom.”

He nodded and held the door open for them. They waited at the back of his car for him to open the trunk. With everything loaded and everyone settled, they started their trip.

“It seems strange to do this again. A month feels like a long time ago,” Rana said as Levin entered the highway.

“Yeah. I know. A lot has changed.”

“Remember what it felt like to be normal, like everyone else?”

Levin started to answer when Dayla interrupted. “Like everyone else? What are you talking about?”

He stole a glance at the back seat. Dayla was staring at him.

She needed to know more about their situation. Levin couldn’t guess what they would find and have to explain in San Diego, and it would be easier to tell her here, with only the three of them. He sighed in an attempt to squelch the irritation that accompanied the necessity of the conversation.

“Okay, Dayla. I’ll tell you. But I need to ask you a question first.”

“Okay.”

“What do you know about our dad? Mine and Rana’s?”

“He died in a car accident when Mom was pregnant with Rana.”

Rana twisted around in her seat, facing Dayla. “Well, that’s not true. Our dad isn’t dead.” She glanced at Levin before returning her attention to her sister. “And Walt isn’t your father. He’s your stepdad, the same as he is to me and Levin.”

“He’s not?” Silence filled the car for several seconds, until Dayla broke it. “If he’s not my dad, then who is? And where’s your dad?” She gasped. “Do we have the same dad?”

“No, we don’t.” Rana wrapped her arm around the headrest. “The thing is, we’re special. Do you remember learning about heredity in school?”

“Yeah. Kids look like their parents because the parents pass genes to them.”

“Right. Kids get genes from their moms and dads. We all have features that came from Mom. You have her nose.” Rana tapped her sister on the nose to make her smile. “I have her eyes. And we all have features that came from our dads, too.”

“I bet your dad has black hair.”

Levin laughed. “He probably does. He lives in Greece. We think he has black hair and olive skin, like mine.”