Lee turned onto the dirt road to camp after 9:00 P.M. Scudding clouds made the moonlight come and go. Up ahead the cabin glowed like a jewel set against black velvet. His headlights illuminated a lone figure standing in the middle of the road, a rifle slung over her shoulder.
Lee slowed to a stop, rolled down his window, and waved to Karen.
“Do you greet all of your guests so heavily armed?” he asked with a wry grin.
Karen approached, leaning her body into Lee’s open window. She smiled at Josh and blew him a kiss.
“You tripped the alarm,” she said. “I thought you were going to call first.”
Josh smacked his forehead in an admonishing way. “I forgot all about my own security system,” he said. “How’s it going, Ma? How’s Susie?”
“We’re all okay,” Karen said. “Come in. You boys must be exhausted. We have meat loaf, if you’re hungry.”
Karen walked ahead while Lee parked his Honda on the grassy patch in front of the cabin. Hours of driving had been hard on his aching knees and tired joints. He was not looking forward to the return trip come morning, but he was anxious to get samples back to Dr. Kaufmann.
He had brought with him a small black medical bag marked with the presidential seal, which he had taken from Gleason’s office. I’m the White House doc now, Lee thought mordantly. The medical bag contained all of the tools he would need to perform Susie’s biopsy.
The procedure might have to wait until after dinner. The savory aroma of a fresh-cooked meal hit Lee as soon as he set foot inside the cabin. He paused a moment, marveling at the transformation of a rustic lodge into a functioning hospital.
Karen gave Josh a proper hug, and then, to Lee’s surprise, turned and hugged him, tight and long, the way he remembered.
“I’m so sorry about Paul,” she whispered in his ear. “I’m so sorry.”
Lee thanked her as they broke apart.
“How is Tracy holding up?” Karen asked.
“Horrible, as you can imagine,” said Lee, who was not faring much better. His guilt was oppressive. It was a constant companion that ate away at him like a disease.
Valerie approached and she and Lee greeted each other with a quick embrace. She seemed visibly stressed. The bags under Valerie’s eyes had become pronounced, her short brown hair was no longer neatly brushed, and the tension inked into her pores had dulled her once-lustrous skin.
Lee wondered if camp life had taken a heavy toll, or if Susie’s worsening health was the reason Valerie had aged a decade in days. He turned his attention to Susie, who was resting in bed, eyeing Josh with a sweet smile on her face.
“How are you holding up?” Lee asked, coming to Susie’s bedside. It was good to see her again; good to know Karen and Valerie, Josh too, had done such an admirable job keeping her safe.
“Hey there, Maestro, long time no see,” said Josh, joining Lee.
Susie’s smile widened. “Hi Josh, Dr. Blackwood,” she said in a quiet voice. “Nice to see you again.”
Lee patted Susie’s hand. “You too, kiddo.”
“Been playing a lot?” asked Josh. “I miss your music. I think you’ve turned me into a classical junkie. I need my Bach fix.”
“Worse things could happen,” said Susie. “But no, I haven’t been playing. I can’t really play anymore because—well, you know.”
Josh squeezed Susie’s shoulder gently, which seemed to lift her spirits.
“Your attacks—I’ve heard they’re getting worse, not better,” Lee said. “Hopefully we can fix that for you.”
Lee spoke with confidence, but Susie did not seem convinced. She had good reason to be skeptical, he thought. He checked her vitals, while Josh headed to the cabin where they’d be spending the night. Everything regarding Susie seemed normal, including the lab results from the blood and urine tests Valerie performed daily.
Everything was fine, and yet nothing was right.
“I’m getting worse, aren’t I?” There was not a trace of doubt in Susie’s voice.
“I guess I won’t sugarcoat it. You’re not getting better,” Lee said. “I’m thinking of calling it Genius disease, because it only seems to affect the most brilliant people at the TPI. I’m counting on the biopsy to tell us a lot more, because my other theories have yet to pan out.”
“I’m hoping the same,” said Valerie.
“I’m hoping for a glass of water,” Susie said.
Lee chuckled softly. “That I can do,” he replied.
As he walked to the kitchen, a piercing sound erupted, rattling his eardrums. Spinning in a circle, Lee searched for the source. Karen came bounding down the stairs, grabbing the rifle leaning against a bookshelf without breaking stride. She snatched stacks of magazines and a box of ammo.
“What’s that damn noise?” Lee asked, covering his ears.
“The perimeter alarm!” Karen shouted. “Did anybody follow you here?”
“No,” Lee said.
Karen sidled over to a cylindrical device and soon the noise came to a merciful end. She cried out, “Everyone get upstairs. Now!”
She raced outside and Lee followed her.
“I thought I said get upstairs,” she snapped at him.
Lee ignored her. A flashlight beam jouncing in the dark appeared from the direction Josh had gone.
“Josh, is that you?” Lee called out.
“Yeah, it’s me,” he announced.
“Get to the woods!” Karen yelled. “The perimeter alarm just went off.”
Josh switched off his flashlight and vanished into nothingness. Moments later, he reappeared next to Karen and Lee. Karen removed a pistol from her holster and placed it in Josh’s hand.
“Take this,” she said.
* * *
MAUSER BROUGHT the van to a stop on the side of a dirt road. He and Drew Easley got out at the same time. The GPS tracker said Lee’s car was parked close by. No need to announce their arrival with headlights and an engine. They followed the road for a time until lights appeared up ahead. Soon a two-story log cabin came into view, all lit up from the inside. Three people stood out front in the wash of the cabin’s glow, bathed partly in moonlight. Two of them were armed.
Dropping to a crouch, Mauser raised his rifle and took aim. He motioned for Easley to do the same. Clearly, they’d come to the right place. As luck would have it, Lee had led them to a remote location with what seemed like nobody around for miles.
* * *
KAREN’S HEART beat so hard she thought it might snap a rib. Adrenaline flooded her as if a dam had let go.
Focus. Let your training take over, she urged herself. It could be a deer. Perhaps bear. Could be nothing. Probably nothing.
But instinct told her it was something. It was too coincidental for Lee to show up and moments later have the alarm get tripped. She took the flashlight from Josh and put the beam to the undercarriage of Lee’s car. She asked herself: how would she track someone here? Long, straight roads in the middle of nowhere made it difficult to follow someone discreetly. You’d have to keep your distance. She searched with the flashlight. Nothing. She was about to give up, but backtracked, focusing the beam on an object sticking out just enough to be out of place. It was black, square, and small. She plucked off a piece of metal and felt its weight in her hand. She shined her light on it. Recognition kicked in. She’d been trained in surveillance techniques. She knew the tricks of the trade.
A scream rose in her throat.
“Get down!” she yelled.
Lee and Josh dropped to the ground on her command.
A moment later, bright flashes cannoned from the gloom as metallic pings signaled bullets hitting their parked cars. The ground near Karen’s head erupted with a geyser of dirt and loose rocks. She ducked reflexively as a bullet whizzed close enough for her to hear it pass. Everyone scrambled to get behind those cars.
Readying her weapon, Karen got on one knee and aimed at the next flash she saw. She fired. The recoil pushed the butt of her AK-47 sharply into her shoulder. The blast swallowed her hearing and left an unpleasant ringing in her head. She fired again. And again.
Bullets answered her bullets, streaking in the dark, coming at them from all directions, it seemed. Josh returned fire with his handgun—her Glock. She heard the distinct sound of shattering glass behind her.
The cabin! They were shooting at the cabin!
Karen yelled one word that got Josh moving fast.
“Susie!”
Lee grabbed Josh’s arm with force. “No! You’ve got the gun. Stay here. I’ll get Susie.”
* * *
MAUSER SAW the guy—his guy, Lee Blackwood—crawling up the cabin stairs like Spiderman on the move. He had a good shot, took aim, but a sudden burst of gunfire from behind those parked cars forced him to take cover in the woods. Easley must have had the same idea about Lee, but gunfire kept him pinned to his position. The shooting continued back and forth. One volley dispensed, another volley returned. Conserving ammo became a concern. In addition to his fully loaded C96 pistol, Mauser had four AR-15 magazines stuffed in his pockets, each carrying twenty rounds. Four became three when he needed to reload. It was time to get strategic.
“Easley, keep laying it down,” Mauser said. “I’m going to the cabin.”
Bullets spit from Easley’s gun barrel with a rat-tat-tat. Being a man of few words, it was Easley’s way of saying yes.
* * *
FROM HIS knees, Lee pulled open the cabin door a crack, then slid inside on his belly. He went straight to Susie’s bed, but saw she wasn’t there. He called her name in a whispered voice.
From upstairs came Valerie’s faint reply. “Lee, we’re here.”
His thoughts were gummed with terror. The steady report of gunfire barked in the background. He bounded up the stairs without caution, a sudden burst of bravado spurring him on. The doors to the two upstairs bedrooms and the bathroom at the end of a narrow hallway were closed.
“Valerie? Susie?”
“Here.”
Again it was Valerie’s muffled voice Lee heard.
Opening a door to his right, Lee poked his head into the bedroom where he and Karen slept when they were married. The room was empty. Crouching, Lee lifted the dust cover and peered underneath the bed. Two sets of terrified eyes peered back. He coaxed Susie out first, before helping Valerie to her feet. Both women were pale, breathing shakily.
“Come on,” he said, speaking briskly. “We’ll go out the back. Val, did you call nine-one-one?”
Valerie shook her head. “I didn’t have my phone on me when we ran upstairs.”
Lee had a phone on him, but would not waste precious time calling now. He’d wait until they got somewhere safe.
“Come with me,” he said.
The trio raced down the stairs in a line, holding hands as they descended. Lee took the lead, with Susie behind him and Valerie in the rear. They sprinted through the cabin, keeping their hands clasped tightly together. They went out the back door, a chain on the move, scampering along the narrow, twisting path to the lake.
Moonlight guided their way as the steady bark of gunshots echoed in the night.