Pennington, normally a man of cultivated discipline, felt a strange disquiet deep inside. The children, each one with shocking lavender eyes, stared at him as if they could not only see through his clothing but count every bone, trace every vein, and outline each nerve. Worse, he felt they could read his soul like a comic book.
His years of experience, honed first as a field agent for the CIA and then, after the bureaucrats summarily fired him, as security expert for the largest firms and business interests in the world, had prepared him for anything. He learned to work for any company that could afford him. Their politics mattered nothing to him as long as they paid his exorbitant fees and didn’t ask too many questions. He had a mental closet full of skeletons he never allowed to haunt him. Such a haunting required a conscience and that had been burned from his mind long ago.
Still … their eyes … their quiet nature … their unblinking focus on him.
“What’s wrong with them?” Pennington looked to Ernie. The children ranged in age from six to eight. Their hair color varied but was similar enough to indicate common stock.
“Beats me. We’ve been here a week waiting for each kid to arrive and this is as excited as they get. Sometimes they wander in the field, but most of the time they just sit in groups and stare. Sometimes they whisper to each other. To be honest, Mr. Pennington, it freaks me out.”
“Abel was the same way. We gave him video games to play and he never touched them.”
“Abel? Is that the last kid? The one you were supposed to bring?”
“Yeah. We encountered a little problem.”
Ernie let his eyes drift to the blue knot on Pennington’s head.
“Don’t ask. Who else knows they’re here?”
“No one. Just Jose, me, and you. I followed your instructions to the letter. Your operatives would bring their target, er, child to a park at the foot of the mountain. I’d check to make certain the kid was unharmed, pay the agent, and bring the child here.”
“What about your drunken brother?”
“No, sir. Absolutely not. He was supposed to pick you up and drive you here, turn around, and leave. Then and only then would he get paid, and he sure ain’t getting paid now.”
“Jose was supposed to drive the bus.”
“No problem, sir. I’m checked out on big rigs. Driving that bus won’t be much of a problem.”
Pennington gazed back at the lavender-eyed gazers. They hadn’t moved other than to turn their heads to face him. The creep factor climbed a notch. He looked at his watch. “We leave in an hour.”
“Yes, sir. What about the missing boy?”
“Not your concern. Be ready to go when I say.”
“Understood.”
Pennington began to turn when a motion caught his eye. A girl, hair the color of licorice, slipped from her spot on one of the benches. Her frame was frail, her eyes large, her lips full, and her skin pale. She walked with the tiny strides of a child two years younger. For some reason, Pennington’s feet were welded to the floor.
Pennington didn’t like children and had been uncertain around them all his life. He fought the urge to step back as if recoiled by her presence.
She stopped a foot away and looked up to his face that was three feet above her. “Mister?”
“Yes?” Pennington’s word came out softer than he intended.
“You got evil on you. Lots of evil.”
If Judith’s heart had been made of steel instead of flesh, it would have melted under the heat of fear that came upon her when her cell phone rang. The familiar chiming alarmed her so much that she screamed.
“I thought that thing was out of commission!” Anger born of the unexpected sound fueled Luke’s words.
“It was. Just like yours.” Judith’s heart stuttered.
It chimed again. She pulled it from her purse and looked at the caller ID. Unknown Call.
As the phone sounded the third time, Judith snapped it open. She heard a voice and everything within her began to dissolve.
“You have the boy.” It was the same automated voice she had heard in her office. “He is not safe. You must do as I say. If you understand say, ‘Yes.’ ”
“Yes.” Judith said.
Luke snapped his head around so fast Judith thought she heard vertebrae snap. He pulled the car to the side of the road. “It’s him, isn’t it?”
Judith nodded and leaned toward Luke. He placed his ear by the phone as Judith pressed a button on the side to increase the volume. She could feel his hair touch hers.
“Ontario Mills Mall. Jake and Jill’s Toy Store. Bring the boy. Just the two of you. Lead him to the toy train display. If you understand say, ‘Yes.’ ”
“Yes.” Judith had to force the word out. It slipped from her lips with a tremble.
“A woman will take him. He will be safe and well cared for. Do not follow. Do not speak to the woman. If you understand say, ‘Yes.’ ”
“Yes.”
“February 27. You know the date. You know what you did. If you understand say, ‘Yes.’ ”
“Yes.”
“Arrive no later than one-thirty. This is for the boy’s own good. “If you understand say, ‘Yes.’ ”
“Yes.”
The line went dead.
“What?” Ida asked. “What’s wrong?”
“The Puppeteer.” Judith set the phone down and drew in a lungful of air. “He wants Abel.”
“He can’t have him.” Ida’s voice grew in volume and rose in pitch. “Do you hear me? I am not turning my son over to some stranger. I lost him once, I’m not losing him again.”
“Ida — ” Luke began.
“It’s not your right.” Ida was close to screaming. “Just because you found him doesn’t mean you own him.”
“Ida — ”
“We’re leaving. I’m not going to let you do this.”
Luke hit the automatic door lock. Ida began to fumble with the handle then the lock.
“Ida, stop.”
“No. I’ll scream. I’ll draw attention to you.”
“SHUT UP!” Luke’s voice echoed so loudly in the car that it hurt Judith’s ear. “Just shut up for a minute.” He worked his hands on the steering wheel, squeezing until his knuckles whitened. A moment later, he leaned forward and placed his head on the wheel. “I can’t do this, Judith. I can’t turn Abel over to the Puppeteer. I thought I could. Every hour I tell myself I can, I must. I can’t.”
Judith put a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “I know. I gave up believing I could follow this thing through to the end awhile ago. I figured you did too since you’re here looking for the others.”
“It means our secrets will get out.” Luke leaned back in his seat. “I don’t know what your secret is but I assume it could cost you everything.”
“Maybe. I suppose there are more important things.” She looked back at Ida and Abel. Abel seemed untroubled. To have a child’s peace.
“It’s only been a day and a half but I feel like I’ve been reacting to one threat after another for a month.” He paused and gazed out the window. “Okay, let me think. Nothing has changed. We still have to find the others and do what we can to help them.”
“Maybe we should go to the police now,” Ida said.
“Maybe, but I fear for the others.” Luke started the car. “The same deal may apply for them.”
“Besides, I’m kinda wanted for murder.” Judith thought for a moment. “The Puppeteer didn’t mention the others. He only mentioned Abel. Why?”
“There’s no way to know. Maybe he doesn’t know about the others.”
“Maybe he does and doesn’t want us to know.” Luke let the car idle. “He said we should turn Abel over to a woman in a toy store in Ontario. Even if we left right now, we couldn’t make it on time. That means — ”
“He doesn’t know we’re up here in the mountains.”
“But he knows we’re not in San Diego,” Luke added.
“He could guess that we would have left from the news reports.” Judith’s mind grasped for more clues, more details to help her understand, but she ran dry.
“Give me your phone.” Judith handed it over and Luke deftly removed the battery. He did the same with his phone. “I don’t know how well connected or sophisticated this guy is, but so far he seems to be head and shoulders above anyone I’ve met. No sense in letting the GPS tracking in the phones broadcast our whereabouts.”
Luke dropped the car in gear and pulled onto the road.
A few minutes later, he pulled up to a Dumpster, exited the car, and tossed the phones in.