Dead Aim (26 page)

"He didn't know that," Melis said quickly. "I tell you, it was just scientific experimentation as far as he was concerned. He wouldn't hurt--"

"Okay. Okay." Morgan held up his hand to stop her. "Where are these coal mines in West Virginia?"

"He didn't know. Somewhere south, he thought. They were having him work very hard on the mathematical equations for that area." Her lips twisted. "Phil thought it was wonderful that they'd concentrated on such a poor region for geothermal benefits."

"Yeah, Betworth is all heart. What about the Baltimore hydro vents?"

Melis shook her head. "They abandoned them halfway through the initial survey."

"Why? Not practical?"

"Phil thought it the most promising of the three. But Betworth said that it wouldn't work. That it wouldn't bring the effect he wanted. He told Powers that they'd have to contact a man named Morales. They needed more bang for the buck."

"And that meant?"

"Phil had no idea. But by that time he was getting pretty pissed off at the entire operation. Not enough to abandon his work, but he just gave up arguing and concentrated on West Virginia."

"And they called in Morales?"

She nodded. "Phil saw him a couple times at the plant before he was introduced to him. He said he didn't look or talk much like a scientist, but it wasn't his business. He didn't have to work with him. Morales was glued to Powers and Betworth most of the time."

"Morales was there often?"

"Yes, but he came and went. He must have been sort of a visiting consultant."

"You might call him that," Morgan murmured.

"Anyway, he was evidently put in charge of the Baltimore operation. Phil didn't like it. It didn't make any sense to him. He didn't want anyone else to handle his apparatus, and Betworth seemed to be handing his pet project over to Morales."

"So he cut out?"

"Not then. He was still too intrigued, and evidently Betworth lost faith in Morales, because a few months later he stopped coming around the plant."

"And that made Lontana number one again."

"You've got to understand. It wasn't just professional jealousy. He was getting uneasy. There was more talk about volcano and earthquake effects than tapping reserves for thermal power. Phil has a big ego, but he felt deeply about this project. He didn't want it compromised." She looked down into her glass. "But it was compromised. Jesus, was it compromised."

"How did they manage to sabotage Arapahoe Junction without him?"

"I don't know. He said he took all but one prototype with him, and that one was in Washington with Betworth. But he didn't think it would be of any use without the mathematical calculations that he'd refused to turn over to the team."

"They evidently tried it on Arapahoe anyway," Morgan said. "Powers said it went wrong. That they'd lost Lontana and it had gone wrong."

"What went wrong?" Alex asked. "They destroyed the dam and Arapahoe Junction."

Melis shook her head. "How could you expect Phil to know that? He didn't have any knowledge of how those bastards were going to use the sonic apparatus."

"And he never heard of Z-2 or Z-3?"

"No."

"No references to places or dates?"

Melis frowned. "No places other than what I've already told you. But Phil said they kept pushing him to move faster. Betworth had a target date by which they had to have a successful launch to present to Congress."

"What date?"

"November twelfth."

And it was November 8 today, Alex realized. The knowledge sent a ripple of tension through her.

"D-Day?" Morgan asked speculatively.

"But they lost Lontana," Alex said. "That might have changed everything."

"Or it might not." He turned back to Melis. "I need to know more about why Morales was at Fairfax. Did Lontana say anything more about him?"

"Just that he didn't like him. But then, Phil's very competitive. He wouldn't have liked anyone who took over one of his projects." Her forehead creased in thought. "He said he overheard a lot of talk about a suitcase."

"Could it have been a briefcase?" Alex asked. "Morgan said Morales was carrying a briefcase the night he saw him."

Melis glanced at Morgan. "You saw Morales? You met him?"

"No, it was a very short encounter. But Alex is right, he was carrying a briefcase, not a suitcase."

"It could have been a briefcase, I suppose. Phil's not always precise, except in his work." Melis shrugged. "I'll ask him next time I talk to him." She checked her watch. "Is that all? It's time I gave Susie her medicine."

"Unless you can think of anything else."

She shook her head.

"Or will let us talk to Lontana."

"I told you, no one talks to Phil."

Alex smiled. "You're being very protective."

"Someone has to take care of him. He's a good man. It's not his fault he wants to believe everyone is as good as he is."

"That sounds familiar," Morgan said. "I believe I know someone else who's similarly inclined."

Melis looked at Alex. "You? Then I feel sorry for you. You get hurt a lot less if you don't let yourself trust people."

"I'm sure you don't suffer from that affliction to any great degree," Morgan said. "May we leave now? I watched you, and I think I can lower the net."

"If you don't hook it in the correct order, you'll get a hell of an electric shock. I'll come with you and let you out." She opened the refrigerator and took out a wrapped parcel. "As soon as I tend to Susie." She crossed the room, opened the sliding glass doors, and went out onto the lanai. "Five minutes."

"I believe we'll tag along," Morgan said. "Not that we don't trust you. I just believe your philosophy is absolutely sound."

"Come along. I don't care." She moved across the lanai and around the corner.

They followed, to find her sitting on the edge of the lanai, which was built out over the sea. Her bare feet were hanging in the water and she was unwrapping the parcel she'd taken out of the refrigerator. "Be quiet. She's not usually skittish, but she's been ill." She raised her voice. "Susie."

Nothing.

"Susie. Stop being a baby. It's wrapped in fish."

A high-pitched squeak and a gray head suddenly emerged five feet from where Melis sat.

"Not you, Pete. You chowhound. Go get Susie."

"Galen mentioned that you work with dolphins," Alex said.

"I don't work, I slave," Melis said. "And the ungrateful creatures won't even come when I call them. Susie!"

Two white snouts appeared not two feet from where she was sitting. "It's about time." She took one of the pieces of fish and threw it to the smaller dolphin. The mammal caught it and gulped it down. "That's a good girl." She tossed the other piece to the other dolphin. "Thanks, Pete."

The two dolphins swam closer, rubbing affectionately against her bare legs in the water, softly squeaking.

She stroked the female's head. "I love you too," she whispered. "But you've got to take the medicine, baby. No more hiding, okay?"

The dolphin squeaked, nodding, and then disappeared beneath the water.

Melis sighed. "Yeah, sure. Keep an eye on her, Pete."

The other dolphin glided away after the female.

Melis stared after them, her expression soft, almost radiant. Her demeanor was completely different from the guarded, tough exterior she'd shown Alex and Morgan.

"What's wrong with Susie?" Alex asked.

"A digestive-tract parasite. Nothing that can't be fixed." Melis stood up. "If I can get her to take her medicine. She doesn't like the taste. I've disguised it half a dozen ways, but half the time she won't come when I call her."

"Then what do you do?"

"Get on my scuba gear and go after her." She moved past them into the house. "As soon as I contact Phil, I'll call you and let you know if there's anything else he remembers." She glanced back over her shoulder and said fiercely, "I helped you. Now you go work your buns off and make sure he's safe."

"If you'd been concerned only for Lontana, you'd never have called me back," Alex said. "I believe you realize there are a few other people concerned in this. It's a big world, Melis."

"Not my world." She jumped into her motorboat. "My world is here." She started the engine. "I'll go ahead and lower the net."

"Are you totally alone on the island?" Morgan asked. "It's risky. I'm surprised Betworth hasn't sent someone here."

"He did. Two boatloads of assholes. I electrified the fence."

"Electrified?"

"I told you Phil was brilliant. The net gives off only a small charge to discourage sharks or other predators. But I can rev it up." She grinned. "I told them Phil wasn't here and they still tried to cut the nets and come and see for themselves. After a couple of them were literally blown out of the water, they decided I was telling the truth. For a few weeks I saw someone far out to sea keeping watch on the place with binoculars, but no one lately."

"They could come back."

"Let them. As you've noticed, this island is pretty inaccessible."

"By sea."

"The island is so lush with trees and vegetation that you can't even get a helicopter down. Besides, I'd know they were coming and I have weapons. I'd be ready for them." She peeled out over the water, toward the nets.

Alex glanced back at Melis as she skimmed toward her house on the island. Twilight burnished the waves and bathed the woman and her light-colored boat in a golden haze. "Beautiful . . ."

"Yes, she is."

"No, I mean . . . Of course she's beautiful. But the island and the sea and those dolphins. I wonder what it must be like to live on an island and be able to close everyone out as she does."

"She wasn't able to close us out. She had to let us in. She had to get medicine for her dolphin, so she had to use outside help for that."

"Because she chose to do it."

"But if Betworth's guys hadn't been told that Lontana shipped out in the
Last Home,
she'd probably have had a much more determined crew to deal with. In that case, the choice wouldn't have been hers either. The island concept is nice, but it seldom works. Civilization always interferes, emotion interferes."

"I'd like to try it sometime."

He shook his head. "You couldn't stand it. You're too involved with life. Give it a month and you'd be risking your neck on the Gaza Strip or digging through some ruin with Sarah Logan and her dog."

"But you could. You could stand on the outside and watch the world go by."

"Sure I could." He glanced at her and his lips tightened. "We're different, Alex. That's what I've been telling you."

She quickly looked back at the island to mask the pain that went through her. "It must be a really strange relationship between Melis and Lontana. She seems more the protective parent than he does. He evidently leaves her out here in the middle of nowhere for months on end."

"I wouldn't worry about her. She's definitely no victim."

"I didn't say I was worried. I just don't like the idea of anyone being that isolated." She grimaced. "We didn't find out much, did we? Except about the coal mine. How many coal mines are there in West Virginia?"

"I don't know, but we'd better find out soon," he said grimly.

She felt the same sense of urgency. They seemed to be taking only the tiniest steps forward, and again she had the panicky feeling that time was running out. "It's like trying to work a picture puzzle with half the pieces missing."

"But we're gradually finding those pieces. We know Betworth originally hired Lontana because they thought they had a foolproof way of accomplishing their ends without being found out. But evidently there was some reason why they thought the sonic apparatus wouldn't give them the effect they wanted on the last project in Baltimore. So they brought in Morales to handle it and evidently also to give them backup plans in case Lontana's technology didn't work."

"And after they got what they needed, they called you to get rid of him so he couldn't talk," Alex said. "And when Lontana took off for the high seas and ruined their nice little scenario, they had to backtrack and rely on Morales's original plans."

"See, we're making progress."

"Yeah, some progress. We don't know why, when, or where. As a journalist I was taught those questions were the essentials for any story."

"Well, we know who. Betworth. The rest will fall into place."

She hoped it would fall into place in time. "Do you think Lontana is as innocent as she claimed?"

"Maybe. He bailed out before Arapahoe. Did he suspect? It's possible. But Betworth evidently didn't think he'd picked up enough information to be dangerous or he'd never have gotten out of Fairfax alive." He frowned. "What I'm wondering about is Morales's involvement in this Baltimore project. It's logical that it would be Z-3. But the diagram in Morales's briefcase looked more like a skyscraper than anything to do with a seaport. And Morales dealt in drugs and arms. Betworth wouldn't have trusted him to have anything to do with this thermal-sonic apparatus. He had to have some other job to do in Baltimore."