Exile Hunter (61 page)

“Yeah, and he’ll
know me if he sees me or gets his hands on a recent photo. Where
would he be now?”

“He left our office
about a half hour ago, just before I drove down here. My guess is
that he was on his way to find Mrs. Kendall.”

Jay opened his mouth to
speak next but his father interrupted him.

“I want to thank you
for coming here and talking to us the way you did,” Larry broke in.
“Give my best to the Sheriff and give him my solemn promise that
none of us will tell anyone about our meeting here today.”

“We truly appreciate
that,” Eldon answered. “The Sheriff’s a family man, too. We
just want to do what’s right.”

When the deputy had
left the room, Jay had his turn to speak.

“So, Tom, was there
anything you wanted to tell us about the Kendall woman? She wouldn’t
happen to be the person you were searching for at the reassignment
centers, would she?”

“Good guess,”
Linder replied with a weak smile. “It’s a long story. How about
if I tell you on the road? If that agent is who I think he is, it’s
best we get going.”

“Ditto that,” Larry
agreed. “Your underground contacts are waiting for you in Heber.
The plan is to move you out to North Dakota by separate routes. Now
that the feds are in town, you’ll have to take the back roads to
avoid checkpoints.”

“Just to be on a safe
side, Dad, I’d like to switch cars for this. Do you mind if we
drive the new company SUV to Heber? We’ll leave it in the lot
behind the old supermarket.”

Larry Becker agreed and
shooed him out the door. Linder followed behind, stopping in a vacant
office on the way to make a phone call.

“Sharon?” he asked
when the call went through.

“Oh, Tom!” came
Sharon Unger’s anguished reply. “Armed men with badges came to
the house this morning looking for Patricia. When I told them I
evicted her and didn’t know where she went, they threatened me! I
was so frightened that I forgot Caroline was still asleep in the back
bedroom! Thank God they didn’t search the house. But they’re sure
to find Patricia one way or another. And now I’m worried that they
may go to the middle school for Caroline. What shall I do? Should I
send her to school anyway?”

Linder hesitated. “She
won’t be safe there if you do,” he said.

“But what reason can
I give to keep her? She’ll surely want to go.”

“I suppose you’re
right,” he agreed, “and the school will check on her if doesn’t
show up. No, let her go there. I’ll think of something else.”

Linder hung up the
receiver and stepped out onto the curb, where Jay was waiting in the
company’s SUV. Once aboard, he told Jay a carefully edited version
of his relationship with the Kendalls that omitted any reference to
his work for the DSS. Then he told Jay to stop the vehicle just
before entering the highway onramp toward Heber.

“Listen, it’s only
8:15,” he told Jay. “Patricia’s job starts at nine. We might
still be able to catch her at home if she’s as hung over as I
expect she’ll be. Sharon said the agents didn’t have her new
address, so there’s not much risk of bumping into the DSS there
yet. But if we see any sign of trouble, we can abort. Are you game?”

“Let’s try it,”
Jay replied with grim determination.

They turned north
toward Coalville and, on arriving in town, found no signs of
stakeouts anywhere near Patricia’s rental house.

“Drop me off on the
next street. I’ll go in through the back just to be safe,” Linder
instructed.

But he came back a few
minutes later empty-handed.

“Nobody at home.
Either they got to her or she’s left for work,” Linder reported.
“Let’s beat it in case they’re one step behind us.”

“Where to?” Jay
asked, as stoic as before. “Didn’t you say she works at the
Wanship truck depot? Do you think we still have a shot at catching
her there?”

Linder looked at his
watch.

“Almost nine-thirty.
Even if the feds haven’t arrived there and we found her in time, we
wouldn’t get far. Every inch of the place is covered by security
cameras; they’d be right on our tail. No, I’m afraid we’ve lost
Patricia for now. But I have another idea. Hang a right on 100th
East. We’re going to the middle school.”

A few minutes later,
they arrived at the school just in time to notice a blue government
sedan outside the front entrance with a shaven-headed driver asleep
at the wheel.

“Keep going around
the back,” he directed. The middle school’s rear parking lot held
only a scattering of beat-up pickups, minivans, and school buses,
with not a government sedan or SUV in sight. Jay parked between two
minivans only a few spaces from the fire lane.

“Okay, I need you to
wait here and look inconspicuous,” he added. “If I’m not out in
five minutes, you’re free to go on to Heber without me. But as soon
as you see me come out, I want you to pull up to the curb and prepare
for a fast getaway. Got it?”

“Are you nuts?” Jay
asked in disbelief, at last questioning Linder’s instructions. “Do
you really think you can go in there, find the Kendall girl, and
bring her out just like that, in five minutes?”

“I already know where
her classroom is,” Linder answered. “I just need to find a way in
and catch some good luck on the way out.”

“Even if you get
inside, what makes you think the girl would agree to go with you or
that the school would let her?” Jay pressed. “How old is she,
anyway?”

“Fourteen. But you
don’t know Caroline. I think she’ll come,” he replied. “And I
couldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t try.”

“I still think you’re
crazy,” Jay answered at last. “But I’m with you.”

“Okay, here goes.”

Without another word,
Linder fished a hard hat and a set of blue coveralls out from under
his seat and pulled them on. Then he withdrew a pair of sunglasses
from his daypack along with an improvised mouthpiece that completely
altered his bite and jawline. The combined effect rendered him nearly
unrecognizable.

Linder left the SUV,
picked up a toolbox from the cargo bed, and approached one of the
school’s twin back exits. There he went to work pretending to
scrape excess caulking from around the doors’ heavy glass panels.
Within a minute or two, a woman in high heels and a business suit
opened the door from inside, stepped around Linder to leave the
building, and paid him no attention at all as he caught the open door
and slipped inside.

Upon entering, he
scanned the empty halls for surveillance cameras and fire alarms.
Finding none of the former but one of the latter located within easy
reach, Linder approached the fire alarm and pulled hard. Though the
electronic siren nearly deafened him, he stood aside in the corridor
and waited for students and teachers to stop work, leave their
classrooms and march toward the exits.

The luck he had hoped
for arrived before long in the form of Caroline Kendall’s seventh
grade math class. Linder waited for Caroline to pass, then stepped in
just behind her and shouted directly into her ear above the din.

“It’s me, Tom,”
he said. “Keep walking next to me. Something’s happened to your
mother and she needs your help. There’s no time to ask permission
to leave. I can explain later. When we get outside, follow five paces
behind me, and then get in the SUV beside me. Please, Caroline, trust
me just this one time.”

Jay pulled up the
moment Linder reached the curb and both he and Caroline made such a
smooth departure that nobody in the milling crowd seemed to notice
them. When they rounded the corner in front of the school, the
shaven-headed driver in the government sedan was still fast asleep.

Once past the sedan,
Linder turned to Caroline with a solemn face.

“Is my mom hurt?”
Caroline asked at once.

“It’s nothing
medical, but it’s just as serious,” he began. “You see, federal
agents showed up at the sheriff’s office this morning asking about
your mother and you. They went to Mrs. Unger’s, too, but she sent
them away empty-handed. I tried to reach your mother before she left
for work but we got there too late. We have to assume the agents have
found her by now.”

Caroline looked too
dazed to speak. Linder continued.

“Now that Kamas
revolt has been crushed, the government is rounding up everybody on
their watch list. Your mother’s name is on that list, along with
yours and mine and Jay’s. By the way, Jay’s the one driving. He
and I work together at the vitamin factory.”

“Hi, Caroline,” Jay
called out from the driver’s seat. “Sorry for putting you on the
spot.”

“Hi,” she replied
warily.

“Anyway, Jay and I
are heading east to find a way out of the country,” Linder went on.
“I’ve got an idea to escape to Europe through the Great Lakes the
way you and your mother did. If that doesn’t work, I have friends
and relatives who might be able to take care of us until we find
another way out. The question is this: will you come with us or would
you rather have us take you back to school to face the future here
with your mother? I know it’s a lot to ask of someone your age, but
after thinking about our conversation last night, I wanted to offer
you the choice. We don’t have much time, so you’ll need to decide
pretty quickly...”

He waited for Caroline
to answer. When she did, her composure surprised him.

“I like you, Tom, but
how do I know you are telling me the truth?” she asked, looking him
straight in the eye.

Linder gave an amused
laugh but cut it short when Jay shot him a reproving look.

“Okay, that’s a
fair question,” he said, trying to think of a persuasive answer.
“Let’s see. If you’re not sure you believe me, how about if we
call Mrs. Unger? Would that help?”

Caroline nodded. “Yes,
let’s do that,” she answered.

“What if they have
your landlady’s phones tapped?” Jay cautioned.

“We might still be
okay if we call from a pay phone and keep the call short,” Linder
mused.

“There’s a pay
phone by the gas station at Silver Creek Junction, if that helps,”
Jay offered.

“Good, that’s not
far,” Linder replied. “Now, Caroline,” he went on, “when you
get on the line with Mrs. Unger, it’s important to ask your
question as quickly as you can and then get off once you have her
answer. If you stay on too long or say too much, State Security might
be able to find us. Do you think you can do that?”

“I think so,” the
girl replied.

Before long, they
pulled up behind the gas station and Linder led Caroline to the
phone. Jay remained in the SUV and watched anxiously through the
window.

Sharon Unger picked up
on the second ring.

“Hi, Mrs. Unger. It’s
me, Caroline,” the girl began. “I’m calling from the school
infirmary because I have a fever and the nurse wants to send me home.
But when I called Mom at work, they said she left with some men from
the government and I could tell from her voice that she was pretty
worried about it. Can you tell me—did any government men come to
your house looking for us? Cause if they did, I know another place
where I’ll be safe and I’ll go there instead. Please, Mrs. U., I
need you to tell me the truth, please.”

Linder could hear the
anguished sigh on the other end of the line.

“Oh, you poor
creature, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about it before. Yes,
they did come this morning. So, no, don’t come back here. Stay
right where you are and...”

“I need to ask one
more question, Mrs. U. Is the reason you let me stay with you last
night because my mother was drunk? Please, I need to know the truth.”

A long pause followed.

“I’m afraid so,
kitten.”

“Don’t worry, Mrs.
U. I’ll be fine,” Caroline replied, then quickly hung up.

With a quavering voice,
she asked Linder, “You were there with her. Did you see her...that
way?

Linder nodded.

“And you left her
like that?” she pressed.

“I learned a long
time ago not to stay where I’m not wanted,” he replied with a
sorrow he could not hide.

“Then take me with
you,” she announced. “I can’t bear it, either.”

* * *

Patricia Kendall
opened her eyes and felt as if they had nearly dried shut. When she
tried to raise her head from the pillow, her temples throbbed as if
she had been clubbed. Off in the distance, she thought she heard
knocking and a voice that resembled Warren’s, but the concentration
it demanded made her nauseous. So she buried her head in the pillow
and went back to sleep.

The next time she
awoke, the knocking at the door was louder and the sunlight at the
curtained window brighter, but her headache had subsided. Still
groggy, she rolled onto her back and cast the pillow aside. But when
she heard footsteps on the parquet floor leading to her bedroom, her
head cleared almost at once, and she became fully alert to every
sight and sound around her.

“Who is it?” she
called out.

No answer.

“I can hear you,”
she continued. “Who’s there?”

There was a measured
rap at the bedroom door. Patricia held her breath as the door slowly
opened. A moment later she let out a surprised gasp upon finding
Roger Kendall standing at the threshold.

At first, the shock of
seeing her husband made her reconsider whether she was truly awake or
hallucinating from too much gin, or perhaps the sudden lack of it.
But her pounding headache, dry eyes, woolly mouth, and the room’s
stale air convinced her that this was no dream. She glanced at the
window one more time until the sun’s glare hurt her eyes.

Roger’s gaunt frame
and pallid, drawn, and leathery face shocked her. His blue eyes, once
his most attractive feature, had turned watery, and held the haunted
look of a beaten man. The veneer of civilization had peeled away and
his self-assured, lawyerly smile had been replaced by a brutish leer.
This was no longer the Roger she knew.