Finder's Fee (20 page)

“You're welcome.”

“You really hit him with the cell phone?”

“I held it in my fist and gave it all I was worth. I forgot to bring my brass knuckles along.”

Luke laughed, then grimaced. “You are one tough date, lady.”

“Is your head okay, Mr. Becker?” The young voice startled Judith.

“I thought you were sleeping.” Luke sat up. “Ow. I've got a class A headache.”

“I just pretended to sleep. My mom is real tired. I can tell. I thought that if I pretended to be asleep she might doze off.”

“You amaze me, kid,” Luke said. “You got guts and sensitivity.”

“I heard you talking. What are you going to do with me?”

Judith stole a glance at Luke, then lowered herself to Abel's level. His lavender eyes fascinated her. “We don't know what to do, sweetheart. We're kind of lost at this point.”

He nodded. “You should wait.”

“Wait for what, kid?”

“For leadership,” Abel said. “When in doubt, the best place to go is nowhere.”

“I prefer to be a little more proactive than that,” Luke said.

“Waiting is doing something; it's not doing nothing. Wait on the Lord and He will save you.” Abel stood in the door way. “I'm hungry.”

Judith felt stunned. “I'm sorry. What did you say?”

“I said, I'm hungry.”

“Before that.”

“It's from Proverbs. You know. In the Bible.”

“You've read the Bible?” Luke wondered.

“Uh-huh, there's one in the other room. May I have a grilled-cheese sandwich?”

Judith said, “I'll call room ser vice. I'll get something for everyone.” She shot a quizzical look at Luke. When talking to Abel she couldn't tell if she were speaking to a child or a very small man. “Let's go in the other room and let Mr. Becker rest.”

“Okay, but what about the others?”

“Do you mean the men who took you?” The child had a right to feel insecure, Judith thought.

“No. The other children. The ones like me.” Luke stood. “There's more like you?” “Lots more.”

“Hold still.”

“I don't want to hold still, Doc. I'm losing time.” Pennington shifted on the barstool. He was seated at Alex Zarefsky's breakfast bar.

“You were out for several minutes. Follow my finger.” Zarefsky raised his index finger and moved it from side to side. Pennington slapped it away. “Fine. Have it your way.”

He stood, then swayed, his head full of spikes. He rubbed the growing goose-egg on the back of his skull then drew his fingers lightly across the knot just in front of his left temple. “That Find woman is going to pay for this.”

“You'll get no argument from me.” Zarefsky stepped into the kitchen, poured a glass of water, and pulled a bottle of Advil from one of the drawers. “Here, take some of these. It should take some of the edge off.”

“There's got to be another player, Doc. Why would a rich chick like Find involve herself in this? She's not the find-and-rescue type.”

“How do you know what type of person she is?”

“I just know. And who is the guy with her?”

Zarefsky shook his head. “I don't have a clue. Maybe someone like you. You know, a hired gun.”

“He's no operative, that's for sure. He didn't even put up a fight. I had him cold the first second I laid my meat hooks into him.”

“Whatever he is, whoever he works for, he's got the boy.”

“For now.”

Zarefsky leaned over the counter. “I can't tell you how bad this is; how, really, really bad. You didn't see a car?”

Pennington shook his head and it hurt and the pain made him all the more angry. “I don't remember anything after my head hit the ground. I can't believe their luck.”

“What about the mother?”

“She must be with them. Her body wasn't found in the house. We know our mystery man and the Find woman got away, so we must assume she did too.”

“So we've failed to keep the boy, we've failed to kill the mother, and we have no idea what to do next. This isn't going to go over well. My people are going to blow a gasket and that means our lives are worth diddly.”

“I'll get him and dole out a little payback along the way.”

“Forget revenge, just get the boy. You've failed twice, I can't protect you a third time.”

“I'm not afraid of your people.” Pennington stood, his fists clenched.

“Then you're not paying attention. Get the boy. Get him soon.”

“Don't worry, I will.”

Zarefsky studied the man. “Any idea how?”

Pennington thought for a moment then said in ice-hard words, “If you can't find the one you want, find the ones they love.”

“Do what you must. Pull out the stops. Just make certain nothing comes back to my doorstep. Having the police rummage through my home was … unpleasant. I don't want a repeat.”

“Certain sacrifices must be made.”

Zarefsky snorted. “Like what?”

Pennington didn't reply.

Abel sat on the sofa eating a grilled-cheese sandwich and drawing oily potato chips from a bag. Ida had awakened from her nap and sat close to her son, running her fingers over wayward wisps of black hair. Abel took it in stride.

Judith nibbled a turkey sandwich and sipped from a plastic bottle of cranberry juice. Ida picked at a chicken salad and Luke was making headway on an Angus hamburger. As Judith ate she studied Abel. In some ways he was unlike any boy his age she had ever met; in others he seemed normal. Most kids his age would show signs of insecurity at having been abducted then barely being rescued. He had witnessed the violence against Luke, yet he seemed undisturbed.

“Abel,” Judith began, “you mentioned the others. What others?”

“Like I said, the other children like me. The different ones.” He took a large bite of the sandwich, the cheese leaving a small greasy smear on one cheek. He wiped it off with his sleeve.

“What makes them different, Abel?

“They're different like I'm different. Special.”

“I don't know what that means.” Judith felt frustrated. Was Abel being evasive? She looked at Ida.

“This is the first I've heard of it,” Ida said.

“Abel, how do you know there are other children like you?”

“I overheard Dr. Zarefsky and the man he called Pennington talking. They were going to take me to the others.”

“Take you to the others? Did they say where?”

“A place called Ridgeline. I think it's in the mountains.”

“It is,” Luke said. “I've been there. San Bernardino Mountains. Small community not far from the ski resorts. Not terribly far from Ontario.”

“And you heard Dr. Zarefsky say this?”

“When they first brought me to his house, they made me sit on his sofa while they talked. They whispered but I could hear them. I hear lots of things. They didn't know I was listening. Was that wrong?” He looked at his mother. “Was that wrong, Mom?”

“I don't think so, sweetheart.”

Another odd trait, Judith thought. He seems unusually concerned about right and wrong for a boy his age. “Did they say why they were going to take you to the others?”

He shook his head. “I don't think Dr. Zarefsky liked talking about it, especially to Mr. Pennington. I don't think they're friends. Dr. Zarefsky said that he and Mr. Pennington would drive me there after Mr. Pennington got back from Fresno.”

Judith shot a questioning look at Ida, who shook her head. She hadn't told him about the destruction of their home.

“Did they say anything else?” Judith prompted. Abel nodded and looked away from his mother. Judith could see that he didn't want to say any more. “Abel, sweetheart, it's important that you tell everything. It's the only way we can help. You know we only want to help you, don't you?”

Abel gazed at her for a long moment. “There is truth in you, but not all truth. You want to help yourself.”

Judith felt herself flush and she sat back, uncertain what to say.

“Honey,” Ida said, “that's not nice.”

“No,” Judith said quickly, “he's right. I do want to help myself, but I also want to help you. It is why I'm here.”

“I believe you.”

“That's good.” Judith gave her best motherly smile. “Now what else did you hear?”

“They were going to send us somewhere.” He stopped eating as if the admission drained his hunger from him.

“Do you know where?” Luke asked.

Abel directed his gaze to Luke. “A place called Singapore.”

Luke choked. It took a full minute for him to clear his throat enough to speak. “Singapore? Are you sure?”

“I remember everything.”

Ida agreed. “He never forgets anything he sees or reads.”

“Eidetic memory.” Luke returned to his seat and took a sip of soda.

“What's that?” Judith asked.

“Some people call it a photographic memory, but the correct term is eidetic memory. It's the ability to remember things with great accuracy. Apparently our young friend is gifted with it.”

Judith thought of the Bible verse Abel had quoted. He had the kind of memory that let him recall anything he read. “What's the importance of Singapore?”

Luke chewed his lip before answering. “I don't have the memory skills that Abel seems to have, but my gray matter still works pretty good. If I recall, Singapore is a leader in biotech, pharmaceuticals, genome research and the like. They're extremely evangelistic about their work, recruiting the best scientists in the world with money, the best in research facilities, and prestige. A few years ago they built Biopolis, a two-million-square-foot biomedical complex. They want to lead the world in bioengineering and related fields.”

“And scientists move there?” Judith asked.

“You bet they do. Remember Alan Colman? He and his team cloned a sheep they named Dolly. He went to Singapore. Scores of the best minds end up there. There are many incentives, but one is greater than them all. They can do their work without the restrictions they face in countries like the United States.”

“And you know this how?” Judith asked.

“Come on, Judith. We've been through this. I spend most of my day trading stock and researching companies. I've got a lot tied up in biotech firms. It's my job to know who's doing what.” He stood and began pacing. “It's starting to take form. I don't have the details but I'm starting to get it.”

“Well, let us in on it.”

“Do you remember that talk you and Ida had in the restaurant? The one I needed an interpreter for with all that ART, GIFT, ZIFT talk? Put the pieces together.”

An idea formed in Judith's mind and it came with a glacial wind that chilled her blood.

“I don't follow,” Ida admitted.

Luke sighed and looked at Abel. Ida remained puzzled.

“He doesn't want to talk in front of me, Mom.”

“Your perception blows me away, kid. I gotta admit, I really like you.” Luke paused then added, “This is kinda grown-up stuff.”

“I told you what I know,” Abel said and for the first time seemed more child than adult. “You're being unfair.”

“It's up to you, Ida,” Luke said.

The woman lowered her head in thought. She pulled her son close and kissed him on the head. “He's a special boy in so many ways.” After a deep breath she said, “Say it.”

Luke resumed pacing, this time in slow steps, his hands behind his back, and his head down. He spoke softly. “Okay,
we know that Dr. Zarefsky treated you for infertility and used a procedure called — ” He looked to Judith for the answer.

“Zygote Intrafallopian Transfer.”

“Right, a procedure in which the fertilized ovum is implanted in the fallopian tubes and the pregnancy follows course after that. We know that Abel is special in some ways which makes me think that there was something special with the zygote.”

The chill in Judith dropped several degrees. “Are you suggesting that the zygote was tampered with? I'm not sure that's legal.”

Luke laughed. “As if that matters. Illegal stuff goes on all the time. Just because a law says something can't be done doesn't mean that it won't. Scientists are people and like any group of people there are those who will do what they want regardless of laws. It's those very laws that make things like Singapore's Biopolis so attractive. No legalities to worry about and deep pockets to pay for research. Who knows what other research facilities are doing. They have a different view of research than we do.”

“And the other children …” Ida began.

“The same as Abel. Genetically altered for some reason that is still unclear to me.”

“But why kidnap Abel?” Judith asked, then stopped. She had just arrived at the same conclusion. “No. You can't be serious.”

“I bet if we could check Dr. Zarefsky's date book, we'd see he plans a long stay in Asia and he's taking some children with him.”

“They're a product to him,” Judith whispered, unable to gather enough air to speak louder.

“While he remains in the country, he can keep tabs on his … er … progeny. I'm betting that some Asian country got wind of his research and offered him a pile of gold and the equivalent in research space and assistants. Of course …”

“Of course what?” Judith prompted.

“If he stays in the country, word may get out about what he was doing eight years ago. The kids are growing older and maybe every one is as unique as Abel. If so, sooner or later, someone's going to catch on. That wouldn't matter in a place like Singapore. Bringing the kids may be part of the deal. They're collateral.”

“Worse,” Judith said. “They're guinea pigs.”

Judith lay awake on the sofa unable to sleep despite eyelids that felt filled with lead shot. Her body hurt from a day of stress, travel, and of course, smacking a man upside the head with a tightly held cell phone. She hadn't told anyone, but her right arm, shoulder, and back hurt from the exertion. What good would it do to share the news? Everyone had pains, either emotional or physical.