Gardener: The Roots Of Ancient Evil (21 page)

              Viviana figured they only had ten to fifteen minutes before Molly would be ready to be taken to a hospital. Tommy and Marco gathered up everything they could for her to examine once they got it all back to her lab. She took several soil samples, from half of the plot that had freshly sprouted flowers, and the other half that looked like it was being prepared for seeding. There was also a fairly large floor safe that was too heavy to bring with them.

When Molly was ready, she went back into the operating room and spent some time looking her over. The only puncture appeared to be in her left vein, where one would normal be if one gave blood. One guard carefully carried her upstairs and up the ramp, while the others led the way.

              “I’ll take her to the hospital,” Prieto said once they’d reached their vehicles. “You come with me,” he said to one of the guards, “the rest of you follow them back to Dr. Berg’s lab.”

They nodded and got into their vehicles.

              Prieto arrived at the hospital twelve minutes later. He carried her himself into the emergency room.

              “What happened?”
              “I don’t know. She ran away from home, we just found her like this, asleep, she won’t wake up,” Prieto said. He’d decided along the way to be as vague as possible. He was still trying to wrap his mind around who Shea really was, and why he’d kidnapped his granddaughter.

              “Why was that so easy?” Tommy asked once they were safely back in Viviana’s lab. She’d called Bradley on the way and said that she was on the verge of a huge discovery, but it was very sensitive and Prieto’s guards would be with her the entire time. She’d explained plainly the best thing for him to do would be to stay out of her way, and cancel any appointments he’d arranged. Ideally he and everybody else should go home.

              “What do you mean?” Marco asked. Viviana was busily spreading out what they’d taken on various lab benches, with two of the guards acting as her assistants as best they could.

              “No security, that guy Max nowhere to be found, we just walk in and walk back out with all the stuff?”

              “Yeah, I see what you mean,” Marco replied.

Tommy called Jamie for an update.

              “We’ve frozen a lot of this guy Emerson’s bank accounts, and we’ve found some info on a car rented through Shea’s latest bank account. What do you want us to do?” he asked Tommy.

              “Is there any way you can track Emerson?” Tommy asked.

              “We might get lucky, but unless he specifically pops up somewhere, not really,” Jamie explained.

              “What options do we have?” Tommy asked.

              “Tell you the truth, guy like this probably has a bug out plan, so if he thinks he’s been made, he’s maybe halfway to an airport. Fake passports, et cetera. Unless Shea is keeping him hidden,” Jamie explained.

              “Can you fake a police report?”

              “What do you mean?”
              “I mean can you hack into the police department and put out like a fake APB or something? Get them to arrest him?” Tommy asked. Jamie didn’t answer right away. Tommy suspected he was checking with his tech guys.

              “Yeah, we can do that. You want him arrested or killed?”
              “You can do that?”

              “Depends on how we word the APB.”

              “Just arrested. I think Prieto might want to talk to him,”

              “Roger that,” Jamie said and ended the call.

Tommy walked over to Viviana, being careful not to interrupt her. She had two microscopes set up, and several large machines were whirring away with samples she’d fed into them. She turned and looked up at him.

              “This is really messed up,” she said.

              “We ran a tox screen on her, and it appears she’s taken, or has been given, a very powerful sedative, but it’s not dangerous. All her vitals are fine, it’s just a matter of waiting for her to metabolize it and regain consciousness,” the doctor explained to Prieto, who’d been waiting nervously.

              “How long do you think that will take?”
              “Two, three hours, tops. Then I’d like to keep her overnight, just to make sure.”
              “Of course,” Prieto answered. He called his daughter and relayed the news. They were on their way to the airport in Redding. Prieto had arranged a private jet for them. They expected to land at COS Airport in less than an hour.

              “OK, listen carefully,” Prieto said to the guard. “Wait here for her parents. I’ll call them and give them your information. Do not let her out of your sight, OK?” The guard nodded. While Prieto wanted to stay and see his granddaughter when she woke up, her parents would be here before she did. She was safe here until then. He had more important things to attend to. He called his daughter and let her know his plans, but didn’t explain why.

              “What do you mean?” Tommy asked.

              “These flowers, they have properties I’ve never seen before. I mean I would need a lot more time, but where he got them from, they are nearly miraculous in their medicinal properties.”

              “But what’s the messed up part?” Tommy asked.

              “The soil. I took three samples from the area that had sprouts, and three samples from the area being prepared. I know why he’s taking those girls,” she said, her face pale. Tommy, Marco, and the two guards were watching her closely.

              “The part with sprouts already going has a high concentration of many of the proteins, of, uh,”—she paused, struggling to keep her composure—“of blood. Human blood,” she finished, looking up.

              “This guy is taking girls, bleeding them out, and using their blood to fertilize the soil?” Tommy asked.

              “But here’s the really messed up part,” she said, forcing her scientific mind to the forefront of her brain. “The seeds that have sprouted in the, uh, fertilized soil, they have much different properties than the non-sprouted seeds. There is something in the blood, the human blood, that is altering their properties on a genetic level,” she explained.

              “What the hell?” Marco said. “You’re saying he’s stealing people’s blood, killing them, to fertilize his flowers with?”
              “That’s correct,” she answered. “And the effect that human blood has on these seeds, as they sprout, may be what’s turning these flowers, which already have properties I’ve never seen before, into something that may halt the aging process. It makes these flowers produce what GenSpan was created to do. Stop the aging process at a genetic level,” she said, standing. Tommy grabbed his phone, which had started vibrating. He glanced at the number and answered it quickly.

              “She OK?” he asked, and then nodded his head. They all quickly traded looks of relief. “He’s coming in,” Tommy said, putting the phone back into his pocket. Viviana went to the phone and had the guard buzz him in. Prieto came into the lab momentarily, and Viviana brought him up to speed.

              “That’s why he suddenly appeared in their family tree. If you never aged, it would be hard to keep the same name and appearance for so long. So this is really possible?” he asked Viviana.

She nodded. “I don’t know exactly how, but if I…” She paused, and Tommy put his hand on her shoulder. “Put aside for a minute that this guy killed my sister, this plant can be used to cure a whole host of diseases. And if I figure out how to activate the DNA without having to use human blood, there’s no telling what other things this plant can do,” she said.

              “The fact remains that Shea is a murderer. And has likely been so for several hundred years,” Prieto said. He then looked at Viviana, and paused before asking a difficult question.

              “Your sister, had her blood been, uh, removed?”
              “No, that’s the thing. She’d been strangled. There was no other trauma,” she said.

              “Well, now that Molly is safe, I would like to turn my attention, and all my resources, to stopping Shea. At all costs. Will you help me?” he asked. They all quickly nodded.

              “Will those, seeds, will they…” Prieto started, not sure how to phrase it.

              “Yes, I have all I need to do research. But that means that…” she started.

              “We can’t go to the authorities,” Prieto said. “Besides, there’s no real evidence that Shea himself is connected, legally. That’s why he used this fellow Max as a buffer. At best they would arrest and prosecute Max,” Prieto said.

              “No,” Tommy said, shaking his head. “We’re not going to the authorities. Jamie has faked an APB on Max so the cops will pick him up. I say we find Shea and get rid of him. Max, too,” Tommy said, looking around. They all slowly nodded, including Viviana.

Prieto’s phone vibrated. He looked at it and got a puzzled look on his face.

              “Yes?” he answered and paused to listen. “But that doesn’t make any sense. We were just found compliant last month, what did they say?” He nodded his head slightly a few times, and then slowly put his phone back into his pocket, a worried look on his face.

              “That was my assistant. The SEC has initiated a full investigation. As of three minutes ago, all my assets, including my personal bank accounts, have been frozen until further notice.”

              “Frozen what do you mean frozen?” Tommy asked.

              “It means if I try to access any cash, even withdrawing from the ATM, I’ll be denied,” Prieto explained. “That makes sense, I mean, that he could do that. If he’s really as old as you say, and I still can’t quite accept it as fact, then he’s likely got a lot of pull in Washington. He’s had a long time to plan.” Prieto crossed his arms, didn’t make eye contact with any of the others.

              “Give Jamie and them some time, his guys will eventually get all of Max’s money,” Tommy said, but then realized that GenSpan could likely be seized as well. If the SEC had frozen Prieto’s accounts, then they would know about his interest in Viviana’s company.

              “Well, at the very least we should do something with this,” Viviana said, motioning to the various elements spread out across the lab stations. “I mean we have to tell somebody that this exists, right?” she asked, looking around.

Tommy’s cell buzzed and he answered it quickly, thinking it was Jamie with an update.

              “Hello, Mr. Ricker,” Shea said. Tommy’s expression told everybody who it was. “I have to admit I had no idea you would come back. I had pegged you to be somebody that was easily frightened by somebody like Max,” Shea said.

              “Why did you target Prieto’s granddaughter?” Tommy demanded.

              “That was a simple misunderstanding. I had no involvement in the recruitment process, I admit I should have taken more care,” he said dismissively. Tommy put the phone on the counter, not wanting to touch it. Pushed the speaker button.

              “What about Viviana’s sister? Was that another simple misunderstanding?” Tommy demanded while clenching his fists. He glanced up at Viviana, expecting to see her eyes moist. They were not. They blazed with fury. Shea didn’t answer him.

              “Mr. Prieto, I apologize for the recent action by the SEC, that was just to get your attention. I can reverse that as easily as flipping off a light switch,” he said.

Prieto looked at Viviana and back to the phone. He didn’t respond. Viviana was taking very slow, deep breaths.

              “How does this work?” she asked.

              “You’ve looked into those seeds? I was kind of curious myself,” Shea admitted.

              “You don’t know?” she asked.

              “Not in the least. We learned of these long ago, in what is now referred to as Central America. I wasn’t there myself, but one of my associates was.”

              “Was?” Viviana asked.

              “Well, originally there were several dozen of us. Mostly aristocrats who didn’t do much of the dirty work, but many of us went down there when the locals explained what these flowers did. Quite an interesting story,” Shea admitted.

“I’ll bet,” Viviana said. “Why hasn’t anybody else discovered these?”

“Well, once we’d taken enough to grow several gardens in Europe, we destroyed all of the originals,” Shea explained. “Burned them all. It didn’t take long for us to fight amongst ourselves over their control. There are only three families left. In the beginning, there were sixteen.”

              “What happened?” Viviana asked.

              “Well, sixteen families with the secret to eternal life tend to grow competitive over time, that’s why there are only three left,” Shea explained.

              “Why only three?”

              “Because we don’t trust each other. To keep us from bringing others into our circle. To start the process off, three different flower strains are needed. The remaining families each have one strain, an agreement that’s a little over a hundred years old.”

              “But once the process is started?” she asked.

              “Only one is needed to keep it going. Have you discovered the necessary ingredient?” Shea asked, amused.

              “Human blood?”

              “Yes,” Shea answered. “But I have a proposal for you,” he said. Tommy looked at Viviana, shook his head. She looked at him expressionless. Turned back to the phone on the table.

              “What exactly?”
              “I believe, Dr. Berg, that you have in your laboratory the ability to reverse engineer the process, so we do not need the other strains,” he said.

              “I agree. But we have everything here, why do we need you?” she demanded.

              “Because if you don’t help me, I will hunt you down and kill you all. You have no idea how patient I’ve become over the centuries. I can wait a long, long time. On the other hand,” he started, but left it hanging. Viviana was breathing slowly and purposefully. Glaring at the phone. Tommy had never seen her this way.

              “I have to admit, it does present a certain scientific curiosity,” she finally said. Tommy’s eyes grew wide. She didn’t turn to look at him.

              “Just imagine, Dr. Berg, your lab, and these plants. Slowly you release a groundbreaking cure every decade or so. You’ll be remembered along with the greatest scientific minds that’ve ever lived,” he said.

              “What about the other families?” she asked.

              “They don’t have nearly the resources you have. We could have. Mr. Prieto, I believe I could use your help as well,” Shea said. Viviana looked at him and back at the phone.

              “What do you mean?” he asked.

              “You have a once-in-a-generation understanding of the financial markets. A mind like that could create quite a fortune over a few centuries. Enough to own every single asset in North America,” Shea said slowly. Prieto’s hands clenched into fists.

              “You’re telling us to join you or you’ll kill us? That about right?” Tommy demanded.

              “You don’t need to put it so crudely, Mr. Ricker, but yes. Think of the benefits. A scientific mind like Dr. Berg’s, the financial genius of Mr. Prieto, and you, Tommy, well, I’d be willing to let you come along for the ride,” Shea said with a slight tease in his voice.

              “That’s assuming that we don’t need the other plants,” Viviana said.

              “Do you doubt your scientific prowess, Doctor?”

              “What if the other families learn of this?” she asked.

              “They won’t. I’ve only agreed to create a surplus here, as they have agreed to do there, if any of our supply runs out. But of course, none of us believe each other,” Shea said. “Think of it this way,” he added, “if you understand the science behind this, we won’t need to be killing any young virgins,” he added as an afterthought.

              “Why virgins?” Viviana asked as if it were a scientific curiosity.

              “To tell you the truth, I have no idea. That’s the way they showed us hundreds of years ago, so we kept up the tradition,” Shea replied.

              “There’s one thing I’ll need before I agree to anything, just to make sure if it’s possible,” Viviana said, her eyes fixed on the phone.

              “Yes?”
              “I’ll need a sample of your blood. I have a suspicion already, based on what I’ve seen, but I’ll need to see it to make sure. If I’m right, then I’ll be the first human to win two Nobel prizes. I already know what I will win them for,” she said, her eyes gleaming.

              “You sure those guards of yours won’t shoot me?” Shea asked.

              “I assure you they will not. But as a show of good faith, call off your SEC dogs on Mr. Prieto.”

              “Mr. Prieto, are you in agreement?” Shea asked.

Prieto looked at Viviana. Studied her closely.

              “Are you sure about this, Dr. Berg? Are you absolutely sure it will work?” he asked. She slowly nodded. “OK, I’ll agree to Dr. Berg’s plan. I don’t know the science, but if she says she needs to look at your blood, I believe her. But I want full ownership of GenSpan. I’d like to be remembered for something other than making money,” Prieto said.

              “Very well, I’ll make a few calls and be there shortly,” Shea said, and ended the call.