Multiples of Six (5 page)

Chapter 10

James watched as the man at the bottom of the stairs turned, eyes narrowing. There was another audible click and a tearing sound that cut the air. The man lurched and grasped at his throat, slumping against the wall.

Nicole screamed and tried to pull James back from the top of the stairs. Kevin came around the corner and the three watched the man at the bottom of the stairs slide slowly down the wall, his hands still clutched to his throat. They could see something sticking out between the man’s fingers just beneath his chin. Inaudible words escaped curled lips. His eyes bulged in a mixture of horror and fear. He wrenched what looked like a dart from out of his neck, and stared at it, his lips now mouthing soundlessly like his voice had been muted. His eyes slowly rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed the rest of the way to the floor. Nicole let out another cry.

James put his foot onto the next step down, which elicited a shudder from Nicole, her whole body shaking in disbelief. Even Kevin looked dismayed at the thought of descending the stairs. James turned slightly, gave her hand a squeeze then froze at the sound of another man’s voice.

“James?” said the new voice.

James threw his hands up.

“Jesus Christ! Why does everyone know my fucking name around here?”

“Paynter?” Kevin called out. 

A taller man with a full head of grey hair materialized over the slumped, drooling, unconscious man at the bottom of the stairs. He too held a gun in his hand.

“What the hell is going on?” James shouted.

“Did he hurt you?” said the man.

His voice was anxious, but not aggressive.

“No. Who the hell is he, and who the hell are you?”

James pointed nervously at the new man. The man shoved his own gun into his coat pocket, then reached down and picked up the intruder’s weapon. He leaned the small man’s head back, as if he were examining his handiwork.

“I…am Dr. Robert Paynter. I’m the one who sent Kevin to find you. He…is the man who has stirred the hornet’s nest, so to speak, and…he could be the death of us all. He was supposed to be dead. We were all supposed to be dead. And, it’s somewhat amazing to actually see anyone still alive, especially him…after twenty-four years. That…is Dr. Fred Taylor…such as he is,” Paynter said, waving a hand at the motionless man.

Paynter suddenly turned, walked back into the downstairs hallway and out of view. James took another couple of steps downward to see that he had gone to the front door. Paynter peeked out of the window then reached for the door and pulled it open. There was a sound of a revving car engine and accelerating wheels on the road outside. He closed the door and returned to the base of the stairs. He stared up at the three, with what James might have mistaken for awe if the situation hadn’t been so strange.

“Is he dead?” Nicole said, pointing to the heap of a man at the base of the stairs.

The man called Taylor had slumped nearly horizontal, his mouth lolling open, a thin strand of spit that hung from his bottom lip was just about to reach the carpet.

“Oh, no,” said the man, pulling the bulky, fake-looking gun from his pants, as if that itself were an explanation.

“Tranquilizer,” he continued. “He should be out for a good hour or so with the dose I gave him. Nowhere near enough to kill…but, he’ll have a heck of a headache when he wakes up. Now, get packing. We haven’t much time.”

“Right,” James said, “so…what?”

“We need to get the hell out of here,” said the man. “That car outside wasn’t just a curious neighbor.”

“And I would want to go somewhere with you because…?”

“Because, after I’ve had some time to tell you what I know, you’ll want to come with me.”

“James, he did bring us together,” Kevin said. “That’s gotta say something for the guy.”

“Start talking,” James said, folding his arms across his chest.

“We don’t have time for this. Once they find out that…”

“They? Who’s they?” James said. Nicole stirred behind him, and came down the few steps to his level.

“You do have the envelope, don’t you?” said the man.

“Again with the envelope? What’s so special about this friggin’ envelope! It’s a ratty old envelope that held my birth certificate,” James said.

“You lied to him?” Nicole asked.

“Taylor asked for it? That’s troublesome. Listen, I’m here to help. I promise. I just need to know that you still have it,” Paynter said. James looked into the man’s eyes. If he was lying, he was well practiced.

“I keep it in my mother’s old lock box. I’ve seen it a hundred times…what’s so important about my birth certificate.”

“It’s the envelope that matters, not the birth certificate,” Paynter said.

“What is all this?” James asked. “Why are people coming into my home and threatening me?”

“I’m sorry, but you…have information…that is possibly harmful…,” Paynter stammered.

“You’re lying,” James said.

“No, it’s true. We are in a lot of danger here. If we’re not moving, we’re asking to be caught. That’s why we have to go. Now. There are people who want that envelope…people who would kill to get it,” Paynter said.

“Like him? Taylor?” James asked.

“Well, I never thought so…I don’t really know why he’s here…that’s a completely unexpected development. It doesn’t make sense that he was threatening you…and that bothers me,” he said.

“Then who
else
is out to get me?” James said.

“I’m not one hundred percent positive, but I have a few guesses. We’ll probably find out soon enough,” Paynter said.

James saw the lie, or at least the hint of it, but he chose to not call it out.

“And I have this information,” James said.

“Yes…you…all…both have it. It’s only strength is in the cumulative,” Paynter said.

“And people are just coming after it now?” Kevin asked.

“Power matrixes shift. The information is more important, or rather, detrimental now to those in power than before,” Paynter said.

“Those in power? Did you say we all have it? I’m so confused,” James said and he dropped down onto the steps.”

“So, why don’t you take your information and leave?” Kevin said.

“Because, Kevin, that information is probably more important to you…and James…than either of you could ever imagine,” Paynter said.

“Why should I come with you? Why can’t I just call the police?” James said.

“James,” Kevin said, as if asking for a break.

“They are the police,” Paynter said.

James folded his arms across his chest.

“You still haven’t convinced me. Why should I come with you? How do I know this Taylor guy wasn’t the one I was supposed to trust?” James asked.

Paynter paused before answering right away. He held up the dart that had been fired from his gun.

“Because the bad guys don’t carry tranquilizers. Because there is more truth waiting for you out there than you will ever find waiting around here.”

“Truth,” James said.

“I can…lead you to the truth,” Paynter said.

“That sounds like a bad line out of a cheesy movie,” James said.

“I have a better one,” Paynter said, and a sly look took over his face, the corner of his mouth rising.

“Oh?” James said.

“Yeah,” Paynter said, folding his arms to match James’ stance. “Kevin isn’t your only brother.”

Chapter 11

James sat in the back of the Chrysler 300M. No matter how far Nicole moved the seat up, James legs were cramped. It fit his mood, so James didn’t say a word. He alternated his stare between the back of the driver’s seat, and the back of the man’s head in that seat. He had not said a word since they got on the road. It had been apparent to Dr. Paynter that they needed to leave the premises as soon as possible, as someone would eventually show up for the man with the gun. He told them all to pack an overnight bag. Paynter gave Nicole no choice. She had to go with them, or risk being used against James. Before they left his house, the doctor dialed three digits into Dr. Taylor’s cell phone and threw it on top of the still unconscious man. It looked so new and unused; he might have purchased it the previous day. Paynter smiled wryly as they left. James didn’t smile back.

Paynter’s only request as they enter the car was that Nicole drive. She was the least intoxicated of the three and he was struggling to stay conscious. He gave her the simple directives of "drive due west" and “don’t speed.” Within moments of being in the passenger seat, he was asleep. James fumed silently in the back seat. Occasionally, he would make eye contact with Kevin, who could only shrug. Eventually, Kevin stopped looking at him. Nicole played the radio softly and tapped along on the steering wheel. She tried to adjust the rear view mirror so she could catch his eye, but he shrank lower in his seat.

"Oh, why don't you cry about it," she whispered.

"Maybe I will," James snapped back.

"Children…please!" Kevin said, noticing that Paynter had stirred.

James turned his back to Kevin and curled up in the corner the best he could, closing his eyes. He couldn’t make out a hushed conversation between Nicole and Kevin before sleep took him.

James was jarred awake by a sharp cry of laughter. He tried to stretch, then, realizing where he was, gave up. He sat up straight as best he could, and saw that Nicole was covering her mouth with her hand. Paynter was wide awake and smiling broadly. James glanced out the window to see the morning light illuminating snow covered fields in both directions.

"Glad we're all having a good time," James muttered.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie. Really...it's just that...Bob was telling a funny story...and...," Nicole said, trailing off and shrugging her shoulders.

"Oh, was
Bob
telling a funny story? I fall asleep for a bit, and when I wake up, we're on a first name basis? Nice. Well, Bob, by all means...don't let me interrupt."

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the car," Kevin said.

"Whatever," James said.

He caught Nicole's frown in the rear view mirror. Maybe he was being an ass, but he wasn't apologizing. Not yet anyway.

As they hurtled on through central Pennsylvania, the conversation blossomed again. Nicole didn’t seem to mind Paynter one bit, and now, as James sat in the back, almost hiding in the collar of his coat, she was cheerfully relaying the difficulties of her Psychology finals just days before. James stewed as she rattled on about the field’s most recent discoveries like someone had pulled her string. Paynter smiled and nodded knowingly, adding comments, and generally seeming to enjoy the conversation. Kevin chimed in on occasion, and Paynter and he talked readily about the current hockey season.

After another hour of riding in the confines of the back seat, James started shifting uncomfortably.

“I’m going to stop, ok? We’re getting low on gas,” Nicole said.

“I think that’s a good idea. I think we could all use a breather,” Paynter said.

They pulled off of the highway. There was a gas station right across the road from the exit ramp. The old snow was deeper up here. It looked to be about ten inches. Nicole maneuvered past a large mound of snow, across the lot and up to the first available pump. They all got out at the same time.

“Might as well ride in the trunk,” James said, in a low voice, not really trying to hide his displeasure.

Nicole scowled at him. Kevin just rolled his eyes.

“I’ll switch with you,” Paynter said, but James barely acknowledged that he had spoken.

“No, I’ll be ok. I gotta piss something fierce, though,” he said.

Paynter stood next to the pump, stretching his arms above his head and yawning. James gave a quick nervous glance back at Nicole, then back at him. It didn’t go unnoticed.

“Do you want her to go with you?” Paynter said. “I’m not going anywhere without you, James, so go do what you have to and let’s get back on the road.”

James blushed and turned away.

Try as he might, James could find no sign of insincerity in the man’s voice or demeanor. But, the time was coming for him to own up to what this was really about. Then, thought James, then we’d see what he was made of.

James walked into the gas station store, rubbing his hands against the cold, dry air. There was a young guy behind the counter with a bag of sunflower seeds. He looked bored, and his crooked nametag read “Jo-n”, as if the “h” had fallen off at some point and he’d just never bothered to make a new one.

“Bathroom?” James asked.

“Yep,” said Jo-n, and he pointed to a hallway in the back of the store.

By the time James came back out, Kevin and Paynter were standing at the counter. Paynter had pulled out a rather large clip of bills. James gave the clip a sideways look.

“Knew it was gonna be a long trip,” Paynter said in response.

“Guess so,” James said.

“Do you want anything? Something to snack on?” Paynter said.

“No,” James said, quickly, then added, “Thanks.”

“You haven’t had anything to eat today…you must be running on empty,” Paynter said.

James looked at him, trying to imagine the man as someone’s grandfather.

“Yeah, thanks, that’s ok, I’ll be fine. I’ll just ask Nic if she wants any--”

“She’s already come and gone,” Paynter said, a smile lighting his face. “I can’t imagine she eats that crap all the time, with a figure like that, but she must’ve had a craving…or something.”

Over Paynter’s shoulder, James saw Jo-n smiling and nodding, as if it was the funniest thing he’d seen in a long time.

“Two bags of stuff!” he said, half a sunflower shell flying, unnoticed by him, from his lips. He grinned broadly at James with another black shell still covering one tooth.

“Right,” James said. “I’ll be in the car.”

He walked out to find that Nicole had already taken over the rear seat. He stuck his head just inside the door. She was sitting with an open bottle of root beer in one hand and the half-eaten remains of a Twinkie in the other. Despite his cheerless disposition, she smiled at him. There was a smudge of white cream on her cheek.

“Is there room for me back there?” he asked, the anger melting away for a moment.

“No. Kevin’s sitting back here. Maybe he’ll even hold my hand,” she said.

“That’s not funny,” he said and slid into the seat beside her, pulling an empty wrapper out from under him.

“You can’t just hide away back here, James,” she said through a mouthful of Twinkie.

“Well, why not? I don’t feel like talking,” he said.

“Because it’s going to be a long trip and…”

“To where? Where the hell are we going?” he said.

“I don’t know,” she said, “but I trust him. I think he’s really a nice man. There’s something very sincere about him. You were asleep. We talked about a lot of things. He really opened up to us. He wanted to tell Kevin something, talk to him about what it is we’re doing, but said it would be unfair to talk without you being awake for it.”

“How can you trust him?” James said. “This man, pushing sixty, walks into my house and shoots another man with a poison dart?”

“That guy had a gun on you, and you want to persecute your savior? What is wrong with you, James? What is it that’s bothering you?”

At that moment, both doors opened. Paynter got in on the driver’s side and sat down, turning to look at the both of them.

“Gas prices are outrageous,” he said.

Both James and Nicole nodded wordlessly. Kevin sat down in the passenger seat without a word and stretched his legs. James didn’t take his eyes off Paynter.

“Right,” Paynter said, “First-off, I pushed past sixty a few years back. I’m sixty-six. Second, that dart had Risperdal in it, not poison…though some might argue otherwise. And third, you’ve got a pretty powerful voice when you’re angry.”

James turned away and glowered out the front window.

“I have every reason to be angry,” James said.

“You deserve answers,” Paynter said.

“Then why don’t we hear some,” James said, no longer trying to hide how he felt.

“Fine,” Paynter said, and turned in his seat.

“Are our parents still alive?” Kevin said, suddenly.

Paynter frowned sympathetically at him and shook his head to the negative.

“No. In fact, their deaths are why we’re here,” Paynter said.

James focused on every aspect of Paynter’s face. This was where he’d expose his lies, James thought. Paynter continued.

“Your real parents were military folk. They had no extended family, so when they were both killed a week after—“

“How?” James interrupted.

“Car accident,” Paynter said too quickly for James.

“Oh,” Nicole said softly, biting her bottom lip.

“Anyway, the government stepped in and made some…bad decisions. What they had planned was immoral and unethical and those of us involved decided to put a stop to it. Myself, Dr. Taylor, and a woman by the name of Agnes Richardson formulated a plan to…hide you. It was crazy, but apparently they hadn’t seen it coming. By the time we were gone, the trail was cold. They chased me around the country for a while, but after a half dozen years or so, I stopped running…and they seemed content at giving up the chase. Then I received a phone call from an old friend. Agnes Richardson, who’d been living under a fake name, was murdered the other day…and the rumor was that it was a professional job. Why someone would go to the trouble of killing a woman in her early seventies beats me. Poor Agnes…,” Paynter’s voice faded and he seemed to lose focus.

“Why now, though?” James said. As hard as he had looked, James could pin no insincerity on the man…and that bothered him.

“I’m afraid we might have Dr. Taylor to blame for that. I’m not sure he ever stopped running. Tired of it, I think he might have mailed some documents to a couple of the big newspapers. If the papers tried to vet the information, it might have knocked the cobwebs off of some old files…and some forgotten fears,” Paynter said.

“So, now what?” Kevin asked.

“Now we go to find your brother,” Paynter said.

“Three of us, huh?” James said.

“Yes…three,” Paynter said and James wondered why the man had suddenly hesitated.

“Cool,” Kevin said.

“Yeah…well, we’d better figure out where we are headed,” Paynter said.

“What?” James said.

“You’re the one with the directions, James,” Paynter said.

“Ummm…ok. I don’t understand.”

“The envelope,” Paynter said and he started the car.

“It’s an empty old envelope,” James said.

“Sometimes you gotta think outside the box, James…or in this case, outside the envelope.” Paynter said

James unzipped his coat and pulled the envelope out from the inside pocket. He held it in his hand. Opening it, he pulled out the fake birth certificate and dropped it into his lap. He held the envelope up to the window as if to look through it. Nicole leaned over his shoulder, straining to get a better look.

“See anything?” Paynter said.

“No,” James said, straining to make something out of the nothing he was seeing.

“Good, that’s how it was designed,” Paynter said.

“And you designed it,” James said.

“Well, yeah, I guess I did,” Paynter said, as if that was the first he had ever thought of it that way.

“So, what am I missing?”

“Pull the envelope apart at the seal…as gently as you can,” Paynter said.

“You mean where the paper’s glued together?”

“Yes,” Paynter said and he reached down to his left and pulled out a compact US map.

James pulled at the center point of the envelope and gently tore the glued edges apart. First one, then the other. Then he saw it. In faint lettering visible beneath the glue, there were several letters, seemingly written in pencil. HUBBARDOH. James read the letters out.

“I don’t get it,” he said.

“It’s a location,” Paynter said.

“O-H,” Nicole said, “Ohio?”

“Not exactly cryptic,” Paynter said, with a little laugh, and he scanned the map in his hand. James continued to look at the envelope, his head cocked to one side.

“And this is?” James said.

“Where your other brother lives,” Paynter said, “It sounds right. I’m not quite sure…it has been twenty-four years.” James shook his head.