Multiples of Six (7 page)

Chapter 14

It started as a slow crawl that developed into a stand still. The two lanes of interstate traffic became a solid wall of vehicles, snow, and billowing plumes of exhaust. For the first time, James thought that Paynter looked worried.

“Can we find somewhere to stop?” James said.

“I don’t think we can risk it,” Paynter said.

“Do you really think they’re that close,” Kevin said.

“In cases like this, I think it helps to think that they’re in the car behind you,” Paynter said. Kevin glanced back nervously.

“They. They. You keep referring to ‘they’,” James said, “Do you have an idea as to who ‘they’ are?”

“They could be several parties. That’s what worries me. It’s an unknown quantity at this point. Fred Taylor was a complete surprise. I did not expect to find him at your house. I don’t know what he was hoping to do. Certainly nothing like the man I used to know,” he said.

“Not exactly the rabble-rouser type?” James asked.

“No…he’s scared…or just plain tired. Tired of hiding. Those are the only two reasons I can think of. Otherwise, he would have never exposed himself in this way.”

“Expose himself?”

“James, we’ve been in hiding for over twenty years. People thought he was dead…hell, I thought he was dead, which was probably convenient. Most dead guys get left alone. But, by coming out like this, he’s really opening the bag.”

“And your coming out won’t?” Nicole added.

“It’s all in the timing. Hounds usually chase the first fox out of the hole,” Paynter said.

“Trouble is, they usually catch the slowest,” James said.

Paynter was sitting, the driver’s seat leaned back a bit more than before. His hands lay idle against the wheel. Traffic hadn’t moved in over half an hour. They had all zipped their jackets back up as the car’s engine tried to create enough heat against the bitter cold outside. Nicole had set herself against the side of Paynter’s seat, facing James.

“I still don’t understand the connection with James and Kevin,” she said. “Why are they trying to get at him? I mean, do you think that Fred guy would have killed him?”

“No,” Paynter said, waving a hand. “At least I don’t think he would have. I think the gun was just for his security.”

“
His
security,” laughed Nicole.

“Cuz I’m such a dangerous kind of guy,” James said.

“He didn’t know what to expect,” Paynter said.

“You could’ve gone all kung-fu on him,” Kevin said.

“Yeah,” James said, “with all that kung-fu I don’t know.”

“I could’ve hit him with a frying pan,” Nicole said.

“In a fight, I’ll take your frying pan over his kung-fu any day,” Kevin said, rubbing his forehead.

They all turned as a police car went past them in the emergency lane. It was announcing something over its loudspeaker, but they all missed what it had said. Another soon passed, more slowly. The highway was being shut down due to the storm. Cars were being directed off at the next exit.

“Great,” Paynter said.

“Well,” James said, “at least they won’t be able to follow us.”

“Don’t bet on it,” Paynter said.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Nicole said.

“If anyone is following us, they’ll have to get off here too,” Kevin said.

“Yes. That’s what we have to think,” Paynter said.

“Traffic’s moving,” James said, and the cars ahead of them starting showing signs of life.

It took another half hour, but they managed to move the final half mile of the highway to the next exit. The sign was covered with snow, making it unreadable. Off of the exit ramp, the traffic seemed to all be turning to the right. Paynter headed left.

“Reverse psychology?” James said.

“Common sense,” Paynter said, smiling. “Any lodgings in that direction will be full by now.”

“We’re stopping?” Nicole said.

“The side roads will be just as bad as the highway,” James said.

“The distance we can make tonight would be negligible,” Paynter said.

“Don’t you need a credit card to get into most hotels nowadays?” Nicole said.

“Don’t you worry about that,” Paynter said, the wry smile on his face again. “I’ve got enough identities and credit cards to go across the country and back, and they’d still be looking for a Mr. H. Potter from Small Flinching, Wisconsin.”

“Nice,” Kevin said.

“Aren’t you just the James Bond type,” Nicole said.

“You learn a lot when you run for your life,” Paynter said.

Twenty minutes of slow crawling through blinding snow and poorly plowed roads made James realize why the traffic had gone the other way. There was nothing in this direction. Houses were few and far between. They had almost reached the Ohio border when they exited the highway, but the further they drove, James was fairly certain they were becoming lost. He could read the concern on Paynter’s face. They came to a crossroad. A sign at the side of the road was obscured by caked-on snow.

“Kevin,” Paynter said, a finger raised at the sign, “would you do the honors?”

Kevin nodded, pulling his collar up. They watched as he stepped out into the whiteness. He was immediately enveloped in the snow, as if the white powder had detected his presence. He bundled a hand in his sleeve and knocked on the corner of the blue sign. There was a Shell station three miles to the left. A hotel two miles to the right. Kevin climbed back into the car, trying to brush the snow from himself without getting everyone else wet.

“Looks like we’re in luck,” Kevin said.

“Call it what you will,” Paynter said.

Chapter 15

James stared out of the car window at the snow falling against the cooling windshield. His eyes focused at the clumps of flakes as they tumbled against the glass. He tried to focus on the flakes themselves. Perhaps that would clear his mind. Enable him to gather all of what had happened so far into a malleable form that he could shape into something that made sense. If he could only concentrate. He let his eyes cross and lost his focus, leaning his head against the rest.

“Are you all right?” Nicole said.

Her hand drifted to his forehead and she gently brushed aside a stray hair.

James watched as Paynter walked back across the crowded parking lot toward the car. He turned and looked at Nicole, blinking.

“Yeah,” he said, trying to force every bit of confusion from his face, “I’m fine.”

“Liar,” she said.

Paynter opened the door and climbed in.

“They have a room at the back,” he said. “There’s no parking back there, though, so we’ll have to walk around.”

James looked at him, an eyebrow cocked.

“Guy said we got lucky. The weather has him full up for the night. Last room available. Lucky us.”

James looked at the shabby white building. “Yeah, lucky us.”

“No questions?” Kevin said.

“I think he’d been napping. He didn’t seem all there. Didn’t even ask how many we were,” Paynter said. He waved a silver key on a nondescript ring.

“Wow…not even your standard magnetic strip plastic card? Can’t wait to see what this looks like,” James said.

“It’s late and there’s a warm dry place to lie down. Let’s go,” Paynter said, and he moved to get back out of the car.

James reached out quickly and grabbed his arm, steadying himself against the back of the driver’s seat. It was an awkward position from which to exert force.

“James,” whispered Nicole.

“Jesus, James,” Kevin said.

“If this is something stupid,” James said, “If this is…some sort of ploy…”

Paynter looked into James’ eyes, and the corner of his mouth raised in that funny way that James wasn’t sure he liked. He wasn’t resisting James’ grasp, but James could feel that it probably would have been no trouble for the man to break it. He felt Paynter relax.

Paynter offered him the room key. James glanced at it. It might have been a show of good faith, but James couldn’t shake the possibility that it might still be bait in the trap. Paynter had drawn heavily on James’ trust, and now he felt like the account was drying up. This was such a bad situation, or at least had the possibility to be bad. A stranger and a car that belonged to someone who didn’t exist in the middle of Nowhere, Pennsylvania, with a key to a room that had no measure of trace. James released Paynter’s arm.

“Sorry…lead the way,” James said.

They all got out of the car, greeted by a bitter wind and thick snow that was made pale pink by the pall cast by the solitary streetlight nearby. It was a surreal snowscape. Every car in the lot was covered or close to being covered. A lonely looking phone booth stood at the edge of the parking lot, accompanied by what looked like a mail box. Like an old couple waiting for a bus that would never come.

James handed Paynter the key and followed the man as he led the way to a doorway around the back of the building. Nicole carried an overnight bag she had packed. The door was unmarked and certainly did not resemble a normal hotel room. There was one small window, with plastic blinds. There was no mark on the door at all. Not even a peep hole. Paynter brushed the snow from the door handle and inserted the key. He pushed the door open and groped for a light switch. It relieved James slightly to see the man so uncomfortable. Paynter cursed under his breath. The room was dark and there were no lights behind the building to aid them in their entrance.

“Smells like my Dad’s bathroom in there…yum,” Kevin said.

“Here,” Nicole said, and brushed past Paynter.

She stepped through to a table that neither Paynter nor James or Kevin had seen, and pulled the switch to a table lamp. Paynter stood in the doorway a moment, giving Nicole a look.

“You boys need to eat your veggies. Vitamin K gives you good night vision,” she said, and shrugged.

“Alrighty then,” Kevin said.

“I’ll say,” Paynter said, and he shut the door after Kevin.

It was an old storage room and smelled every bit as Kevin had described. Everything about the room screamed off the books. There were two single beds and the sheets looked like they might crack if anything touched it. There were dead bugs along the bottom of the wall, throughout the room. There was a TV in the corner of the room on the floor that James’ would have bet was black and white, if it had worked. Two chairs that looked to be refugees from the 80s kept dust off the far wall. A doorway at the rear of the room suggested the existence of a bathroom that James had no desire of exploring.

“Glad I didn’t bother to bring pajamas…wouldn’t want to get them dirty,” Kevin said.

“Funny,” Paynter said, frowning slightly, “but this will do. Not exactly the Ritz, but it’ll do.”

“I’ve never stayed at a Ritz, but if it’s the opposite of this, then maybe I have a clearer picture,” Nicole said.

“At least it’s warm…ish,” James said, blowing on his hands.

Paynter threw his coat over the back of a chair and glanced into the bathroom. Again, he batted around for a light switch, only this time there really was no light.

“That might be a good thing,” James said as he watched.

Nicole touched the blanket on the bed furtively. It didn’t bite, though she didn’t look too sure. Paynter settled himself into one of the chairs. It groaned under his relatively light weight. Nicole eyed James with what he thought might have been guilt.

“You take the bed,” James said.

“Ooo, thanks for the treat,” she said, lifting the moth-eaten pillow from the bed.

“Would you prefer one of the comfy chairs Dr. Paynter is modeling?”

They both looked to Paynter, who had settled as best he could into the chair.

“I can sleep just about anywhere,” he said, “doesn’t bother me. I’ve slept in worse.”

James looked around. “That’s a frightening thought,” he said.

“I don’t think I can sleep sitting up,” Kevin said.

“Take the other bed,” James said. He turned to Nicole. “You too.”

“Thanks,” Kevin said.

James walked over to the door and checked the lock. There was no deadbolt. He looked around and quickly spotted what he was looking for; he picked up the flimsy metal trash can and placed it directly in the path of the door. He turned to find his three companions gazing at him in various stages of wonder.

“I…ummm…just thought that maybe we’d hear if someone was trying to sneak in,” he said.

“Personally…I’d rather not know ahead of time if someone was going to shoot me. Seems like a lot of senseless screaming on my part,” Kevin said. Nicole and Paynter were smiling at James.

Chapter 16

James sat in the chair, willing the discomfort in his lower back to go away. He had locked himself into one position after quickly discovering that there would be no truly comfortable position. The chair reminded him of one from his childhood. His grandmother, on his father’s side, had a chair just like it out in the carless garage in Vermont. They had only been there once, when he was eight. But, he could remember the layout of that garage as if he had been there the day before. It was what he found himself relating everything in his life that was ‘old’ with. That garage was age and everything that could be older than him. He had wandered through the garage, touching everything, absorbing the lack of newness. There were two old bikes, the tires flat, the chains rusty, and the seats cracking from dry rot. He had become aware of the difference between an old toy and a new toy and had realized that nothing he had was truly old even if he thought it was. He drew a finger across the seat of the closest bike and rubbed the dust between his thumb and forefinger. This was old. No matter how messy his room had been, his toys had never had this kind of dust on it. It was like a mark of age. He spent the entire three days in and out of that garage, much to his mother’s dismay. When they finally left, he had cried himself to sleep on the way back to Jersey. Something inside had told him he would never return. And he hadn’t. His grandmother died the following year, and the house was sold in an estate auction. Years later he asked his mother about the house, and how come she had sold it. She had avoided the question, and never truly answered. He often thought that he might go back someday and find it, perhaps even buy it if it were still standing. But, what he really wanted was that garage and the things it held. And more so, he wanted to return to that feeling of wonder, though he knew he had probably left that behind with his childhood.

James didn’t realize he had been sleeping until he jerked awake. He blinked into the darkness of the room. His eyes were slow to adjust to the darkness. What little light came from a small gap in the curtains. James must’ve seemed unsteady because Paynter spoke softly to him.

“You ok?” he asked.

James looked from him to Nicole on the bed closest to the window. He could just make out that she had made a pillow out of her coat. She had determined the blanket to be of fairly good, relatively clean quality, and it was pulled up to her ear. By the steady rise and fall of her body, he could tell she hadn’t had trouble sleeping. Kevin was curled into the fetal position on the nearest bed. James looked in Paynter’s direction, not quite able to make out the man’s eyes.

“What time is it?” James asked. Paynter flicked his sleeve off his wrist.

“Three-ish,” he said.

“I didn’t realize I had nodded off,” James said.

“You always talk in your sleep?” Paynter asked. James shot him a quick look.

“Don’t know…never been awake to listen. Did I say anything good?”

“Nothing too clear,” Paynter said, but he could tell the man was lying.

“Did you sleep? You’ve got to be running on empty,” James said, stifling a yawn.

“A little. I did have that power nap this…I mean yesterday morning. I’ll sleep tomorrow too…in the car. When you’re driving,” Paynter said.

“You trust me?” James asked.

“I trust you…I trust you want to know what’s going on. And that you know by now that if I was out to hurt you…well, I’ve had plenty of opportunity,” Paynter said.

James nodded.

“So…we know where we are headed, right?”

“Yep, and by the looks of this map I found--” Paynter said.

“You found a map?” James asked.

“In the lobby. Not exactly a Rand McNally, but it’ll do us for now,” Paynter said.

“Ok, so now we have a town. But, what good does that do us without a name?” James asked.

“Who said we didn’t have a name?” Paynter said, and the corner of his mouth lifted. James cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Oh?” James said.

“I could probably rattle off all of them, though I never saved a shred of evidence. Taylor was the one who told me. He was the one responsible for transporting most of you,” Paynter said.

“All three of us,” James said. Paynter nodded slowly.

“Yeah.”

“Scattered to the wind,” James said.

“I guess it wasn’t the greatest idea, but we had to separate you. There was just no other option at the time,” he said.

“I still don’t understand. What were their plans? What is it they were going to do with us…that someone now thinks they have to get rid of us?”

“It’s complicated, James. And, it’s late. Try to get some rest.”

“Sure…rest…cuz this stuff is easy to just let go of,” James said.

“You’re talking to someone who’s spent the last twenty-four years thinking about it. You’ll get no sympathy here,” Paynter said

“I guess not. So, you gave each family an envelope.”

“Yeah, we set up all the adopting families. About a year later, I sent out the bogus birth certificates. It was Taylor’s idea, but he never knew…or at least I didn’t think he knew that I had followed through on it. I think he just guessed. Never really knew where to contact him about it, and that wasn’t exactly part of the plan anyway.”

Something surged within James at those words. He had been adopted, though like most infants, he was not made aware of it until he was at an age that his parents felt he would be ready to understand and absorb the information. He was nine. It was one of those days that seemed to stand out in a lifetime of vague childhood memories. He could remember what he was wearing (a red and blue polo shirt and a ragged pair of Lee jeans his mother would throw away no less than a month later), the weather (it was a warm, sunny, spring day), and the meal his mother had cooked that he had watched become cold on his plate (pork chops, white rice, and boiled peas). It was a day that he had set his life by. There were events that had happened before his knowledge of his adoption and those that came after. He could date things by their relation to that day of his life. And there was a sense of consciousness that related to that day and the words that his mother said to him. There seemed to be consequences after that. An absurd sense of importance that related to everything he did. He became serious about school and sports and everything else he did. He had moved forward with a sense of purpose. Until recently, that is. Until his father died. That had been the end, hadn’t it? It was like a light had turned on. His father had died, and the sense of importance that had driven James until then had faded. His mother’s death seemed to take whatever was left. That was what Nicole had seen. She hadn’t been around for the initial blow, but she had known, sensed, that something major had happened to James with the death of his mother. He’d been unable to move on from her death because he had never really come to grips with his father’s death. He blinked at the tears that had welled in his eyes. It was a damn fine time to have a moment of revelation, James thought. He closed his eyes and drifted briefly.

As if on cue, Nicole made a small groan from the bed that disturbed James. He sat forward and looked at her figure stirring slightly on the bed. She had rolled over, facing away from them. James looked back at Paynter who smiled.

“Too many Twinkies,” he said, and James could see the crooked smile in the dark.

With that James settled back in the chair.

“So, what’s his name?” James asked.

“Doug,” Paynter said, “Doug Peterson--”

The words had barely left Paynter’s mouth when the quiet of the room was pierced with a guttural shriek. James’ heart leapt to his throat and he stood up. His legs tingled from the night’s stillness. Nicole was pointing at the window, pushing herself back to the edge of the bed. Paynter was on his feet as well.

“Hey…hey, hey…What is it?” James said, running to her and pulling her to him. She shook uncontrollably.

“Oh my god…there was someone…someone at the window, I swear, peeking in through the crack in the blinds,” she said through heavy breaths, still pointing.

Kevin lurched from his bed, looking inebriated.

“What the fu--” he said.

“Shhhh!” came from three mouths.

James looked at the blinds on the window then to Paynter. He looked skeptical, but moved to the door, a finger raised, listening. He removed the trash can, braced the door with a foot, and cracked it a hair, trying to look out. Though dim, the light from the front of the building made the evening seem darker than it was. The snow wasn’t falling quite as heavily, but a small amount fell onto the floor of the room. Paynter ventured to open it further. Nicole stood now, still shaking under James’ arms. She pulled her coat off the bed and put it on.

“I swear… I swear I saw something through the blind. Maybe….maybe it was just a shadow.”

“No,” Paynter said, who quickly closed the door again. James looked struck.

“What?” James asked.

“There are fresh tracks leading up to the window, and away. Someone was there,” Paynter said.

“Jesus Christ. You’re kidding. Out here? Do you really think?”

“I told you, James. These people are professionals. Why the hell else would anyone come sneaking around here?”

“Someone found us? Here? How? How could they know?” Kevin said. James looked to Paynter with the same question.

“No time to discuss semantics,” Paynter said, pulling the car keys from his pocket and handing them to James. “Take these. You three go out the door to the left and around the far side of the building. Get to the car. The tracks seem to lead back around the near side. I’ll go that way. Give me two minutes. If I don’t show, go without me. No…don’t look at me like that…I’m serious. If anyone else approaches you, go without me.”

“But…,” Nicole said.

“I’ll be fine. They aren’t after me, and…you don’t really need me anymore,” Paynter said, and James thought there was a brief flash of sadness to go with the lie.

“Remember, James. Doug Peterson. Try to be indirect. He doesn’t know you two from Adam. Remember how you felt when you first met Kevin. Doug’s a Midwestern boy. Might be a little more of a shock.”

“I’ll meet you in the parking lot,” James said.

“With luck. Remember, if anything happens to me…anything…go, find your way. Doug will have what you need…another envelope.”

They quickly gathered what little belongings they had brought into the room. Though they couldn’t quite see the snow yet, they could feel it and the cold of the night, as it struck their bodies. James watched as Paynter disappeared around the right hand side of the building, retracing the way they had come in. He grabbed Nicole’s arm firmly and headed in the opposite direction. Kevin trudged along close behind. There really was no other light than that of the streetlamp in the front parking lot, and the light it gave off was only bright due to the snow. It illuminated the edge of the building in stark contrast to the rear. James froze at the shadow’s edge and peered one eye around as quickly as he could.

It was the man with the gun. The man who had been in his house. The man who Paynter had shot with a tranquilizer dart. Dr. Taylor was standing, waiting for them. He had known to wait there…somehow, which meant that Paynter would run into someone else. James dared another quick look, then realized that the man had been distracted. He was about fifty feet away. James grabbed for Nicole’s hand and placed the car key into her cold fingers as quietly as possible. He could see her eyes like beacons of danger in the light from the lamp.

“When I distract him,” James whispered, looking between Nicole and Kevin “you two go for the car.”

Upon saying this, her eyes welled up, and she whispered a slow, quiet ‘no’.

“I’ll be ok. I’m not going to do anything stupid. I didn’t play fifteen years of soccer for nothing.”

He patted her hand in a gesture that he found both useless and comforting only to himself. She was there. She was real. Everything else was not. He turned and bolted around the corner as if he had been sprinting. The move surprised Nicole and she yelped, but fell back against the building with Kevin.

Taylor was slow to react, as if he hadn’t expected their plan to work. James eyed up a large row of bushes that he could easily put between himself and the man. Taylor shouted something James didn’t hear and started running through the nearly knee-deep drift of snow towards him. James quickly glanced back at Nicole, then bolted for the cover of the shrubbery. He could hear the man shout after him in pursuit. Had he expected James to just give up?

James crossed the street to a row of small houses that might have looked picturesque at another time. Now they looked like a wall he was trapped against. The road had been plowed recently, and James splashed across through half-melted slush. It would probably refreeze by morning. He felt his legs moving steadily beneath him on the surface of the road, but he hadn’t expected the curb. The pain from his ankle made him abandon his balance, and he tumbled into a snow covered trash can at the curb. The metal lid skidded out into the street clanging loudly as James hit the ground hard, clutching his leg. Taylor rounded the bushes and spotted James across the street. James tried to duck behind the can, feeling foolish as he did so. He knew it was no use. Taylor carefully crossed the road toward him.