Simple Genius (17 page)

SEAN FEIGNED SURPRISE at seeing Michelle, but didn’t ask for a lengthy explanation, instead turning his attention to getting her inside the compound. It took a heated argument with the security guards at the front gate and finally a call to Champ Pollion, who came out to settle the dispute.

When Champ first saw Michelle, the brilliant physicist was instantly reduced to a puppy begging for attention.

“Yes, of course you can stay,” Champ said, stammering slightly as he held out his hand to Michelle.

Sean said, “Maybe we can grab some chow in the dining room while we discuss the case.”

“Fine,” Michelle
said,
her gaze on Champ. “Thank you, Mr. Pollion.”

“Please, call me Champ.”

“I’m sure you live up to your name,” she said.

As they drove off Sean glanced back at Champ and saw his look of longing at Michelle.

In your freaking dreams, pal.

The dining room was mostly empty at this hour, but true to its 24/7 policy, the Babbage Town chefs were on duty and in a matter of fifteen minutes they had hot food and coffee in front of them.

Sean filled Michelle in on everything, including the attempt on his life, his theory on Rivest’s murder, and his brief conversation with Valerie Messaline. In turn, Michelle brought him up to date on what she’d found out from her friend at the National Intelligence Center.

“I heard a plane landing around two A.M. my first night here.
A big one.
I wondered why I couldn’t see any running lights.”

“My contact at NIC also told me that Ian Whitfield is a man not to be crossed.”

“Trust me I’d already gotten that impression,” Sean said.

“So you’re partnering with this Sheriff Hayes?”

Sean stirred some sugar into his coffee. “It seemed like a good way to keep in the loop.”

“And little Joanie is okay with that?”

“Little
Joanie
doesn’t know, because I haven’t been returning her calls.”

“I knew I loved you.”

“Hold your accolades; I’m going to have to fill her in at some point.”

“And this Hayes guy? Is he okay?”

“Solid guy, if excitable.
He doesn’t think I should be going anywhere near Whitfield’s wife.”

“Well neither do I.”

“If Monk was killed by the folks at Camp Peary, she may be the only way we can find out about it.”

“From the way you said he blew off the little missus tonight, I doubt Whitfield is giving his wife a daily briefing.”

“She might have learned something anyway. The lady isn’t stupid and she’s not happy with her hubby right now.”

“Okay, let’s say Whitfield had Monk Turing killed. Why?”

“Something he saw? These secret flights maybe? There’s something weird going on over there for damn sure. Somebody took a shot at me. And say what you will about the CIA, they don’t usually go out of their way to kill American citizens for no reason.”

“He might’ve seen someone tortured. Or even killed,” Michelle added.

“People are assuming that Turing climbed the fence and then died right there. But what if he went a lot farther than that? In fact what if he was trying to get back
out
of Camp Peary when he was killed?”

“But you said all evidence pointed to suicide.”

“Come on, the CIA can’t rig a murder to look like suicide?”

“Sean, why would Monk Turing be sneaking over there in the first place?”

“According to Whitfield, to kill himself to either make the CIA
look
bad or die in a blaze of media glory.”

“But you don’t buy that.”

“No, but maybe he saw the flights coming in and being a curious genius he decided to check it out?”

“This
genius
couldn’t figure out that doing something like that was tantamount to suicide?” she said skeptically.

“So maybe there was
another
reason he was going there. But there’s another possibility. He might be spying on
this
place and selling its secret to the highest bidder. Rivest apparently thought there were spies here. And Turing
did
leave the country.”

“That doesn’t explain how he ended up dead on CIA property. And maybe Turing isn’t spying on
this
place.”

“What do you mean?” Sean said curiously.

“I mean, what is it they really do here at Babbage Town? Play with numbers and little computers, or so they say?” She lowered her voice. “So how do you know
this
place isn’t really a spy ring? Right across the river is a super-secret CIA facility. Maybe all the scientific mumbo-jumbo is just
that,
crap to cover up their real work: espionage against this country.”

Sean smiled. “That’s a brilliant theory. I knew I missed you for a good reason.”

“That’s why they call it a partnership.”

“But if this place is a spy ring, why call us in?”

“
Rivest
called us in. Maybe he wasn’t in on the espionage. But he did say the owners were having second thoughts.”

“When I screw up the courage to talk to Joan, I’ll ask her for a rundown on some of these things. I especially want a more detailed background check on Champ, Alicia and Monk Turing.”

“So quantum computers, you said?”

“Len Rivest said it was worth countries going to war for.”

“So you think Rivest’s death is connected to Monk’s?”

“If not, at least to Babbage Town. He was going to tell me all about the place. Then he goes to take a bath and gets murdered in the tub.”

“But the FBI still thinks it was an accident?”

“Ventris is the guy in charge. I don’t know what he thinks. He made it very clear that I was a bug to be crushed if I got in his way.”

“It’s late. Why don’t we get moved into our new home?”

Sean grabbed his bag and they headed over to the bungalow. There were no lights on inside.

“They must be asleep.” Sean unlocked the door with the key Alicia had given him and led Michelle inside. He turned on the foyer light and said, “I’m bunking in one of the bedrooms at the top of the stairs. There’s an empty one across from me. I’ll explain things to Alicia in the morning.”

He studied her without seeming to do so. “So you’re doing okay?” he said quietly.

“Actually, better than okay.
I have to admit, the R&R was good for me.”

“And the weird stuff you mentioned going on at the psych hospital? Anything
come
out of that?” he asked casually, already knowing the answer.

“Nothing worth mentioning,” she lied. “I have to tell you, your buddy Horatio was a big disappointment. After asking me a bunch of irrelevant and insulting questions he took off, haven’t seen the little shit since.”

“Really?
That’s surprising.” Sean elected not to tell her that the “little shit” would be here in a matter of hours.

“Okay, point me in the direction of my bed. I’m about ready to collapse,” she said.

In the next moment Michelle pulled her gun and pointed it at the sounds that came rushing at them out of the darkness.

SEAN GRABBED HOLD OF MICHELLE’S ARM and said, “Viggie? Viggie is that you?”

The sounds became clearer now. It was someone whimpering.

Sean led the way into the next room and found a light switch.

Viggie was huddled in a chair against the wall. She was dressed in her pajamas and her hair was down around her shoulders. It made her look older than did the pigtails. Her eyes were red from crying and the expression on her face was that of a person who hurt everywhere.

Michelle quickly holstered her gun and strode over to the girl. She bent down and said quietly, “Sweetie, are you okay?”

Whether it was the gentleness of Michelle’s words or the worried look on her features, Viggie put out a hand and Michelle took it in hers.

Sean said, “Viggie, has something happened? Is Alicia here?”

Viggie said nothing, keeping her gaze fixed on Michelle.

“Stay with her, I’m going to check on Alicia.” Sean raced up the stairs while Michelle sat down on the floor and stroked Viggie’s hand.

“It’s going to be okay, Viggie. I’m Michelle. Michelle Maxwell. I’m a friend of Sean’s. You can call me
Michelle,
or even Mick if you want.”

“Mick,” Viggie said immediately and wiped her eyes with her free hand.

“And is it okay if I call you Viggie or would you prefer Miss Turing?”

Viggie shook her head. “Viggie,” she whispered.

“Viggie it is. That’s a cool name. I’ve met lots of Michelle’s but I’ve never met a Viggie before. That means you must be really special.”

Viggie nodded, as though in agreement, but her grip tightened on Michelle’s fingers. “Mick,” she said again.

“We’re friends now. Okay?”

Viggie slowly
nodded,
her eyes searching Michelle’s as though for any hint of doubt, or worse, untruth.

When Sean returned he had Alicia in tow. Michelle looked up and noted the woman’s sleepy features and then, visible at the bottom of her calf-length pajama pants, the artificial leg. Sean made quick introductions.

“I didn’t know she had come downstairs,” Alicia said. She focused on Sean with an angry look. “We waited for you until it was very late.”

“I’m sorry, Alicia, I got hung up on something else.”

“Maybe we should just rethink the arrangement then.”

“I’m here,” Michelle said, rising from the floor, but still holding on to Viggie’s hand. “I’m Michelle Maxwell, Sean’s partner. Between the two of us we’ll be able to handle things now.”

Alicia stared at Sean for a long moment and then nodded her head at Michelle. “I see that you and Viggie have already made friends.”

Michelle smiled at the girl. “I think Viggie and I will be great friends.”

Viggie jumped up and raced to the piano in the other room. From the darkness they heard the song she was playing.

Michelle turned to Sean. “Wow, that’s amazing.”

“It’s Viggie’s way of showing that she likes you,” Alicia explained.

“Why was she so upset?” Sean asked.

She said in a low voice, “That damn FBI agent, Ventris, came by earlier tonight. He started going into Monk’s death. And Viggie overheard him.”

“Oh, hell!”
Sean exclaimed.

“You should’ve seen Viggie a few hours ago. She was inconsolable. I had to tell her the truth. I couldn’t lie to her, not when she was like that. I finally had the staff doctor prescribe a sedative for her. She was asleep when I finally went to bed, but I guess the meds wore off.”

Sean said, “What the hell was Ventris doing here talking to you?”

“He wanted to question Viggie at first, but I put my foot down. I don’t think he meant for her to overhear him, but he didn’t stick around to help with her either.”

“What did he want to know?” Michelle asked.

“If I had any idea why Monk Turing would have gone to Camp Peary.
Or if he’d mentioned going there before.”

Sean and Michelle exchanged quizzical expressions. Sean said, “I was told that officially the Bureau thinks Monk killed himself.”

Alicia coaxed Viggie off the piano, but the little girl refused to go to sleep until Michelle took her hand, led her up the stairs and put her to bed.

After they said good night to Alicia, Sean and Michelle settled into their bedrooms. Sean came in and sat on Michelle’s bed while she was still unpacking.

“Don’t worry, it won’t take you long to mess up this place,” he commented.

“What a comedian you are. So what happened to Alicia’s leg?”

Sean explained about her experience in Iraq and her job here at Babbage Town.

“Amazing lady.”
Michelle added, “It must have been horrible for Viggie to find out that way about her dad.”

“It must have been,” Sean agreed. There was a vibrating sound. He groaned and glanced at his phone.

Michelle smiled and said, “Let me guess, Little Miss Joanie? Are you going to ignore her again?”

“No, if I don’t answer this time she’ll probably head straight down to Babbage Town.”

“Wow, that would be a lot of fun,” Michelle said, as she slipped her pistol under the pillow. “Maybe you shouldn’t answer then. If she does come down, I could accidentally shoot her thinking she’s some predator looking for fresh meat. Oh, that won’t work, because she
is
a predator and my shooting her
wouldn’t
be an accident.”

“You’re not really helping matters.
I
have to reason with her.”

“Go ahead. But while you’re doing that I really want to hear you tell the witch off once and for all.”

Sean stood. “That
witch
is signing our paychecks, or at least mine. So let me just handle this misery in the peace and comfort of my own room.”

“Coward.
Are you going to tell her I’m here?”

“I said let me handle it, Michelle.”

“What is it with men and confrontation? Women have no trouble at all going for the jugular.”

After he left, Michelle slipped down the hall and opened the door to Viggie’s room. The girl was sitting up in bed in the dark. “It’s me, Mick,” Michelle said.

In a tiny voice Viggie said, “Hi, Mick.”

“Like me to sit with you for a bit?”

Viggie held out her hand.

Michelle lay down next to the frightened child in the darkness. As the girl’s hand touched hers, Michelle felt a jolt as the fragments of a distant and unwelcome memory hit her. Another frightened little girl sat all alone in the dark trying to make sense of the indecipherable. In a flash the image was gone, leaving Michelle as puzzled, confused and scared as the little girl next to her.