The Leaves in Winter (13 page)

Chapter 11

West Shore Road

South Hero Island
,
Vermont

A shroud of gray over a slab of white. Beyond the trees, the winter sky hung low over frozen
Lake Champlain
. Janis knew these roads as childhood friends. Driving them now, as necessary as it was, felt like a betrayal. As if coming with her on this trip was a loss of innocence to mar a place she knew only as paradise.

Dashboard vents in the rented Jeep Wrangler gushed heated air but little comfort. The ride up from
Albany
had been a crucible of reflection. She never liked long drives. Her mind was always too restless for them. But compared to the interminable airline flights into
Paris
,
Miami
, then
New York
, she shouldn’t complain. At least the act of driving required a diverting concentration and focus.

Around a familiar bend in the road, there appeared a welcomed sign that she had arrived. It still stood, just as she remembered it as a little girl, just as it was the last time she saw it several years before. Crafted in wood and painted white with light blue lettering, the sign announced the entrance to
Bright Hope Farms
.

In times past, Janis’ grandfather had raised horses on the vast property. Her mother and father had used it as a fair weather getaway from the businesses they co-managed. Some of their happiest times were spend there. With Father gone, Mother gravitated to it as the place to live out her years. It was as close as she could get to him now. Surrounded by a sometimes senseless world she no longer felt a part of, Mother had found in solitude a refuge if not consolation.

Janis slowed the Jeep and shifted into four-wheel drive. The long traverse down the narrow lane of compacted snow and ice gave her a sense of stark contrast. Most of her memories of this place were forged in the warmth of summer. In her fondest memories, the wooded areas were so much brighter and full of vibrant foliage. Wild flowers dotted the landscape. Now those places were locked away under a mantle of frost and fallen leaves.

Smoke rose from the chimney of the main house. Janis parked the Jeep alongside a wood pile and turned to the backpack on the seat next to her. She had bought it at Charles de Gaulle airport, along with a change of clothes and a tin of Calissons d'Aix almond candy. Add Malcolm’s laptop and the clothes on her back. These were the sum total of all the physical possessions she had left in the world.

The front door of the main house opened and Janis snapped alert. Grabbing the backpack, she exited the Jeep and took the frigid walk to the porch.

Sara Rushton stood in the doorway with arms folded against the chill. The gray-haired woman offered a brave smile in welcome but her eyes were sad. She had heard enough bad news. Janis had shared incredible details of her harrowing tale. Calls from public phones during her recent layovers were a disturbing confession. Sara was ready for some good news but didn’t expect it. Seeing her daughter again was good news enough. For now.

Mother and daughter hugged and kissed in the doorway before Sara hurried them inside where it was warm.

Janis felt suddenly out of place. “Thank you for letting me come here.”

“Nonsense. You belong here. It’s so good to see you.”

“You too. But I don’t want to put you in danger.”

“Don’t worry yourself. You need someplace safe.”

Janis dropped her backpack on a couch. “I’m not sure that’s possible anymore.”

Taking a moment to look around, Janis was overcome. The child in her was home. All the tension of the last thirty hours roiled up. Her abrupt tears were enough to trigger the same in Sara.

“What’s wrong?”

Janis fought to form the words. “I should have made time to visit more. I got too lost in my work. I’m sorry.”

“What are you saying? Your work is important. I’m the one who made things difficult. I can live anywhere but I hung onto this place in the middle of nowhere. I’m delighted and thankful you got away as much as you could.”

Janis wiped her eyes. “It’s all turned into a mess, hasn’t it?”

“Don’t give up hope. There are still possibilities.” Sara took her by the hand. “Come on, let’s get you settled in and have some tea.”

Janis nodded and managed a smile. Mother showed her to her room upstairs. Of course Janis knew the way but Sara wanted to watch her daughter’s delight in finding it just as she left it.

All of Janis’ senses took inventory. The scent of jasmine and honeysuckle sachet came first. Then the sight of a double bed, a dresser and desk, a cedar chest she used to call a hope chest. The feel and exact placement of comforter and pillows, jewelry box and favorite dolls were confirmed. Janis felt at one and yet removed from it all. She stepped to the window and remembered all the dreaming she had done from the special vantage point of youth.

“I’ll let you freshen up. I’ll be in the kitchen.” Sara retreated downstairs.

Janis took her time. To be surrounded by the youthful energy of when she had been Janis Rushton was a luxury to be savored in the moment. She hoped the feeling would somehow recharge her spirit and shore up her resolve.

She took off her coat and slipped Malcolm’s laptop from the backpack. With a renewed thirst and curiosity, she headed downstairs.

“Is that it?” Sara eyed the laptop as she would a WMD.

Janis nodded and sat at the table with fingers on the keyboard.

Sara brought tea. “Have you heard anything back?”

“I’m checking now.” Janis waited for the email client to load.

“From what you said, it sounded like you don’t know who this is.”

“I know Eugene Mass wants him blackmailed. That’s enough.”

“I thought you said the other man, Malcolm was the one doing that.”

“Yes but Malcolm told me Mass was the one who gave him the tip in the first place. Malcolm wouldn’t have found Knockout Mouse if it wasn’t for that tip.”

“I don’t like it.” Sara poured from her teapot. “You shouldn’t have anything to do with Mass anymore.”

“It’s too late for that.” Incoming mail populated the screen. “Here it is.”

“He answered?”

“Why not? He thinks he’s writing to Malcolm.”

As Janis read silently, Sara got up and looked over her shoulder.

TO:
                     
malsto

FROM:
               
km

SUBJECT:
         
RE: urgent

Is this a joke? As if you don’t know.

OK you bugger, I’ll play along.

Answer #1 is André Bolard.

Lives and works in Marseille. Escapes to Port Frioul.

What else you wanna know – the thickness of his dick?

Answer #2 is a snore.

Genetic study of an endangered breed of Loggerhead turtles and their food sources in
Atlantic Ocean
habitat. Currently hush-hush because of possible involvement of a certain GAMA dropped in the
Sargasso Sea
15 years ago. (You have a shitty sense of humor asking me this one.)

Sara’s eyes widened. “My, my. A foul and testy sort, isn’t he? Whatever did you ask him?”

Janis stared at the screen, rereading for innuendoes.

“I wanted to know where I could find the leader of New Class Order. I also asked him to report back everything he could about a new government project called BIOPONORE.”

“There’s a project called that?”

“Apparently.”

“I haven’t heard that word for twenty years – not since you and Faye came up here on summer vacations from college.”

“I’ve never used the word since.”

Sara thought it through. “Why were you asking about that? You don’t think Faye is mixed up with any of this, do you?”

“I can’t be sure of anything. I needed to find out.”

“That’s ridiculous. Faye would do no such thing.”

“Mom, people change. Faye stayed at USAMRIID, remember? There’s no telling what they have her doing now.”

“Well, she certainly isn’t trying to kill six billion people. I’m surprised you’d even consider it.”

“
Biological point of no return
. You can’t get more clear than that.”

“It’s about turtles! They’re endangered. You have your answer.”

“Sure. I guess so.”

“Why do you care about this André Bolard fellow?”

Janis vacillated on sending a return message then closed the laptop.

“If NCO took Alyssa, then he has the power to let her go. If they don’t have her, I bet they have a good idea who does.”

“So what’s the plan? Walk right up and ask him?”

Janis stirred sugar in her tea. “Yeah, something like that.”

“That’s not a plan. That’s wishful thinking at best. More like suicide.”

Janis stood and paced to the kitchen sink to avoid her mother’s glare.

“You don’t understand. I don’t have options.”

“Yes you do. You’re not alone.”

Janis turned and snapped, “What would you have me do? Go back to NovoSenectus? Or maybe go to the government; how do I know they’re not 8-Ball?”

“You can contact Faye.”

“Faye! Huh! That’s like contacting the government.”

“That’s not true. She’s your friend. Tell her how serious this is.”

“She
was
my friend. Not now. Not for this.”

“She’d understand. I know she would. She might know something that could help.”

“We haven’t spoken in years. The last time wasn’t pleasant.”

Sara sat down and shook her head. “You two used to be so close…”

“Lots of things
used
to be.”

Sara couldn’t contain her bitterness. “Everything was all right between you two until Colin entered the picture.”

“Leave him out of this!”

“I know. I should shut up. No one can tell you what you don’t already know. You like to find things out for yourself. Always did.”

“I’m not going to stop until I find out what happened to Alyssa. If that means leveraging this laptop to win her release, so be it.”

“Leverage?”

“Sure. NCO hates
Mass.
They want to stop his plans for
GenLET
. They’d love to get their hands on Riya’s computer backup and expose
Mass.
Nothing would give them greater pleasure. If it’s that valuable to them, I’ll trade the laptop for Alyssa.”

“Oh, Janis, no – you’re in way over your head.”

“I have to use the only thing I have. I have nothing else.”

“All you’re doing is pulling yourself in deeper – a sheep among wolves.”

Janis reopened the computer and inserted a flash drive in a slot.

“The truth needs to get out. If the government is working with Mass, the world needs to know about it. I would rather NCO take the credit and the heat for exposing 3rd Protocol. I get Alyssa, Mass gets taken down, and NCO gets the glory.”

Sara nervously watched Janis at the keyboard. “What are you doing?”

“I’m making a backup. If anything should happen to me or the laptop gets lost or stolen, the information won’t be lost.”