Chapter 15 #2
“They kept at it. And I kept telling them the same thing. I’d thought about looking into what had gone on in Rome when that politician was killed, but I was busy.
I mean that happened just a few days before I was attacked.
And, as I said, my commitment at the time was to research Gen-Zec.
I thought what I read was curious, of course; but I mean, at the time, it was in the news.
People were talking about it, but it happened in Italy.
I would have had to have changed my entire focus to hop a plane to somewhere so far away.
I hadn’t been involved in anything that wasn’t going on right here.
We have enough corruption here to keep a dozen of me going, but …
hey, there’s good stuff happening out there, too. ”
“Of course,” Grant said. “But as to the people who were with you, is there anything else at all that you can tell us?”
George was silent for another minute, thinking.
“I think … I think that they were comfortable out there. I didn’t know where we were when it was all going on.
But they seemed to slip in and out easily, as if they knew exactly where they were and that it was a place where they weren’t afraid of being disturbed.
And I am so sorry. I don’t know if they were big or small, if they smelled good or stank to high heaven …
I smelled … trees, if anything. Trees and earth. My God, I wish I could give you more!”
“That’s okay, George, we’re lucky you remember anything at all. And we’ll be back to see you soon—here or wherever,” Shelly told him. “Anything. You’d be surprised how even the little things help a great deal.”
George Maynard frowned suddenly, deep in thought.
“George?” Grant pressed quietly.
“Flowers. I can’t even remember when, but … darkness, and something sweet. I can’t even put it in place or context,” George said, still frowning in concentration.
“Dark and sweet. Night-blooming jasmine?” she said quietly.
George looked at her. “Maybe. In all honesty, I don’t really know what night-blooming jasmine it supposed to smell like!”
“It could have been,” Shelly told him, smiling. “And anyway, thank you!”
“I know you’re on the hunt!” George said. “And I am grateful!”
“Well, we’re hoping to stop all this and make you more grateful,” Shelly told him. “And I see Ainsley out there with Zach and Skye, so we’re going to slip out and give them a minute or two to tell you just how happy they are to see you alive and well!”
She gave him a wave and headed for the door. Grant smiled and nodded to George and did the same.
“Wow, wonderful, delicious, and thank you!” Shelly said as Skye handed her an extra-large coffee.
“We have some of those great pastries Ainsley recommended, too,” Zach told her. “I guess we’d best say a quick hello and get out of their hair!” he added.
“Sounds good,” Skye agreed.
“Come with me, I’ll make sure he knows who you are,” Ainsley said. “I can’t remember who said or did what when anymore. Time here … well …”
“You really love George, don’t you?” Shelly said softly. “You’ve been so wonderful, Ainsley!”
“I do love him. He’s such an amazing man. Sadly …”
“His fight for right doesn’t always sit well with others, but he’s out there for the people who need him—seniors who get ripped off on medical bills, those who are investing for their kids to get to school … he is a real man of the people,” Grant said.
Ainsley smiled, gave him and then Shelly quick hugs, and led Zach and Skye on into George’s room.
Shelly stared after them.
“I know that we’re suspicious people, but you’re not really questioning Zach and Skye, are you?” he asked. “You’re behaving a little strangely.”
“Am I?” she murmured. “I am a suspicious person. How well do you know your friend Perry Banyan?”
He groaned slightly. “Well, we’ve known one another most of our lives, off and on, working in different places. Why? And, by the way, he’s the reason we’re here, remember?”
“Technically not true,” Shelly said. “Technically, this was arranged before everything went whacko. Jackson Crow was bringing the two of us together—”
“And all this happened. Shelly, no, Perry is a straight shooter. And if he wasn’t, he would have never asked that I be brought in on it.”
“But Alan Barker was out of his office. No one was on to him!” Shelly reminded him.
“How could anyone have known what the man did in his own time? An expert. And sadly, I’m not one of them, but there are a lot of people out there who can hack into anything.
And an expert like Alan, well, it’s not shocking.
What’s shocking to me was that he fell for it all, that he was willing to kill us—and then himself.
And I guess I’m glad for the man’s soul that he managed to go on, but … ”
“It would have helped if his spirit could have told us more!” Shelly said.
“Yes, it would have helped,” Grant agreed.
“And Ainsley.”
“What about Ainsley?” he asked her.
“Well, no one knows him better than Ainsley,” Shelly reminded him.
“And she’s been here all the while. As you said, no one knows George better than Ainsley, and therefore she knows he wasn’t getting into anything that had to do with curse tablets.”
“True. And it’s strange and true, too, that George Maynard had a stone, a big stone, with his curse chipped into it. All the others we’ve encountered have been the lead tablets, all rolled up and left …” he broke off thoughtfully.
“What?”
“It’s almost as if we were meant to find them. Well, not us, per se, but anyone involved with the investigation into the deaths.”
“Yes, and no. We knew to inspect plants around a house, and we also thought we’d find them somewhere. I wasn’t first at the house when we got to George Maynard’s place when we met,” she reminded him.
“Right. Perry and his crew were there already.”
Shelly shrugged.
“No,” he said simply.
“No?”
“Perry is not involved.”
“Okay, you have the luxury of a long relationship with the man. I don’t. Therefore, I can’t be quite as trusting as you are.”
“But do you trust me?”
“Of course.”
“You’re sure?” he asked her.
She rolled her eyes. “That should be evident.”
“Sadly, our relationship wouldn’t always mean that—”
“In my book, it does!” she told him. Her eyes were hard and determined on his. And beautiful. The look she gave him made him smile.
“I trust you implicitly. And if you trust me, then trust Perry.”
“I will try. But allow me to keep an open mind. At this point …”
“Yeah, I know. Me, Zach, and Skye here. And the Krewe up at headquarters.”
“Come on, Grant!” Shelly pleaded. “No one knows where we’re going except our people at headquarters. There’s a reason for that. Even if Perry isn’t involved, Alan Barker did break into security systems when the local folks were involved. That means someone else may have his abilities, or even—”
“He did what he did on his own. I really think that has to be the case. Think about it. It was evident through his behavior when he accosted us and killed himself—and came back,” Grant reminded her. “And here come Skye and Zach.”
“Ainsley’s sister,” Shelly murmured.
“You think Ainsley’s sister, who knew how much her sister loved George—”
“I don’t know at all! I’m just thinking about people,” Shelly told him. “Maybe we should ask your dear friend Perry about her, see if he knows what she does and what she’s been up to. I haven’t seen her here with Ainsley yet.”
“Okay. We’ll ask Zach and Skye once we’re in the car,” he said quietly, as one of the unit’s doctors was about to pass them by, “and find out if they’ve seen her.”
“I was glad to see him now that he’s awake and aware. Although, unless you read something between the lines that I didn’t hear,” Zach said, meeting them in the waiting area, “he didn’t give us much help. Still, he’s an impressive human being, the kind of man the world needs more of.”
“Wait, he did say one thing that might prove to be important,” Shelly said, and she went on to tell them he remembered something that smelled sweet in the dark.
“Night-blooming jasmine. I know there are areas in that place, maybe near enough where his torture cabin was and where ours sounds to be … I mean, at least it’s something.”
“Night-blooming jasmine. It just might be something,” Skye agreed.
“Something when we have nothing, agreed. Oh. Agree with you there that George Maynard is the kind of guy we want to keep alive,” Grant said.
“Let’s get out to the car and get on the road.
There’s one thing I’m wondering about, though,” he added as they got into the elevators. “What if we’re followed?”
“We keep an eye out, and we have the car cams, so we should be okay,” Zach said. “We’ll also take turns driving and keeping sharp eyes on all angles at all times.”
“There’s a plan,” Grant said.
“And we need to make those stops,” Zach said.
“Yep,” Grant agreed. “I was just going to run in at the store—”
“Two and two. Two go in; two can follow at a distance, keep watch,” Zach said.
It was agreed, but they were easily able to acquire the needed laptop—one with a nice large screen, just as Grant had promised Natalie Greenway.
Things took an unexpected turn when they arrived at the assisted-living facility, after agreeing to follow each other in sets to enter the facility.
Dr. Grigsby, barely maintaining control, appeared right after the four of them arrived at the reception desk.
“You didn’t forget; you weren’t lying. But I’m afraid you’re not going to be able to see Natalie Greenway,” he told them.
The man looked as if he was about to have a heart attack himself.
“I’m so sorry. Did—”
“No, no, she didn’t die. She’s disappeared!” Grigsby told them. “The police have just left. She has no family to notify; she never married; she had no siblings—”
“What about her granddaughter, Mary?” Shelly asked.
“That was her dementia,” Dr. Grigsby answered.
“How was she in here? Who paid the bills?” Grant asked.