Chapter 8 #2
The interview with the Queen’s Walk bookseller . . . Go over everything that had been said and done that night. Dredge out every single word and action from the woman.
The fire and hideous murder of that poor woman the next day . . . She had carefully examined as many bystanders in that crowd as she could bear. Try to recall if she’d seen any of them anywhere else.
The woman’s hairbrush in the bathroom at the safe house . . . Had she deliberately avoided thinking about it because it bothered her more than she’d let Jessie know? Ignore the pain. Bring it back, think about it, and consider as many reasons for it being there as she could imagine.
Ted Cambry . . . He had proved to be almost as frightening as those thugs Vlad had sent after her in San Diego.
She should try to remember every word and intonation to make sure it wasn’t envy and bitterness against Lynch that had made him so vicious with her today. Could it be something more sinister?
Enough. She was even more dizzy and disoriented than she’d been before she’d forced herself to dive into those nightmare memories. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. She knew what to do, and now she just had to let her mind accept it.
But it took her another thirty minutes before she could start the mental process that she’d followed throughout her entire career.
Finally, she felt her muscles and thought processes begin to loosen and she could take each event and memory apart so that she could examine it for something, anything, that might help her.
Dammit, you could have helped me a little more, Lynch.
This isn’t easy for me when I don’t even know whether you’re alive or dead.
You’d better be alive. It wouldn’t be fair if you put me through all this then managed to get yourself killed.
Yeah, I know that’s not likely. You’re too stubborn to do something that dumb.
She could almost imagine him sitting next to her listening with his blue eyes twinkling and that amused puckish grin. It’s not funny. I’m ready for it to stop. So stir yourself and help me a little. Or don’t, and I’ll do it myself. Just don’t get in my way. I don’t know why I even bother with you.
But she did know and so did he. The bond between them had just been too strong to break.
He always told her that someday she would give in and admit that she didn’t have to be totally independent all the time; that he was too good a catch to toss back into the sea of life.
Though he’d solemnly assured her he might still be around . . . if she was lucky.
But she didn’t want to think about that right now.
She didn’t feel very lucky at this particular moment.
She was still fighting panic. Hush now. I can’t think about you while I try to find clarity by taking events apart one at time.
First, I go back to the place where you first sent me.
She was already forcing herself to concentrate on that fountain where it had all begun and the seals that guarded it.
Was that postcard the only thing you meant me to find?
Did I miss anything? I can’t afford to be careless about any detail.
This has gone on too long. I hate to admit it, but I’m getting scared.
She instantly blocked the thought. I’ll be fine.
You know I always do my best work when I’m under pressure.
This won’t be any different. I won’t fail you . . .
TWO HOURS LATER
The book!
The hand!
Kendra’s eyes flew open, and the next moment she was jerking upright and trying to put it all together.
Of course, it had to be the book! She threw her blanket aside and jumped to her feet.
Then she dashed across the distance separating her from Jessie.
“Wake up!” She shook her hard. “I need to call Fitz! I didn’t tell him to bring the right things.
” She glanced at her watch. “Though he should probably be here in the next hour or so. Oh, well, I guess a tool kit will come in handy. I’ll call him while he’s on the road with the rest of the list. It may even take him a little while to locate everything because I’ll still be working in the dark. ”
“I’m the one who’s in the dark.” Jessie yawned and sat up. “And I’d appreciate you shining some light, if you don’t mind. I take it you had a stroke of brilliance that you can share with me?”
“I wish I had.” Kendra made a face. “But I might have an opening that I can work with. I told you that those math figures on that stone half buried beneath the boulders with the hand seemed very complex and might even be an algorithm for the problem itself.” She shook her head ruefully.
“Certainly too difficult for me to understand. I was never a math whiz like Lynch. But he was clearly leading me in this direction. The fountain at the house in San Diego where he’d put the first mention of Elizabeth Porter in London.
Then the fire at the grounds of the market at Queen’s Walk and her death.
Our being chased through the streets of London by those hoodlums. It all has to be linked together in some way.
Then I remembered the stack of books that were on the counter near Porter’s cash register.
They were some kind of notebooks and when I remarked on them and told her I was a therapist, she told me she’d been a teacher before she’d opened the bookstore.
She made a face and told me that it was much easier selling books than trying to teach kids what was in them.
It was the one time that she’d seemed to soften toward me when I was questioning her.
Though it didn’t seem to have any connection with Lynch.
But tonight I was lying there trying to remember every snippet of information, and I recalled that one of those books from that stack I was leafing through was a journal on mathematical physiology. ”
“And that might have helped you understand that algorithm?” Jessie asked softly.
Kendra nodded. “It’s a long shot. But she practically snatched the book away from me and sent me on my way.
In retrospect I figured it was possible.
Or perhaps the author of the journal might be able to point me in the direction of that so-called top-secret mission they sent Lynch on.
” Her lips tightened. “Like I said, I’m reaching and hoping I don’t find another blind alley when I go looking around the second cave area.
Tell Fitz I need him to ask a few questions of Porter’s neighbors at the market—what other books they remember her selling or reading herself, and how we can learn more about her background as a teacher.
Or even if any of them had seen Lynch with her at any point in the past. Did she have a habit of selling any books in her shop pertaining to that particular specialty in human physiology?
Professor Gregor Dekker was a chemist, and he specialized in pain management.
There were chemical formulas in that workbook I saw.
If she associated with him, I need any info they can give me on what it was and if she still had any professional contacts in the field.
” She suddenly had another thought. “And ask him what he can find out about Professor Gregor Dekker that might tie in with what happened at that book mart, or maybe how he could be involved in Lynch’s disappearance.
They may not be able to tell me any more about him than Metcalf did, but it’s a little too convenient that a prestigious university professor suddenly appears on Vlad’s radar at the same time that Lynch is leaving clues to send me to that particular bookseller. ”
“That doesn’t mean you have to be in such a hurry to go on the hunt,” Jessie said. “Wait until I finish these calls and I’ll go with you. I don’t like the idea of you trekking around here by yourself. You said yourself that we have to be careful.”
“I won’t go cave exploring right now. But that hand is very important.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized what Lynch might have been trying to tell me.
I have to make sure I don’t miss anything else he might have left for me.
I just need to do a thorough appraisal of the land around it, and hope I get as lucky as I was when I found that stone with the hand.
You know I’ll be on the lookout. I’ll call you if I need you. ”
“You’d better,” Jessie said. “Anything else?” She was already reaching for the satellite phone. “This would be much easier if you called Fitz yourself. You’re bound to think of something else.”
“Probably.” She was slipping on her jacket as she spoke. “But I don’t want to take the time right now.” She was already on the path leading up the hill. “If you have questions, we’ll talk when I get back.”
“Okay,” Jessie said grimly. “I still don’t know if I like you going off alone. Besides, it’s not even dawn, and you won’t be able to see much yet.” She cast one more glance at the shadowy stretch of vines and boulders that appeared almost ghostlike in the dim light.
“Jessie.”
“Okay. Okay.” Jessie waved her hand impatiently. “Do what you have to do. I’m just a bit edgy. But I know how I hate it when anyone tries to hover over me. If you’re not down in a reasonable length of time, expect me to be up to check on you.”
Kendra smiled. “I won’t be insulted. I’ll just consider the source.”
Jessie didn’t answer. She’d turned away and was dialing her phone.