Van Hutten sighed. “I hope you’re right. I really do.”
His expression was tortured for just a moment as he said this, and Kira had no doubt that he was sincere. “You know, Anton, we’ve been worried about making a mistake of our own,” she said wearily. “About recruiting someone with latent megalomania who would undo our efforts for selfish purposes. And yet you, the man who’s come the closest to destroying us, tested as the most decent of us all. Compassionate. Kind hearted. Empathetic.” She shook her head slightly and a wry smile crept over her face. “If there is a God, he certainly has a sense of humor.”
37
Jim Connelly watched for cops while Desh accelerated to over a hundred miles per hour, blowing by highway traffic as though it were standing still.
Connelly knew nothing about the cameras Desh had installed to spy on his own wife, so Desh had to lie and say he spotted van Hutten’s reflection in the mirrored glass of their headquarters building through their security cameras. While Connelly hadn’t seen this, he had no reason to doubt the sighting made by his friend and colleague.
They were headed almost due east, back to Colorado. Wherever van Hutten was going, he wouldn’t be flying there—not with Kira in a straightjacket. And while Colorado bordered seven other states, any of which could be the physicist’s destination, their best bet was to get back to Colorado as quickly as possible until they could get a better handle on his location.
Desh tried to focus on driving and fight off panic. Despite what he had uncovered about Kira—or more accurately, about her enhanced alter ego—he still loved her deeply, and fear and worry were drilling into his head, making clear thinking impossible. Images of her kept flashing into his mind. Kira in a straightjacket, hanging from a meat hook. Kira being tortured, her face a bloody mask as razors sliced through soft skin. Kira being dumped in a lake, water filling her aching lungs as she fought to the end to remove her restraints.
Desh shook his head vigorously. He had to get himself under control. If not, he’d be no good to her.
He cursed himself for not hiring additional muscle the instant he was free from Jake. When they had thought they were off the grid for good, he and Connelly were security and muscle enough. In all the time the group had been around, with the exception of the attack that had killed Ross Metzger, they had had no need for police or military style activity. And no one was ever kidnapped or hunted or in danger. The good old days. A few weeks ago.
But now the shit had hit the fan—repeatedly. He and Connelly needed good men who could respond. If van Hutten was acting alone—for reasons Desh couldn’t begin to fathom—and provided they could find him, then he and Connelly would be able to extract her themselves. Assuming she was still alive.
But how likely was it that van Hutten was working alone? Not very. He was a world-class physicist, not a soldier. Someone had to be pulling his strings. But even so, how they had gotten him to betray Icarus was anyone’s guess.
Connelly’s phone began to vibrate. He glanced at it. “It’s Matt,” he announced. They had left an urgent message for Griffin to call back the second he landed. Connelly threw the call on speakerphone.
“I got your message,” said the voice of Matt Griffin. “What’s up?”
Desh and Connelly quickly filled him in on recent events.
“You sure it was Anton?” asked Griffin. “I’d believe almost anyone before him.”
“It was Anton,” confirmed Desh yet again. “Matt, we need something to go on. Anything. We need your brand of magic, and every second counts.”
“I’m passing a McDonald’s,” noted Griffin. “I’ll grab a table and tap into the airport’s Wi-Fi. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
Ten minutes later he called back. “I’ve got it!” he declared triumphantly. “Van Hutten rented an isolated cottage just outside of Rocky Mountain National Park three days ago. For two weeks. And his lack of neighbors wasn’t accidental. He found the rental online searching for ‘Rocky Mountain homes for rent, isolated,” and ‘Rocky Mountain homes for rent, secluded.’”
“That has to be it,” said Desh excitedly, and both he and Connelly traded expressions of relief. They weren’t home free, but their odds had just taken a dramatic turn for the better.
“Great work, as always, Matt,” added Connelly.
Griffin read them the address while Connelly entered it into the car’s GPS guidance system.
“We’re driving there now,” said Desh, “but we have no idea what we’re up against. Grab a supersized meal or two, Matt, on me, and see if you can find out what the hell has gotten into van Hutten. And if we’re likely to run into just one crazed physicist in the cabin or an army.”
“I’ll get right on it,” said Griffin. “I accessed all of his accounts when we were vetting him as a possible recruit, so I’ll have a big head start. If there are any clues to his behavior, I’ll find them.”
“Thanks, Matt.”
“No no, thank you,” said Griffin in amusement. “It isn’t every day someone offers to buy me McDonald’s,” he finished, ending the connection.
Desh pushed the car to one hundred and ten. Van Hutten’s cabin was closer to Denver than to them, but not by much. They were very lucky to be this close, Desh knew. But the acid in his stomach didn’t go away. Because the universe had a way of evening out luck. And you just never knew when yours was about to run out.
38
“I have to use the bathroom,” said Kira.
Van Hutten nodded. “It occurred to me that this might happen eventually. I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to hold it for an hour or two. Hopefully less.”
“Why? What happens then?”
“I have a room set aside for your use with its own bathroom. I need to finish installing a door handle I can lock from the outside. When I do, we can get rid of that straightjacket at least. I’ll still have to keep you strapped to a leash—one situated so you won’t be able to reach the outer door—but it will be long enough for you to use the bathroom.”
“Sounds like heaven,” said Kira, rolling her eyes.
“I’ll make sure you have a comfortable bed and couch within reach. I’ll supply you with whatever food and drink you want, along with books, a computer not tied to the Internet, that sort of thing. I’ll work on other ways to give you as much freedom as possible without risking your escape. If I didn’t have so much respect for your abilities, I wouldn’t have to be this paranoid.”
“Yeah,” muttered Kira. “I get that a lot.”
“I’ll go and finish your room now. I’d planned to have it ready for your, um . . . visit. But I was listening in at your headquarters. And when I learned you’d be alone for the day, I had to act. ”
“Listening in?”
“Yes. I needed you to be alone. After all,” he added with an impish grin, “if I had to engage in hand-to-hand combat, I didn’t want to risk hurting David or Jim.”
“Very thoughtful of you,” said Kira. “So how did you bug us? New technology of yours?”
“No. Why reinvent the wheel? I just activated the microelectronics from the waistband of one of my Icarus-issued briefs.”
“Glad we could help,” said Kira wryly.
She didn’t really have to use a bathroom, but Desh had trained her to attempt escape sooner rather than later in this type of situation, before the enemy was dug in and had perfected security procedures. “Can I have some water, at least?”