As Ash removed the envelope, the vibration caused by the runway suddenly ceased, and like that, they were in the air. He leaned back for a moment as their angle of ascent increased.
A year earlier, he had taken his family to a small amusement park in Virginia. The park had one of those rides where you were basically in a box that went up and down and side to side, but didn’t really go anywhere. The sense of travel was conveyed by the combination of the movement and a video that played on a front screen. While they’d been on the ride, something had gone wrong with the projection system, and for several seconds they only had the walls to look at while the box kept jumping around.
Taking off with the windows closed reminded him of that.
As soon as they were settled into a comfortable climb, Ash opened the envelope and emptied the contents into the briefcase. The thing that stood out first was a small stack of cash. He quickly thumbed through it. Three grand. With the money he already had, that made five thousand total. Not exactly a windfall these days, but it definitely could come in handy.
“Thanks,” he said.
“You run out, you call us. We can get you more.”
Not that Ash was looking for an answer, but he wondered for the umpteenth time who these people really were.
“I’ll…I’ll pay you back.”
“No need.”
Ash didn’t argue, but he wasn’t conceding the point, either.
He looked back into the briefcase. The other two items from the envelope were a piece of paper and a wallet. He picked up the wallet first. Inside were three credit cards, a membership card for AAA, and a Florida driver’s license, all under the name Adam Cooper.
“The credit cards are all good,” Pax said. “But use each only once. If I were you, I’d avoid using any of them at all. Cards leave trails.”
Ash thumbed out the license and looked at the picture. It could have been him, or it could have been someone else entirely.
“We had to do a bit of fancy Photoshop work on that,” Pax said. “But it’ll pass for now. When that new face of yours settles in, you can get a real picture taken.”
Ash put the license back, then picked up the piece of paper.
“Why is this here?” he asked. It was the pink slip for a 2009 Honda Accord.
“You don’t want to walk everywhere, do you?” Pax asked. “It’ll be waiting when we land. Registration will hold up even if you get pulled over.”
Ash stared at the cash and the cards and pink slip. “What do you guys want from me? You can’t be giving me all this for free.”
Pax was silent for several seconds. “The hope is you’ll come back and help us when your personal business is settled. But that’ll be up to you. It’s not an expectation. We’d do this for you no matter what.”
“Come back and help you do what, exactly?”
Pax leaned back in his seat. “That’s something you’ll have to hear from Matt, when you’re ready.” He closed his eyes like he was going to take a nap.
Ash transferred the items into his bag, then pulled out the two files from the briefcase. The first folder contained a set of grainy, five-by-seven photos, eight in all. Five were of men, and three were of women. A note was attached to the front picture.If you see any of these people, or someone you think looks like any of them, I’d appreciate it if you would contact us.Matt
Ash looked at the pictures again. None of the faces were familiar to him. He put the photos back in the folder and set it aside. The second folder contained newspaper clippings. There was also a note with these.Some things to think about.
This one was not signed, but the handwriting was the same as the other.
Ash looked through the clippings, reading the headlines: Earth Population Hits 7 Bil,Oil Spill Devastates Gulf Coast, Darfur Genocide Sees No End,Ethnic Cleansing a Worldwide Epidemic,Vanuatu Sees Territory Shrink As Oceans Rise.
Cheerful stuff.
“Those you can keep.”
Pax’s voice surprised him. Ash looked over, but Pax was still lying back with his eyes closed.
“The only things I need to take back are the pictures and the briefcase.”
“Are these articles supposed to mean something to me?” Ash asked.
“Didn’t cut them out. Don’t know what they are. Was just told you could keep them.”
Ash wasn’t sure he wanted to keep them, but he slipped the folder into his bag. He could always throw them out later.
“How long are we going to be in the air?” he asked.
“A couple hours.”
“Is there a bathroom on this thing?”
“In back.”
As Ash passed Chloe, she eyed him warily but didn’t pull back.
He had almost forgotten about her as he looked through the things Pax had brought him. Matt had said she would be valuable to him, but Ash was doubtful that whatever value she brought would outweigh the negatives he felt she had. It would probably be best to part ways once she pointed him in the right direction.
Because if she got in his way…
Rachel got out of the car and joined her brother at the edge of the runway. Together they watched the Gulfstream gain speed as it rushed away from them then lift off into the air. It wasn’t until the plane was a little dot in the distance that either of them spoke.
“What do you think his chances are?” she asked.
“You know I’m not good at figuring out odds. But if you pushed me I’d probably say not a chance in hell.”
“We’ve had people beat that before.”
“Yes, we have.”
She smiled. “You once said there was no way we would ever be able to defeat them.”
He took a breath. “I’m still inclined to believe that.”
“Yet we’re still here. Still fighting.”
“It’s a war that should have started a lot earlier than it did. All we’re doing is damage control and catch up.”
They fell silent.
“Do you think he’ll come back?” she asked.
“You mean after he beats no chance in hell? Maybe.”
“We could certainly use him.”
“We already are,” Matt said.
Rachel knew he was talking about the vials of Ash’s blood their off-site team was already working with. Their resources and facilities weren’t as impressive as the organization they were up against, but they weren’t working with kids’ chemistry sets either, and their people were both dedicated and motivated.
“I think he will be back,” she said.
Silently, they both looked west, in the direction the plane had finally disappeared. For the moment, there was nothing more to say.
29
Confirmation came at noon when Tamara’s mother called, wailing, and told her that someone from the California Highway Patrol had just notified her that Gavin was dead. Thirty minutes later, a list of the Tehachapi casualties was handed out to the media at Fort Irwin.
Tamara knew Gavin’s name would be there, but when she saw it, it was as if the breath had been ripped from her lungs.
Joe put an arm around her. “I’ll call the network and let them know. You won’t have to do any more reports.”
“No,” she said. “Don’t call.”
“You don’t need to be a hero.”
“I need to do this, okay? I need to have this right now. Understand?” What she didn’t say was that while Joe had been off at a logistics briefing elsewhere on the base, she and Bobby had been working on a piece about her brother’s death that she wanted to work into one of her upcoming reports.
“Seriously, Tammy. Your brother died. Don’t push yourself.”
“She’ll be fine,” Bobby said.
Joe frowned. “I don’t know.”
“What else is she going to do out here?” Bobby asked, looking around. “It’ll give her something to take her mind of things until she can go home.”
Joe thought for a moment, then looked at Tamara. “If that’s what you really want.”
She nodded. “It’s what I want.”
She allowed herself a quick glance at Bobby while Joe was distracted by a couple of helicopters landing nearby. “Done?” she mouthed.