“Then Von Goss is there.”
“I’ve been trying the phone number all day long. Twenty-one times, no answer; once, a busy signal.”
“Could have been a misdial.”
“More likely, Von Goss is not answering his phone unless some sort of code is used with the rings, but he is making a few occasional calls to check on the home front.”
“If he’s that scared, chances are he’s got some idea of what Metzencroy was on to.”
Trench nodded. “My own experience with scientists has shown me they are great talkers — but only with each other. They love to consult, to trade information. Now let us assume, Winter Man, that Metzencroy and Von Goss were two of Einstein’s greatest direct disciples, and that after his death each chose to continue their mentor’s work in his own way: Metzencroy at COBRA and Von Goss at Princeton. It seems logical to assume that they would never be long out of contact with each other. The bonds made over forty years ago would easily have lasted this long with something like Vortex to consider.”
“Except Von Goss dropped out of active research and turned totally to teaching after an accident.”
“Something to do with his hand,” Trench explained. “It happened in the late sixties when he was on the verge of making a major scientific breakthrough.”
“Any idea what this breakthrough concerned?”
“Unfortunately, not a clue.”
“But I suppose you’ve obtained precise directions to this house in the Poconos.”
“Of course.”
Bane regarded Trench’s liquid gray eyes which suddenly didn’t look so cold. “You could walk away clean from this, Trench, and no one would be the wiser. You could hide yourself so none of them could find you, even Chilgers. Your stake in this could be over.”
“And what of you, Winter Man? If I abandon you, what chance would you have against the army of amateur killers falling all over each other on your trail? I resisted Chilgers’ original order to eliminate you because I couldn’t bear to see the only other true professional left killed for no reason. I can’t walk away now because of that same concern.”
Bane smiled hesitantly. “I was just thinking of something Harry said about not knowing who your real friends are. I guess people change.”
“Not really. It’s times that do. People like you and me, Winter Man, stay as we are, clinging to our special world which offers clarity above all else.” Trench paused reflectively. “But I suppose you’re right. Another time, another place we might’ve been associates, friends even. For now all we have is Chilgers and Vortex to hold us together.”
“That’s plenty.” Bane checked his watch. “We’ve got a long drive ahead of us, Trench. We should reach the Poconos a little after nightfall if we leave right away.”
“I’ve got a car downstairs.”
It took Harry Bannister a few seconds to adjust to the light after his blindfold was pulled off. One of the men who had lifted him from his apartment untied his wrists and stripped the tape off his mouth.
“You fuckers are gonna pay for this,” he charged the three men standing before his wheelchair in the scantily furnished single room. “Boy, are you gonna pay….”
The three men were silent.
“I suppose you got a good reason for dragging me here, you know like a warrant or something. How ’bout a dime so I can make my one phone call?” Harry licked the tape’s residue from his lips.
The three men stayed silent.
“Well, if any of you fuckers had a mind I could tell you a whale of a story that looks like it’s gonna have a pretty rotten ending ’cause the assholes you work for can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys.” The Bat looked them in the eye one at a time. “Hey, any of you got a tongue? How ’bout a good pair of ears? … Nope, I didn’t think so.”
“I’ll listen, Mr. Bannister, if you think you’ve got something to say.”
The voice came from the area near the door through which a big man had just entered. Big as Josh easy, Harry figured.
“And who the fuck are you?”
The man stepped farther into the room. “The name’s Wentworth, Phillip Wentworth.” Wentworth motioned the other three men out of the room and closed the door behind them, looking back at the Bat. “You were saying, Mr. Bannister.”
“I don’t suppose you’re gonna tell me which group you work for.”
“Throw any three letters of the alphabet together and you’re bound to hit one of them.”
“Lord fuck a duck, aren’t you a big-fuckin’-shot.” Then Harry thought of something. “Big enough to get the ears of the President are you, Wentworth?”
“Depends on the reason.”
“How about the fact that he’s trying to kill the wrong guy. It’s not Joshua Bane who’s gone mad, it’s a guy named Chilgers out in San Diego, and if something’s not done fast, it’s the whole fuckin’ world that’s gonna end up unsalvageable. Do you read me, Wentworth?”
Wentworth’s expression was unchanged. “Let me tell you something, Mr. Bannister. About fifteen years ago I was taken to the same training camp Joshua Bane got taken to and we were the last two left. He ended up with the job and deserved it because he was the best I ever saw. I’ve got more respect for him than any man I’ve met in my life. So when that unsalvageable order came down last night, I figured something screwy was up and if you can tell me what, you can be damn sure I’ll bring it to the President if I have to use some of the Winter Man’s tricks to break into his office.”
“Pull up a chair,” said Harry.
Chapter Thirty
A black, moonless night had fallen over the sky by the time Bane turned the Ford off route 81 in Scranton and onto 380 for the final stretch leading to Otto Von Goss’s mountain retreat in the Poconos of Pennsylvania.
“We still can’t be sure he’ll see us,” he repeated to Trench who sat silent but alert in the passenger seat.
“I believe our chances are good. Consider first that Von Goss went into hiding the same day Professor Metzencroy’s death was reported. He went to the mountains in fear, Winter Man, because he must possess the same information Metzencroy did, and he believes they’ll be coming for him now too.”
“He hasn’t been active in research since the accident which crippled his hand fifteen years ago,” Bane reminded Trench.
“If he ran, he knows. Our primary task will be to convince him we’re on the same side.”
“First we’ll have to convince his guards. Under the circumstances, he wouldn’t have run to the Poconos without taking an army with him.”
“They won’t be expecting an attack to come from a single car approaching at night with its lights marking its path.”
“All the more reason to raise their suspicions, Trench, and their rifles.”
The car filled with silence as the road wound on. The air outside grew colder and colder, slipping gradually below the freezing mark. Bane flipped the heater on and slid the temperature control all the way to the right. Finally, he saw signs directing him toward route 423 and the last stretch of road leading toward the Poconos.
“You know this area well, Winter Man?” Trench asked him.
Bane tapped his high beams on. “Well enough. Most of the Poconos are jammed full of resorts. But this is the off-season and Von Goss’s retreat lies on the western perimeter. Hunting and fishing area mostly and virtually all undeveloped save for a few lodges.”
“And one fortress.”
Bane nodded.
Another few miles and he swung onto route 423. The heart of the resort community came a little after in soft light and amber signs, then faded just as quickly. The road darkened and narrowed. The high beams barely made a dent ahead. Bane took a right onto a mountain road that wound circularly on a slight rise. Two more roads came and went before he turned onto one made of gravel instead of tar, lit only by the rising moon and wide enough for only one car. Bane cut his speed to fifteen miles per hour but even that seemed too fast against the ominous looming of the mountain’s edge. Almost imperceptibly, they had climbed to a point halfway up the steepest mountain in the Pocono chain and thus unattractive to tourists. This mountain was a favorite only of diehards, locals mostly or people whose families had owned property here for generations. It was probably quite beautiful, Bane figured, though a cold mist rising in the night obscured everything including the road, which led to several very anxious moments as the drive continued.