Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 (43 page)

“
Video is clear,” Troy
said.

“
Audio’s quiet,” Matthew
said.

“
I thought there was an
unidentified tremor?” Alex asked.

“
Confirmed as from the
downtown cooling towers,” Matthew shrugged.

“
Radar?” Alex
asked.

“
We have a clear picture
of the barrier being created,” the head of the Denver Police team
said. “We have the vehicles and all those drug free workers. By the
way, did you notice there wasn’t a problem with the Denver Police
officers?”

“
Why do you think that
is?” Joseph asked.

“
Everyone who lives in
Denver knows Lipson’s no drug policy. No one with a possible hot UA
would volunteer,” Max Hargreaves said as he came into the
room.

“
Plus, they were hand
selected by Magic O’Malley,” the head of the Denver Police team
said.

Everyone laughed.

“
Anything?” Max
asked.

Alex shook her head.

“
Let’s expand our view,”
Alex said. “Before you say it, I know we’ll lose quality imaging.
I’d love to find even a blurry image of this guy.”

The room fell silent as the men worked with
the satellite and ground information.

“
What’s this?” Troy
pointed to what looked like an antechamber.

Everyone came over to look at his computer
screen.

“
What is that?” MJ
asked.

“
It’s another room,” Max
said.

“
Another whole complex,”
Alex said. “Shit, shit, shit.”

“
Please confirm where
you’re looking,” the Denver Police radar technician
asked.

Max rattled off the coordinates.

“
Holy fuck,” came over the
radio. “That’s a palace.”

“
He’s had thirty years to
create it,” Max said.

“
I want to talk to that
kid Charlie,” Alex said.

“
Lieutenant Colonel? Mrs.
Alex?” a young man’s voice came over the intercom. “It’s Charlie.
You know Sandy’s brother? Uncle Seth brought me and Mrs. Anjelika
here this morning before he left to get more bodies. He thought I
could help.”

“
Have you been in this
location?” Alex asked.

“
Um…” Charlie said. “I
can’t tell. Maybe.”

“
Got him!” Raz said. “He’s
there.”

“
He’s where?” The team
came behind Raz to peer into his computer screen.

“
There,” Raz
said.

“
Focus on that location,”
Alex said.

The only sound was the click of computer
keys.

“
We have a human figure
moving around in what appears to be…” A man’s voice came over the
intercom. “An underground palace is right. I want video feed from
every surveillance camera, ATM machine, and intersection within a
mile of that location.”

“
Um, Alex? I mean Mrs.
Alex?” Charlie’s voice asked over the intercom. “I think that’s one
of the places Jeffy took me. We didn’t go through the whole place.
Just the room Jeffy stayed in. But…”

“
But?” Alex
asked.

“
We got there from the
street,” Charlie said. “And once from under an overpass. And
another time from an old stairwell.”

“
What are you saying
Charlie?” Alex asked.

“
It’s okay Charlie. You’re
not in trouble,” Anjelika’s accented voice came through the
speaker. “Just tell them what you know. That is all they
want.”

“
I’m really sorry. I
didn’t really connect the tunnel and that place. I… was high a lot
and I…”

“
Charlie! What are you
saying?” Alex yelled over his stammering.

“
There’s at least five
other entrances to that place,” Charlie said. “Probably
more.”

The com link filled with both team’s
curses.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday morning — 10:25 A.M.

After a long shower, Ava got dressed and
left the bedroom. Her eyes were red slits of pain. She’d been drawn
awake by the wafting odor of coffee. It was the first scent she had
been able to smell since her nose surgery. Following her nose, she
went into the kitchen. Ava walked around Maresol to the coffee pot.
Ava poured herself a cup of coffee, added milk that miraculously
appeared in front of her, and drank the cup down. When Maresol
filled her cup again, Ava managed to wave her right hand.

Maresol laughed.

“
Big night,” Maresol
said.

Ava nodded.

“
Hung over?” Maresol
asked.

“
Tired mostly,” Ava’s
voice croaked and Maresol took the coffee cup away from her. Ava
mock cried. Maresol replaced the coffee cup with warm water, lemon
and honey. Ava took a drink and said, “I feel bone crushing
tired.”

“
I’m sure everything is
catching up to…”

Maresol grabbed Ava’s left hand and stared
at it.

“
Where did you get this?”
Maresol asked.

“
I don’t know,” Ava said.
“I woke up with it on my hand.”

Maresol dropped Ava’s hand and turned her
back to her.

“
What is it?” Ava touched
Maresol’s shoulder. When Maresol turned, her eyes were glazed with
moisture.

“
I blamed that evil man
for the rest of his life,” Maresol said. “And here it is. All
along.”

“
I don’t know what you’re
saying,” Ava said.

Maresol turned and hugged Ava tight. When
she pulled away, Ava saw tears fall from Maresol’s eyes before
Maresol swiped them away.

“
Seth’s mother wore that
ring the entire time I knew her,” Maresol said. “She was… the
kindest, nicest, gentlest, most loving woman I have ever met in my
entire life. She wasn’t wearing this ring when she died. I thought
her monster of a husband had taken it from her.”

Ava looked at her hand and back at
Maresol.

“
Seth must have had it all
this time,” Maresol said.

“
I thought you worked for
Seth’s father,” Ava said.

“
Never,” Maresol said.
“I’ve always worked for Seth. He hired me to help his mother with
this big house right after he returned from college the first time.
He was… fourteen or fifteen. I was… well, a bit older. I stayed
after she died because Seth begged me to.”

“
How did I get this?” Ava
asked.

“
Seth must have given it
to you,” Maresol said. “You don’t remember?”

Ava shook her head.

“
Did you talk about
getting married?” Maresol asked.

“
I don’t remember,” Ava
said. “He sang that amazing song to me last night. And
Jeraine…”

Maresol leaned forward to look deeply into
Ava’s face.

“
Do you want to marry
him?” Maresol asked.

Ava nodded.

“
Then we must consider
this a proposal. I doubt you’ll get more,” Maresol pulled Ava to
her in a tight hug. “Congratulations!”

“
You’re not jealous? Or
mad? Or…?”

“
Me?” Maresol laughed.
“Seth is somewhere between my best friend and oldest child. I want
him to move on from all the sorrow and pain. I want him to be happy
again.”

“
And Bonita?”

“
Bonita loved Seth from
the time she was a wee child,” Maresol said.

“
Sandy said they met when
they were drinking,” Ava said.

“
I was pregnant with
Bonita when I started working here,” Maresol said. “She was three
or so when Seth left for Vietnam. She was a teenager when he
married what’s her name.”

“
Lizzie’s
mother?”

“
Her,” Maresol said. “She
was about your age when they met again. It was like an explosion
for both of them. And they were drinking. A lot. Trust me, Bonita
would only want him to find happiness again.”

“
Oh,” Ava returned to
drinking her hot water and lemon. “You don’t think I’m too young or
stupid or…?”

Maresol waved a hand at her and then gave
Ava a stern look.

“
You won’t want to take
over this house, will you?” Maresol asked.

“
Never,” Ava said. “I’m a
forensic scientist, not a house take over person.”

Maresol laughed and added, “Then we’re
fine.”

“
What should I do?” Ava
asked. “You know about….”

Ava pointed to the ring.

“
You call him and tell him
you will marry him,” Maresol said. “Go on.”

“
Have you seen my purse?”
Ava asked.

“
It was on the floor,”
Maresol said. “I put it in this closet.”

They went to the closet. Ava tried Seth. His
phone rang until voice mail picked up.

“
Message,” Ava
said.

“
Don’t leave a message,”
Maresol said.

“
Kind of tacky,” Ava said.
“I could text him.”

“
I like that,” Maresol
said. “Just something simple.”

“
How about
Yes?”

“
Perfect.”

Ava texted ‘Yes’ to Seth’s phone.

“
Now, let’s get you back
to bed,” Maresol said. “You’ve had way too much activity for my
taste.”

A little overwhelmed, Ava nodded and went up
the stairs.

“
I’ll bring you a bagel,
Mrs. O’Malley,” Maresol said.

“
I didn’t say I’d take his
name,” Ava said.

Realizing what she had said, Ava floated up
the stairs on the idea she might marry Seth. She was near the door
when she heard Maresol laugh at her. Smiling, she went back to
bed.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday mid-day — 11:25 A.M.

“
If we take that in there,
we’ll lose video and audio.” Raz pointed to the electromagnetic
disruptor in her hand.

“
We don’t have a choice,”
Alex said. “We have to make sure we knock out his
audio.”

They were sitting in a mobile surveillance
van on Wynkoop Street.

“
We have to move – one,
two, three,” Alex said. “Disrupt electronics, close off the
entrances we’re aware of.”

“
What’s three?”

“
Capture the bastard,” Max
said.

Alex put the electromagnetic disrupter in
MJ’s hand. With a nod, he left the van. They watched him cross the
street to where Honey was having lunch. They laughed and kissed. In
the process, she took the disrupter from him. With a wave, she
rolled down to the entrance of the tunnel and inside. MJ
reluctantly walked back to the van.

“
He hasn’t moved,” Raz
said. “He must be watching television or reading.”

There was a flicker to signify Honey turning
on the disrupter.

“
NOW!” Alex
said.

With blowtorches to metal doors, wood blocks
and a variety of other basic methods, members of her team and the
Denver Police closed off the five known entrances to Saint Jude’s
underground residence. Saint Jude’s only exit would be through the
tunnels.

They hoped.

“
He hasn’t budged,” Raz
said. “Oh wait… He’s on the move.”

They watched Saint Jude’s heat profile move
through his underground rooms. Within a few minutes, they saw him
work his way through what they had previously thought was solid
ground to where they were working on the tunnel. He entered the
tunnel near the entrance.

“
What’s he doing now?” Max
asked.

“
He’s talking to Honey.”
Raz pointed to the metal outline of Honey’s wheelchair.

MJ ratcheted a bullet into his automatic
weapon and moved to get out of the van again.

“
Wait,” Joseph said. “Just
wait. Honey’s dealt with a lot of psychopaths in her life. Give her
a chance.”

“
Leena’s there,” Alex
said. “What’s she going to tell him?”

“
They have to disrupt all
electronic transmission in order to cut into the tunnel wall,” MJ
said.

“
No way to know what’s
under the brick,” MJ, Max and Alex said at the same
time.

“
That’ll work,” Joseph
said.

The orange heat signal of Saint Jude
appeared to crouch down to Honey. The tension in the van increased
a hundred fold. They leaned in to watch the screen.

“
Who’s that?” MJ pointed
to a second heat signal.

“
Leena.” Alex pointed to
the block of heat around her mid-section. “You can see the body
armor.”

“
What are they doing?” MJ
asked.

“
Laughing,” Raz said.
“Leena must be walking him off the job site.”

“
She’s armed?” MJ
asked.

“
Leena knows what she’s
doing,” Alex said. “Try to breathe. That’s an order.”

“
My Honey’s down there,”
MJ said. “You can’t tell me to just breathe. I almost lost her
twice and…”

“
He’s out of the tunnel,”
Raz said. “And…”

They all leaned in again.

“
He’s returned to his
residence,” Raz said.

“
Now what?” MJ
asked.

“
We wait for Jake and his
people to finish the tunnel,” Alex said.

“
If anything happens to
Honey, I…” MJ said.