Involuntary Control (Gray Spear Society) (9 page)

"Change of plan," he said in an urgent tone. "Don't interrogate Leanna until I get there. I want to see her face when she answers the questions. I'll meet you at her house at 8 AM."

"But you can't come here," she said. "One of us has to stay at headquarters."

"I'm making a special exception in this case. I can do that because I'm the boss. Right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Right," he said. "Take some pictures of Leanna's face with your phone and send them to me. I'll forward them to Wendy. Maybe she can figure out who these girls really are. Also, find the sister quickly. I need to talk to both of them."

"Got it."

"And take good care of Leanna. She could be very important to us."

"You have a feeling?" Marina said.

"A strong feeling. Bye."

She closed her phone and went back to the computer room. Norbert had stopped hugging Leanna. She had regained her composure, but her eyes were still wide open with fear.

"The boss is coming," Marina announced. "He wants to personally interrogate Leanna. He'll be here at eight." She checked her watch. "Five and a half hours from now."

"What should we do until then?" Smythe said.

Marina snapped some pictures of Leanna's face. "You guys take this one to the motel. Tie her to the bed. If she makes any noise, stuff a sock in her mouth. I'll stay here in case the sister comes back."

"You think Bethany will be that stupid?"

"I do. She'll feel compelled to search for Leanna, and that search has to start here."

"True." Smythe raised his eyebrows. "We'll see you later. Good luck hunting."

* * *

Bethany shivered in the darkness. She had spent her entire life with her twin sister, never apart for more than a few minutes at a time. Leanna's abduction had happened two hours ago, and it felt like an eternity. Bethany didn't know when she would see her sister again, or even if her sister were still alive. She couldn't begin to imagine how to go on without Leanna. It was like losing half her brain and half her heart.

Bethany had another problem. She needed to pee and her toilet was inside her house. If she didn't go home soon, she would make a mess in her underwear, and she hated messes.

She hadn't gone far. She was sitting behind a rose bush across the street from her home, watching her front door. The grass prickled the skin on her bare calves.

The lights in the house had been off for a long while. Logically, that meant nobody was there and it was safe to enter. However, her enemies sometimes acted illogically. How could she assess risks without well defined probabilities? The problem wasn't well posed.

Regardless, Bethany needed to start looking for her sister, which meant she needed her computers. Also, Bethany had to pee, badly.

The pressure in her bladder forced a decision. She ran to the curb, carefully checked for traffic in both directions, and ran to her front door. She knocked politely just as she had been taught to do. When there was no answer, she knocked again. Satisfied that she had followed proper protocol, she typed in the code on the hidden keypad under the flowerpot. The door lock clicked.

She went inside and turned on the lights. Nobody was in the front room.

She proceeded into the living room where the computers were set up. She immediately noticed some of the wires had been pushed out of place. She carefully straightened them.

Finally, she went to the bathroom. After she was done peeing, she wiped herself four times with four separate squares of toilet paper. She folded the loose end of the roll into a neat point.

She returned to the computer room and sat in her chair. Being there without Leanna felt very strange to Bethany. The workstation was meant for two users.

She called up the surveillance video recordings on one of her monitors. Cameras were located in every room of the house, and the coverage outside was almost as complete. Bethany watched the enemy from multiple angles as they captured and tormented poor little Leanna.

Bethany became too agitated to continue watching. She needed another task while she calmed down. She decided to pack a suitcase in case she had to travel to rescue her sister.

She went into her bedroom. There were two empty suitcases under the bed, but she only needed one this time. That felt very wrong.

She had no idea how many articles of clothing to pack. After some thought, she settled on twelve shirts, twelve skirts, and twelve pairs of underwear. Twelve was divisible by two, three, four, and six, which made it a very useful number. Clocks had twelve hours for that reason.

She considered whether to put her shoes in the suitcase. She absolutely hated shoes and avoided wearing them whenever possible, but sometimes she had no choice. For example, she couldn't go into a restaurant barefoot. She knew the rule even if it made no sense. People didn't eat with their feet after all. With great reluctance, she packed her shoes.

There was one item she could never leave behind. She reached under her nightstand and unlatched a hidden panel. A necklace dropped into her hand.

The necklace included hundreds of small diamonds arranged in a curved grid that went around the wearer's neck. Bethany found the pattern pleasingly symmetric. A diamond pendant the size of a golf ball hung at the bottom of the necklace. Intellectually, she knew the pendant was far more valuable than all the other diamonds, but she still didn't like it. The pendant didn't have the same pattern of facets as the small diamonds. It was different and therefore wrong.

She dropped the necklace into her suitcase and covered it with her underwear.

"Let me see that necklace again," a woman said.

Bethany spun around. She immediately recognized the woman from the surveillance video. She wore the same dark gray tights as before, and several frightening weapons hung from her belt.

Bethany instinctively lashed out with her fingernails. The woman dodged the attack effortlessly and answered with a kick to Bethany's stomach. Pain exploded in her gut. She doubled over.

The woman took the necklace from the suitcase and held it up to the light. "This is an amazing piece of jewelry. It looks like an antique. It must be worth a fortune. Where did you get it?" Her voice was calm.

Bethany tried to run. The woman tripped her, and Bethany landed on her face. She rubbed her sore nose.

The woman put her foot on Bethany's back, pinning her to the ground like a bug. "I have some important information for your computerized brain. Are you ready for it?"

Bethany nodded.

"Fact one," the woman said, "you can't outrun me. I'm much faster and stronger than you."

Bethany wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Fact two, you can't defeat me. I could kill you with my eyes blindfolded and both hands tied behind my back."

Bethany's entire body was shaking. She was very glad she had already used the toilet.

"Fact three," the woman said, "I don't want to hurt you."

Bethany didn't believe that last statement. "You're so mean!"

"You have no idea. I'm the nastiest, most violent bitch you ever met. This is my nice side. If you're smart, you'll cooperate and not give me any trouble."

"Where is my sister?"

The woman grabbed Bethany's hair and forced her to stand up. "Your sister is safe. You'll see her shortly. But first, tell me about this." The woman held the necklace in front of Bethany's face. "Now!"

"That's the Eye of Satinia," Bethany said in a quavering voice.

"Satinia... Isn't that a country in the Middle East?"

"Our home. The necklace is our royal jewelry."

"What do you mean?" The woman furrowed her brow.

"I'll show you."

Bethany timidly walked to her computer and performed an internet search using three keywords: Bethany, Leanna, and Satinia. Bethany moved back and allowed the woman to read the web page that opened up.

Bethany took another step backwards.

"Don't forget fact one," the woman said without turning her head.

Bethany froze.

"This is incredible! You're Bethany Satin, princess of Satinia. Arabian royalty. Why are you hiding in Illinois?

"There was a revolution five years ago. They burned my castle and hanged my family in the courtyard. Leanna and I barely escaped. The Eye of Satinia was the only relic we could save."

The woman shook her head. "Talk about a dancing space monkey."

"What?"

"Never mind. You can tell your life story to my boss in the morning. We're leaving now."

"Will I see Leanna?" Bethany said eagerly.

"Yes, but you'll be a good girl from now on. Right?"

Bethany nodded.

Chapter Six

Aaron parked in front of the white house on Maple Lane in Lemonseed. He took a moment to check for threats before stepping out and exposing himself. The street appeared quiet. Trees full of lush green leaves swayed in a gentle breeze. The other parked cars ran the gamut from shiny and new to rusty and old, but there were more of the latter. Several doors down, a kid was practicing with a basketball and a portable hoop. A dog barked in the distance.

Looks safe enough,
he thought. He grabbed a bag of groceries from the passenger seat and got out.

The front door of the white house stood ajar. He made sure the gun under his shirt had a bullet in the chamber and the safety was off.

He approached the door silently and peeked inside. Marina, Smythe, and Norbert were standing in an empty room. Two identical young women sat on the floor in front of them.

"Hello?" Aaron said.

Marina ran over and gave him a kiss. "You won't believe it! Leanna and Bethany are the princesses of Satinia."

"I know. Wendy gave me all the information last night. There is a million dollar bounty on their heads."

"Oh?"

"The current government of Satinia believes they stole a national treasure, the Eye of Satinia. It's remarkable they're still alive."

"The necklace wasn't stolen," Marina said. "It's the girls' legal property. They're the only surviving members of the royal family, thanks to the current government of Satinia. Come in."

Aaron walked into the room and examined the twins. Their natural skin color made them look well tanned but not dark. Their long black hair badly needed to be washed and brushed out. They wore identical white shirts and pleated red skirts that also needed a good scrubbing. The skirts revealed scrawny legs and bony knees. The soles of their bare feet were filthy.

Aaron sighed.
They're in worse shape than I imagined,
he thought.

One of the girls wore the Eye of Satinia. With all the glittering diamonds, it certainly had the appearance of jewelry a queen might wear. The pendant was so large he had a hard time believing it was real, and it actually looked like a big chunk of glass. Aaron decided he hated the necklace. It represented the sweat and blood of too many peasants.

A lot of fan noise was coming from the next room, so he walked over for a look. The collection of computers was very impressive. At first the arrangement seemed chaotic to him, but then he started seeing the signs of madness. The monitors formed a perfect rectangle exactly twice as long as it was wide. Hundreds of wires were stretched across the floor, but each one was ruler straight and exactly the right length. There were no loops of wasted wire anywhere. Every keyboard was flush with the front edge of the table, and every mouse sat in the exact center of a mouse pad. Even the scrap paper was arranged symmetrically. Aaron shuddered.

He went back to the twins and smiled. "Good morning, Bethany and Leanna. It's a great honor to be in the presence of the royal princesses of Satinia." He bowed slightly.

They stared at him with curious expressions. They were mirror images of each other.

He continued, "Unfortunately, I can't tell you my name at this time. I will say I'm the commander of this team. Everybody in this room takes orders from me, including you. You may address me as 'boss' or 'sir.' Who is Bethany and who is Leanna?"

The girl with the necklace said, "I'm Bethany."

The other said, "I'm Leanna."

"OK," he said, "did you eat breakfast?"

The twins shook their heads.

"Then it's a good thing I brought food." He lifted the heavy grocery bag. "There is plenty for everybody. Too much, in fact, so eat your fill."

Everybody went into the kitchen. The twins walked so close together they almost tripped each other. They held hands like scared children.

He unpacked the grocery bag and laid out the items on the kitchen counter. He had brought bagels, sliced onions, cream cheese, sliced tomatoes, smoked salmon, and two quarts of chopped fruit. There was a gallon of orange juice to wash it down.

"Enjoy," he told the twins.

"But we only eat frozen dinners," Bethany said.

"How can you stay so skinny eating that salty, fatty crap?"

"Sometimes we forget to eat."