The Bone Labyrinth (15 page)

Lawrenceville, Georgia

Maria sat at the small table inside Baako’s classroom. She stared down at the cell phone resting on the Formica top. After connecting briefly to Lena, she had immediately alerted Monk and Amy. The two were up in her office, fielding calls to D.C. for the past hour, but so far there had been no news relayed to her.

Or at least nothing they’re telling me.

She stared over to the large man waiting with her. Joe Kowalski had his own phone in hand, ready to answer it if his partner called with any update. He paced the room, striding back and forth like some caged beast. He seemed as anxious for any news as she. After making that brief connection to Lena, Maria had come close to collapsing, to losing it entirely, but he had held her, silently reassured her, and mumbled a promise that some colleague named Gray would find her sister.

She appreciated his attempt at reassuring her and studied him as he made another round of the room. His face was craggy, traced with the ghosts of old scars, all underpinned by a square jaw. His nose fit his features, bearing a large knot, crooked from some old break. And while he was clearly a battle-hardened man, his ears stuck out, giving him a boyish quality.

A familiar
oof-oof
drew her attention to the room’s other occupant.

Baako stood before the classroom’s whiteboard. He had an erasable marker clutched in his left fist. He had scrawled four large letters on the board.

Maria scooted to her feet in amazement. She and Lena had taught Baako the rudiments of spelling, a necessary part of sign language. They had used a set of plastic alphabet blocks as an educational tool, teaching him simple words, like
cat
and
dog
, along with the names of a few people who worked here: his caretaker Jack, his furry friend Tango, and of course, Maria and Lena.

Kowalski stopped next to her, looking as dumbfounded as she felt. “He can write?”

“He likes to draw, even paint, but he’s never written words like this before.”

Baako noted their attention, his dark eyes large, staring between them, hooting slightly, as if unsure this was okay.

It’s more than okay.

“What a smart boy,” Maria cooed softly.

Baako tapped a finger of his right hand to his chest, then gestured with his fingers, repeating the sign a few times. [
Love, love, love . . .
] He ended by tapping the tip of his marker under each letter on the board, then staring again at Maria.

She smiled. “I love Lena, too.”

Baako must have overheard their recent conversations over the phone, recognized all the concern about the fate of Lena, and had internalized it. Perhaps sensing Maria’s distress, he had reached deep inside to show how he felt, to demonstrate this latent talent, one that lay hidden until now.

She felt tears threatening, both of astonishment and love. She wiped at her eyes.

Lena should be here to see this.

Baako dropped his marker to the floor and came over to her. He hugged an arm around her waist.

“You’re such a good boy,” she murmured.

“Penmanship could be better,” Kowalski commented.

She glanced over and saw a teasing smile on his face, belying how his eyes shone with a measure of awe as he stared at the board.

After another moment, she slipped loose of Baako’s embrace. “I think we can all use some fresh air,” she said, checking the time, then turning to Kowalski. “I normally take this furry fellow for a midday walk, and it looks like we’re overdue.”

The big man glanced to the observation window. “Where do you take him?”

“The primate center sits on over a hundred acres of woodlands. We have a regular trail we use.” She patted Baako. “He loves it.”

She felt a twinge of guilt, knowing in her heart how much he truly came alive when outdoors, free of this place. He belonged in the open air, not trapped down here. But she also knew that he was much more than a simple gorilla. Only here, properly taught and nurtured, could he achieve his full potential.

She sighed, not entirely convincing herself of this.

But just keep telling yourself that.

Maria cleared her throat and faced Kowalski. “You don’t have to come,” she offered. “If you want to join your partner up in my office . . .”

He shrugged. “I could use some fresh air.”

She doubted if this was true; more likely he had been ordered to stay with her. Either way, she needed to get out of here, to escape the cloud of anxiety that had grown to fill this space over the past hour.

Better to be moving than sitting here wringing my hands
.

She crossed back to the table and retrieved her cell phone, not wanting to miss any call about Lena. Baako watched her, pouncing a bit on his knuckles, plainly anticipating what was to come.

“Ready for a walk, Baako?” she asked.

He leaped high, hooting loudly, then charged alongside her as she headed toward the security cage that framed the exit door.

Kowalski trailed them. “I’d take that as a yes.”

As she unlatched the cage, Baako stared back. She felt the tension vibrating through the young gorilla’s body—both from excitement and from irritation that Kowalski appeared to be coming with them.

She sought to distract Baako. “How about we collect Tango from the kennels? Bet he’d like a walk, too.”

At the mention of the Queensland Terrier pup’s name, Baako forgot all about Kowalski. He took Maria’s hand and dragged her toward the exit. She laughed and unlocked the way with her key.

Once through the door, Baako shifted closer to her. He still kept hold of her hand, something drilled into him whenever they left his domicile. He lifted his other arm and waited for the other safeguard to be implemented. She removed a pair of GPS trackers from a hook next to the door and fastened the magnetic bands around each of his wrists.

“There you go,” she said. “All set.”

He huffed quietly.

She led Baako and Kowalski toward the rear of the building. Baako hugged close to her, especially when they moved past the other labs that ran various research projects. Though the doors were sealed, he must have still smelled or sensed the presence of the other animals, mostly primates like him: rhesus monkeys involved in a hormone replacement study, sooty mangabeys used to evaluate the evolution of growth, squirrel and cynomolgus monkeys employed in various vaccine and neuroscience programs. The screech of a chimpanzee from behind one closed door pushed Baako tight to her side.

“It’s okay,” she consoled.

But was it? How disconcerting was this for him?

She finally hurried through to the kennels, where a familiar lanky form greeted them.

“Taking the big guy out?” Jack asked with a wide smile, leaning on a broom.

“Tango, too.” She nodded toward a nearby room of kennels.

“I’ll go fetch him,” the student said. “But you should know that it’s drizzling out there, and after last night’s downpour, the trails are getting pretty dang muddy. Might want to pull on a set of rubber boots.”

“I’ll be fine.” Maria turned to Kowalski, eyeing his suit and a surprisingly fashionable set of wing tips. “But maybe you’d prefer to wait here after all.”

He stared down at his shoes, looking mournful. “These are hand-stitched Brunello Cucinellis.”

Jack offered a suggestion. “I have an extra set of boots and coveralls. You’re welcome to use them. Might be a little small, but should do.”

Kowalski shrugged. “Works for me.”

Maria waited as Jack led the man into the nearby locker room. She stared toward the rear loading dock that offered access to the back acres of the primate center. This delay allowed her worries to settle more heavily over her shoulders.

C’mon, Lena . . . be all right.

Warm fingers tightened on her hand.

She turned to find Baako gazing up at her. The anguished squint of those caramel eyes was easy to read.

Seems I’m not the only one worried.

11:57
A
.
M
.

What I do for Sigma . . .

Alone in the changing room, Kowalski neatly folded his pants and draped them over the wing tips resting at the bottom of the metal locker. His shirt and suit jacket already hung from a hook inside. Standing in his boxers and socks, he lifted the set of borrowed coveralls. The kid who left them was almost as tall as Kowalski but as skinny as a beanpole. Luckily, the student preferred to wear his coveralls loose and boxy.

Sighing, Kowalski tugged into the borrowed set of work clothes. He had to inhale deeply to zip the front over his belly and chest.

That’ll do, I guess.

From a bench, he lifted up the strap of his shoulder holster, weighted down by his sidearm. No way he could wear this under the coveralls, and he wasn’t sure the geneticist would appreciate him carrying it openly. Monk had warned him to be discreet. So with a sorry shake of his head, he hooked the holster next to his suit jacket.

“Not like anyone’s gonna let me shoot that gorilla anyway,” he mumbled.

Still, his hand hovered over the butt of his weapon—a newly purchased Heckler & Koch .45. He gritted his teeth, unable to abandon it.

You belong with me, baby
.

He pulled the gun from the holster and shoved it into a deep back pocket of his coveralls. The bulge was far from discreet, but what was a guy to do?

He slammed the locker closed, locked it, and pushed his feet into a cold set of rubber boots. Ready now, he headed back out to Maria. He arrived at the same time the student returned from the kennels with an exuberant gray-and-black-mottled young dog dancing at his side.

“Tango,” Maria introduced the pup with a smile.

The gorilla chuffed in greeting, lifting his eyebrows high, waving his free arm.

Jack unhooked the leash and let Tango go bounding up to his friend, the pup’s back end wagging as much as his tail.

“Ready?” Maria asked.

“Let’s get this over with,” Kowalski grumbled, following after the gorilla and dog.

Guess I’m Sigma’s official pet walker now, too.

They headed to the open door of a rear loading dock. Outside, a light drizzle fell from a low gray sky. Still, the air smelled clean and inviting, free of the musky odors of animals and the ammonia scent of cleaning products.

They set off down a concrete ramp to a crushed gravel trail that led through a damp green meadow. The student, Jack, accompanied them with leash in hand. Once in the field, Maria let go of her charge’s hand, and Baako went bounding across the wet grass, chased by a barking dog.

Fifty yards away rose a dark forest of pine, oaks, and white cedar.

“Is it safe to let them roam loose like that?” Kowalski asked.

She pointed to a distant fence line. “We’ve had this section of the field station cordoned off. While the chain link might not be an obstacle for Baako, he knows to stay within its confines. But I don’t think he would ever want to escape anyway.” She swept an arm wide. “Everything Baako loves is here. And despite that freewheeling carousing he’s demonstrating at the moment with Tango, he’s not the bravest soul. In many ways, he’s a mama’s boy.”

Kowalski noted how her voice hiccuped over that last sentence, hearing both the affection and maybe even a little guilt. She crossed her arms as they headed through the grass, her gaze wistful upon the two animals playing together.

As they followed the pair, Kowalski asked a question that had been nagging him. “So how come you and your sister both became geneticists?”

“What? You think only men can be scientists?” She smiled softly at him, plainly teasing. “I guess it goes back to the fact that we were born twins. When you grow up with someone identical to you—while knowing you’re both so different inside—such a dichotomy carries with you, makes you want to understand it better. And, in turn, understand yourself better. So over time, questions became curiosity, and curiosity drew us into our profession.”

“So it’s not just the sexy lab coats?” he asked, offering a small teasing grin of his own.

“Well, I didn’t say there weren’t perks.”

By now the furry pair ahead of them approached the tree line, where a narrow trail cut into the woods. Jack trotted forward to keep the animals in sight, demonstrating the usual boundless energy of youth. Or maybe the kid just wanted to reach the shelter of the trees and get out of the rain.

Kowalski ducked his head as the light drizzle began to coalesce into heavier drops. He suddenly wished he had a thick pelt like Baako and Tango. He set a swifter pace toward the trees.

Halfway across the meadow, Jack drew to a stop ahead of them.

Kowalski’s guard went up at the sudden halt; then he saw it, too. Movement in the trees, a shift of shadows. A blast of a rifle made Maria jump. He swung his arm around, scooped her around the chest, and carried her to the ground, burying her in the tall grass.

He sheltered her with his own body as another shot rang out. He saw Jack spin around, blood spraying from his shoulder. The kid went sprawling into the meadow.