“Unknown, sir. The device was not in view, but they could have placed it inside the vehicle before I saw them.”
Barnes turned to one of his many computers and typed in a series of instructions. An electronic map of Harmony House and the surrounding area appeared on the screen. Courtesy of the transmitter affixed to the right rear wheel well, a blip representing Skylar’s Honda was seen moving away from Harmony House toward I-295. Barnes didn’t worry about where she was going. He would find her no matter where she went. He speed-dialed Marcus Fenton at his home number.
Fenton was in the garden when his phone rang. “What?”
Barnes’s voice was without emotion. “Something’s happened.” He went into the details, describing Skylar’s exact arrival time and departure time with Eddie.
Dr. Fenton did not respond the way Barnes had expected him to. There wasn’t even a hint of anger in the old man’s voice. “You realize what this means, don’t you?”
Barnes didn’t feel like guessing. “Why don’t you tell me, sir.”
“It means the echo box is working.”
This took Barnes by surprise. “How can you be sure of that?”
“Why else would she have taken him with her?”
“I can think of a number of reasons.” He was principally thinking of grief and revenge, but was certain he could come up with a half dozen other motivations if he cared to.
“You don’t know her like I do.”
Barnes shook his head, deciding not to challenge his employer’s hubris. “Enlighten me.”
“There is no way she would put Eddie at risk unless something extraordinary occurred. She thinks either he’s in danger, or that he can help her. The only reason she would think either was because he’d gotten the box to work.”
Barnes didn’t give the theory much credence, but didn’t care to engage his superior on the matter, either. All he cared about was getting the patient and the doctor back where they belonged. That was his job, one he was so very good at. “I’m tracking her vehicle. I’ll be dispatching a team to retrieve them and the device.”
“Make sure they do it without upsetting Eddie or damaging the box.”
“Copy that.” He said it with sharp intensity. His mission parameters were clear: handle the doctor and the patient with kid gloves. With everyone else, use a chain saw, if necessary. Collateral damage was tolerable. Loose ends were not. Time was of the essence. He glanced at the electronic map where Skylar could be seen continuing toward I-295 as he contacted his two-man team, Charlie and Danger.
Charlie was Abraham Hirsch, a Tennessee boy who had been a budding MLB prospect until he threw out his arm during his senior year of high school. Danger was Merrill Lutz, a third-generation Army Ranger from Maryland who’d seen more than his fair share of special operations by the time he was approached by Michael Barnes.
This would be their first field test together. Each had accomplished a great deal in the clandestine arts separately before going to work for Barnes, but none of that mattered now. All that mattered was how they performed for him. In this moment. On this task.
The game was on.
CHAPTER 33
I-295 North, Outside Bellmawr, New Jersey, May 27, 10:29 a.m.
Skylar gripped the steering wheel tightly, repeatedly glancing in the rearview mirror of her Accord to see if anyone was following them as they sped north, following the signs to I-95. No one was. At least, no one she could see.
“Fifty-six . . . fifty-seven . . .” Eddie’s hands were still over his ears as he finished counting seconds to one minute. He had been doing so ever since Skylar had asked him to put his hands over his ears for a minute as they sped past the Harmony House gate guard. As Eddie put down his hands, he cringed. “Does your engine always sound like this?”
“Like what?”
“Very high pitched and whiny and unpleasant.”
She looked down to her speedometer to see that she was going almost a hundred miles per hour, and quickly slowed down to eighty. “I didn’t realize how fast we were going.”
“Why not?”
“I was distracted.”
“By what?”
“I’ve got a lot on my mind.” She thought of Jacob, and what he must have looked like lying dead on the subway tracks, cut in half; of Dr. Fenton, and how fatherly he’d come off during their first interview. What a bastard. What a cruel and heartless bastard.
Eddie looked at the top of Skylar’s head, searching for what was on her mind. “I don’t see anything.”
She glanced briefly toward him. “It’s just an expression, Eddie.”
“I don’t like expressions.”
“I meant to say that I was thinking about something else and got distracted.”
“What were you thinking about?”
“A lot of different things.”
Eddie nodded. “If you want help reading the speedometer, I can do it for you.”
She nodded. “Great.”
He leaned over to watch the fluctuations of the speedometer. “Eighty-two. Eighty-three. Eighty-four.”
“Once a minute would be fine.”
“I can also keep a log of the speeds, if you would like me to. Do you have a notebook and a number-two pencil I could use?”
She shook her head. “I don’t.”
“I have extra notebooks and pencils in my room at Harmony House. We could use those.”
“No, Eddie. The logs can wait.”
“I’ll just memorize them, then.” He nodded reassuringly. Once a minute for the rest of their drive, he would glance at the speedometer and mentally log their speed. He stared at the passing countryside out his window. He wasn’t admiring the beauty so much as looking for something familiar. Something to latch on to. But most of the houses and buildings and malls were built after Eddie had arrived at Harmony House, and he had never left the grounds. Not once. The lack of familiarity was disconcerting. Things were different. That made him uncomfortable. And that was not good.
“Eddie, are you okay?”
“I want to go back to Harmony House.” His hand started to twitch, like he was getting ready to slap himself.
“To get your notebooks?”
“I don’t recognize any of these buildings.” He pointed out the window. “Those offices weren’t there before. Or that Burger King. Or that Shell station. None of this was here.”
She took a deep breath and spoke with authority. “Eddie, please look at me.”
“Why?”
“Because I am familiar to you. Look at me and nothing else. Can you do that?”
“I can try.” He leaned closer to her so that she was all he could see. He couldn’t look at her for very long, and certainly not in the eyes, but he was able to keep bringing his gaze back to her.
“Is that better?” She already knew the answer.
He blinked repeatedly. “You’re pretty.”
She remembered the first time they met. That was the second thing he ever said to her, right after he asked what she’d been feeling when she left Dr. Fenton’s office after being hired. “You’ve said that before.”
“People who are pretty get told that a lot. Do you get told that a lot, Skylar?”
“By you, I do.” She smiled.
He kept staring at her as they got on the interstate. They quickly reached an interchange indicating that those traveling to Philadelphia should keep left. Eddie noticed the signs out of the corner of his eye as Skylar remained in the right lanes. “We’re going the wrong way, Skylar.”
“We need to make a stop first.”
“Where?”
She hesitated for just a second. “New York City.”
“I don’t want to go to New York City. I went there once when I was six years old. It was too loud. People in New York City yell too much. And honk their horns more than is necessary. The buildings are tall, and everything echoes. It’s much louder than Philadelphia.”
“We won’t stay there very long, but there is someone in New York who can help us.”
“How long is very long?”
“I don’t want to give you a specific number, because I never want you to think I lied to you.”
Eddie nodded, satisfied with her answer. “Why do we need help?”
“That is another thing you are going to have to trust me on.”
“That is now two things.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Will there be more things you will ask me to trust you on, Skylar?”